Knights Templar and Lisbon, Portugal

 

Knights Castle at Almourol, Portugal

Knights Castle at Almourol, Portugal on the Tagus River

So many restaurants to choose from in Lisbon, Portugal

Fatima, Portugal

Maria standing where Fatima's three children were photographed in 1917

Kirsten Neuschäfer's sailboat.  She became the first outright and overall winner of a major solo sailing around the world race in 2023.  WOW!!!  Les Sables d’Olonne, France

Les Sables d’Olonne, France, home of the Vendee Globe

Les Sables d’Olonne, France and the finish line for the Vendee Globe around the world solo sailboat race

 

S/Y Savannah Sky – June 13, 2023 – Log #3

Savannah Sky Position: 51 degrees 45’ N, 003 degrees 51’ E

Port Zélande, Ouddorp, Netherlands (Holland)

 

Knights Templar and Lisbon, Portugal

 

Driving south and into normal traffic at Paris.  Wow, that is not for the faint hearted!

 

After nearly 2 hours, we fought our way out of the City of Light, thanks to our trusty GPS.  Paris is at the top of our cities to avoid driving through.  No wonder Steve’s hair has changed a much lighter shade of blond, ha ha.

 

Navigator Maria gets to point out what turns Steve has missed along the way.  “Take the fifth exit in the round about, and immediately leave the roundabout and turn left then right.”  Now what kind of directions does that voice/graphic display give us? 

 

There isn’t even a chance to look at our navigation screen with busses, trucks, cars, bicycles, motorcycles, scooters, pedestrians, baby strollers and dogs mere inches away and as we creep by.

 

Once out of Paris, thankfully, we saw the Golden Globe solo around the world winning sailboat at the dock in Les Sables d’Olonne, France. 

 

Of course the boat belongs to Kirsten Neuschäfer who became the first outright and overall winner of a major solo sailing around the world race in 2023.  WOW!!!

 

Then it was on through Spain and into Portugal where we visited Fatima and the Knights Templar castles.

 

Maria was thrilled to see one of the most important religious pilgrimage sites in the world: Fatima.

 

Steve was a tag-along on the Fatima experience but absolutely enthralled to see the legendary home of the Templar Knights.  The Templars have been popularized lately and taken on a different meaning than their actual history as the wealthiest and most popular religious military orders in Western Christianity.

 

Tales of the Holy Grail and Arc of the Covenant, popularized by Indiana Jones movies, are just that – Tales, and very far from the truth, as we found by visiting the home of the Templars outside Lisbon, Portugal.

 

Whatever the truth may be, it was really fun laying hands on history at both places.

 

Steve and Maria

Friends and Land Touring

Maria and Deb walking and shopping around Amsterdam

WWII German Bunkers in the Netherlands with Tim and Deb

Tim found his favorite place to rest - WWII Bunker latrine

Nice $200,000 race car just sitting in the marina parking lot

Lovely Amsterdam canals, with wind and cheese of course

Maria and Deb enjoying the cool but stunning beaches in the Netherlands.  No bikinis here yet!

Tim and Deb visiting Savannah Sky at Port Zelande Marina

Vincent van Gough museum in Amsterdam

My all-time favorite painter, Paul Gauguin, who painted with his imagination...

More Amsterdam canals with liveaboard boats lining the banks

Ah, this painting is very special to my heritage.  The sailboat in the middle of the picture is carrying Prince Charles II, who was exiled to Holland by my relative, Sir Oliver Cromwell.  Sir Oliver also lopped off the head of Charles I in England and abolished the monarchy, way back when.  The painting shows Charles II returning to England to bring royalty (a king and queen) back to England.  This historical voyage happened in 1660 and as we all know, there is still a king in England now.  Maria looks very impressed, ha ha.

Now this is a magnificent library in the Netherlands National Museum (Rijksmuseum)

I like the two people in mid-air, flying down the chute on a typical cold and blustery day in Holland

S/Y Savannah Sky – June 7, 2023 – Log #2

Savannah Sky Position: 51 degrees 45’ N, 003 degrees 51’ E

Port Zélande, Ouddorp, Netherlands (Holland)

 

Friends and Land Touring

 

Working day and well into the night on Savannah Sky has pretty much taken all of our time and effort lately.  Who would have thought a bigger boat needed so much TLC?  Ha ha.

