Me gusta mucho...

15-30 August (1/3)

"TO ALL STATIONS, TO ALL STATIONS, TO ALL STATIONS. THE SAILING YACHT 'O DADIS' HAS JUST ARRIVED IN ENSENADA. PLEASE BRING US 4 CERVECAS IMMEDIATELY. OVER."

After sailing along the Pacific Ocean for 15 consecutive days and nights, having seen the land for only a few hours after our departure and before our arrival we entered Ensenada, Mexico, on Sunday 30th August. I just cannot express in words the experience I had from this trip. As a conclusion it is the only trip that had a duration of 2 weeks, was felt like 2 hours and left experiences of 2 years.

We were four people on-board. I mentioned John before but not Bernd because he came inside the last time. Bernd is a lovely old experienced sailor that eased a lot many difficult tasks.

I would devide the whole journey in three 5-day long periods:

Days 1-5: hours after our departure I suffered from motion (sea) sickness. The first couple of days I was not being able to do nothing except a little steering. We headed SouthEast into the ocean and reached a distance of about 250 NM away from Cape Mondecino, Oregon. The reason for that path is a huge under-water mountain extending about 1000 km along the ocean that produces difficult sea conditions. Fortunately, no storm and no bad weather, only some waves of maximum 3 meters high. That was the most difficult and dangerous part of the trip because in case something happened we must have approached the hostile coast of Oregon.
Days 6-10: during that time we passed San Francisco and turned SouthWest to come closer to the coast. I was already feeling better and started to make long shifts on the steering wheel of about 12 hours a day! The others just kept on during the night and prepared food. The weather started to become milder, the sea turned from black to blue and the sun showed us its warmness and beauty.
Days 11-15: at that time that we started missing the land we felt it coming closer. We saw dolphins and segals and spoke to container ships. Unfortunately no one was greek, the greek ship owners have left the region because of the financial crisis. The busy coast of California Bay was only 100 NM away and the weather and sea became calmer. We continued down along the US's southeast "belly-coast" partly sailing and partly with the motor and entered Ensenada's Marina in 11.30 am, 30th August 2009.

A school in the school

13-14 August

We were supposed to leave Victoria in the morning of 13th but at the last time we were informed about a small local weather alert and decided to leave the next day. Instead of having a first difficult day, I had a few more hours to stay in beautiful Victoria. Sailing does not stop learning me things, that time being that nothing in the sea can be scheduled with certainty.

In the meantime we met a guy that had come with his motor boat from Vancouver and was speaking greek. He said he was originating from Instanbul (Konstantinoupolis), Turkey. The discussion of greek, byzantine, cypriot, turkish and roman history between us was inevitable and reminded me that:

"The history of Greece is the history of the western World."

There is no important philosophy, achievement and event that has no relation with the greek tradition. Ancient Greeks had already discovered the basis of human wisdom after which followed the roman, byzantine and christian traditions and eventually modern Europe and America emerged. It is in the greek territory where in a 100km distance you find 3 different religions, 4 different languages and a dozen types of culture. In America you travel 3000km and even the names of the people does not change. That is why it is called the "New World": many years must pass until a distinct culture is developed here.

So, we plan to leave tomorrow but I can't say Goodbye to you for sure...

A modern Victoria Queen

10-12 August

We left Vancouver which was realy beautiful and we reached Victoria City in Vancouver Island. It is known as the "Monaco of Canada", the most luxurious place in British Columbia! After two days of sailing, mostly with the engine, and a night in Ganges Port we entered the last station before the big journey. Everything gone well, it was an easy trip even with the rain we had the first day.

So far I have got a good taste of Canada. There are three things in huge abundancy here:
1) Space: every scenery you look at is huge, either at sea or land.
2) Wood: there are millions of trees here providing wood useful for anything except eating.
3) Berries: blackberries, strawberries, greenberries, blueberries etc and the people are obsessed with them.

