Rhodes

I am overwhelmed by the history of Rhodes. The old city, a UNESCO site, is much bigger than I would have expected. Pretty much the entire city within the old walls has been restored. It is heavily dedicated to tourist shops but when you get beyond one or two streets you start to see courtyards, offices, and museums that are tucked away into the restored buildings. It must be an incredible place to work. There are some boutique hotels in the old city that I can only imagine being a great experience.

We found a couple restaurants that were a courtyard oasis away from the hustle and bustle. There were fewer tourists as they are on a boat schedule and may not have had the time to search out the less occupied spaces. 

We had a couple trips into Rhodes the city – both old town and “new” town. We found some great spots to enjoy including a great barber shop with a bar across the road for waiting ladies and a marvelous butcher – a couple great BBQ’s followed. ;)

While Harry was with us, we visited Lindos. Lindos has a tremendous castle built around the Helenistic ruins. To get to the castle, the kids opted to ride donkeys. We dutifully followed, not too closely, and made our way to the top. Much of this trip has been exploring antiquity. It is interesting to see the magnitude of former epocs. You get a real sense of the size of the economy and society as you wander through these structures from ages ago. Again we found a great little courtyard to have a coffee. I’m truly inspired by what we might create in our backyard in Toronto. These places have very little space but do great things to create an atmosphere you want to relax in. Perhaps the sunshine and climate helps too.

Back to Rhodes we visited the palace of the magistrate (from the order of St Johns) which housed some artifacts from 2500 years ago as well as more recently, say 500 years.

We stayed in Rhodes for a few days, first to get the battery replaced which was done on time and on budget (far surpassing my expectations) and then because we wanted to shelter from the winds for a couple days. We had a bit of a swell in the marina which was less than desirable but by Wednesday, we knew it was time to leave when a tractor was leveling a field behind the boat. This on top of leaf blowing at 9pm the night before we took as a hint.

Our next stop was a sail to Symi where we relaxed in a very scenic seaside village before heading out the next day to Nimysos where we hope to see a volcano!

The sailing part is increasingly becoming comfortable. We completed our med-style berthing (stern to with ancor off bow) with little fuss and muss. We navigated without much difficulty. We handled the sea conditions and wind as needed. Every day is a learning experience but we seem to be climbing the curve quickly. Not to get cocky, however, as I’m sure the sea will humble us if we get that way.

Kevin

From Cyprus to Greece

Family and friends,

We have left Cyprus and are in Rhodes, Greece.

Let me bring you up to speed. Once our course was finished, we had only a couple things that were mandatory to repair before we left Cyprus: we had to get our dingy and we had a few electronics items to address. The dingy was repaired on budget and on schedule. The electronics were more difficult as the Raymarine rep is in high demand and limited quantity (one).

Once Raymarine visited our boat, first to hear the issue first hand, then to book a sea trial to experience it (the next day), then to diagnose a faulty part, he had to order the part. He agreed to repair it elsewhere on the island so we were able to start our journey albeit with a limited capability depth sounder (tells you how deep the water is which is important when your boat has a keel with a 2 meter draft (depth below the waterline).

We were leaving Cyprus from Latsi on the northwest part of the island. As this is a 12 hour sail, we decided to break it up into 2 parts of 4 hours and 8 hours. This would have been a great idea had it not been for the headwinds and then high gusty winds that were with us through our first anchorage in Psouri Bay. Psouri being greek for “crazy winds from the cliffs that will cause you to drag anchor and reset in pitch black at 11pm stressing out the neighbouring yacht.” OK not really. We learned all about the proper ratio of rode (anchor chain) to depth and the importance of basic math. This combined with a watch through the night ensured we kept safe at anchor while winds gusted to 25 knots.

The second leg of our journey was much more civilized. We had lots of swell (which translates to a bumpy ride even in a 13.75 meter boat) but made it generally in line within our expected time.

At Latsi, we couldn’t find the harbor master anywhere (who tells you where you can berth the boat) but a helpful Captain Zorbas (yes that is his name) got us to the right place where we squeezed between two yachts in the crowded little harbor.

