Team Sivota, Ελλας 2004
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The "Where's Homer" Tour
We had a wonderful time in Greece in late September/early October, 2004. A sailing adventure with some sixty of our friends and club members sponsored by Tradewinds Sailing School. The club chartered nine boats on a mission for The Moorings Charter Company of Greece -- to relocate the boats from their summer base in Corfu to the winter base in Athens. More details of the mission are below. The long trip to Greece included a nine-hour layover in London, where some of us jumped on "the Tube" and went downtown for a few hours of sightseeing. At the end of the sailing trip, we spent an afternoon touring Athens to get a sense of the city. In between, we enjoyed a terrific twelve days and nights on board the Sailing Vessel (S/V) Didimos, a relatively new Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40 sailboat. There were a total of six aboard our yacht, while some of the boats had as many as eight aboard. The Didimos' crew consisted of three couples who had never before sailed together, and met for the first time on the trip to Greece. By the end of the trip, new friends had been made and all had shared a great adventure exploring many Greek islands. The Didimos' crew gave itself a name by the end of the first day of sailing (see Day 1), and the entire adventure became the "Where's Homer Tour" very early in the expedition. Did Mythos Brewing, Ltd. really sponsor this trip? Well, that story is under the Mythos logo above. And what is Ελλας (that you see in the title above)? Well, we were in Greece, after all. The camaraderie of sailors coming together for the first time and becoming a crew, managing a vessel in all kinds of wind and weather, having fun, giving themselves and the mission a name, while spending time in close quarters for nearly two weeks is awesome. The Didimos was blessed with a terrific crew. (Starting the trip off by sailing in a gale probably helped the team quickly become a crew, but that story is on another page...) The photos on these pages are contributions from all the crew. Just click on any image to see a larger version. The Mission
Our adventure totaled 65 hours of sailing to cover 350.5 nautical miles of water. The day-by-day account of the trip and a gazillion pictures are found in the index to the left. Click on the small map to the right to see a larger version. The route segments are color-coded to identify the routes sailed and ports by day. We were very lucky to be able to do a cruise like this. Most charters require that the boat be returned to the point of origin. We did a one-way trip that covered a very large area. In fact, we were on a "mission." The former owner of Tradewinds, David Kory, had arranged with the Greek Moorings Charter Company to deliver the boats from Corfu to Athens. It seems that at the end of each charter season, Moorings hires captains to deliver the charter fleet from the summer charter bases to Athens where the boats spend the winter. David had worked out a deal with Moorings for us to bring crews from our club, and charter the fleet for a delivery cruise to Athens. Everyone made out on this deal since Moorings got revenue instead of paying for crews, and we got a terrific one-way cruise at a great price. As a special treat, on Day 9 we were able to transit the Corinth Canal, something seldom done by charter boats. The cost was about € 90 and was picked up by Moorings. On a "normal" charter cruise, that would not be the case and so it is seldom done, if not outright disallowed by the charter companies.
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September
4, 2006 - We lost a friend today.
Kevin was killed in a solo car accident. We will always
remember his zest for life and easy spirit. Our trip
was enriched by Kevin's history travelogue and introduction
to Homer and his friends. Fair seas.