The Can Opener Hits The Books

Shhhh... the Can Opener's studying. 

Books, maps, divider, plotter, pencils and erasers to chase and to play with. I love it when he studies. 

I stretch out, right in the middle of the biggest map - making sure it's the one he's trying to work on, of course. That way the focus is where it should be - on me.

Today we're working on tidal atlases, piloting and passage making. It's gonna be grrreat!

I'm leaving the Can Opener to it for a moment - I hear a restorative smoked oyster calling my name. I do find this studying gig to be very hard going.

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Regatta Report

 

After the events of this past weekend, the Can Opener and I are now firm believers in 'cruising' regattas.

We arrived on the Friday at the host clubhouse (the Rompin' Yowlers Squadroon) for relaxed evening drinks to open the festivities with our fellow participants. A jovial team-building dinner followed, a delightful ship-board sleep, and early next morning, away we sailed to the designated round up point.

In fact, the Saturday 'race' was more of a stroll round the cans in company. More than one helmsman had one hand on the wheel while the other brandished a streaming cup of tea. 

We anchored en mass for a leisurely 2 hour lunch, and then pulled up anchor to round the cans again in the afternoon with renewed vigor and topped up tea mugs.

Very civilized.

On the first leg, the Can Opener had been non-plussed and seemed determined to press his racing luffing rights - as one normally does. But the cheerful lift of the next yacht's tea mug and an 'After yooou, dear boy...' confirmed our growing suspicion that an entirely new and intriguing game was afoot. 

'Not at all, after you, dear Sir,' I replied. 

The Can Opener grinned a sheepish grin, handed the helm back to me, and trotted down to the galley to make up steaming cups of brew for our own dear team.

We are liking this take on the cruising life.

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Study Books for: Coastal Skipper Exam

Just ordered some more of the Can Opener's favourite things... books! 

These ones are to help him review for his Coastal Skipper exam later this year. He's got the old RYA study texts but in my opinion - it's not enough. I want him to be 150% ready. 

I'll probably order some more practice exercise books later too. Serious review starts now...

• Day Skipper for Sail and Power, by Alison Noice
• Yachtmaster for Sail and Power: The Complete Course for the RYA Coastal and Offshore Yachtmaster Certificate, by Alison Noice 
• Reeds Nautical Almanac 2012: With Marina Guide 2012 by Andy Du Port and Rob Buttress 
• RYA Weather Handbook - Northern Hemisphere by Chris Tibbs and Sarah Selman
• Coastal and Offshore Navigation, by Tom Cunliffe

Book reviews coming soon! 

--Captain Cat 

 (transcribed by the Can Opener)

Cocktails at St James's Palace

Photo by ahisgett

A Red Tabby Yacht Club event in my honour... A fine event to welcome this tired but jubilant voyager home...

(Errm, it was actually a pre-regatta event, Furrball, welcoming visiting international racers to the club who will be hard at it this weekend out on the race course...)

...cocktails in a lush wine-red room with gold appointments...
And somewhere in the palace, my 7x-great grandmother was born... her father, of course, was Gentlecat of the Chamber. That's what it says in one of my family history books at the archives. 

(When have you ever mentioned this?? Modesty prevails, my dear Can Opener... Uh huh. And exactly when has modesty ever prevailed for you before?? Will it ever prevail again??)

My beloved bar buddy and songster, 'Prince A', even showed up and made a speech to the assembled crowd.

Not a bad event either - though the Can Opener (and a few disrespectful security guards) did become nearly apoplectic when I tested out that big gold chair in the adjoining throne room. 

The red velvet and tassels on it were fabulous for sharpening the nails.

And pretty comfortable it was too though I don't see how we'd fit in on the boat.

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Home At Last

Home At Last...

'Course the first thing I did was check the answering machine. And Pussy Galore did not leave a single message.

She must be having technical difficulties.

--Captain Cat

 (transcribed by the Can Opener)

Hovercat To Athens...

... and Athens to home...

We can't be believe we made it! Or that the delivery has finally come to an end.

Poros to Piraeus by ferry, Piraeus to Athens Airport by bus, and Athens to the UK by bird. We'll be home soon. Being back on land seems a little surreal.

So much to do, eat and unpack - the Can Opener should be busy for a week. And I need a pedicure.

We've been invited to crew on a new cruising boat back home and - after a short rest and recoup - we'll be out on the water with the brand new team!

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

The Route Actually Taken

View The Route Actually Taken: Spain~Greece in a larger map

Where did we go in the end?