 

Our friends from Colorado, Tim and Deb, came to visit us on Savannah Sky.

 

We entertained them by walking on long beaches, hiking to WWII German bunkers and watching windsurfing antics in the 58-degree weather kept us busy.

 

Driving around, Steve got a hidden camera speeding ticket for going 1.86 mph over the speed limit.  I guess they need the money in the Netherlands?

 

Yet in the parking lot at the marina, we see so many Porches, Mercedes and even a $200,000 race car just sitting around.  Kind of interesting in a socialist country with so much obvious wealth?

 

We also visited the windmills at Kinderdijk before heading up to multi-cultural Amsterdam.

 

In Amsterdam, bicycles outnumber cars yet we only saw one pedestrian vs. bike crash and resulting fist-fight because the bicyclist claimed the right of way over a walker. Wow!

 

Steve and Maria

1.     You can follow Savannah Sky’s route here, once we leave the dock: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SY_SavannahSky/

 

 

Time Is All About Changes

250 pounds of gear for our trip to Savannah Sky, in the Netherlands

Savannah Sky looks happy to finally see us at Port Zelande, Netherlands.  At least ice is off the water!

Walking along the beach with so many kite surfers out on the North Sea.  Brrrr!

Maria inside where it is a bit warmer

Maria liking our full enclosure with the heater on

Golfing with Jim and Tim in Colorado, before we flew away.  It was so much warmer than the North Sea!

 

S/Y Savannah Sky – May 21, 2023 – Log #1

Savannah Sky Position: 51 degrees 45’ N, 003 degrees 51’ E

Port Zélande, Ouddorp, Netherlands (Holland)

 

Time Is All About Changes

 

In April of this year, when we sailed into Grenada on Aspen, we put Aspen’s logbook by itself on the shelf with our hearts in it.

 

Our humor was most definitely in need of repair after all the work we did on Aspen, getting her ready for new owners in Grenada.

 

Today we find ourselves in cold and windy Marina Port Zélande, Netherlands, of all places, and getting settled onboard our nicely floating S/Y Savannah Sky.

 

It is an adjustment getting to know our new boat, having sailed 22 years on Aspen.  Everything is in a different place and all the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and sailing systems are not quite the same, ha ha.

 

Having more room on our 50-foot sailboat is nice but Maria claims there is just that much more to keep clean, ha ha.

 

Savanna Sky was in storage during the winter, so all the dirt and grime had to be washed off, even in 50-degree weather with howling frigid North Sea winds pummeling us at the dock. 

 

The Dutch think it is warm out, for some odd reason, and are walking around in shorts and summer tops in the blustery cold conditions.  Bicycle riders, kite surfers, walkers, hikers, dog walkers and runners of all ages are everywhere.  Geeze, how refreshing!

 

I guess our blood has thinned so much from sailing in the hot Caribbean sunshine that we will have to adjust, quickly.

 

The Dutch seem pretty tolerant of us speaking English, with no Dutch words.  We find Dutch is pretty difficult but Google Translate really helps.

 

Paying for things is a challenge since credit cards are not used by many stores, we quickly found out.  The red X on the ‘credit card machine’ must mean something, I mentioned to Maria at the non-functioning self-checkout kiosk.

 

Oh well, at least IKEA takes our American credit card so we can buy lots of stuff for Savannah Sky.

 

We’ve had friends still ask us, why are we doing this?  Shouldn’t we be thinking of moving to a nice retirement community with lots of restaurants and programmed activities to keep busy during the day as well as people to watch over us should something go medically wrong?

 

Whether it is sailing toward a distant horizon or doing something crazy like buying a boat in Euroland, we understand it all will come crumbling down sometime in the future.  That is true for everyone, if we are lucky enough to live long lives.

 

Our credo is to live life as we want it, for as long as we can, and not let society nor others determine our adventuresome future.

 

We’re all temporaries in this life, as no one gets out alive.

 

Steve and Maria

1.     You can follow Savannah Sky’s route here, once we leave the dock: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SY_SavannahSky/

Fare thee well “SV Aspen”

 

A single picture tells a thousand stories...

