A Rose By Any Other Name...

Well its official, our boat has a name.  I didn't imagine it would take a month to get done but there have been several considerations that added together have made it necessary to voyage under a nom de guerre.

Now - travelling under an assumed name wouldn't be that bad,  it could even be James Bond-ish, except for the fact that the name of this boat made me think of a Romanian gentlemen's club.

For the past 4 weeks we've been sailing and checking in as Gypsy Love.  Greece, Albania and Montenegro.  Officials in all 3 countries think we named the boat after some kind of late night made for TV movie.

Thankfully, with quick action from Transport Canada, assistance from our Broker in Florida and about an hour spent trying to find somewhere to print new documents we checked into Croatia as ourselves.

I'd like to introduce Maple, our Leopard 384 catamaran.  A true Canadian lady, with an unmistakably Canadian name.  Words cannot express how much this simple little thing pleases us all.

Of course, renaming a boat is not without its peril.  There are ancient gods of the seas and winds that must be appeased and sailorly superstitions that go back thousands of years that must be adhered to.  Normally, we're not particularly superstitious but in this case we'll make an exception.  The last thing we need is some unhappy ancient god chasing us down.

Thanks to Google and the legendary (among sailors at least) John Vigor we carried out what we believe will be an effective denaming ceremony.  What follows is the text that was read out in an authoritative voice to the assemblage of crew before I poured a full beer across the bows of the boat and into the ocean.  Mr. Vigor's article on denaming and naming can be found here: http://www.johnvigor.com/Denaming.html.

“In the name of all who have sailed aboard this ship in the past, and in the name of all who may sail aboard her in the future, we invoke the ancient gods of the wind and the sea to favor us with their blessing today.

“Mighty Neptune, king of all that moves in or on the waves;

“And mighty Aeolus, guardian of the winds and all that blows before them:

“We offer you our thanks for the protection you have afforded this vessel in the past.  We voice our gratitude that she has always found shelter from tempest and storm and enjoyed safe passage to port.

“Now, wherefore, we submit this supplication, that the name whereby this vessel has hitherto been known, Gypsy Love, be struck and removed from your records.

“Further, we ask that when this vessel is again presented for blessing with another name, she shall be recognized and shall be accorded once again the selfsame privileges she previously enjoyed.

“In return for which, we rededicate this vessel to thy domain in full knowledge that she shall be subject to the immutable laws of the gods of the wind and the sea.

“In consequence whereof, and in good faith, we seal this pact with a libation offered according to the hallowed ritual of the sea.”

The oh so formal denaming ceremony.

Following the denaming I took a few minutes to apply the new name to the stern of the vessel, an important step in the naming of a boat.

After that was done, we got the champagne ready (beer to bid farewell and champagne to say hello) and read the following text (in the same officious manner as before).

"I name this ship Maple. May she bring fair winds, safe passages, and good fortune to all who sail on her.”

And so it was.

Albania Retrospective - Part 1 of 2

If you’re like me, everything you know about Albania you learned from Cheers – which is probably a sad commentary on the quality of my education but we’ll leave that for another day.  It turns out that Albania is a country that has lots to recommend it and is perfect for any intrepid traveller willing to take a chance and make some effort.

An Overview

Albania is located on Greece’s norther border and is spread north along the coastline of the Adriatic.  The south of the country is mountainous and dry.  The landscape is reminiscent of the Southern Okanagan in summer.  As you move north along the coast the land turns from rugged mountains to river deltas and low coastal wetlands – right around Vlore which is about mid-way along the coast.

During World War II Albania was occupied by Axis powers who were violently opposed by communist partisans and others.  Following the war, the Communist Party formed an independent government and as a member of the Warsaw Pact countries supported communist groups in neighbouring countries on its borders.  The Communists in Albania held power for nearly 50 years and were extremely paranoid to the point that they cut themselves off from nearly all foreign interactions and militarized much of their coastline, fearing invasion by NATO forces from the seas.

