No one told me there would be gifts! .....Manfredonia to Santa Maria di Leuca

 Since arriving in Italy we have been deluged with gifts.  Something neither of us had expected; but, then, that was only because neither of us had given it any thought.  We both should have known better.  When Bill worked in the designer loose furnishings business dealing with manufacturers of mega-yachts he had occasion to travel to Italy for business several times.  On his first trip he hired a translator – a man who is an attorney with numerous additional university degrees, including master’s in symbionics and in international business.  Bill arrived several days prior to his business appointments so that he could be instructed how to conduct business in Italy.  Americans normally begin by going straight to the matter at hand; we get right down to business immediately; we tend to be far more abrupt.  In Italy, first one meets the client or potential business partner and has lengthy conversation.  This genial conversation is never about the business about to be transacted; this is the period of becoming acquainted as people, not as business client or partner but simply as people.  And small gifts are always exchanged.  Often a coffee is shared.  This conversation might last 5 minutes or 2 hours…and then finally it is time to discuss the actual reason of the business meeting. 

When we arrived at Marina del Gargano in Manfredonia the marina manager gifted us with 2 hats.  This has happened a few times previously, almost always when the marina is newly opened.  The hats are good advertising for the new marina because sailors are always wearing caps and we are always sailing to new destinations – gets the word out about any new marina.  So we did not think anything special about receiving 2 caps from this newly opened marina.

Ahhh, but then our clearance agent, Mario, arrived in the office bearing a couple of small gifts, a nice calendar and a fistful of ink pens, things that all cruisers can always use.  That is when the light bulb lit up!  Ahhh, the gift tradition!  Bill told the agent that we also had a gift for him but it was on the boat.  Later, when Mario came to our boat, we gifted him with a bottle of California wine.  No way it is as good as the Italian wine, but it is something from our country.

 

Then 3 police officers arrived to clear our passports.  We talked with them for a few minutes about non-clearance related things and Bill gave the ‘top guy’ a small gift – a shoulder patch for the Harris County Sheriff’s Department.  We are friends with Sheriff Adrian Garcia and he had given us some patches to distribute to police and harbormasters as we sail around the world.  It is a favored tradition in all police departments worldwide to collect and share these type shoulder patches.  This was the last patch we had aboard so we need to get a few more from Adrian when next in Houston.  I was glad that Bill instinctively knew which of the 3 guys was the top ranking official.  The other 2 men were in uniform; their boss was in partial uniform and more casually dressed.  He said something to his assistant and a patch was produced to give to us.  We did not recognize this patch but it was explained that it is a patch for what is the equivalent to a CSI television show broadcast in Italy.  Once the gifts were exchanged and off-topic conversation enjoyed, then it was time to sit down and handle passport clearance.

Just before we departed Manfredonia, Mario delivered the clearance document.  And he arrived bearing even more gifts!  A bag for each of us.  We each received another cap and a tee-shirt with his company logo – MdG, Ditta MARIO de GIROLAMO sas, Shipping & Forwarding Agents, phone 0884/581030.  Again, good advertising when we wear these elsewhere.  The bags also contained more ink pens, a bottle of Castello D’Albola 2010 Chianti Classico, and 2 large bags of some kind of circle breadstick things that are local to this region.  We have not yet tried the wine but we are rapidly devouring these breadstick circles.  These are wonderful!  I have never tasted anything like these.  These circles contain some spice that I cannot quite identify and it is delicious.  Maybe a slight hint of anise?  Just cannot put my finger on it.  So I will just keep eating them trying to figure it out.  Yeah…that’s the reason I cannot stop snacking on these circles…because I am trying to figure out that flavor.

2 ports so far & LOTS of gifts received from very nice people

More gifts!!  When we finally checked in with the office of the Marina di Leuca yesterday, the clerk gifted us with a large box containing a bottle of white wine (chardonnay and sauvignon blanc blend), a bottle of Negroamaro (merlot) wine, a bag of handmade pasta, a jar of homemade red pasta sauce, and a jar of locally grown black olives.  What a nice surprise!  The wines are from the Santi Dimitri winery near Galatina in the nearby Salento region of Italy.  The winery has been in production for centuries. This is part of the Vallone family’s estate which can be traced back to1690 when Angelo Vallone began acquiring several plots of land in Terra d’Otranto, known today as Salento.  In 1996 Vincenzo Vallone creates the Santi Dimitri brand with the aim of extending the old family business with a modern perspective.  His mission is to produce the highest quality wine and olive oil. http://www.santidimitri.it/   If we were more adventurous we would rent a car and try to find the estate.  It is located not too distant from Gallipoli, which is where is tomorrow’s sailing destination.

We departed Manfredonia with intentions of an overnight passage and stopping in Otranto.  Isabel, previously on S/V Excalibur, had told us that Otranto was a jewel and not to miss it.  We were happy to skip Bari and Brindisi because those are just big cities with nothing special to offer, but we were looking forward to the medieval town of Otranto.  Our passage had been faster than anticipated, probably because of the benefit of the south-setting current on this side of the Adriatic Sea.  We arrived outside Otranto around 08:00, about 4 hours earlier than planned.  Unfortunately, when we arrived the seas were rolling into the harbor so heavily that we nixed the idea of stopping.  We did not even get within 3 miles of the harbor entrance; it was clear that the harbor would be very uncomfortable or untenable with the 4-meter seas rolling directly toward the entrance. 