In Latsi the kids fell in love with a splotchy fuzzy cat and we made friends with the owner of a local restaurant, Sea Fare, who shared with us deserts, pieces of fruit, and a jar of honey. The meals were delicious too, of course. The restaurant owner was a lovely woman who had lived in Long Island but returned to Cyprus after the tragic death of her 21 year old son who was in an accident while on vacation.

Leaving Latsi was a minor challenge. Raymarine was on time and repaired the depth sounder on time however we had a challenge with getting fuel. I had arranged delivery however the supplier wanted to deliver to our boat at the berth (very convenient) which was only allowed before 9am. We agreed this would happen the day of departure but it took a call from our friend Harry’s brother, Angelos, to ensure it happened on time. Angelos has an established charter boat business in Cyprus and is well known in the marinas there. Thank goodness Harry was doing the passage with us and didn’t hesitate to bring Angelos reputation to bear on our problem.

We had decided to make for Kastelorizo, a 24 hour sail, because there were high winds forecast and we thought doing a 36 hour trip to Rhodes may be a bit risky if conditions changed. Also, we hadn’t done a long passage like that before so we weren’t sure how everyone would feel. The trip to Kastelorizo, our first full overnight sail was uneventful. At landfall we were met by a local restaurant owner who was eager to sell us food while offering free electricity and water. He made it very clear that his 47 years experience made him an expert in greek yogurt and docking boats. We needed the electricity as we were having trouble with our batteries and weren’t sure what was happening but our boat was hesitant to start by times.

Although tired, we had coffee and breakfast, did our customs, port police, and harbor check ins (this was about a 3 hour elapsed process which I will explain one day) and then set about to see the local sites. A medieval castle overlooks a traditional harbor. The hike up the hill was a welcome relief from the confines of the boat. It was interesting to see how the traditional castle had been reinforce in places with hidden gun turrets that where used in the second world war.

We left Kastelorizo that evening for Rhodes. Very heavy winds were in the forecast and we wanted to be in Rhodes marina for a bit more comfort and things to do if we were going to be in one place for a few days.

That overnight sail this time was very eventful. We had winds, waves, rain, as well as thunder and lightening. It was a bit unnerving to watch the bolt lightening hit the seas as the storm passed. Having grown up near lakes the only thing we knew of lightening storms was that we shouldn’t be in them. There wasn’t much choice but to continue toward our destination. Another boat had left Kastelorizo for Rhodes about the same time and we followed its lights ahead of us for most of the trip. Following someone was a surprising comfort. Overall I think we did great. Margaret and Sheila shared watches with Harry and me. Everyone was safety conscious, maintained thorough logs, and handled the uncertainty very well. I must make a special call out to Margaret. Being in a small boat in a storm in the dark and keeping your head about you takes strength of character and internal fortitude. I’m proud of her family teamwork and contributions.

Rhodes Marina is all we wanted. It is close to the old city (30 min walk or 5 min cab), quiet, newly built with a slightly hip coffee shop, nice bathrooms with free showers (yes this matters A LOT), laundry and other services nearby.

We will be here a couple more days as we are replacing the faulty engine battery and I may get ambitious and replace the holding tank hose.

Rhodes will be worth a whole other blog post. It is an incredible island.

Kevin

\

Theo drew this to represent what he wrote.

I learned that you can have lots of fun in a rocking boat. I saw nine or ten dolphins and two sea turtles. I was with my mom dad and sister. My sister slept, my parents did things and I read books. I drove the boat in one direction. The cool thing about the trip is that we got to anchor and stay at this one place over night. The bad news was that my parents had to stay up all night to make sure we didn’t drift away. I can’t believe how fast dolphins are. Our next trip will be very long, more than two days. :D I am also now elite on block city wars. The sailing trip is going to be fun.

Theo

Preparing Forty Two; Preparing her crew

We’ve been busy getting ourselves ready as well as Forty Two.

For ourselves we are essentially doing a customized cruising course through True North which brings our ICC to life. We are practicing all the basics on our own boat. Our comfort grows by the day and we’ve been able to successfully do all the basic things we need to do. Now the final ingredient is experience, experience, experience.

Forty Two had a few surprises for us as well. We’ve had to purchase a few things and repair a few things. On the purchase front, we needed to update some mooring lines, get a second anchor and rode (we bought a Danforth for our second anchor as it packs flat and should cover us for sea bed conditions around the med), a radar reflector (so other boats can see us at night), boat hook, cleaning supplies, lights, navigation tools (for paper based navigation), courtesy flags, spare flares, larger flag pole, winch handle, and a few other odds and sods.