See the Pillbox - one of 700,000

In the early 90’s Albania held its first democratic elections, and struggled to establish a representative democracy.  Governments have come and gone, through successive scandals including a pyramid scheme that collapsed in the late 90’s costing many thousands of Albanians their life’s savings.  Since the mid 2000’s Albania has begun to re-establish industry and increase tourism with neighbours such as Greece and Italy which can be reached easily by daily ferries from Durres, Vlore and Sarande.  However, many of the remnants of their isolationist past remain and can be seen in the formalities for visiting by yacht and the rough edges of daily life.

Formalities

Yachts are welcome in Albania and can check in at one of four ports, in the North is Shengjin followed as you head south by Durres, Vlore and Sarande.  Courtesy flags can usually be found in Greece if heading north, or may be purchased locally once you arrive. 

Unfortunately, sailing vessels are treated as any large ship and are required to use an agent to handle formalities on arrival.  The Adriatic Pilot 6th Edition and the 777 Harbours and Anchorages guide have recommended agents for each port.  In addition, vessels are required to check in with the authorities at each port visited even once immigration and customs formalities are accomplished.  This may mean you employ 4 different agents to complete paperwork for you at a cost that is not insignificant.  We visited Sarande (where we checked into the country), and Durres.  Agency fees were 70 Euros in Sarande and 50 Euros in Durres. 

While not a low budget item, the use of agents had the benefit of making the clearing in process simple.  We provided the yacht registration and our passports in Sarande and had our entry stamps and approval to visit within ½ hour of arriving.  Clearing out in Durres was equally simple we let our agent know we were leaving and he provided us with our exit papers and handled all of the immigration formalities.  It was surprisingly painless given that we were cruising at the time with a yacht that was not registered in our name.

Agents

Our agents were exceedingly helpful in both Sarande and Durres, offering assistance with directions to key shops and sights in both locations. Their services went beyond that of checking into the country and they were excellent ambassadors for visiting cruisers.

Anchorages

Moored at a questionable pier - Palermos Bay, Albania

There are a few anchorages that can be visited between the port cities, though the Albanian coast is generally not well sheltered from the prevailing summer winds.  When visiting these anchorages it is not necessary to check in, though if the port police happen to be present they may ask for your details to create a record of your visit.

If you wish to stop in at anchorages along the coast the 777 guide is a must have though hard to find in North America.  Get it before you get to Albania as we did not see it for sale locally.

In Part II of this retrospective, I'll provide some details on the costs of our stay in Albania, agents we used, and the places we visited and impressions we formed.

Blood, Sweat & Tears

So what do you know about Albania??  Perhaps you are far more world-wise than me, but I knew not a thing about Albania.  I wouldn’t have been able to identify it on a map before we planned on going there.  So literally as we are sailing from Corfu to Sarandes, Albania, I read in our Adriatic Pilot book the first snippets about this country we are just hours away from arriving to.  Like all European countries it seems, Albania has a long and tumultuous history of invasions and oppression.  I learned this is a country which only since 2005 has successfully democratically elected a Prime Minister who has not to date used their position of power for personal gain.  

Here are some of my favourite tidbits that I read: “Albania remains poor, and crime is a problem in certain areas.  Affluent Western visitors could be a target for robbery….Medical facilities in Albania are poor, especially outside of Tirana, and visitors are advised against having any dental treatment.  Hepatitis and Aids rates are high.  It is advisable to have medical insurance to cover repatriation by air ambulance if necessary…Should you need emergency medical treatment you can call for an ambulance on 127, but the Albanian Tourist Organisation advises that it is quicker to use a taxi…”  

So Darryl and I had many a conversation over the years about medical insurance while we planned for our travels.  Here we come from Canada, where perhaps you have to wait awhile, but eventually you get quality care at no cost.  What do we know about medical care in other countries!?  We all hear the horror stories about people traveling into the US who don’t have adequate medical insurance and end up resorting to one crowd funding campaign or another to bail themselves out of exorbitant medical bills.  But what about other countries out there?!  We follow many a sailing blog and we had a handful of examples given where medical care outside of North America was affordable without insurance.  We realize we took a huge gamble in making this decision for our family to not have medical insurance, but it is the decision we made.  