  

So, quick change of plans.  We would continue the 28 miles down to a marina at Santa Maria di Leuca on the southern tip of the heel of the boot of Italy.  Within seconds of our making this decision the Bari Radio announced a VHF call that a gale warning was issued for the Southern Adriatic and Northern Ionian for that afternoon.  Our decision to get on down to Leuca was fortuitous.  We would be inside the marina well before the forecasted gale.  For what it is worth, we did not see another boat until near Brindisi.  From Brindisi to the southern tip of the heel we saw a total of 3 sailboats.  No charter boats over on this side.  And darn few cruisers.  Also, after having sailed southward down the eastern coast of Italy it is plain to see why so few cruisers choose to sail northward up this coast to Venice.  Sailing southward is a breeze; you could not pay be enough to get me to sail northward.  It would be a most unpleasant trip.  No wonder boats usually go across to Croatia in order to get up to Venice.  That is the only sensible way to do it.

A giant lost his jacks!

We arrived at Marina di Leuca at 14:00.  We had tried calling for a reservation but got a recording (in Italian, of course, so we had no idea what it said).  We had emailed but got no response.  We prepped the boat for docking stern-to and headed in anyway, thinking surely there would be someone around to help us with dock lines.  Yeah, well think again.  We circled for an hour inside the small harbor.  The transient dock is the long outside pontoon of the marina and there were few boats moored, with plenty of wide open spaces between those few boats; most appeared to have been left here while owners traveled elsewhere.  Bill blasted the air horn several times attempting to gain attention of someone in the office.  No joy.  There were people walking on the docks and a few people on their boats on the interior side of the long pontoon but no one would help us with dock lines.  Bill asked one guy walking on the dock if he would catch a dock line from us and he said no.  Well, aren’t these folks just really friendly!!!

The giant concrete jacks make good and easy breakwater wall.
These are fabricated on the dock locally.

We finally decided to try to do it alone.  With a 20-knot cross wind on the beam, this was questionable.  On our first attempt we were able to pick up one of the laid lines but it seemed to go on forever.  While we were still pulling the thin line (before ever getting to the thicker line), the wind blew us too far.  I was afraid we were going to collide with the shiny big motor yacht docked nearby.  So we dropped the laid line back into the water and circled another 20 minutes before gathering courage to try once again.   This time we backed in very close to a sailboat on the windward side, with intentions of securing a stern line before dealing with the laid line to the bow.  We have a very powerful bow thruster and could control the bow with the thruster until could get the laid line secured…if we could just first secure a port stern line.  For the first time ever I was able to reach one of the metal rings on the side of the dock and thread a line through.  Thanks to the stern arch we had installed last year.  I was able to hang onto it with one hand while threading the rope through the dock ring with the other hand; retrieved the bitter end and fed it back through the chock and cleated it with lots of excess line.  While I was doing this, Bill tied a short small line to the shroud of the docked sailboat next to us and secured it to the base of one of our stanchions.  This held us from being blown to the right and into that fancy motor yacht.  Bill jumped off the stern onto the dock and pulled as much of the excess of the laid line up onto the dock as he could get.  I grabbed the laid line and began working it toward the bow; Bill jumped back onto the boat and went to the bow to secure the laid line while I tended the helm and throttle.  Once we had one laid line to the bow and one stern line secured, doing the other 2 lines was easy.  Then Bill removed the short line he had tied to the shroud of the boat on the port side.  That was quick thinking!  Nice that there was a boat next to us with no one aboard so that we were able to tie that line to hold us in place.  As ‘friendly’ as the folks here were acting, if the owners had been aboard they probably would not have let us tie off onto their boat like that.

Between 17:00 and 18:00 many boats arrived and filled this long dock.  And there was a man wearing a shirt with the words ‘Marina Man’ printed on the back who was assisting each boat dock.  We learned that the office is not staffed until 16:00 on Sundays; no idea what time they work on weekdays.  Maybe we need to file that in memory for future marinas and docks.  Maybe they all close from 13:00 to 16:00 like all the shops.  Heck, even the large supermarket in Manfredonia was closed during those hours.  Would not surprise me if marinas close for that long lunch too.

I did not write much about Manfredonia.  There were several tourist walking routes; plenty of the usual touristy things like old churches and towers and convents and a castle.  I think few foreign tourists visit this part of Italy.  I also think Manfredonia is geographically situated in an excellent spot for cruising boats, both those sailing southward from Venice and for those crossing to Italy from Croatia.  If one clears out at Ubli on Lastovo then the crossing from Croatia to Italy is only about 82 NM rather than the 183 NM from Dubrovnik to Bari or from Cavtat to Brindisi.  Add in the fact that Manfredonia is an official clearance port, whereas Viests and Trani and the few other places one can stop on this coastline are not official clearance ports.  I think this make Manfredonia a perfect place to arrive in Italy or to stop when leaving Venice.  The new marina is very nice.  The town is not attractive when viewed from the sea but has its charm once one is ashore and walking the streets.  The pedestrian street of Manfredi has some beautiful old architecture.  I hope more cruisers discover Manfredonia in the coming years now that there is such a nice marine here.

