A J Wanderlust

A J Wanderlust

Capt. Denny and Charlene Howard will depart St. Petersburg, FL in late August for points east on Charlene's Jeanneau 45.2 "A J Wanderlust". We will sail through the Florida Keys, then up the east coast of the US to Beaufort, NC. From there we sail to Bermuda, the Azores and on to Portugal. We will proceed on after visiting a number of spots in Portugal and Spain to Gibraltar. Capt. Denny will sail past the "Rock" for the third time as we enter the Mediterranean, cruise the Costa del Sol and on to Mallorca. Then it's on to southern France and Monaco.

We will continue to update the site to give you a look at the cruising life. The trip is expected to take two to three months. We hope you will enjoy this and visit often.

Update: The trip has not lasted two to three months but is still ongoing. Fifteen months after leaving St. Petersburg "A. J. Wanderlust" is resting comfortably in her temporary slip in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. Charlene and A J have traveled over 22,000 miles so far. The plan is for Capt. Denny to return to the yacht after the first of the year to make the final leg to Seattle where A. J. Wanderlust will spend the next couple years.

Cheers

Capt. Denny

To view our position go to www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/reporter_list.php and look for A J Wanderlust call sign WDD3841

8-1-06

Work is progressing On A J Wanderlust. Thanks to Lawson Sails, LTD, in Dallas a new 130% Genoa is being built and will be delivered if not to Florida to North Carolina. JSI in St. Petersburg will be removing the existing working jib and make repairs to it soon along with going through the rigging to make sure it's safe. Sailor's Wharf has applied a new coat of bottom paint and is working on fixing the autopilot, radar, refrigeration and a few other things. They are also coordinating the new graphics for the name. A new Bimini and Dodger are under construction. The liferaft is being repacked and the battery for the Epirb is being replaced. The new Single Side Band Radio is on it's way with the modem and weatherfax program. We will have email at sea.

Once underway my son Chad and Son and Law Jae, will be working together to give some very cool graphics so you'll be able to follow our progress. I'll be emailing them daily with position updates and comments.

8-24-06

Have been in Florida for two days now. A J Wanderlust is a beautiful little ship she is. As the boatyard finishes the final projects Charlene and I have been off on buying trips equipping A J for her ocean passage. We are doing are best to make sure West Marine stays in business. The new single sideband installation is almost completed. The new inverter charger went in today so we are good for shore power and AC current. The new Dodger and Bimini went on today as well. The Radar Antenna is in but not tuned. We have purchased the tools we need, safety gear, and spare nuts and bolts. Tomorrow we take on getting fishing gear, spare engine filters, and will start to provision for hopefully a Saturday or Sunday departure.

Today, however it is raining dogs and cats with the majority being dogs the rain drops are so big.

So, I was in for a lifestyle change, but had no idea in reality what I was in for. A crazy idea that became me three months ago, has now become my new reality and I could not be happier. I have made my first in a lifetime trip to Home Depot, fairly uninteresting, and several to West Marine - was able to amuse myself picking out a life vest for my dear furry friend while Captain stocked up on all sorts of other requirements. Slowly beginning to understand how this "provisioning" thing can take more than a day, especially as it involves inventorying what is actually on A.J. Wanderlust and filling in the missing bits of equipment. Taking it all in, praying to remember and learn as much as possible, and worrying how I can absorb the twenty years of experience I will need in the next two months of on the water training. Apart from that have spent a fair amount of time poking around in the bowels of A.J. Wanderlust trying to figure out all her hidden infrastructure. Concluding she will be a lovely chariot to transport to wonderful and far away places in the coming year.

8-26-06

More delays. Another problem with the Radar and air conditioning. The air conditioning should be resolved Monday and the radar Tuesday. Monday we will swing the compasses and have the instruments calibrated. As of now we are hoping for a late Tuesday or early Wednesday departure.

8-27-06

Finally got out for a sail on A. J. Wanderlust. We sailed from St. Pete to the Manatee River and spent the night at anchor. Finding more issues but nothing serious. On the way back we got into a down pour and visibility went virtually to zero. Great fun because the radar is still not repaired. A. J. Wanderlust is a pure joy to sail. She turns a good bit of speed even in light winds. Should have our call sign tomorrow from the FCC so hope to have the SSB communications up in a day or two. We're still on track for a Tuesday or Wednesday departure depending on Ernesto.

Charlene at the helm of her A. J. Wanderlust

8-30-06

Ernesto proved to be a non event. The last bits are being finished so tomorrow is the big day. Sometime tomorrow we will depart St Pete and head south. We hope to be in Key west in about a day and a half. The sailmail is not running yet but will be soon. Both Charlene and I are ready to go.

8-31-06

Today's the day! All the food and equipment is now aboard and stowed. Just a few things to do and we're off. Ernesto was a dud. The most wind we had was 15 knots and hardly any rain. It missed us completely. We did go through the drill of taking the bimini off and removed anything off the deck that might fly around. We also doubled up the lines.

We expect to be in Key West on Saturday.

9-1-06

We got underway about 1630 hours yesterday. We have winds from the southwest to about 15 knots. It's been an uneventful night but for Charlene practicing rounding up and having to do 360's to get back on course. She has mastered that well. We had thunderstorms all around us last night but nothing that came close. We did go through one particularly intense shower this morning. All's well and the crew is enjoying a very pleasant ride. Expect to be in Key West Saturday morning. I'll try to post some new pictures from there.

