December 2004
With 2004 slowly drawing to an end, time has come to send you our wishe and thoughts and share with you some of the special events in review. We're in Turkey: to be more precise - the marina of the small town of Ayvalik, which is on the Asian continental part of the country, 150 kms. north of Izmir; 30 kms east of the Greek island of Lesbos. And ready to enter into what already promises to be a fairly cold winter aboard Sylphe.
The oldfashioned diesel heater is installed in the saloon, the modern satellite dish firmly implanted on the quay and Sylphe's interior fully decorated for the season, including a small Christmas tree: a first!! The reason to spend the winter this far north/east in the Med., and not in much warmer Monastir, is our intention to take Sylphe into the Black Sea next year. And thus the season will start early in 2005 and we want to be close to our summer destination. We can safely haul Sylphe here in spring and do the necessary maintenance and small repair jobs during the winter months. But all this is in the future and we shall keep you posted on our adventures and progress via the telltales, as usual.
So back to this past year - 2004. A bit different from previous years, albeit a very good one. After having spent the 2003/2004 festivities in Monastir, the fourth year in a row, Marit once more returned to India's northern state of Bihar to work for WHO/UNICEF's polio eradication program, while Roland remained on Sylphe with a very long "to do" list: mostly varnishing and painting though. We met again end February to celebrate Marit's 50th birthday in Switzerland and spent three fabulous weeks skiing in the Swiss/French mountains; a chance for Marit to meet up again with some of her old and dearest friends - and for Roland to finally meet them. Full of winter fresh-air and subsequent energy we parted again at Geneva's airport three weeks later - time to go back to work in resp. India and Tunisia. Early April Roland took Sylphe to Malta, a trip both of them have now made 5 times (is it a bus-schedule??), and the Yacht Yard at Manoel Island for the yearly hauling out, anti-fouling and under-water ship maintenance. Begin May presented another challenge for Roland, as he took Sylphe solo and non-stop from Malta to Cavtat in Croatia, a trip that took him 73 hrs. alone at sea. Meanwhile, Marit continued to fight polio in Bihar, conducted surveys in some of India's southern provinces and returned to Geneva once again, this time to attend a WHO technical workshop to which she was invited, and back to India.(is it a bus-schedule??) Early June Marit flew "home" and met Roland and Sylphe in Croatia. And then it was summer - time to enjoy ourselves onboard a -by now beautiful-looking and shining- Sylphe (comments from friends and clients - not our own words!!). The next 3,5 months were spent in that sailing paradise, sailing up and down the coast, visiting many of the 1,183 (!!) islands, fully enjoying the beautiful scenery, the good food, as well as the kindness and hospitality of many of Croatia's inhabitants. It was a whirlwind of visitors on Sylphe: friends from all parts of the world, as well as a few clients joined Sylphe to sample some of the good life, fun and laughter, as well as some great sailing. This year saw the kids coming onboard: Christel (11), Matthijs (13), Zeb (18 months), Tatum (13), Zoe (6), Stefanos (8), Georgos (6), they too enjoyed the sea and the life onboard. Since we would spend the winter in Turkey, we still could do some sailing and visiting friends in Greece, we hoisted the sails, left Croatia and set a southern course in the beginning of September, heading for the land of the "frappes" and "ouzo".
A different course, as normally we would head west and north at that time of the year, to be able to take part in the Classic races in southern France. So, no bus-schedule after all.. On the north-Ionian island of Levkas we were joined by Rob, alias Sylphe's technical advisor, a long-time friend and faithful visitor, who stayed with us for the next month and besides installing multiple technical gadgets, sailed with us through the Ionian islands, along the coast and around the Peleponesos and up north again into the Saronic Gulf. Visiting many new, but also a lot of the very familiar places and faces in what remains one of our favourite countries in the Med. Once again we were joined at regular intervals by different friends, including some of our dear Greek friends, who finally had the time to sail with us (end of the season) rather than just look at Sylphe lying in port. But the sailing season really ends, even in the Med. And by now it was begin November and getting colder, especially at night: time to head for Turkey and our winter-stop. It did not go all that fast and as planned (but hey, we're in no hurry): we got stuck on the island of Aegina, because of storm and winds from the wrong direction - at least Aegina offers Pedro's "Hippocampus", which is probably the best restaurant in Greece, feeding us the most delicious dishes each night.
Finally mid-November gave us a beautiful, clear and little-wind autumn day, so we said our farewells and left the Saronic Gulf, also seeing the Greek-European mainland for the last time for the next 1,5 year to come. Via the islands of Kea, Andros, Tinos, Mykonos, Ikaria, Chios, Ionoussa and Lesbos, all involving short or longer stops, we finally sailed into Ayvalik's inner-sea on 4 December - Sylphe making the last of her 4.600 miles for the year 2004. Not bad, we sailed from March till December. So we're back in Turkey, the country where we did Sylphe's restauration 5 years ago and where we spent nine months doing so. It is wonderful being back again, so many memories and friends we kept in touch with, but have not seen all these years. We know that we shall feel very much at home here during the next months, working on Sylphe and preparing for her trip into the Black Sea. Spring next year we shall be ready to leave once more, and after 5 years sailing onboard Sylphe, we also know why:
..."At the last, when you have sailed long enough and far enough, you come to understand that the sea is everything. It is calm andrestless, stormy and laughing, many-hued and one-coloured, salty and fresh, warm and cold, an enemy and a friend, a help and a hindrance, a tragedy and a jest. Everything! Sufficient for every mood, for every dream, for every hope, for every sorrow." Albert Richard Wetjen
And our slogan: "There is always more...." remains our drive to continue sailing.
Wishing you all a wonderful, joyous, happy and healthy 2005.
AHOY
Roland and Marit
S/y SYLPHE