A Pajare for cool shelter in summer heat

Santa Maria di Leuca is where we are today.  Situated on the southern side of the heel tip of the boot of Italy. Nearby are all the usual things to see: many old churches, a 16^th tower, Basilian crypts, mausoleums and ruins of Vereto, an ancient Greek-Messapic town.  Scattered throughout the countryside are numerous Pajare.  This is something new to us.  A Pajare is a dry-stone building similar to truncated conic trulli; ancient places used as shelters from the heat of summer.  I have scanned an image of one from the tourist brochure because I am not walking out in the countryside to take a photo.  I can see some of these but they are too distant for photography.

 

Leuca is ancient.  Even Neanderthal remains have been discovered in some of the caves, and there are gadjillions of caves around here!  The caves are the first thing noticed when arriving by sea. There is a shrine inside one of the caves that dates to 8^th century B.C. when people worshipped the god Batios (Jupiter), and later, the goddesses Venus and Fortune.

Another cave has a shrine consecrated to the cult of the Holy Virgin during the earliest centuries of Christianity.  This shrine arose in the place where earlier there had been a pagan temple dedicated to the goddess Minerva.  All very interesting if we were not already sort of burned out on the whole idea of ancient ruins after seeing so much of it in Turkey.

Mussolini's steps - Gateway to Italy 

The name Leuca derives from the Greek word ‘leucos’ which translated to white or bright.  This is attributed to the vast amount of bright white limestone that abounds in this region.  From our marina berth are visible the steps up the hillside which were ordered carved by Mussolini as a ceremonial monument as the Gateway to Italy.  These steps could use a good pressure washing to revive their white appearance.

Glad to be back in the Ionian Sea.  As I posted on Facebook:

Glad we did the Adriatic Sea.  

And, glad we are done with it!

Landfall at Marina del Gargano in Manfredonia

Sun rise in middle of Adriatic Sea

In the very wee hours on 9 September we quietly slipped the stern dock lines and departed the Priv.Vela Lago Marina at Hotel Solitude in the NE corner of the large bay on the western side of the island of Lastovo.  We are thankful to Chuck and Alexis, previously on S/V Cyan, for letting us know that it is possible to clear out of Croatia at Ubli on Lastovo.  This is not listed as a clearance port on Noonsite.com but is mentioned in the Adriatic pilot book.  We will notify Noonsite with the info to add to their website.  We would not have found Ubli had not Chuck and Lexxy told us about it.  Thanks!  Because clearing out at Ubli on Lastovo provides the shortest route over to Italy.  The closest port in Italy is at Vieste; and we have heard of yachts being able to partially clear in there and complete the rest of formalities in Brindisi; but we opted to go an additional 30 NM or so farther south of Vieste to the nearest official clearance port of Manfredonia.  Plus, there is a nice new marina in Manfredonia.  And a clearance agent since we do not speak Italian.  We think it will be nice to marina hop as much as possible down the eastern coast of Italy.  There are not a lot of sheltered anchoring options along this coast for boats with 2.1 meter draft. 
As always, click on any image for larger view. 

Porpoises came to play with our bow 8NM from Italy

We had previously contacted Mario de Girolamo regarding handling clearance formalities for us.  Mario is an agent for cargo ships; I think we might be the first small private yacht which he has cleared in.  He first quoted us a high fee but then reduced his fee to what we considered reasonable.  Since we do not speak Italian we thought it best to let the professional deal with authorities. 

Look closely. Dark spot in water just to left of sail.
That is one of the porpoises leaving after playing with us.

Probably 2 dozen sailors we have known who went on westward ahead of us over the past 3 1/2 years had told us how easy it is to clear into Italy and that passports are never stamped. That worried us somewhat since we will be flying out of the airport in Rome in early December.  The airport immigration officials might not like us leaving the country when there were no records of us ever arriving in this country.  Bill and I were leery of being in a country without proper passport clearance.  This is no different than the Mexicans who cross the border in the USA.  We did not want to take any chances of having 'Illegal Alien' stamped into our passports when we departed Rome.  If that happens then there is a monetary fine AND the illegal alien cannot return to the EU for a period of 5 years.  This would be a very, very bad thing! 

See the white dots.  Hundreds of these.  A very strange fish
farm.  Hate to get tangled in that on a dark night!

Turned out that we should not have worried about this prior to arrival.  Because the officials did stamp our passports.   Three policemen came to the marina, spoke with us and looked at our boat, and then spoke with the agent Mario.  They were all talking loudly and we did not understand any of it, except we did hear the highest ranking guy say Schengen a few times and the officer carrying the case containing the stamps also mentioned Schengen.  Either the days of 'not caring' are over now that the SIS2 computer system is online for every country, or we just happened to clear in at a port where the officials are more rigorous.  Anyway, the officials here do care about proper Schengen clearance.  We are legally cleared into Italy now, both the yacht and our persons.  We have the Constitudo (cruising permit) and our passports display arrival stamps.  All is good!  Should not encounter any issues when fly out of Rome.