9-4-06

Spoke with Denny this morning. They are currently off Miami Beach but can't proceed because the area is closed for the shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral. Weather has been poor - lots of thunderstorms, but not much wind other than those.

9-7-06

We are currently in St. Augustine, FL. Came in this morning to see Charlene’s aunt and uncle. Weather is still bad. Got by Cape Canaveral yesterday after the launch of the shuttle was postponed. We were traveling through the area where the boosters would have come down on us if we had been there. We’ve seen Manatee’s, Sharks, Dolphins and have had flying fish hit the deck. We are trying to out run yet another storm, Florence. We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning for Beaufort. Expect it to take 4 to 5 days.

One of the pictures is of Charlene out in the bosun’s chair after I grounded the boat in Key West in a storm. We were trying to get off the mud back. It unfortunately didn’t work. She did have fun though.

9-9-06
Just off Savannah Georgia harbor, going into South Carolina. Rough day, wind on the nose the whole day. Doing a combination of sailing north and then motoring up the coast at an angle trying to get some distance. Really shallow - 15 miles offshore and still only 50 feet of water. Still bound for Beaufort - hope to be in on Monday. All depends on Hurricane Florence. Waiting to see what it will do. If we need to duck in there are all kinds of places. About 80 miles or so from Charleston, SC. Hoping to at least make that if not Beaufort.

9-11-06

It’s Monday and we are in Little River, SC. We tried to cross to Cape Fear this Morning and it was very rough. We came into the Inter Coastal Waterway and are making our way to Beaufort. We expect to be there tomorrow evening. Florence has left the Atlantic confused and very rough. We are going to wait until the ocean calms down a bit before heading to Bermuda. There are several things that need to be resolved before crossing the Atlantic of which one is our fresh water system that appears to have a leak. We just seem to go through to much water in a day. And we are very careful how much we use.

We have now traveled 1050 miles since leaving St. Petersburg. A J Wanderlust is proving to be a well found vessel and we look forward to a fast passage to Bermuda.

9-14-06

In Beaufort after a very trying trip up the Intercoastal Waterway. The waterway is shallow and groundings are common. We touched bottom on four different occasions. We refer to them now as anchoring with the keel. Very frustrating. In a few short days though we will be departing for deep water before once again entering the shoals of Bermuda. It will be nice to be able to relax a little while on a long passage. We're waiting for the ocean to settle down a littlefrom the last hurricane then we're off.

It's been great to visit with my friends Chuck and Katherine who I haven't seen in a couple years. Charlene's mom, brother and cousin are here as well and it's great to see them.

9-20-06

For the last 36 hours we've made great time toward Bermuda. 0300 to 0300 was 192.4 miles. we saw speeds consistently in the 8 to 10 knot range. In 47 hours we are half way there. The wind has dropped in just the past hour after a heavy rain squall came through. We still have concerns over Hurricane Helene as we have not had a good weather report in a day and a half. The WWV report is hard to understand with a lot of static. It will be good to get to Bermuda so we can get the weatherfax software running.

9-21-06

We are reaching under cloudy skies at 7.5 to 8.5 knots. It's lumpy out here and we don't expect a change until our arrival in Bermuda midday tomorrow. The wind veered from west to north through the night and went very light for a while but it's back now at 17 knots gusting to 22 knots. We are currently double reefed with a #2 jib on. After three weeks we are now on a port tack which makes cooking a chore as the galley is on the port side as are the food storage lockers. As soon as you open a door the contents tries to fly out at you. Our average distances have been in the 150 miles per day plus so we are very pleased with the performance of A J Wanderlust. More tomorrow.

9-22-06

Will make landfall tonight in St. Georges Bermuda. It's been a fast great run here. The wind went to the north last night an we made up time reaching under a very star filled night. Our pace has slowed from the rocketing 192 miles in 24 hours to an average of 150. Still not bad. The seas are down some as well and when we check in with Bermuda Radio we will find out about the swell left over from hurricane Helene. There is a warning out for Bermuda about it but we'll see what Bermuda Radio says. We've been checking in with the Kruheimer's Single side Band net in the mornings getting up to date weather as well as from family and friends. will write again tomorrow after wed are in.

9-27-06

At 1715 hrs. Bermuda Radio gave us permission to depart St. Georges harbor and head for the Azores. We are sailing in 10 to 15 knots of wind on a course of 77 degrees true toward Horta, Faial, Azores Islands with a speed of 6.4 knots. It's a mere 1806 miles from Bermuda. We expect it to take 12 to 13 days. The skies are clear and all is well.

An eventful past few days. Completed stage one of the Atlantic crossing in arriving to Bermuda. Got our anchor hopelessly buried beneath a mooring cable in the quarantine area and had to search about for a dive tank so that a trip line could be set to spring us free. Spent three days in Bermuda, including my birthday, and were able to relax a bit enjoying various waterfront restaurants, scuba diving at Cathedral rocks and the wreck Pelinaion, and getting to know the island via scooter. St. George is a lovely quaint historic city of pastels, while Hamilton is much larger and commercial. The island has areas of lush vegetation, lots of parks, many churches and pretty bays with almost white sand. And now, as we head onto the Azore Islands, Bermuda is just leaving the horizon directly behind us.