I am going to collect a new "sailing wisdom" everyday during this 2-week trip. The ones for the first two days are:
1) In the land comfort is an option, in the sea it is a necessity.
2) The depth of the seas is the mirror of the land.

... sails UP and OFF we go!

6-9 August

This is really the last post before we start the trip. We called an expert on sailing boats to review the preparations we have done and he had absolutely no comment. Everything is perfectly built and prepared. The "subsystems" include:
1) the engine with its own battery system and full with 700 liters of petrol
2) the very strong rigging system and the 7 (4 plus 3 spares) sails
3) the navigation devices: 24-miles radar, GPS and depth-sounder as well as handheld GPS and of course VHF-radio
4) the safety subsystem: 3 safety boats (dinghy, inflatable boat and life-raft), EPIRB, man-over-board and emergency food and water
5) the internal electrical system, powered by the 170 Watts solar panel
6) the drinking water system: about 200 liters in 3 tanks and many other places
7) the food "subsystem": enough noodles, tuna, powder-milk and other stuff
8) the spare parts and tools: many enough to fix almost everything
9) the paper-work: the boat-diary, boat-papers, licences, flags and the stuff

Well that's it. During the trip I will just relax, discuss about Platonic Philosphy with the captain, learn some spanish and take looong naps.

Hasta la vista en Ensenada amigos!

Life is a Boat!

Fixιng people

3-5 August

If you have noticed there was a one-week delay from the scheduled time of departurte. I own you an explanation. The third crew member, Thanasis, that had been passionate for this trip in the last 4 years, left the boat and the mission just two days before our departure! Yes, that's true. Although he promised to follow us until Ensenada he drew back referring no serious reason. During the last weeks we had observed he found an unreliable part-time job as a plumber earning every now and then some money. When we asked him to pay his part for the food expenses (about 100 Euros) he denied. During his stay on the boat he could never focus enough on any task, he was always distracted and was moving here and there. These symptoms are characteristic of the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) which I believe he suffers from. In his age it is difficult to treat it as it has become embeded in his personality.

Anyway, the captain moved fast and found another more reliable and strong member: John. John is a tough guy, doing climbing and para-penting in mountains and practices Buddhism. He wants now to gain some experience with sailing and this trip is an opportunity. We have welcome him aboard and are now ready to leave on Sunday the 9th. The boat is in perfect condition, full of water, food and gas and everything is tightly bound. The electronic systems are functioning, the sails are open and...

Absolute relativity

1-2 August

On Sunday the 2nd we will go out for the first time just to make some tests and training. There is a huge island called Vancouver Island, which will be our last station before we open to the Big Ocean. Although it is very near, it will take us a couple of days to reach it. The rest 1200 miles until Ensenada (this is almost the length of Europe) will be sailed in only 12 consecutive days. We will not stop anywhere in the US, in order to avoid the unhospitable Customs, the high marina prices and mostly the "american temperament". Of course, in an emergency we will hurry there.

After 10 days I am used to a new more "primitive" life. Combined with the experience in Florida, I observe that one needs a whole week till he gets used to a new environment. That means in order to "live holidays" you need to be away for more than a week, which is a priviledge of a few people. On the other side if you can leave for only a few days, only a privately owned house can offer an essential rest, which is still for a few ones. In conclusion, for the many real holidays still remains a dream, sorry guys.

The most of the hours pass with philosophical discussions. Because it is a huge story that is impossible to explain now, I only state that eventualy I agreed with captain's idealistic philosophy as:

"Absolute Realism is absolute Idealism."

Rich poor or poor rich?

31 July

I have almost no new experience in the last days so I enjoy the simple life on the boat. The only thing that there is here in adundance is Philosophy because captain Stefanos has a lot to discuss about. He is a pure Idealist, fan of Platon and against Aristoteles. Starting from the belief that the "Idea", ie. all the meanings, exists independent from their natural carrier, the Human, he accepts that in the world there is no stress, the good mixes up with the bad and both are disappeared, a harmony reigns in the universe and the utmost achievement is "the freedom of the freedom". That's at least what I catch from all his bla,bla...)