We arrive to Sarandes on Friday, July 17. The coastline coming into the harbour is stunning.  Loads of buildings line the coastline of Sarandes appearing to be a very developed city, not what I was expecting after what I just read.  We are met by the agent, Agim, who we had arranged to meet us so he could help us check into the country.  Since Albania is still relatively new to tourism and especially personal sailing vessels, the use of an agent here is required to check in and out.  Anchoring is not allowed here and you are required to moor at the ferry dock, where there is 24/7 port police presence.  

Sarandes coastline as we sail (yes, we were actually getting
great winds so sailing was an option) towards the harbour.

On Saturday evening, we had connected with all the grandparents via Skype and had dinner.  The girls were now playing on the front of the boat where we had set up the hammock.  The next thing I hear is this blood curdling scream from Iris.  Now the girls can be dramatic when it comes to injuries so I can’t say I exactly jumped to action when I heard this (I know, a fine example of my mothering instinct).  Fortunately Darryl was on the front of the boat and saw what happened and immediately scooped Iris up and brought her to the cockpit.  By the time he did and I saw her for the first time, I saw my baby literally covered in blood down her face, over her little body and saturating her shorts (as everyone who knows Iris knows, that is all she was wearing).  Now thankfully Darryl is calm when it comes to emergencies, but unfortunately Ella and I are both useless.  I actually thought at one point Ella was going to hyperventilate and pass out she was so panicked.  There I sat with Iris in my arms while Darryl tried to stop the bleeding from a one inch gash on her head along her hairline, at the same time I am trying to remind Ella to take deep breaths as she was in complete panic.  

Now you recall those lovely quotes above about the medical care here, the recommendation to have insurance to cover air ambulance as you could not possibly want to access Albanian health care.  So there began the debate between Darryl and I on how to deal with this injury.  I felt Iris needed stitches, Darryl felt the bleeding was under control and the use of steri-strips would suffice.  After much debate all the while trying to keep Ella from passing out and Iris calm, it was decided steri-strips and a bandaid would do the trick.  We even then walked to get ice cream for the girls as a way to calm them down.  Iris was a rockstar walking down the boardwalk surrounded by well dressed locals while the spectacle that is Iris with her head bandaged, topless, but at least wearing clean shorts.  As she was eating the ice cream the bleeding started up again.  Darryl carried Iris back to the boat and we ventured to look again at the wound. Ella resumed her deep breathing and finally getting another good look at the wound we both agreed that stitches were needed.  

Here we are in a country we have only been in for a day and have never had the experience of receiving medical care outside of Canada.  Talk about a lot of firsts for us in the first two weeks!!!  Darryl asked one of the police officers if they could please call us a taxi (not because that is what the book recommended, but because we didn’t think it warranted an ambulance) so he could take Iris to the hospital.  Within five minutes an ambulance arrived, clearly the request for a taxi ignored, and Darryl and Iris headed to the hospital.  I will admit I was a wreck, allowing the information I had previously read impacting how I responded to this situation.  Logically I knew it was only a cut, not life threatening in the least, especially since Iris showed no concussion symptoms.  But I allowed the one source of information I had bothered to read only hours prior to arriving on the shores of this unknown-to-me country to have a profound impact on how I responded.  

Iris waiting in the hospital at 10pm, she was exhausted here.
I appreciate it is not the most flattering of pictures.

I puttered around the boat trying to keep myself occupied expecting a late night, and was shocked when exactly 45 minutes later, Darryl and Iris returned to the boat.  From the time the ambulance was called to them returning to the boat, only 45 minutes had lapsed.  Now I don’t know if you have been to your local ER recently, but from my recent experience and the experience of my friends, a 45 minute turnaround time is unheard of.  I remember exchanging texts with a friend recently who was ready to eat her own arm because she was so hungry waiting hours for her son to be seen to receive stitches. So for Iris to return with two freshly minted stitches in her head a mere 45 minutes later was out of this world.  