9-28-06

We're cruising along at just over 5 knots, that's 5 3/4 miles an hour for you school kids that are watching our progress. The day is beautiful with temperatures in the low 80's and a nice breeze from the south to keep us cool. We are currently 110 mile NNE of Bermuda. The ocean is a deep blue color and crystal clear. We haven't seen any flying fish since yesterday or any other sea life for that matter. Last night we had thunderstorms all around us but we didn't even get a drop of rain. The wind would come and drive us along at 8 knots then die and we would barely be moving alone at one knot. We are still on track though for a 130 mile day. A little slower than we'd like.

Tropical depression 9 looks as if it will pass to the east of us tomorrow. It will probably give us some larger swells but nothing A. J. Wanderlust can't handle.

9-29-06

It's another beautiful day. Winds have back a bit to the east south east heading us off course. It's been a slow go for the past 36 hours. We've only made about 200 miles in that time, not what we had hoped for. It may be a blessing though as tropical storm Isaac appears to be headed this way. We are just now beginning to feel the swell that precedes a storm. One more round with a storm. We're not to far to turn around but really don't want to. We'll be keeping a close eye out for how Isaac, develops. Everything else is fine. We think we may have sorted out the watermaker finally but we'll see. For now we are going to fill some empty water jugs to monitor it's output before just relying on the water going into the tank.

Take care.

9-30-06

Again we return to the theme of "wind on the bow" and it seems that motoring has us crawling rather than running from tropical storm Isaac. We are presently 215 miles distant, but would like to increase that distance. The storm is currently a tropical storm but is expected to reach hurricane strength later this afternoon as it passes over warmer water. We are now on the leading edge of the storm and the sea state is 6 to 8 feet with a 12 second duration so it's very manageable. We are traveling to the east and the storm to the northwest. Once again we had a flying fish on the deck this morning, without a happy ending. Was unceremoniously bounced from my bed to the floor twice during the night due to the swell. Having a great time and all is well.

10-2-06

It's been an exciting couple days. Saturday night hurricane "Isaac" hit with all his glory. The wire to the back stay broke that night and we were without communication until a couple hours ago. The storm lasted about 36 hours and although we were 115 miles from the eyewall we still had 15 foot seas and 35 knot winds. Everything in the boat is wet. We are doing our best to get her dried out today. The wind instruments stopped working so we have just a guess as to how high the gust were and I would estimate them in the low 40's. We are fine except for Charlene doing a face plant into the cockpit coming and getting a bloody nose. We will ratchet up the speed and hope to get back up to 150 miles a day or more.

We are 500 miles east of Bermuda currently and hope to make up time over the next couple days.

The old adage, be careful what you wish for, gained new meaning over the weekend. Wanting to have a full range of sailing experiences while a professional was still aboard, I wished to experience a storm. I was thinking a couple hour squall, and instead was blessed with more than a day of Hurricane Isaac's outer bands. Boats being stronger than people, both of whom on board were tossed to the cockpit floor during the early hours of Saturday night, we decided to hove to late Saturday evening and waited things out down below. Sunday involved hand steering most of the day, but at least we were able to see the wind and waves coming at us, but what surprised me most of all was the absence of rain. Today is Monday, and we are enjoying a smooth ride.

10-3-06

We are now a third of the way to the Azores. Unfortunately two days behind schedule thanks to Isaac. We have a great southerly wind blowing at the moment giving trade wind conditions. We've been getting weather forecasts from Herb up in Canada which have been very helpful since our weatherfax software still is not working. We're heading up to 37 degrees north then we will take a right and straight for Horta. We expect a northerly wind shift tomorrow morning. That will put us on a port tack for only the second time in 2500 miles of sailing so far.

Mike and Marty, get your money out as I've only got 3 pounds to go until having lost 20. Shouldn't be to hard with at least another month
of sailing to go.

Take care.

10-5-06

Another beautiful day but considerably cooler. We're still in shorts and tee-shirts during the day but long pants and sweat shirts at night (first time in 7 weeks). The wind today is very light from the East but we're making progress slowly but surely. Charlene is working on tides and currents again today and I'm sorting out my sextant. Its been a long time since I've done a celestial sight for navigation. We now have less than 1000 miles to Horta. According to the forecast there will be one more day of light winds then a northerly wind will set in and give us a reach all the way to Horta. If we can get back up to speed we could be there in six days. Fishing has been very productive but all I've been able to catch is Irish Pike (seaweed). This being my fifth ocean crossing and I can't believe the amount of seaweed we've seen. Less junk but more seaweed.

10-7-06

We had to go south a little to avoid a front that will give us a wind shift to the east. So far we've been able to avoid it and press on east. We had rain overnight to clean out Charlene's sleeping bag of salt water. She's been sleeping on deck and the spray has soaked her sleeping bag and her. We're down to 767 miles and are now looking at arriving on Thursday or Friday in Horta. We got the watermaker working again yesterday after finding a burned wire at the motor connections. The weatherfax is working now as well. It's nice to see what's in front of us and how to steer to the best advantage. Treat of treats we had showers today and feel clean.

10-10-06

Becalmed!!!! There's no other way to describe the water and air. Not so much as a wind ripple. A swell from the north is knocking us about making the sails flap back and forth slatting in the wallow. 520 to go and we can smell the land but can't seem to get there. Last night we made .4 miles in three hours. Fortunately the current is pushing us in the right direction. I'd whistle for the wind but Charlene did that earlier and you know where that got us.

