Your search results
May 23, 2024
Ep 71 More Drama – Dragging and Drifting Into Other Boats (Sailing Talisman)
We can't catch a break. Winds pick up in Kioni Harbor, and suddenly Talisman seems to have no holding. We find ourselves being blown back onto the quay, and alarmingly also into the adjacent boats.
Ep 72 Prop Repairs in Fiscardo, Greece (Sailing Talisman)
Our one day stop at Kastos town, on the island of Kastos (Greece) turns into a couple of days when Wendy pulls something in her back. This highlights one of the negatives of full time cruising, which is that often you're off the beaten path with little or ...
Ep 73 The Skippers Have Words (Sailing Talisman)
Tempers flare in a very tight and shallow harbor. This is the culmination of weeks of frustration with increasingly aggressive behavior by other boat drivers. We're in the small harbor of Assos, which is a beautiful town with a big castle overlooking the l...
Ep 74 Batteries and Charging Systems, plus Alternator Replacement
What begins as a simple swap-out of our 24 volt alternator morphs into an in-depth discussion of sailboat batteries and charging systems. This overview describes the details of shore power, battery chargers, alternators, generators, AC vs. DC power, electr...
Ep 75 Crushed By A Ferry – The Joy Cruises Incident
In what turned out to be the culmination of absolutely unbelievable season of things happening to us and around us, we get backed down on by a huge day-cruise boat. I called it a ferry in the title because these sized boats ply the waters around the Ionian...
Ep 76 Flying the Chute – Fall Winds Return to Greece
The strong, fall wind patterns return to Greece after a mid-summer of dulldrums. Starting in Corfu town, we embark on a circumnavigation of the the island. It's not a huge island, but enough to keep us going, stopping in at bays and harbors, for a good wee...
Ep 77 South to Preveza – Plus Wendy Takes a Fall
As the 2018 season begins to wind down, we take two of our friends, Shawn and Deb, aboard for a short tour of the northern Greek Ionian islands and shoreline. We then head south for Preveza, where Talisman will eventually be hauled.
Ep 78 Prepping for Haulout
Episode 78 finds us back once again in Preveza, killing a little time and getting our boat ready for winter haulout. This was fall of 2018, and the sailing / charter season is winding down. We scheduled for four or five days in order to have time to get ou...
Ep 79 Big Blue Comes For Talisman – Haulout In Preveza
Talisman finally gets lifted! This is always a stressful time, since improper strap placement can damage prop shafts and instrument transducers. It's also a bittersweet several days of hard work as we prepare to leave our baby for the winter.
Ep 80 Medium Refit – Boat Projects Far From Home
The 2019 season begins with big boat projects. We start with battery checks and move on to toilet / head piping. It's the start of big, or at least numerous, projects that future cruisers can look forward to.
Ep 81 More Crappy Boat Projects
The pre-launch maintenance and upgrade projects aboard Talisman continue, with install of all new head/toilet piping, Oceanaire SkyScreens, sea-cocks and through-hull fitting swaps, and the installation of our new clothes washing machine.
Ep 82 Wendy the Winch Babe, Plus Sewing and Canvaswork
More projects. Wendy services the winches and sews all the new curtains while I build us a new sunshade. Antonio Vagalis of Yacht Cooling Systems, Preveza installs our new refrigeration system.
Ep 83 Rush to Launch
We're down to the wire and the Travel Lift is coming ready or not! We struggle with a seemingly endless number of broken items and jobs that don't go as planned. But it's still time to splash.
Ep 84 Will Talisman Fit Past a Broken Swing Bridge?
Our last two days on the Preveza (Greece) quay involve a masthead rigging inspection and upgrades to our dinghy davits. Following that, it's off to Kioni, but not without the drama of having to thread our way past the inoperable swing bridge at the Lefkas ...
Ep 85 Top Bluewater Cruising Sailboats – Hallberg Rassy 49
While in Mykonos, Greece we get an opportunity to do a walkthrough of Hallberg Rassy 49 "Big Blue". This is a continuation of our occasional series aimed at choosing a relatively affordable bluewater cruising sailboat.
Ep 86 Making Tracks for the Aegean
Leaving Kioni, Greece, the coolest place we've ever been by boat, we head for the Gulf of Corinth, on our way to cross over to the Aegean side of the Greek Islands.
Ep 87 Best Dolphins Ever! Plus Transiting the Corinth Canal
We leave the charming town of Galaxidi, Greece on our way south and east, headed for the Aegean Sea. Along the way we get treated to the most amazing dolphin show we've ever seen, either in-person or on video. Next comes the Corinth Canal, which turns out ...