On the repair front, we’ve replaced a pump for the shower, had some electrical repairs to ensure lights and the freezer work, a minor engine check, and still pending…ensuring our navigation instruments are all configured and working properly (that hopefully will happen in a day or so). We’ve also recently learned our dingy had a split seam and our holding tank is blocked.

The dingy can be repaired (read money and time). The holding tank has been an adventure.

Harry was on the boat helping deal with a few things and we basically worked our way through to determine that the holding tank was full and we had a leak around the sea cock (which allows it to drain into the sea – a system designed to irritate envrionmentalists). Basically this means things stink and are messy. This condition has existed for some time – we just didn’t realize as we’ve been living in the marina and using the facilities there.

We determined Saturday we’d have “operation Poo” and drain things out to sea. The family dutifully set to sea in the morning ahead of the winds, got a few miles out, and opened up. Nothing happened. We checked for a potential vacuum in the system, we tried putting some water in, nothing helped. Figuring a blockage hopefully near the exit, Margaret dove into the water and tried to prod things to move – ready to race away quickly should she be successful. It was a noble attempt but alas not successful. As the swell grew and the winds started to pick up, we remembered that we wanted to get back before the winds grew strong that day. We declared it great teamwork and learning and went back to port.

This week we are practicing a “passage” with our brilliant instructor, Dimitris, and have a morning’s rest in Larnaca Marina. Sheila, Margaret and me have all practiced our skills and we have an able crew. Back to operation Poo, we have scheduled a pump out so the holding tank issue can be better diagnosed. Wish us luck!

We’ve got some final repairs and provisioning (hopefully our dingy) due on Wednesday which means we’ve been preparing to leave Cyprus for Greece. It is closer by the day and we hope to get underway for more distant shores within a few days.

.......

A brief update on “Project Poo”. Our ever capable instructor, Dimitris, was able to connect with someone who could pump out the holding tank. He committed to come help between 11 and 12 am so we changed our sailing plans and waited for the expert.

He arrived promptly some time after 12 and set to work. With pump out, flush, pump out, flush, etc…all was resolved within 30 minutes. The very last bit was determined to cling to the boat but eventually gave way. We believe we have the problem resolved.

We still have some clean up to do but I want to buy some gloves, you get the idea.

What about school?

Hey guys, Margaret here.

Here are some much requested answers to the questions I have received about how I am still doing school in another country.

So to start I must clarify that I have had a very abnormal high school experience. Most people will go to one high school for all four years. Nope, not me, I have changed schools more times than years I've been to high school.

What my years have looked like so far

Grade 8: left my middle school to become homeschooled. I chose to do this because I was a very competitive ski racer who missed too many days of school to keep up... So I left, homeschooled myself  and enjoyed my time.

Highschool:
Grade 9: After being homeschooled for majority of grade 8 I knew that I wanted to go to a "real" high school. This of course caused stress finding one that would let me pursue skiing. Then I found one, Vaughan Road Academy. This school had a program called INTERACT which let highly competitive people do what they love while still working towards a high school diploma. This school worked well for me all of grade 9. I started at 9am and finished at noon everyday. However, there was one downside; the commute. On most days I would leave an hour and a half to get there by transit. All that to say, I was overall happy with how Interact worked out.

Grade 10: I wanted to get more into skiing, so I changed schools. I went to the National Ski Academy. I trained harder than I ever had before, training internationally and locally. This school was a boarding school that I lived at, I had two roommates and about 10 other house mates. Majority of the people attending this school lived in Collingwood and stayed at home with their families only coming to the school when we had classes or training. Although my skiing improved, this school was not the right fit for me. I worked with a school in Toronto to get me in for second semester. Eventually I left the National Ski Academy to attend Monarch Park Collegiate Institute, a school near my home in Toronto. I officially started second semester at Monarch in January, as my ski season was still in session. This meant many missed classes and had to work extra hard to keep myself afloat. On average from January to the beginning of April I was attending 1-3 days a week of school at Monarch. I cannot stress enough that this took a lot of work and a lot of cooperation from both me and the very accepting staff at Monarch. Once I settled into a more regular schedule at home and moved out of Collingwood I was able to attend school more regularly. I made friends quickly thanks to the amazing people who welcomed me and I also was helped by teachers and the guidance department to make my school life more manageable.