A PUFF! A PUFF! I must go tend to the sails!

10-11-06

The wind finally arrived late yesterday afternoon. We are 400 miles straight west of Horta. We are moving along at 6 knots and have covered 110 miles in the last 24 hours. We are expecting light southerly winds until Friday then the wind will go to the north and strengthen when we will be on the home stretch for Horta. We finally got a good weatherfax and this confirms our predictions. We expect to arrive sometime on Saturday in the afternoon or early evening. It will be good to get in and have a visit to the island.

This afternoon will be filled with maintenance issues. The engine fuel filter needs changing as we found a leak in it. The last thing we need is to have the engine die just before landing. I really don't like having to sail onto a concrete quay. It can make a heck of mess on the side of the hulls gelcoat.

I hope everyone is well.

10-13-06

Another blockbuster run. 190.2 miles in 24 hours. We are now less than 150 miles to Horta. The weather should hold for an arrival tomorrow morning early. The weather today is beautiful. We have northerly winds to 18 knots with a large swell of about ten feet running from the north. The highlight for today will be showers in anticipation of tomorrow's arrival. Work continues with Charlene learning the basics of navigation and rules of the road. The first of the Azores Islands, Flores, is a mere 30 miles to our northeast.

Fuel, diesel in particular, has never been so important in my life. We are about to empty the last 5 gallon jerry can into the tank, and hope that is sufficient to run the generator for electronics and other system requirements, together with the engine for arrival. Really do not want the adventure of sailing onto a concrete dock !! At least the bilges now seem to be diesel free, although the smell remains. We have a work list of a mere 30 items or so to accomplish in Horta. Perhaps sailing off into the sunset is a bit more intricate that first thought. As our cooking to this point has lacked creativity, looking forward to a proper restaurant preparing and serving dinner.

10-15-06

It was a long tough battle but we have finally arrived in Horta. The last 16 days have seen hurricanes to calms. Last night we waited offshore in 25 knit winds and 10 to 15 foot seas. On our final approach we had waves over 20 feet high. Charlene is getting us through customs as I clean up the boat. We're looking forward to a cold drink and dinner at Peter's "Cafe Sport".

10-22-06

We are on the move again. We left Horta at 0830 hours this morning and are sailing down the Canal de Sao Jorge between the islands of Pico and Sao Jorge. We plan to stop in Terciera tonight then continue on to San Miguel tomorrow. We have a northwest wind between 15 and 20 knots and are cruising at about 8 knots. Horta was very interesting to say the least. Trying to find spare parts was a nightmare. The one and only chandlery in Horta is very expensive and has limited supplies in the off season which this is. We finally got to do a bit of sightseeing and left our painting on the seawall which is a tradition. We also visited Peter's "Cafe Sport" which is a cruisers waypoint in the mid Atlantic.

10-24-06

The last couple days have been interesting because of weather. We arrived in Angra de Heroismo on the Island of Terceira Sunday night and the weather has gone down hill very quickly. We had 30 knot winds most of today and yesterday. We did go sailing today to give Charlene experience in heavy weather. It was rugged though. I thought Hurricane Isaac was bad enough but today was worse. Seas were 15 to 20 feet at 5 seconds. Think about it, NOT FUN. That's like riding up and down two floors on an elevator every five seconds, except the elevator would be drier. The barometer went from 999 millibars on Sunday down to 991 yesterday and back up to 1001 as of 2030 hrs Tuesday night. Very drastic changes and very high winds. Hoping to get going tomorrow.

Spent Monday morning in Angra de Heroismo, a UNESCO site. Narrow cobblestone streets and colorful buildings with intricate balconies. Visited the Captain Generals' Palace where there is a collection of period furniture, porcelain, carpets and chandeliers. The palace also has many oil paintings of its former occupants and intricate wood beam ceilings. Then onto the principle Cathedral of the city, and an attempted visit to two forts. The Fort of St. John the Baptist has been converted for use by a current Portuguese army regiment and the Fort of St. Sabastian has been converted into a hotel. Then, we attempted our first leave of Angra de Heroismo and determined the weather was not in our favor, so we are back in the marina and enjoying the protected harbor. I feel it necessary to mention, that I managed to dock the boat on my own tonight in 20 knots winds, with only minimally extraordinary efforts of Captain related to dock lines.

10-26-06

We have finally broken free of Terceira. The weather is some what cooperating for us to move on to Sao Miguel which we will arrive at in the early AM. Yesterday we are able to circumnavigate Terceira and our last port was Praia da Vitoria where we had a late lunch early dinner. Praia sits next to the U S Air Force base at Lajes. I was through there 36 years ago while on my way to Rota, Spain where I served with the U S Navy. It was very interesting to see how it had changed. The water front area of Praia has a beautiful beach and is very tourist looking. There is a main square with a small park in the center of town and a large cathedral just off of it.

Our Navtex weather receiver is calling for more of the heavy waves we've had over the next couple days. A quick stop in Ponta Delgada on San Miguel and we'll be on our way to Lisbon.