I am at the opposite: a Realist. Everything has to be recieved and is depended by us, there is nothing beyond human and science is the source of all knowledge. Any question that cannot be answered by the current knowledge simply is not stated, so there are no unanswered ones and so we don't need any superpower, "God" or "Idea" to solve them for us.

Anyway we speak about philosphy because, as ancient greeks had done, we have already fulfilled our needs on the boat while in the "normal" life hardly any need is really satisfied...

Pretty little things

29-30 July

Believe it or not, yesterday (29 July) was the hottest day here in Vancouver since 1853. 34 Celsius. Although such one is quite acceptable (Athens hits 40 C easily this period), it was inconvenient. For the locals it was not a big surprise either. In the last 100 years a slow and constant increase in temperature is observed in the area. Combined with the abrupt changes of the weather make the environmental damage obvious. This is even more clear in the northern parts of Canada where the people see the ice melting more and more with the years. From one side they like it (who likes cold weather?) but from the other a deadly phenomenon takes place.

Back to our boat. I would like to speak about the most heavy and difficult task: Safety. There are numerous levels of emergency, as well as thousand preventive measures for safety. The tools take about 60% of the boat's volume. For every little machinery the captain keeps a spare part to fix it if it is broken. There are additional water and gas tanks everywhere, except the huge barrels underneath. Three additional small boats equipped with food and water are ready to host us in case of emergency. Two electronic communication devices are ready to send our position over satellite to neaby stations. And lastly the are numerous tips and tricks to prevent any type of danger before it becomes... danger.

My company through all this trip is my Laptop. A Dell D410, bought second-hand for only 200 Euros, has proved a tough and reliable tool everywhere: from the convenient home of my relatives till the roof of the boat.

Keep going ...

27-28 July

During the last couple of days we were saying goodbye to friends all over the city. We drove to the "skyscrapered" down-town, the below-the-sea-level south, the rich north and the sea-side west. Every restaurant is of foreign origin. Almost all good ones are either chinese or japanese, so the most important thing to do before coming here is to know how to eat with chopsticks, either you will stay hungry...

Almost all "external" tasks are done so we have to deal with some preparing inside the boat. I have mentioned it is a home but is a car too, so it has a whole engine to move and to care about. Do not forget that is has to become a hospital too, so we took some emergency drugs. The first impression of mine is that doctors here dont know their job very well. Except that there is a dangerous lack of them so if you colleagues cant find a job in Greece, come to Canada.

It is useless to write down all the experiences I gain and the trip has not just yet began! I will just say that:

The best things are those that you dont care when they will be repeated again.

The importance of simplicity

25-26 July

The last few days have passed between the boat and the beautiful city of Vancouver. The city obeys the rule of every modern big metropole: 2 million people, down-town skyscrapers and sweet homes in the periphery. Its special charactaristic is that it lies in the borders of east and west. If Japan is the country of the rising sun, surely Vancouver is the city of the setting sun. Many nationalities live here, mainly asians, except the native canadians. Spread over a vast area, having canals, rivers, sea and mountains it is called "North Hollywood" as it is the largest movie production site after LA and NY.

The boat is being perfectly prepared. Every means of safety tools as well as plans, adequate quantities of water, food and gas twice as much as it would be needed and charts, maps and navigation devices leave us a little space to move. The boat is our world: the cabin is our home and the deck is our nature. As fewer words are used to describe the feeling the better you will understand how it is. If I would try to give a taste: Simplicity is our way of living.

Here, far beyond the hurdles of the conventional life the real truth is to be found. Even I have the bare minimum of goods I feel I have great energy. It is not a feeling, it is a fact. I can judge the everyday life objectively, I can look directly into the meaning of the words and generaly I feel free.

We will depart sometime in the next week and I will stop updating this blog until I find an internet connection in Mexico. We even will not have electric power to keep this electronic diary. But I will keep a hand-writen one and I will publish it afterwards. From now on: every update will not be shown in schedules times.