First moon looked red/orange

And then moon looked pale yellow.
Later it was white.

The next day we walked miles and miles through the town of Manfredonia.  First goal was to find a TIM cell phone store to purchase SIMs for the iPhone and the 3G data modem.  Other cruisers had told us that the TIM network offers the largest area coverage and usually the best deals for usage costs.  The walk to the TIM shop was nice.  It is much warmer here in Italy than it was in Croatia.  Strange, since we are basically on same latitude; but, for whatever reason, it is much warmer here in Italy.  We walked to the TIM shop downtown during the morning hours and it was pleasant.  Good exercise.  

Marina del Gargano

Marina del Gargano

With much issue and help from Skype and webcams to the main office, we managed to purchase the 2 SIMs from the clerk who spoke not a word of English.  At first we were all 3 at a complete loss to communicate.  Then I spotted some cards on one of the 
display cases that 

Mostly empty Marina del Gargano

Waters here have more jellyfish than
we have seen since Indonesia.

stated "Welcome to Italy" and described exactly what we wanted.  The clerk could not read these cards because these were printed in English.  She Skyped the main office and held the card up to the computer camera and someone explained to her in Italian what the English printing stated.  Ahhhhh!  Got it!  She can do that!  Whew!  Do not know how we would have handled buying the SIMs and getting the accounts set up had we not found that card printed in English and she was savvy enough to use the camera and Skype to get it translated for her.  Late that night the accounts were activated.  These are good for only 30 days, but we will be at Marina di Ragusa well before these expire and surely there will be someone at the marina who can help us get additional service.

Swabian Angioin Argoneses Castle in Malfredonia.
Bill refused to walk through yet another castle.

With that first chore completed, we continued to walk in search of some form of grocery market.  We walked.  And we walked.  And we walked some more.  I do not know how far but it was too far.  We eventually found a greens grocer and stocked up on vegetables.  It was so rare to find vegetables in Croatia.  I think we will like Italy because they apparently do eat lots of vegetables.  


Right across the street from the greens grocer was a butcher shop.  I stocked up on 2 kilo beef (to be used as stew meat) and 2 kilo ground beef (watched it ground and it is extremely lean -- like 98% lean) and 2 kilo veal roast.  Would have liked to buy more because the meat looked so good but that was enough to carry while walking back to the marina.  

Isn't this a gorgeous cake!

We took a different route back and passed a very small grocery store where we stocked up on various breads and buns.  Also passed a bakery that had the most beautiful cakes.  I had to go in and look more closely at those cakes.  It was a small shop operated by a woman who appeared to be about 60 years old.  Her grandson was watching the shop while she was in back cooking lunch.  The family obviously lived behind the storefront.  He went back and brought her to the counter when we walked in to see the cakes.

More fun cakes.  Details really done well.

This brought our attention to the canisters of cookies behind the display case.  Oh, did those all look so delicious!  We were already burdened to the limits and could not carry any more, but I just had to buy 6 pieces of a certain cookie.  She was so funny!  She could not believe we wanted to buy 6 pieces of the same thing.  She spoke no English and she pantomimed to make us understand that we should buy 2 of those cookies and 2 of another kind and 2 of another kind -- that we must buy an assortment.  We smiled and insisted that we only wanted 6 pieces of that one type cookie.  She finally shrugged and wrapped them up.  

And more fancy cakes

She did not just place them in a bag; she placed them on a small decorative disposable tray and then wrapped them in a heavy paper like gift wrap.  It was obvious that she takes pride in her baked goods.  Wish we could have bought more or that we could return to buy more, but I am not walking that far again.

Last of the cakes

By this time it was after 1 pm and all the shops were closed for the afternoon.  Most everything closes between 12:30 and 1 pm and remains closed until 4 or 5 pm; then reopens until maybe 8 pm or so.  This will take some getting used to for us.  This is a custom that I like a lot.  



Saturday we will probably begin heading south.  Weather looks okay for southward travel then.  We will be motoring again (of course!) but this time with only about 6 kt wind on our nose.  That isn't too bad.

Mljet, over to Lastovo -- and we are out of here!

6 September 2014

Today we celebrated our 45^th wedding anniversary while still anchored at Polace on island of Mljet.   We will save our real celebration for some place in Italy.  Neither of us cares for the food here and are looking forward to a nice Italian restaurant soon.

   

Roman villa, circa 400 A.D.

Weather has been very crappy, cloudy and raining daily with several days and nights of strong winds.   One day had lots of lightning and the old Roman villa took a direct hit.  We did not go over there later to see what damage might have been incurred.  I'm guessing that old villa has endured many lightning strikes in this violent weather prone area.  On the worst day there were 40 yachts in here which was crowded but still allowed many of us to remain on swing anchor.  That night 2 Sunsail boats which had anchored behind us much too close to shore dragged anchor and got tangled up with one another.   It was pouring rain but the wind was only about 20 kts.   The larger boat then went sideways against the rocks (there is no beach here, just forest and vegetation down to rocks at sea level).  He managed to get off the rocks and then proceeded to motor directly into the side of another boat at anchor.   We watched him until he was got across to the town and tied off at one of the restaurant docks.  The past few days have had little wind but still plenty of dark clouds, thunder and lightning.  So, why move?  This is the most sheltered anchorage we have seen in Croatia.  Polace is just a tiny one-road village with 2 small grocery markets and 2 tiny bakery shops.  It is a nice place to hang out for quiet relaxation but I am ready to move on soon.  Our plan is to go to Ulbi on the western side of island of Lastovo to clear out of Croatia in a couple of days.  Our 90 days out of Schengen territory is up tomorrow.  Hurray!  If weather cooperates then we will clear out of Croatia the following afternoon and sail overnight the relatively short distance to Italy.