10-30-06

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood with sunny blue skies and slight seas. Unfortunately with that, there's little wind and it's from the east dead on the nose. We've only been able to make 93 miles in the past 24 hours. Hopefully when the weatherfax comes in this afternoon it will give us winds from behind and in the 15 to 20 knot range. As of now we can only hold a course to within 45 degrees of the rumbline to Lisbon. That means tack tack tack. we don't carry nearly enough fuel to motor the whole way there.

Oh well, Charlene is working on splicing three strand rope this afternoon and will proceed to yachtbraid shortly. We need to replace the outhaul for the mainsail and it will be good practice for her.

Applying the sunscreen. Need to get rid of the raccoon eyes.

10-31-06

It's a very slow go out here even though we have plenty of wind and are making 7 knots. The wind is right on the nose and while we sailed 150 miles yesterday we only made 80 good to Lisbon. There's a low pressure system to the south of us that should bring favorable winds after it passes us sometime tomorrow. I can't imagine having to tack the next 600 miles to Lisbon.

For now the breakage seems to have slowed down so we're spending more time on class work for Charlene. Splices yesterday and today we will start on tides and currents for our approach to Lisbon.

Even get a hot shower today, got to love that watermaker.

11-2-06

After being hove to for 12 hours we are back underway. The wind shift we have been looking for finally arrived this morning. we are on a much more direct route for Lisbon and hope to make it by Saturday or Sunday. It's been a very rough few days since leaving Ponta Delgado.

We have been having computer problems and now the High Frequency Radio I send these notes on is acting up. Hope you get these. I'll continue to send and give position reports.

11-3-06

What a frustrating passage. We had about 6 hours of good sailing last night and now the wind has once again gone flat. We are rolling in a swell left over from the storm without enough wind to keep the sails full. We've either had too much wind or none. It's taken us five days to go 300 miles. In five days we should have made our land fall in Lisbon.

We'll keep plugging along though.

11-5-06

Making trees!!!!! A weather system to the south is providing us with good winds at the moment. Our speed has increased to an average of over 7 knots with very slight seas. We anticipate landfall early Tuesday morning. There are two bottles of Champagne on ice for the anticipated moment. We are hoping for a very early arrival as my neighbor and good friend Tom Albers has been in Lisbon waiting for us for the past week. We hope to get there before he leaves Tuesday Morning. The past few days we've had many hitchhikers. Birds that were blown out to sea in the heavy winds of earlier this week have found refuge on "A. J. Wanderlust". A pair of finches were bold enough to land right on us as if we were just part of the boat.

It's been a very frustrating passage with to much wind on the nose and not enough wind from anywhere. The end is near though and Charlene and I are anxiously looking forward to Lisbon.

As there has not been much from a sail trim perspective that could be done to make A. J. Wanderlust go faster given all the wrong wind, the past few days have been occupied with splicing ropes, whipping rope ends, and lots of written homework made up by Captain during his late night watch hours. Oh, yes, and then there is the fact that I am now responsible for all cooking and clean up tasks after a small bird incident. One of our hitchhikers entered the main cabin early Saturday morning when I was on early watch. While I enjoy birds, in confined spaces, they become panicked to escape and I become panicked not to get flapped. So on this particular morning, I managed to bang on Captain's door a few times while racing up the companionway steps. He asked what was wrong, I yelled back "bird in the cabin", he said "just throw a towel over it." The bird took shelter in my head, smaller space, more panic, flapping, and screaming after which I proceeded to indicate that if Captain would remove the bird, unharmed of course, I would take over all duties. Thankfully he too readily agreed, just prior to my also offering rights to boat ownership, etc.

Hoping for very fair winds to push us quickly toward Lisbon, Portugal.

11-6-06

We are driving toward Lisbon a mere 120 miles to the east under 1400 sq. ft. of blue, yellow, and red spinnaker. With 11 knots of true wind we are cruising at 6.5 to 7 knots. Last night brought lots of rain and dying winds as a warm front passed over us. The rain washed the decks of days worth of salt spray that leaves every topside surface with a sticky residue. The salt can be so thick at times you can actually see the salt crystals as the water dries away. There is much anticipation as Lisbon draws closer. Our way point is Ihle (island) Bugio at the mouth of the Rio (river) Tejo (there's a fort there that guarded the entrance) and the short distance to Doca de Alcantara were we hope to get moorage for the next 7 to 10 days. Our GPS shows us a little over 17 hours away.

I should be back on my regular email within a day or two at which time I will post some pictures. If you've tried to write and not gotten a response I apologize but I've not retrieved email since Bermuda five weeks ago. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

11-7-06

The wind gods have once again conspired against us. After a great run last night at over 7 knots we were becalmed again this morning. The wind disappeared this morning for a couple hours and has now gone ahead of us. I hope we won't have to tack for another 24 hours just to get in. Moving so slow is dangerous right now because we are the shipping lane in and out of Lisbon. At present we can see 6 ships around us. I hope they can see us. 33 miles to go.

I'll report again once we arrive.

11-8-06

The crew of A. J. Wanderlust is now feet dry. We arrived in Lisbon and tied up to the dock at 1500 hrs. The Champagne cork was popped for Charlene's first crossing. It's good to be off the water for a few days. We were greeted by the USS Enterprise CVN 65 as we came up the Rio Tejo. Nice of them to be here to meet us.

I'll catch up the last couple days tomorrow. For now it's off to a shore side dinner.