Grade 11: The first month of grade 11 I was back at Vaughan Road Academy. However Vaughan is closing this year which made the resources available for interact limited. I knew that the set up they had going would not be the right fit for me (please note that the interact program is moving schools because Vaughan Road Academy is closing). So I worked with the staff at Monarch to get me in to first semester. After a month of more work and compromises, I was back at Monarch. Average life of a teenager was back in swing, and then... things got interesting. 

My parents told me that we were staring this trip and leaving at the beginning of April. That meant no second semester for me. I was happy of course about trip but not so enthused that it meant doing my own schooling again. This meant trying to find an affordable way to still reach my goal of graduating on time. As second semester finished I had a couple months to work hard and figure out how I was going to make school work. Thankfully, I did and I have described them below. 

Here's how I am currently doing school 

 local cafe's with wifi are my new classroom 

No easy task this is. It requires dedication and self motivation to complete an online course at your own pace. There will always be the voice saying that you can do it tomorrow running through your head. To be successful, you need to shut off that voice and get working. 

The second week of our trip I was doing an exam. Yep, that's right, an exam. I was doing a course with Blyth Online  that I had to finish up. I do recommend Blyth Online as a good option for getting an extra credit or doing schooling abroad. You are assigned a teacher who thoroughly marks your work and will help answer any questions you have. Unfortunately, this comes at a price, $500 per course. So I set out to find a more reasonably priced option. And that is how I came across the Independent Learning centre  (ILC). 

ILC is for Ontario high school students. And the best part... $40 per course! With prices that low I couldn't help myself but sign up for four courses (a full course load and the most you're allowed to take at one time). I personally do think that Blyth is a better set up for courses and more equipped for students who will be away from Canada for a long time but ILC works fairly well at a fraction of the price. One thing to note about ILC is some of the courses are on paper. I have two courses right now, entirely given to me in workbooks. I find that this makes the submission process overall messier and more complicated than it has to be. Right now however, I am less familiar with ILC courses and how they work. Getting used to a new program is of course challenging at best. So right now I am working with two fully online ILC course and two paper ones. 

What my day to day looks like

On average I would say I spend about three solid hours working on school work a day. Recently it has been closer to 7 hours with studying for my exam and a culminating project. But each day is not clearly laid out for me, I make my own plan and it is my responsibility to execute it. The great thing about this is if you miss a day, you're not behind. You can work schoolwork into your schedule instead of working your schedule around schoolwork. This is helpful when living on a boat. 

Questions 

If anyone has any questions about sports and school or homeschooling or just the online resources available, I have built a fairly good base for recommendations and am happy to help. If you'd like to understand more about how I am making this work, feel free to ask. 

-Margaret 

Why Forty Two

(Pictured: our beautiful boat)

Why Forty Two?

When we bought the boat, it was registered in Delaware. Nothing against our American friends but we wanted a Canadian boat so we could fly the Canadian Flag. So the adventure of registering in Canada began. It took many weeks, and there were many iterations with Transport Canada Registrars and a tonnage expert, but we were successful!

One of the requirements of registration is to submit three name choices. Forty Two was the name we were allowed to use. 

So inevitably, we are asked often, “Why Forty Two?”

It is simple, Forty Two is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. When Sheila was but a young thing, CBC radio played the BBC series “Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams. For once, her Dad didn’t have to drag her out of bed in the morning. She’d jump up to listen. This show awakened a life long love of science fiction/fantasy literature (the love of silliness was already well established).

In the series, a group of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings build a supercomputer, Deep Thought, to find “the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything”. After 7.5 million years of computing…it produced the answer….42.

So when we needed to rename the boat to register it in Canada, somehow, taking a year away from our “usual” lives the answer 42 seemed appropriate!

If you decide to read the book (much better than any movie or TV series made), you will learn that “There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory mentioned, which states that this has already happened”

So friends, we are on a journey of discovery and we will let you know if being on a boat for several months brings one any closer to the answer to life, the universe, and everything (we suspect it has something to do with home being the best place while enjoying the company of great friends and family while sharing a meal).