 

One day a large SAR boat came through the anchorage and checked the papers for each yacht.  The couple on one yacht got in their dinghy and zoomed over to the town and did not return until after the SAR boat departed.  The SAR boat was 2 yachts over from checking this yacht when the couple left.  Whoa!  Guarantee you the US Coast Guard would never have tolerated that!  If USCG was doing document checks or safety checks on boats in an anchorage and someone left like that then one of those little go-fast Zodiacs would have been right on their tail!  Bring them back to their yacht and then the checking would have been much more rigorously enforced.  We could not believe those people did that and got away with it.  BTW, the Croatian courtesy flag on their yacht was faded to almost white and shredded.  That yacht obviously has been in Croatia for some time.

I have tried not to be too negative about our opinions and experiences here in Croatia this summer.  Local people tell us that the weather this summer has been very unusual – much cooler and wetter than anyone can remember for more than 30 years.  We do not know about that but do know that we are sick and tired of this wet  dreary weather.  We are tired of tiny grocery stores; never did find a supermarket.  Tired of using the iPhone as a WiFi hotspot for the extremely slow internet connection; never did find a real cell phone company where could purchase 3G.  And we are tired of the over-crowded tiny anchorages.  And tired of the thousands of charter boats captained and crewed by inconsiderate and rude people, some of whom have questionable boating skills or seamanship knowledge.  One thing we have noticed is that almost every single charter boat puts out anchor chain until a red painted mark on the chain is just below the bow roller.  Does not matter which charter company owns the boat, every one of them has a red painted mark on the chain and the charter customer only puts out chain until that red paint is visible.  I do not know what length chain that red paint signifies but I would humbly suggest that the charter companies mark that chain at least another 30 meters longer.  Because these charter boats never put out sufficient chain.  No dang wonder they drag all over the anchorages.

A couple of days ago we met up with another sailor whom we last saw in Karpaz Gate Marina in Cyprus in early 2012.  He said this was his fourth time to cruise Croatia but after the weather experienced this summer that he does not plan to return again.  Our sentiments exactly.  I can see why sailing/chartering in Croatia is so appealing to many Europeans.  Heck, it is easy to drive here from many countries in Europe so there is very easy access.  But for us foreigners Turkey or Greece make for much more enjoyable sailing than the Adriatic.  Now we are looking forward to getting more than 500 NM farther south to Sicily for the winter.


9 September 2014

On 7 September we motored approximately 25 miles over to the western side of the island of Lastovo.  Had hoped to be able to sail but wind was much too light too propel BeBe faster than 2 knots, and we just cannot stand going that slow.   This part of Lastovo is another national park.  People on yachts must pay 30 Kuna per person per day while in the park. There are few places to anchor, and those few places were already filled with yachts; so we docked at a new hotel 'marina.'  It is really just a quay in front of Hotel Solitude.  It is nice and the laid lines as so new they are not even slimy with marine growth yet.  They do not yet have shore power or water available so docking is free.  Free!  Yes, thank you, we will take some of that!  This was a gorgeous area.  Lastovo is the nicest place we found in Croatia; wish we had discovered it sooner.  We stayed only 2 nights; would have liked to stay another few days but weather forecast predicted a system moving up from the SE soon and we wanted to get across the Adriatic Sea to Italy before that nastiness arrived.

We took the dinghy over to the tiny town of Ubli and spoke with an official who happened to be in the office at the Customs dock.  We explained that we wanted to depart Lastovo en route to Italy at 04:00 the following morning.  He said we could clear out with the Harbormaster right then and then bring BeBe to the Customs dock in the wee hours that night to meet with the Immigration Police.  The Police work 24 hours; just dock in front of the Customs office and call the Police and they would be there within 10 minutes, stamp us out and we could be on our way.  He said that as soon as our passports are stamped out of Croatia then we must depart the country.  Well, that is totally reasonable.

And that is what we did early this morning.  Sorry, no photos taken in Lastovo, the prettiest place we saw in Croatia.

Outboard Engine Repair (again)

While we were anchored near Cavtat, Croatia about 7 weeks ago we experienced a very serious that storm hit suddenly. Judy, Zachary, BeBe, Judy and I worked hard and successfully to raise the anchor and motor out to deeper water in winds sometimes gusting over 50kts. Unfortunately, the dinghy painter got tangled with the dinghy propeller as we were maneuvering and the tangle caused us to drag the dinghy backwards out to sea. This backward towing of the dinghy caused the motor to go under water several times for a few seconds.