Now the part of this story that makes me tear up when I reflect back on it is the people.  The police officer who sat with Darryl and Iris waiting for the ambulance to arrive to the port, she sweetly kept asking Iris how she was feeling and trying to comfort her.  (Also when she worked next on Monday, she checked in to see how Iris was doing and gave her a kiss.)  The doctor who played with Iris’s cheeks after the stitches were finished.  And the most amazing of all was the agent, Agim, who checked us into the country, arrived as Iris was getting her stitches.  The port police called Agim to let him know what happened and Agim drove to the hospital at 10pm to check in on Iris and then drove Darryl and Iris back to the port.  These amazing people made this scary situation such an incredibly positive experience.  

And I am sure some of you are saying to yourselves, man, I bet they regret not getting that medical insurance now?!!?  Not even two weeks into this crazy new life of theirs and they already need to access medical care?!  Darryl took with him their passports and all the euros and leke (Albanian currency) we had onboard.  When they arrived at the hospital, the paramedics directed them where to sit down.  There was absolutely no in take process at the hospital, no questions about who they were, where they were from or proof of medical coverage requested.  After an ambulance ride to the hospital and a doctor and a nurse working to stitch Iris back up, the whole experience cost us zero dollars.  Agim would not even accept a tip from us when we were paying him for his services as we readied to check out of Sarandes.  

Now of course there are lessons to be learned here.  The girls have a healthier respect for each other’s safety.  Darryl and I need to still allow the girls the freedom to explore and play but ensure they are able to do so in as safe a manner as possible.  But the number one lesson here is that regardless of the perceived struggles of a country, people are largely kind, generous and willing to go beyond to give their time and demonstrate compassion.  As scary of an experience it was, we were blessed to encounter these incredible people who helped us unconditionally and meeting people like these who are more similar to us than different is one of the reasons we have chosen this lifestyle. 

Iris was such a trooper through the whole experience.
The next day she even was up for an hour long ride each
way on a sweaty hot bus for a day exploring
Butrint, a national historical site.

Ups and Downs in Greece

So - we knew there would be some bumps in the road as we made this move, but we didn't think it would be quite so bumpy...that said, the ups (at this moment in time) outweigh the downs.

The downs:
1) A toilet discharge throughull that leaks a bit of effluent into the bilge with use...smells lovely...needs to be fixed at our next haul out.
2) A broken salon hatch...left it open while sailing and it got caught in some sheets - lesson learned.
3) Crazy European heat wave (ugh...it's hot from 8-8 and then just unpleasantly warm all night.  Not that I'm complaining...
4) Searching for boat bits.  Apparently the phrase it's all Greek to me is pretty accurate.  How do Greeks spell shackle?
5) Did I mention the heat?
6) Rushing north to comply with the Greek customs requirement to be out of Greece by the 18th.  Long days of motoring because there is no wind, or it's on the nose.

The ups:
1) Sunsets with the kids.
2) Our first anchoring experience was relatively painless.
3) Looking at the stars with the kids (dark nights are awesome!)
4) Having no schedule and lots of time
5) Swimming off the back of the boat
6) Things are starting to settle down so we can stop and smell the roses.

We're looking forward to completing our hustle North, to being in Albania and taking a bit more time to just chill.  Also looking forward to getting an Albanian SIM card so we can update this more frequently.

Thanks to all our readers and well wishers.  Until next time!

Grexit

Grexit...it's one of those combined words the media like.  Akin to Bennifer or TomKat.  The name alone is almost enough to make me sick to my stomach.  The word, of course, refers to the potential exit of Greece from the Euro and from the EU.  It seems harmless enough, but, nice you add in the impact that the current financial challenges in Greece are having on folks you realize that the word Grexit should make you sick to your stomach for any number of reasons.

It could be the queue of people we see at nearly every ATM (citizens are limited to 60 Euros withdrawal daily), it could be the fact that many stores are refusing to accept Credit Cards, preferring cash which allows them to skirt the withdrawal limit, or it might be the fact that in the last week alone, Greece has lost 40,000 jobs as a result of the uncertainty surrounding their inclusion in the Euro Zone and the future of their economy.

It's also impacting our family.  We can't buy many of the things we had anticipated due to the requirement for cash, but we have the chance to leave and the funds to do so...which places us head and shoulders over those who must stay.  So far we love Greece and we do plan to come back, but for now it's just too uncertain and difficult so we will be heading North to Albania, Montenegro and Croatia for the summer hopefully to return to Greece in the fall when cooler temperatures and heads will hopefully prevail.