Here's the route we actually followed during our three week delivery of the catamaran from Malaga, Spain to Poros, Greece...

 

Delivery Route:

• From Malaga, Spain through the Alboran Sea
• Alboran Sea to the Balearic Sea
• Balearic Sea to Algerian Basin
• Algerian Basin up to Trapani, Sardinia 
• North up and over the top of Sicily via Palermo and Milazzo to the Straits of Messina
• From Messina through the Ionian and Mediterranean Seas to Patras, Greece
• East through the Gulf of Corinth and the Corinth Canal 
• And finally to Poros, Greece in the Aegean Sea!

It was pretty ambitious - in the end we travelled 1553 nautical miles in just 3 short weeks. 

We saw winds ranging from 12 knots to 40 knots+, gusts up to 50 knots and swells up to 15 or so feet.

We've come a loooong way. And we've learned a lot. Time to head home to rest, recover and reflect. 

Well...I'll be doing the reflecting while the Can Opener busies himself, cleaning and ironing my cape, restocking the pantry, and preparing those 17-step appetizers I've been fantasizing about for a good two and half weeks now. 

Outstanding appetizers, as we all know, assist greatly with reflection...

--Captain Cat 

 (transcribed by the Can Opener)

Two Glorious Days In Poros

In Poros

We'd been 3 weeks almost constantly on the move, often throughout day and night. 

And now we had two whole glorious days to explore, wander, sniff, soak up the Greek sun,...

 ...smell the flowers,...

  

..admire the endless spectacular views,...

 ... and curl up in comfy armchairs in quayside restaurants to watch the sun go down.

Tomorrow we'll hovercraft it up to Athens and then catch our big bird plane home. But for now, a souvlaki, tzatziki and some warm Greek bread. But no ouzo for me. 

The Can Opener stole mine.

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Poros, The Perfect Greek Island

 

 

Here's where we leave our catamaran at a quayside berth in Poros, finally in its new home in Greece. 

The owner will fly down here for holidays with his family so they can sail and cruise these beautiful isles for many years to come...

They're planning to explore the Greek, Turkish and Croatian islands, using Poros as a central base.

We were glad to be a part of this delivery, successfully repositioning the boat from Malaga, Spain to Poros, Greece.

The Can Opener and I think this guy's got his priorities straight.

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Through the Rabbit Hole - The Corinth Canal

On our Corinth Canal morning, the day dawned with rising winds and some leftover (though greatly) reduced swell. Everything from the wild slide ride of the day before (nearly) as if it had never happened.

Liquids are quite resilient always returning to their original form in short order - water included, of course. (On a regular basis, I do wonder what planet you are really from, Furrball. And I you, dear Can Opener. But we digress...)

 

We lined up before the entrance to the canal, bright and early, prompt as requested... and then waaaaited...

 

Lots to look at, so it was a short hour later that we poked our bow into this famous canal...  

 

Under a series of bridges (four, I think) with traffic whizzing high overhead. Seemed quite a contrast when one thinks of its historical origins. 

The Corinth Canal was started in 1881 and completed in 1893 (although there was also an abortive attempt to build it in the 1st century AD). It is 6.4 kilometres (4.0 mi) in length and only 21.3 metres (70 ft) wide at its base.*

Photo courtesy of Gerard in the yacht ahead of us passing through the canal.

We passed slowly along the canal for about 30 minutes, then out we popped on the other side...

 

... to the Aegean Sea. 

Five knots of wind, sparkling wavelets, calm - what we'd been dreaming of all those days when we were dreaming and preparing to come on this trip.

Beautiful.

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

* wikipedia

A Wild Slide Ride Down The Gulf of Corinth

The calm before the storm

We set out this morning with local Greek weather reports promising 4 knots of wind. And it sure did start out that way...

We sailed under the Rio-Antirio bridge and down the long relatively thin Gulf of Corinth (it's more like a strait but it terminates in a dead end), admiring the coastline on either side. 

At the end of the gulf sits the Corinth Canal and a marina. You need to reserve a time to enter the canal. This is usually not available till the next morning after you arrive, so the marina was our goal destination for today.

Calm, quiet day. Could use a bit more wind we said...and we got it.

The wind direction lined up with the gulf that stretches forever (well, officially 130 kilometres or 81 miles). Nothing to break the wind, and the swell began to build.

The good news is that although the waves built to 15-18 feet high - as high or higher than when we were trying to enter the Straits of Messina - they were spaced much farther apart. 

