Kos Greece

Arrived in Kos April 25th and spent most of the afternoon clearing in. Checking in required going to doors number 1,2,3, and 4.
1. A visit on the boat by port police to fill out a crew list and have it stamped, followed by a 15 minute walk to the ferry terminal where
2. Passport Control stamped our passports
3. Customs filled out and issued a transit log (30 Euros) followed by a walk around the harbor to
4. Port Authority who stamped our our Transit Log and charged us 15 euro for entering from a non EU country.

We are now spending our third night in Kos because of high (25 to 30 knot) winds. The forecast is for less wind tomorrow and we hope to be heading for Naxos

Bodrum

We spent our last night in Turkey in Bodrum. Had a delightful meal in a restaurant on the waterfront and cleared out of Turkey on the morning of 25 April. We will miss Turkey. We have had a wonderful time there the last two years.

SV BeBe and a rendevouz with the Rouses’

The highlight to our 10 days in Marmaris was finally meeting up with Judy and Bill Rouse. We met Judy and Bill in the BVI in January 2007 when we were cruising on Seabbatical. They were just beginning a circumnavigation and we were anchored in the same bay on St. John. Since we were both flying Texas flags it was only natural we would end up sharing sundowners and stories. They had recently purchased an Amel Super Maramu and prior to that owned a Beneteau. Coincidentally Seabbatical was a Beneteau and we had recently placed an order for an Amel 54 the new boat Amel was building. But most important of all they were fellow Houstonians. That one evening was the only time we saw each other but we have kept in contact thru the years via email and blogs. Fast forward to 2011 and we finally crossed paths again in Marmaris, Turkey.

Back to the Boat – 2011

Greetings to one and all. We are back in Marmaris, Turkey on board Lone Star. We left Texas April 11 and after 3 planes, 2 taxis and a night in a hotel which reinforced that what you see on the internet is not what you get, we boarded Lone Star. We found her in good shape after the winter thanks to the watchful eyes of the folks at NOKTA. While we were gone we had two boat jobs completed – mounting one of the downwind poles to the mast and having a stainless cradle made and mounted on the port stern side of the boat for our life raft. Both jobs turned out great. We have spent the past week bringing Lone Star “back to life” and getting her ready for the cruising season. Today, Friday, April 22, we are leaving Yacht Marine for what we hope is the last time. Our plans this year are to head west. We will sail thru the Greek Islands, on to Croatia, Italy, the Balearic Islands ending in Gibraltar in mid September. Along the way we are looking forward to several sets of friends joining us. After a trip back to the States once the boat is in GIB, Craig will head back to Lone Star in October where he and his trusty crew will sail the boat to the Canary Islands and then on November 20 depart on the ARC with 240 other boats bound for St. Lucia in the southern Caribbean. We will be updating the blog periodically so stay tuned and see how close we come to meeting our planned schedule! Fair Winds.