Regardless of whether we come back to a country that uses the Euro or one that uses the Drachma, I expect that some time will allow things to work out and we will ultimately be welcomed back.  I only hope that it is sorted out quickly, particularly for people like the older lady we saw searching for food in the grocery store dumpster this morning.

First solo sail...

Another huge milestone for us.  On Friday we left Preveza Greece to sail south to Lefkas...its not a huge distance but it was our first solo sail as a family.  And our first sail on this boat.

Here are my first impressions:

1) The boat is well set up for solo sailing except for the fact that the mainsail is raised at the mast.  This means one of us has to go forward to raise the sail.  Not a big deal except if you're sailing alone and trying to keep the boat pointed into the wind.  I suppose that's what the autopilot is for, or I could lock the wheel...I'll have to experiment with that.

2) The mainsail takes forever to raise.  This is largely due to to the fact that it is rigged with a 2:1 block.  It makes raising the main easier due to mechanical advantage but takes twice as long...and it's a lot of halyard (that's rope for you non-sailors) left sitting at your feet when you're done...

3) Sailing with the kids is going to take some getting used to.  Janet and I want to focus on moving the boat, making sure that its behaving well, and the kids want the regular amount of attention.  We'll have to train that out of them.  Both kids said they were sea-sick but I don't know if I'm buying it.  No vomit so maybe they were just a bit queasy.

4) Med-mooring is going to take practice.  When we got to Lefkas we headed to Lefkas marina.  I don't intent to spend too much time in marinas moving forward but we don't have a dinghy yet so anchoring out is not possible.  That's why we're in Lefkas - hopefully we will be on our way by Tuesday with a dinghy so we can spend more time at anchor (free) vs marinas (cheap to very expensive).  Anyway, backing this behemoth into a specific space while securing mooring lines resulted in some expletives and some bouncing of the boat off a concrete pier.  Nobody and nothing was damaged, but frustrating and less than confidence building.  As our friend Leah says over at withbrio, everyone does it, and the best thing to do is move on with life so we're hoping for a better performance next time.

All in all, we're pleased with the boat and looking forward to some more firsts...

On living simply

One of the appealing parts of living on a boat is the simplicity that doing so offers.  Every day you’re face to face with the elements, the water and wind dictate your course and you are the master of your own destiny.  Living life intentionally and being self-sufficient should mean we have less stuff.  Simple is good because there is less to break (and things are easier to fix). 

I thought we were doing a good job of simplifying…whittling our possessions down one garage sale, one craigslist posting, one charity donation at a time.  We eliminated our house, all of our furniture, many of the girls and my toys, tools, cars, camping gear, kitchen gear, Christmas decorations and numerous items of miscellany. 

So how come we still have so much stuff to take with us?

 

8 checked bags (in the era of extra fees for everything short of using the head – though some have suggested charging for that), 3 maxed out carry ons, 2 backpacks crammed with camera gear and other sensitive items.  I’ve never felt so relieved to board a 10 hour transatlantic flight in coach – at least I didn’t have to wrangle bags and kids for a while.

Confession time - I wrote all of the above while flying from Vancouver to Paris, where we planned to overnight before heading on to Greece.  Trouble is, we didn't have a connecting flight, we booked the legs separately.  Those who know travel will know that this means our bags were not through checked...

Needless to say I had the pleasure of schlepping all 8 50lb bags through the airport, onto the airport tram to the terminal where we could check our bags overnight for a low low fee of 170 Euros...we then took the train into Paris and went to bed.  

Hindsight is 20/20 but I know now that I should have just booked a hotel room in the Paris airport and been done with it...  The story of how they won't let luggage carts onto the airport tram, and the visual of me literally throwing bags and kids on and off the train to make sure we all got to where we are going together is right out of the 3 stooges.

But no matter, we made it to Greece and to the boat and I never have to move that much luggage again...  Now - we’re on our way!

I’ll share about the 7 boxes of stuff we’re having shipped some other time.