After the storm, Zachary and I pulled the motor on deck, cleaned and lubricated everything and drained all the sea water out of the engine and carburetor. It is a 2 cycle engine so there is no crankcase oil to change. We connected the gasoline hose and after numerous attempts we were able to restart it. The dinghy engine worked fine for several weeks, then quit. I diagnosed and electrical ignition failure and it was beyond my ability to repair. I assume that the sea water caused this. We motored to Split, Croatia and had a Mercury Outboard shop repair it for about $350. They replaced a number of electrical parts, rebuilt the carburetor, and cleaned everything then returned it in fine condition. I was very pleased.

Make-shift workshop

About 2 weeks later, the sea water pump on the engine, inside the lower unit near the propeller shaft stopped pumping sea water. This is something that I should have asked the Mercury dealer to check, but I failed to ask. It had been about 6 years since I changed the impeller and seals on that pump. 

Oh well, I had the spare parts and early one morning went to work. I was dreading this job because Mercury has cast aluminum housings bolted together with stainless steel bolts. If you know anything about mixing these metals, you know that there is a huge risk of shearing a bolt, stripping the threads in the aluminum case, or both. I took my time, used that last of the penetrating oil I had, and was very lucky...no big problems. When I disassembled the lower unit and pump casing, I found that the pump casing gasket was missing, the impeller was basically OK, and the Woodruff key that secures the impeller to the shaft was missing. My assumption was that the impeller was spinning on the shaft and because of that, not pumping water. What to do? I have no impeller key and no gasket and we are 100 miles from the unlikely possibility of finding parts.

Cutting to the correct length 

Dremel grinding and cutting tool -
Shown with 4mm bolt and Impeller

Grinding the flat side

I decided to make both of the parts. The gasket was easy...just use some silicone RTV from a tube that I have on-board (I have several tubes of varying types). The key was a different story. The key was about 10mm (3/8") long and flat on one side and round on the other. It was about 4mm thick. I found a 4mm stainless steel bolt that was 3 times as long as I needed. I used the Dremel that Trey, my oldest sun, gave me and flattened one side of the bolt. Now the bolt was flat on one side and rounded on the other. The impeller has a hole in the center which allows it to slide onto the shaft and the impeller key was designed to fit in a rounded slot on the side of the "shaft-hole" in the impeller in such a way that the flat side of the key matched up with a flat spot on the shaft. This way, the impeller is locked to the shaft and not allowed to spin. 

Finished new key

Key on the Impeller

Once I had the right shape, I used the cutting tool on the Dremel to cut my new key to the correct length...Done!

Flat spot on the shaft for the key

Impeller and Key in Place

By 2:00PM, I had the engine reassembled and mounted back on the dinghy. Started it up to test the pump, and it did not pump a drop of water. It was not working. 

OK, something is wrong...I take it off the dinghy, up to the makeshift workshop on the boat...and disassemble again.

I suspected that something was blocking the copper tube that carries the sea water from the pump up to the engine. I took out my dive tank and a hose and nozzle that I recently purchased to blow things out. I had used this nozzle a few months before to blow "trash" (reconstituted corn from Eurogas) out of the dinghy engine carburetor. OK, now I am ready.

So I go through all of the steps to remove the lower unit...the same thing that I did earlier. This time is a lot quicker because those stainless steel bolts come right out of that cast aluminum housing. I had used anti-seizing grease on the bolts. Thanks, Dennis!

In no time, I am using my nozzle to blow air through the cooling system. I blow from the bottom...no joy. I blow from the top, no joy. I decide to try pumping water from the top and the bottom...no joy.

Removing the mid-unit -
piece between the engine and the lower unit

I cannot seem to find the clog, except that I now know it is somewhere in the copper pipe, or where the copper pipe connects to the engine base. It is now time to remove the mid-unit which is another cast aluminum case with stainless steel bolts. I get it done with no problems...it was truly my day in at least one area. I get the aluminium mid-unit case off and now have access to the bottom plate of the cooling and exhaust plate which is secured with more stainless steel bolts...again I am successful with these, having to use my portable torch on one troublesome bolt. 

Copper tube through mid-unit

Looking for the elusive clog

It appears at this point that the copper pipe is clogged. I attempt to run a solid stainless wire through the copper pipe...no joy. I happen to have a piece of twisted stainless steel rigging wire that will fit inside the copper tube. I cut it to the length I need, insert one end into the chock on my electric drill and the other end, I slightly flay the end so that it will act as a roto-router. Into the copper pipe and on with the inverter to power the drill...I am getting all sorts of trash out...more like gunk...no big pieces. I take the nozzle and blow out the remainder...finally JOY!

I reassemble the engine...it works and pumps lots of sea water! A wonderful shower and a half hour later Judy and I take the dinghy to another boat for a really good beer. Thanks, Dennis and Virginia on Libertad for the beer!!!

And a super thanks to Judy for helping me with this difficult project.

The Liebster Award. Huh?

Our blog was nominated for The Liebster Award.  Say what?  Whatever is The Liebster Award?  Honestly, I am not sure.  Do we receive some kind of prize?  No.  Then why bother to mention it?  Because it is a good idea to spread the word about other blogs we enjoy.

