S/V Aphrodite

According to legend we have been following many portions of Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, as we sail through this area of the world.   The Ionian Islands are frequently mentioned in The Odyssey.  Ithaca is generally accepted as the homeland of Odysseus, to which he was returning after the Trojan War.  Other areas sited in the epic are The Straits of Messina, Sicily, and The Aeolian Islands where we currently are. Unfortunately my memory of The Odyssey is limited and I am only now piecing together parts of the stories as we sail through these legendary waters.  Still, it has been quite exciting to follow as closely as we have some of the voyage and see some of the sites described in the epic.  The following are verses from The Odyssey which resonate specifically within me.

Always keep Ithaca in mind
Arriving there is your destiny.
not expecting Ithaca to make you wealthy.
But do not hurry the journey in any way.
Better that it lasts for years,
so you are old when you reach the island,
enriched by all you have gained along the way,

Unfortunately we are here in July-August, the busiest months of the year, with all of the Greeks, Italians and other Europeans who take the entire month of Aug off for holiday. In general we found the Ionian Islands less compelling than the Greek Islands in the Adriatic.  I wonder if part of this impression is drawn from the crowds and that sailing, or motoring as the case often seems to be here in the Med., through its waters likens a Sunday afternoon boat ride on Lake Geneva.  In a different month I might have parted with a different opinion.  We are experiencing the same congestion in the waters and islands around Sicily where we are right now but are finding them to be stunning and inspiring despite the crowds.

The Aeolian Island chain, just north of Sicily, is an archipelago of imposingly rugged black volcanic islands jetting skyward in irregular and severe patterns.  The black-sand beaches surrounded by shiny black obsidian rock makes them very unique.  Two of the islands still have active volcanoes; one island, Stromboli, gives nightly light shows resembling fireworks as the fiery lava spurts high into the black night sky.  Last night we anchored right beneath the firestorm and were blown away by the deep and powerful “whoosh” which sounded, almost even felt, just before she blew.  The other truly amazing thing about these islands is discovering just how long they have been inhabited.  The most ancient human settlements of the islands date back to 5000 BC, mind boggling don’t you think?  The obsidian volcanic glass was greatly sought after and exported all over the western Mediterranean, before the age of metals, in order to make light cutting instruments.  Evidence of the earliest settlers has been unearthed by archeologists within the natural fortress of Castle Rock on the island of Lipari, another Aeolian Island which has been continuously inhabited for 6000 years.

Departing Greece and Turkey means leaving the most delicious yogurt behind.  Our culinary experiences are both important and memorable aspects of our journey.  In Tunisia we ate roots, lots and lots of roots: beets, carrots, potatoes, fennel which was new to both of us, turnips and rutabaga.  In addition we had months and months of sweet mandarins, dates, lamb and couscous.  I developed a true love of olives while in Morocco, especially their ‘not too salty’ mauve olives.  Greece brought heavenly yogurt, Greek salads with vine ripened tomatoes, Kalamata olives and cucumbers, all topped with a slice of goat cheese sprinkled with oregano, stuffed grapevine leaves and cheese and spinach pies.  For Michael there was an abundance of octopus and squid/calamari.  Fish is not plentiful in the Mediterranean and is therefore expensive.  While in Turkey we ate mazes of eggplant, tomato, zucchini, onions and red peppers and potatoes.  Michael would choose roasted goat whenever possible.  We don’t really eat out much because of the cost and the fact that I find cooking both creative and relaxing as well as fact that what I make on board is usually better than what we can find in most restaurants.  However, my options of meals are completely dependent on what is coming out o the garden at the current time.  It is quite unlike being able to go to one of the beautiful Whole Foods stores and choosing whatever vegetable I feel like eating that evening.  Now that we are back in Italy the goat cheeses are replaced by hard pecorino type cheese and soft balls of mozzarella and pasta in every imaginable color type and flavor is available.  Alcohol also changes its flavors from country to county.  Turkey has Raki, Greece has Ouzo and Italy has Grappa, all giving the same quality of headache.

Our current schedule includes southern Sardinia next, followed by the Spanish Balearic Islands and then Portugal where Brisa came from.  We decided that since we have the time we want to return to her birth place so she can spend some time with her family and we can learn some of the training activities specific to Portuguese Water Dogs, like diving below water level to retrieve things.  She is an incredibly strong swimmer, extending her distances whenever given the chance but has not shown any natural instinct to plunge her head under water.   We are thinking about breeding her when we return to the States so we are going to be investigating that too.  We are awaiting her first period of ‘heat’ right now and will have to reserve that decision until after we discover just how challenging it will be to have a dog in heat on a boat. She is displaying some very challenging changes of behavior which are not at all endearing and I am beginning to wondering if dogs experience PMS.  Any knowledge on this subject???

We arrived 8/17/2008 in southern Sardinia yesterday after a hellacious passage.  It was supposed to be a quick and easy 250 nautical miles, or a day and a half.  Instead we had one of those ugly passages requiring an additional 100 nautical miles of tacking back and forth, where everything got tossed to the floor, we got beat up, ate little and slept less, well, especially Michael because the conditions were so icky that I had to call him to take over one of my shifts.  Both Brisa and I got sick and no one had fun.  But, alas, we are here and the boat is back in order.