Far enough apart that our pontoons could ride up one wave and then surf wildly down the wave face without piercing the back of the next wave ahead of us.

And so we surfed for hours. 

It's quite draining to focus like this for so long and yet you are completely riveted the whole time. 

Not knowing how much the wind will ultimately build or how high the waves will get adds up to a big heap of stress.

But we made it! And tomorrow we enter the famous Corinth Canal...

Time for a restorative sardine and a catnap.

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Greece At Last!

The Rio-Antirio bridge... crosses the Gulf of Corinth hear Patras.

 

At long last, we reached the shores of our ultimate destination - Greece! 

Ahead of us lay the Rio-Antirio bridge, the world's longest multi-span cable-stayed bridge*, guarding the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. 

And just before that lay today's destination - the marina at Patras.

Another day of checking in with customs, tidying and cleaning, finding a new restaurant for the evening meal, and resting up in order to press on the next morning.

Patras seemed tame enough by daylight. By night, however, a whole different atmosphere presided. 

The quayside where we were tied up became the racing grounds for vespa-riding youth who let off rounds of shot (about two or three hundred rounds of shot to be precise) into the air as they passed repeatedly just metres from our berth until 3am in the morning.

The Can Opener and I wearily asked the next morning's cafe owner about the prior evenings' uproar (my fur still standing stiffly to attention)...

To our surprise, we learned it was just youthful high spirits due to a local festival being celebrated that weekend, nothing to worry about, and certainly not the civil unrest we had imagined.

My silky fur won't stand down for weeks.

The souvlaki in Patras, however, was outstanding.

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

* wikipedia

Crossing The Ionian Sea - Flotilla

Vos et ipsam civitatem benedicimus (We bless you and your city) 
- at the gates of the harbour at Messina

At 2pm sharp (right after my traditional 2nd afternoon catnap), all four yachts in our new flotilla lined up and headed past the harbour gates. We turned right, then followed the Straits of Messina south to the Ionian Sea.

A 40 foot catamaran travels faster than a 35 foot monohull in general, so staying within sight of the others by evening soon became a challenge. 

We could see the pinpricks of their mast lights against the dark sky. From time to time, the Can Opener would chat with Sottos on the VHF. 

While the winds always stayed between 20 and 30 knots on this leg of the journey, the memory of the gale was still fresh in our minds. Sometimes wondering what will happen next can be as nearly as tiring as actually facing challenging weather conditions. 

It was good to know that friends were nearby.

It took us nearly two days to cross the Ionian - we arrived Patras in the middle morning of the second day. 

We had finally reached Greece!

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Making Friends In Messina

After our exciting day getting to Milazzo on the 'edge of the cyclone',... it struck me that it would be wise to plan to cross the Ionian Sea in company. 

Should wild Force 9+ winds strike again, knowing other boats were nearby and could respond quickly in the event of need would be a comfort - and a good safety precaution for crews on all boats included. 

Messina is the jumping off point for heading across the Ionian to Greece, so of course I immediately set about scouring the marina for new friends who were heading the same direction.

I did not have to scour far - the first boat I inquired of was indeed heading our way, already had a flotilla of 3 boats set up and were professional sailors delivering new yachts for a charter company in Greece. In fact, the first old salt I spoke to was the founder and owner of said business.

Purrfect! And on top of this good news, he had a hundred stories to tell and was boisterous good fun. Sottos and I bonded immediately.

My new best buddy trotted round to the catamaran with me to meet our crew. We all hatched an enthusiastic plan for pizza that evening and an afternoon start for tomorrow when the expected weather window is due to pass through.

No matter where you cruise, new friends abound. 

The Can Opener and I are looking forward to joining Sottos' flotilla, staying in touch by sight and by VHF over the next two days - and of course, exchanging more views on philosophy, continuing as we had already begun over today's rather raucous and jovial afternoon tea...

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Churches Of Messina

View over Messina harbour

In Messina, we were once again followed by heavy weather and building swell. 

Since Trapani, we have developed a pattern of (trying to) put in the miles each day, pulling into a marina at night and then getting up the next morning to do it all over again without much chance to see the places we are staying at.

But this morning in Messina, we were waiting for a weather window. This gave the Can Opener and I some time to do a little sightseeing again.

It's a city full of scrolling architecture and majestic churches and cathedrals...

... and a temple.

When we come back to Milazzo, we're definitely going to swing by Messina as well because there's so much more here...

... to see...

...and to explore.

--Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)