Exactly what is The Liebster Award?  It appears to be sort of like a chain letter or a pyramid scheme with no money involved.  It is a project that promotes discovery of new blogs or blogs new to you.  A fellow blogger found our site and gave us a kind of recommendation on their blog site.  In return, we are supposed to pay it forward and do the same for other blogs that we enjoy.

The rules as I understand them are simple:

1. Thank the person who nominated us and post a link back to their page.
2. Answer the 10 questions that person has asked us and publish on our blog.
3. Nominate 10 blogs that we feel deserve more readership and ask 10 questions for each of them to answer and publish on their blogs.

Thanks to Cheryl on S/V Mid-Life Cruising for nominating our blog for The Liebster Award.   Cheryl and husband Ken live in Slidell, Louisiana.  They plan to cruise aboard their 30-ft Catalina named Nirvana once their home is sold.  I have followed Cheryl's blog for several years and hope to follow along once they head out.  Her blog link is: Mid-Life Cruising

 Here are Cheryl's questions and our responses:

1.   1.  Other than leaving family, what has been the most challenging part of this lifestyle?
Clearance into and out of foreign countries.  Requires researching well in advance and sometimes acquiring visas (which sometimes can only be obtained while in our home country of USA).  Confirming that we will be legal upon arrival and where and how to clear in.

2.   What are your favorite things about this lifestyle?

1. Travel.  Our goal never was to complete a circumnavigation because neither of us had a strong desire to circle the globe just to be able to say we had done so.  We enjoy visiting new countries and cultures and that has been the focus of our ‘circumnavigation.’  Anthropology and history are interesting to me.  Bill is very much a 'people person' and he enjoys making friends in new places.
2. Mobility.  That we can just weigh anchor and move on most of the time if we do not like an area or the current temporary  neighbors. 
3. The sea.  Rarely tire of the sea.

3.  What has this lifestyle taught you about yourself and/or what have you experienced that you'd never have known as a landlubber?
Cruising has taught me that it is not necessary to constantly be doing something.  I have learned how to simply breathe and enjoy being alive in whatever surroundings we are in at the moment.  Experiences that I would never have known as a landlubber:  5 days inside a storm in the Bay of Bengal; watching a 2-yr-old girl in a grass skirt dance one night in the Kingdom of Tonga; seeing a sperm whale breech (saw hundreds of other whales but only one sperm); watching a 30 to 35-ft whale shark come to the side of our boat (twice!) and hang out next to us for several minutes; enjoying the stars while sailing in the middle of the ocean in both southern and northern hemispheres.  We would never have seen Gobekli or the Aramaic monasteries if we had not traveled to Turkey via our boat as that special tour was arranged by a fellow sailor and not one of the typical tour agency trips.  And Gobekli is the most astounding site we have seen anywhere in the world.  We feel very fortunate to have had that experience

4.  I hate to cook, so what's your recommendation for a "must-have" galley item that I should have on our boat and an easy dish to make?

This is a difficult question for me because I love to cook.  Makes it hard to think like someone who does not enjoy cooking.  I guess the ‘must-have’ item would be a pressure cooker, one that is not too large.  Since you do not like to cook, this will save you lots of time (as well as saving propane).  And not heat up the boat so much which will be beneficial when you are in the tropics.  Being from Louisiana, I know you must know how to cook red beans and rice.  You can cook dried beans in 30 to 45 minutes rather than hours; rice in 5 minutes.  Pressure cookers are wonderful.  Wish I had discovered this convenience decades ago.  An easy dish to make: chicken fajitas = quick and easy.  Stock up on McCormick Fajita Seasoning Mix packets whenever you are in the USA.  Chicken is always available everywhere, as well as bell peppers and onions.  Flour tortillas are easy to make if not available locally.

5.  What (if anything) has caused you the most anxiety about the cruising/traveling lifestyle?  Does it still?
Two things; one past and one present.  Number one in the past would be the Somali pirates.  We are past that area now and that anxiety is almost forgotten.  Number one in the present is the Schengen Treaty which limits Americans (and citizens of most other non-European Union countries) to a total of 90 days within the Schengen EU countries; then one must leave for 90 days.  This is impossible to do in the Mediterranean considering the seasonal weather and the distances.  The Med is about 2,000 NM wide and countries along the entire northern coastline are members of Schengen.  That leaves the northern coast of Africa where one can go for that 90-day out period (which, due to winter weather really means 5 to 6 months out); and we do not consider any of those African countries safe for Americans today.  The stress of remaining legal for Schengen visa limitations has been hanging over our heads the entire time we were in Turkey and will continue to stress us out until we depart the Canary Islands in January 2016.  Constantly worrying about where we must be by a certain date while also watching weather has put a damper on any enjoyment of cruising in the Med once we departed Turkey and began heading west.

6.  Have you ever seriously considered ditching this lifestyle sooner than later?  If so, why and are you glad that you haven't?
No; not yet.  It does take a full 2 years to make the adjustment from being an employed landlubber to being a retired cruiser.  That first 2 years was more difficult for Bill than it was on me.  Fortunately, we made good friends with several other cruisers that first year.  Bill is much more a social creature than me and he needed that comradery and social network of other cruisers.