Ep 88 Sailing, Exploring, and Celebrating Our Anniversary
We leave Athens and head for the island of Kythnos. We finally get some good sailing and find the perfect little cove.
Ep 89 More Sailing and Exploring-Dipping our Toes into the Aegean
How hard can this be?
Ep 90 How Much Wind is Too Much Wind? – Mykonos, Greece
We have a less than ideal anchoring experience on our first night in Mykonos, Greece when the Meltemi winds fill in on us. Stuck on a lee shore in 30-40 knot winds, we're forced to stand anchor watch until dawn. But when we try to seek refuge in the marina...
Ep 91 Island Hopping Around Greece
We finally get back to sailing after two weeks being pinned in Mykonos marina by the Meltemi winds. We still have upcoming mechanical issues, but for the moment it's time to relax.
Ep 92 No Hot Water! Plus Bilge Pump Going Off?
Out hot water heater (cholorifier) rots out, flooding the bilge with water. The bad part about this is that there were 750 liters of water in the holding tank that could continue siphoning. So now another repair project, costing money and time. It never en...
Ep 93 A Whirlwind of Cruising – Saying Farewell to the Greek Aegean Sea
Wow! What to say. We sailed to so many cool places in a relatively short period of time that it all seemed to blend into one. The winds filled our sails and the sun shone. The water took on the light turquoise color you get when sun and sand bottoms come t...
Ep 94 Sailing, Ancient Ruins, and Oil Pressure Issues Bodrum
Having left Greece, we arrive in Datca, Turkey. Things are great there, with a laid back style one wouldn't expect.
Ep 95 More Maintenance and Bouncing Around Bodrum
A quick COVID-19 update from the Caribbean (Antigua), and then on to some more maintenance in Bodrum, Turkey. Specifically, we address motor mount issues on our genset, install an external voltage regulator (Sterling Power), and add a large fuel filter to ...
Ep 96 Blue Star Ferries Near Collision (Sailing Talisman)
Another near miss. This episode is more of a "what to do as a skipper" version. We hate when this happens, but if you're out on the water it'll only be a matter of time. Location is the waters between Greece and Turkey, in the Aegean Sea.
Ep 97 Cruising the Southern Turkish Coast (Sailing Talisman)
The eastern Med never fails to amaze. Our stops were largely dictated by what we heard from other cruisers. Someone would say "you have to go here, here, and here", and that's where we'd go. These were some of the best times we'd had.
Ep 98 Four Must-See Cruising Destinations (Southern Turkish Coast)
We visit four of the best spots in southern Turkey for cruising sailboats, Bozak Boku, the cliff tombs of Dalyan, Gocek Bay, and Cokertme. We get some good wind in between and the sailing turns out to be top notch.
Ep 99 Big Winds and Big Mileage-Rhodes to Mykonos, Greece
A pretty big passage from Rhodes, Greece, an island occupied and fortified by the Knights Templar, over to the remote island of Symi, then on to the anchorage at Kamari (island of Kos) for some sailboarding, a wedding at Kalymnos, crazy katabatic winds at ...
Ep 100 A Death at Sea – Doublehanded Passage to Malta
After four days waiting out the weather in Mykonos (Greece), we finally head off southwest and west toward Malta, the first major leg of a trip that eventually extends all the way to the Caribbean. But within hours we receive a chilling Pan Pan (distress...
Ep 101 Another Big Hop – 860nm Malta to Cartagena Spain
Our race westward continues with a long 860nm passage from the island of Malta, located between the Sicily and the continent of Africa, to Cartagena, Spain. Following a breakage of our electric mainsail furler, we make landfall at Villasimius, on the south...
Ep 102 Boat Fixes and RYA Yachtmaster Offshore
Tips on Passing the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Exam: These mostly from local RYA instructors. Contact me off-list for a more robust version of what follows. So what’s it like? What does it take to pass? These are the burning questions each candidate ...
Ep 103 ARC 2019 Beckons – Shakedown Gibraltar to the Canary Islands
The ARC, or Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, has been held every year now for over 30 years. As a vehicle for “safety in numbers”, 189 boats participated in the November, 2019 transatlantic crossing, and it's one of the biggest cruising rallies to be found...
Ep 104 ARC 2019 Prep – Watermakers and Oyster Support
As we enter the second week of prep for the ARC transatlantic crossing, we focus on converting Talisman from a boat that’s bombproof at sea, to one that is also ready to go off the grid for extended periods. We take a pessimistic view, envisioning up to ...
Ep 105 ARC 2019 Getting Down to the Wire
As time winds down to departure for the 2019 ARC, boat crews frantically try to finish last minute projects. The ARC opening ceremonies, complete with parade and huge party, drive home the fact that time is running out. Luckily for us, our early arrival ...