11-12-06

We've had a couple days now of sightseeing and relaxing. Yesterday we visited the Monastery of Jeronimos, a Cathedral that was started in 1501 and completed 100 years later. It's an amazing piece of architecture. The tomb of Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama is just inside the entrance to the church. We visited the financial district and government offices with there wide boulevards for walking, beautiful statues and squares for people to enjoy, and the many open air restaurants that occupy the centers of the boulevards. There's still much to see and over the next week I'll be doing the maintenance required of a cruising boat and taking in as much of the lovely city as I can.

Lisbon is truly a very beautiful and historic European city - smaller than most with its capital having only 800,000 inhabitants, and we have been blessed with beautiful sunny days here. Even in some of the run down buildings that one sees while walking the streets, there is an air of former glory,... if only these walls could speak. The waterfront is dotted with modern cargo ports and old red brick buildings which have been converted from working warehouses to shopping and dining districts. The Monastery of Jeronimos that we visited yesterday is a fine example of the unique Portuguese architectural style of Manueline, as evidenced in the cloisters and main facade of the building. Although I will be leaving soon to return to Brazil to collect Jackson and bring him to Lisbon, I hope to be able to schedule in a visit to the Castle and a few museums, as walking about the city has only peeked my curiosity to see more.

12-4-06

A. J. Wanderlust's newest crew has arrived and sailed for the first time yesterday. He did well but was very antsy to get off the boat when we returned. Today we leave Lisbon and are headed for Vilamoura on the south coast. Charlene had an accident a couple days ago and is limping a bit but getting back up to speed. We ended up in an emergency room until 6 AM after she stepped on a bolt and punctured her foot. Her navigation classes will be in earnest now that we will be in sight of land all the time..

I've not checked my regular email in a couple days so if you've sent something I will answer as soon as we get somewhere with regular email.

12-5-06

Have arrived Vilamoura. On the way here we surfed in at 11.2 knots with a reefed main and jib. It was blowing 30 knots and raining the minute we hit the pontoon at reception. We had 6 to 8 foot waves at the very protected entrance to this beautiful harbor. It's got all the amenities a person could ask for. The trip down was uneventful but for coming across a Russian ship that was disabled and drifting and the last few hours when the wind came up very strong. Leaving Lisbon we had 10 knot SW winds for the first 12 or 13 hours. It then backed to the south and we ended up motoring to Cabo Sao Vincente. From there it was a left turn for 40 miles under sail and we're here. Jackson took it well but tried to abandon ship a couple times. At 115 pounds it's hard to keep him from doing what he wants. Once we left Lisbon he was in the cockpit the hole time and there again a couple times he wanted to come down below but it's to difficult to carry him down with out us both getting hurt. For those of you that don't know our third crew is Charlene's very large Bernese Mountain Dog, a close cousin to a St Bernard.

We will be spending tomorrow here before moving on.

Capt. Denny

12-9-06

We are sailing at a pretty good clip at the moment listening to Christmas carols. There's a bit of a nip in the air today but the sun is out and our spirits are high. We have an 13 knot northerly wind and are on a heading of due east. It's a nice reach.

Our stay was extended in Vilamoura for an extra couple days while Charlene practiced docking and maneuvering in the small harbor. We're just 20 miles from crossing the border into Spain. This will be my sixth time in that country. I'm looking forward to our landfall in Cadiz in the morning. There's much to see there and it will be interesting to see how much I remember from thirty six years ago if anything.

Jackson is definitely starting to relax and enjoy the ride. He's becoming quite my friend as well. Maybe it's because I caught him as he was just about to fall in the water while trying to get back onboard. That little escapade of his has caused me some back pain as well. I've never seen such a frustrated look on a dogs face as he had trying to hang on with his front legs and his back legs hanging over the side in thin air inches from the water.

Wow, what a change from a week ago, when we took a very pained looking Berner for a cruise down the Tejo River. Jackson has definitely found his sea legs and is so mobile now, that we have found the need to keep the life jacket on him full time, as well as using the occasional tether when he decides to go out of the cockpit. He appears to enjoy the cooler climate, wind in his face, and is fascinated by the waves. Today's sail from Portugal to Spain will be his second overnight passage.

While in Vilamoura, Captain managed to fashion some doggy stairs which assisted Jackson with getting in and out of the main salon of A.J. Wanderlust, he is a bit hesitant still but the addition of anti-skid tape helped, and with a little more practice both Jackson and people trying to hoist him should be happier. Other modifications such as netting through the life lines has been installed to prevent a dog overboard incident.

Plans for sightseeing the Algarve area yesterday were abandoned, when we realized it was a holiday and no car rentals were open. Instead we did docking maneuvers, which I realized must be very effective in confidence building when I actually was having fun spinning the boat around in ridiculously small spaces with lots of things to bump nearby.

12-10-06

At 0500 we were at the safe water mark at the entrance to Cadiz, Spain. At 0730 we are safely tied up in the marina at Puerto America. The sun was just coming up as we made landfall. The trip here was faster than anticipated. We didn't expect to arrive before 10 or 11 this morning but do to a strong wind from the north we made very good time. It's a bright sunny day so after breakfast, showers and checking in with the marina we will be off to see the city. Cadiz has many historical landmarks and we hope to see as many as possible before moving on to Gibraltar.