 

S/Y Aspen – May 3, 2023 – Log #190 (Finale)

Aspen Position: 12 degrees 00’ N, 61 degrees 00’ W

Spice Island Boatyard, Grenada, Caribbean

 

Fare thee well “SV Aspen”

 

Ahhh the places we have sailed and the stories “Aspen” could tell.

 

Aspen brought us across so many miles of endless oceans and safely around the world.

 

Nothing was ever too difficult for Aspen as her captain and crew came along for the ride.

 

It was 22 years ago as we watched Aspen take form at the factory in Florida.

 

Today we bid farewell to Aspen, as her new owners, Rachel and Susan, have journeys waiting for them as they sail toward that distant blue horizon.

 

Here is a video we made for Aspen: https://youtu.be/crxIQBSeKC0

 

Sail on, sail on Aspen…

 

Maria and Steve

PS - Also, we’ll keep the blog, if someone wants some fond memories:  http://syaspen.blogspot.com/

 

 

Another Sailing Season Come and Gone

 

Jolly Harbour, Antigua

Care to ROW across the Atlantic Ocean in this?  Yes, this is one of the finishers in Antigua.

Aspen resting at Jolly Harbour, Antigua

Maria in her hiking outfit at Deep Bay, Antigua

Sunset on top of St. Kitts, as seen from Deep Bay Antigua

Dominoes with the family (Zach, Heidi, Nik and Sir Timothy)

Hike up to the Fort at Deep Bay, Antigua with the family

Zach and Maria enjoying time in Aspen's cockpit

Our Rocna anchor holds really well!

Sailing with the family in Antigua

Zach in his normal beach attire

Maria waiting patiently at Nelson's Dockyard for Zach and family to arrive.

Happy Hour on the Boardwalk at Rodney Bay, St. Lucia: Dawn & Laurie (Cat Tales), Fred (Dakota Dream), John (Stop Knott), Steve and Jen (Tanglewood) and two more wayward sailors.

Fred and Sandy (Dakota Dream), walking with us in Jolly Harbour, Antigua

The lovely waterfront at Le Marin, Martinique

Fred (Dakota Dream), tackling a slightly uphill section of trail

St. Pierre, Martinique with Mt. Pele in the background.

 

S/Y Aspen – April 14, 2023 – Log #189

Aspen Position: 12 degrees 00’ N, 61 degrees 00’ W

Spice Island Boatyard, Grenada, Caribbean

 

Another Sailing Season Come and Gone

 

Where did the time go?

I have been remiss, not posting any blogs lately.  Time just kept flowing like an endless sea, slip sliding away.

 

Springtime in the Caribbean found Aspen and crew sailing northward from sweet Bequia to St. Lucia, Martinique and then direct to Antigua where we met Zach and his family for a great Easter visit.

 

We met up with so many friends along our journey, as happens amongst wayward sailors: Dawn And Laurie (Cat Tales) and Fred and Sandy (Dakota Dream) always kept conversations fresh and lively, as the rum flowed.

 

Old haunts on St. Lucia were full of happy hours and many more new and old friends at Rodney Bay.

 

Then there was French Martinique where rum, wine and cheeses put our ambitions at bay for nearly a month.

 

Antigua was on the northern horizon as Aspen flew across waves, giving us a really good sail to English Harbour and our meeting with Zach and his family.

 

English Harbour was a spectacular setting for Aspen, tied at the 1745 restored dockyard quay that Admiral Horatio Nelson built.

 

A week spent amongst Antigua’s welcoming bays was an interesting change from the more rustic yet friendly islands further south in the island chain.

 

All too soon, it was time to point Aspen’s bow south to Grenada, taking 56 hours of unfriendly seas to make landfall in Grenada once again as we prepared Aspen for storage.

 

Moving 22 years of accumulated possessions off the boat was a challenge we don’t wish upon anyone.  Luckily, we found a storage bin(s) large enough to hold our precious belongings before Aspen was safe and secure on dry land, waiting for her next adventures.

 

Sail on, sail on Aspen and Savannah Sky…

 

Steve and Maria