7.  Do you feel that your health has improved since leaving the landlubber life?  If so, how?
Surprisingly, no.  When we lived in Houston I enjoyed visiting the gym and was in great physical condition.  We ate a far less healthy diet but I exercised a lot.  Since moving aboard we get almost no exercise other than walking.   About the only time either of us puts on a swimsuit and gets into the water is to clean the waterline of the boat, and that only happens twice yearly here in the Med. We eat a healthier diet but without the exercise I have gained a great deal of weight.  But, who knows, maybe that is more age related and the weight would have piled on even if I still worked out every day.   Bill has Crohn’s Disease and our typical diet on the boat has worked wonders for him.  The only times he has had Crohn’s distress has been when we have eaten at restaurants.  Mostly, we eat on the boat.  Luckily I enjoy cooking.

8.  What do you see in the future for cruisers and liveaboards regarding its population, costs, regulations, and crime?
The answer to this question is very regional.  Here in the Med it is very crowded and very expensive and very regulated, although crime is almost non-existent for cruisers and insurance is reasonable.  In the Caribbean, it is not crowded, crime is high,  expense varies by island or country and there are virtually no regulations and insurance is very expensive.  We have never lived aboard in the USA so I have no experience with that.  I do foresee a time where boating will require licensing or certification of competency in some form.  It is now required in the EU.  Our USA Merchant Marine captains licenses have been recognized by each country that has required competency certification.  Frankly, I think this would be a good idea for the USA to also adopt.  Our waterways are too crowded to continue to allow untrained helmsmen anymore.  I think even the idiots on the jet skis need to be required to pass a competency test.

 
9.  What is your favorite past time while on the boat?  (or for Emily ... off the bike?)
Watching the anchor dance each late afternoon.  As boats arrive in an anchorage it is amusing to sit and critique their anchoring techniques.  It has been especially entertaining here in Croatia watching the farmers.  They drop the anchor and reverse too quickly and plow through the long heavy sea grass; think they are hooked and turn off the engine.  Then soon realize that the only thing they are hooked on is a bushel of grass and the boat is dragging.  And start the process all over again.  It is a pleasure to watch someone who knows what they are doing and entertaining to watch those who do not.  Other than the people watching, then our favorite pastimes on the boat are reading and just enjoying the view.

10.  What part of the boat has caused you the most headaches/repairs?  What has made life aboard easier?

The dinghy outboard engine has been our biggest headache.  It is now 11 years old and seen a lot of use.  We are nursing it along and hope to make it last until we are again in the Caribbean and can buy another 2-cycle engine.  We have had no repair issues on BeBe.  We almost hate to mention that for fear that just stating it will cause bad juju and something will break or malfunction.  All across the South Pacific we would bite our tongues and attempt to commiserate with all the other cruisers as they complained about the repairs they were dealing with.  We had no repairs other than regular maintenance but we did not want to say anything when everyone else was working on their boats.  Made us really glad we owned an Amel Super Maramu.  What has made life aboard easier is the fact that we are on an Amel Super Maramu with all the conveniences imaginable.  Electric winches and outhaul; very high capacity watermaker; clothes washer; dishwasher; 4-burner stove and oven; microwave; air-conditioning and electric heating; 9 fans for those hot tropical nights at anchor; extreme amount of storage space; just a very comfortable home on the water.

I am supposed to now nominate 10 blogs for The Liebster award and pass on 10 questions for each of them to answer.  We have been ‘out here’ a long time and most of the blogs I followed are no longer active.  Many of those folks have completed circumnavigations and swallowed the anchor.  Or they are still out here cruising but do not take the time and effort to maintain their blog anymore.  Rather than tag someone whom I know would not appreciate being recognized and likely would not participate in what is basically a chain letter, I have chosen to nominate only the following 6 blogs.  I have not elaborated about each blog.  Click on them and see if any peak your interest.

1. Pavlov  http://www.pavlovabroad.blogspot.com/
2. Ceol Mor  http://theceolmors.blogspot.com/
3. Banyon  http://www.sailblogs.com/member/banyan/
4. Calico Jack http://www.sailcalicojack.com/
5. Adventure Us 2  http://adventureustwo.blogspot.com/
6. Moonshadow  http://saillegacy.blogspot.com/

I followed Moonshadow through a a very long circumnavigation by the previous owners. When they sold the boat the new owners kept the same boat name and I have continued to follow Moonshadow with the new owners.

And here are the 10 questions for the 6 blogs linked above:

1. What is your definition of cruising and what about this appealed to you?
2. Once you found that perfect boat, how long did it take you to finally toss off the dock lines?
3. Has cruising met your expectations?
4. Any idea how long you will continue to cruise and where?
5. What has been your biggest challenge while cruising?
6. What in your opinion are the negatives to cruising and is this lifestyle worth those hassles?
7. What is your favorite thing about cruising and how often do you get to enjoy this aspect of it?
8. What advice would you have for someone just toying with the idea of dumping their land life and setting off in a boat?
9. Were you secure in your ability to sail and cross oceans before you started cruising?  Or do you plan to cross any oceans?
10. Which country have you visited while cruising that you enjoyed the most and why?