One glitch that we did have coming in is the folding propeller is acting up. It acts as if one blade doesn't want to unfold and it causes a lot of vibration. It has given us problems in the past but we've always managed to get it to work by going forward then reverse a couple times. Doesn't help unfortunately this time. It will probably require a trip underwater to see what's wrong. Will keep you posted.

12-11-06

Brrrr. Well, there is only one way to determine the exact nature of a problem with the propeller. Unfortunately, it involved a swim below the boat in 64 degree water. Trust me, it is colder than it sounds. We donned our suits and did a polar bear swim, and quickly saw that my three blade folding prop only had two blades. Then it was off to the boat yard here at the marina, only to determine that getting a new prop would be a several week proposition. Thus, it was determined, I would hire a diver who would take the propeller off, and with propeller in hand we would go off to try our luck on finding parts ..somewhere. Well, we went off to see a bit of Cadiz, and ended up climbing to the top of the Cathedral tower for some interesting panoramic views. Then back to the marina, to a detailed diagram...which showed that the diver had been below A. J. Wanderlust, but did not have a tool long enough to pull the propeller off. So tomorrow said diver will fashion such a tool, and then we can begin the search for parts. A. J. Wanderlust can not move without this issue being resolved, so we are having an extended stay in Cadiz.

I couldn't have said it better myself. The temperature of the water here is 10 degrees warmer than Puget Sound, but it's still bloody cold. I went in first to see what the problem was then Charlene went in to see for herself. Yup, one blade is missing. Once the original propeller is off we're off to Gibraltar (driving)to see if we can get a new prop or the parts for this one air freighted to Gibraltar so we can get underway again. Our plan now is to try and get to Alicante, Spain before I come home for Christmas break. Then I will be coming back to Gibraltar, do my Ocean Yachtmaster's course (that will take my British certifications up to all ocean) and we will be off again around the Med. I will be home around the 21st of December and look forward to seeing you all.

Cheers

12-20-06

We arrived in Gibraltar at 0800 this morning. We tied the lines and with bags in hand I ran for the airport. The night before our new propeller arrived and we installed it in the dark in very cold water. We left Cadiz and motored all night arriving just in time to go to the airport. The plane was delayed and I arrived too late in London to make my connection. British Air with its rude customer service employees made all those that had missed flights stand in the cold for hours until we get flights rebooked. I definitely can't recommend flying British Air. I will be returning on January 11th and we will once again get underway into the Med.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year.

1-17-07

It’s good to be back in Gibraltar. Charlene and I are finishing a class this week and then will be leaving for a few days of intense practice in docking and maneuvering in anticipation of her upcoming Coastal Skipper Practical Exam through the RYA. Once complete we are off to Velencia to see the America’s Cup boats. That should be very exciting. The solar panels and new traveler will be installed while Charlene is on her prep course.

2-4-07

We left Gibraltar yesterday afternoon. At 1730 we were off Europa point and made the turn to the Northeast to begin our journey to Valencia. During the night we had showers all around us but none found there way to drench the boat like it had all Friday and Saturday. We had strong winds in the marina again and the noise and movement made Jackson pretty nervous. The winds have died and the forecast is for very light easterlies until Cabo De Gato where will will again head to the Northeast and up toward Cartagena. The wind is expected to fill in either late Sunday night or early Monday morning from the east. We will be on a beat but at least the seas are smooth and we should be able to make good time.

We have been doing a lot of sail training for Charlene over the past couple weeks getting use to docking and finding her way around the different marinas in close quarters. We visited many new places such as Estaponia, Terifa, Sotogrande and Cueta (which is actually in Morocco but actually Spanish) and Marina Smir in Morocco. On our journey we saw Sperm Whales and many dolphins swam with us to amuse Jackson.

2-5-07

And we are finally off !!! Slipped the ropes and said goodbye to a very soggy Gibraltar on 3rd of February, next stop Valencia and the America's Cup boats. Valencia is about 400 miles distant from Gibraltar and as of present, about 140 miles away, we expect a late Tuesday night arrival. While we are all looking forward to stretching our legs off the boat, none so much as Jackson who is on his longest passage to date. Onboard there is a general rule that whatever happens during one's watch, it is taken care of unless an urgent need to wake the other person. Thankfully, this includes Bernese Mountain Dog bodily functions. Denny continues to wonder how I have trained Jackson to "go" only on his watch.

The excitement of today was a pod of pilot whales who swam very close to us, with two surfacing mere feet from the stern of A.J. Wanderlust. It has been a motoring passage, with winds never exceeding 7 knots, but hopefully our luck will improve and we will have more wind past Valencia.

A FEW NOTES ON CHRISTMAS

Finally, I want to regress a bit and thank the many of you who have sent e-mails or rang Mom to inquire of A.J. Wanderlust's whereabouts given the lack of website updates over the Christmas holidays. I appreciate the interest so many friends and family are showing in tracking the website. To make a long story short, there was a computer malfunction and the machine had to be returned to the manufacturer, and we only got it back a few days ago. So, there will be no more long gaps, I promise.

As to the Christmas holidays, Denny departed Gibraltar and returned to Seattle to see his kids and grandchildren. My Mom came to Gibraltar and spent the holidays aboard with Jackson and I. We had Christmas lunch across the dock with Mike and Shirley, and then hosted New Year's Eve aboard A.J. Wanderlust with Mike, David and Werner. The highlight of Mom's trip was, however, having me captain A.J. Wanderlust for the first time alone and taking a sail around the Rock on New Year's Day. My highlight was getting the boat back without bumping anything. We found other ways to amuse ourselves, including taking the ferry over to Ceuta one day and then a bus to Tangiers and Tetouan in Morocco. We of course did the traditional Rock sightseeing route, including going out to Europe Point, the Great Seige tunnels, the limestone caves and seeing the quite aggressive apes. Finally, we rented a car for about 5 days and went to Granada and Seville in Spain. Lovely rolling hills in southern Spain and the Alahambra palace complex was fascinating to explore. Jackson enjoyed the sightseeing in southern Spain as well.

The remainder of the time in Gibraltar was spent in a RYA sailing school taking my coastal skipper/yachtmaster theory course and a practical coastal skipper course. Denny and I both took a celestial navigation/ocean yachtmaster theory course. It was good to get the courses done, but did stretch the time in Gibraltar beyond what was planned. Also proved to me that in theory I can sail very well, things just get complicated when a boat, water and wind is involved. Need to continue working on that !!

And can not forget to mention that Captain celebrated a birthday on 13 January with chocolate cake and fire extinguishers nearby. Jackson celebrated his 8th birthday on 22 January, with pizza and is owed a steak.

The whales where amazing. They came right up behind us, surfaced then slipped under the boat from stern to bow. By international law one must keep 100 yards from the whales unless they come to you. We were very lucky. We kept the engine in neutral so as to not injure one incase it should bump the bottom of the boat. They were about 15 feet long and probably weighed about two tons each. They stayed around for about 20 minutes allowing us to get a short video clip and a few photos.

The Ocean Yachtmaster Theory course is my next step to upgrading my British Captain's License. All I have to do now is the qualifying passage and it will increase my license to 200 tons and it will become all ocean. What that means is I will be able to captain any "Red Flagged Vessel" (British or one of the colonies) up to 200 tons anywhere in the world. I'm looking forward to completing it.

2-6-07

We arrived in Valencia at 1730 this afternoon. Just as we were coming in we watched the two Prada boats duel it out on the race course. They finished and we followed them in. This is a beautiful Marina and tomorrow when we walk Jackson we hope to see them putting the boats in the water for another day of trials. One of the high lights of the past few days was a package arriving from home. In it was my birthday present, although late, from Charlene. It's a pair of image stabilizing binoculars that have not left my neck. As many of you know I've had a problem with tremors in my hands since high school, especially the left one, and with these binocs I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles. Thanks you Charlene they are greatly appreciated. Tomorrow we will walk the camps and get a souvenir or two before going out on the race course to watch the boats again.

I must admit I had heard of the America's Cup, but never really paid much it attention. When Denny mentioned it was in Valencia this year, thought since this was a year for me dedicated to sailing and sailboats, seemed an opportune time to stop in and have a peek. My first view was from binoculars when we could see the nearly transparent sails in the distance on coming into Valencia. Big sails, which dwarfed a regular sailboat out cruising nearby. Based on my education today, the typical America's Cup boat has 25,000 square feet of sail with spinnaker compared to the 1800 square feet a sailboat such as A.J. Wanderlust might have. They are also long, almost 80 feet, light, and heel over significantly in even moderate winds. They are crewed by approximately 15 people and from what we witnessed seem to turn on a dime with a very efficient crew that can jibe a spinnaker in seconds. I was surprised to see one of the boats being towed, at which point Denny then had to explain that these boats had no engines and so could not motor in. Other interesting facts, they are taken out of the water each night so that nothing can grow on their slick hulls that might impede their speed and their masts are removed each time they come out of the water. Should be fun tomorrow to go have a look at some of the team bases !!

On a separate note, Jackson achieved 1000 nautical miles of sailing sometime in the wee hours of last night enroute to Valencia. Becoming a real tried and true salty sea dog.

2-7-07

Today was spent roaming the camps looking for souvenirs. This stuff is very expensive. Good old Mr. Ellison of Oracle BMW is using his American entepenerial skills to good use as everything is thirty percent higher than any other camp. To give an example a fleece stocking cap at Alingi is 23 Euros, at the Spanish Camp 22, at Oracle BMW 33. Same hat. It was very interesting to see some of the interactive displays the camps have as well although we were we never there at the right time to get to try any. In the afternoon the rains came and it rained steady through out the afternoon and well in to the night. We had tried to go for a walk into town but I ended up straining my back and had to leave Charlene and Jackson to go on their own for a couple hours while I went back to the boat and rested. We did however get through a display of models of the 32 winners of the cup. The models were all about five feet long and in great detail. Along with the models was a description of the races and the boat they sailed against.

The model exhibit of America's Cup winners clearly reinforced the theme of "there is no second." The model boats displayed had each won the Cup, and the historic commentary addressed both the defender and the challengers. For me it was an interesting exhibit, as it gave a good summary of where the Cup began, how it evolved, was affected by various historic events such as the World Wars, and gave some perspective into its allure and mystic. On the way back from our walk, Jackson and I stopped into the BMW Oracle team building and saw the movie they had put together on technology and teamwork. The sailing shots were phenomenal.

2-8-07

Out on the water by 10:00 to see the America's Cup boats come out and do some practicing. The Italians had two teams out, the French and Germans were out as well. There are no restrictions at present to how close you can get so taking advantage of that, we sailed to within 100 feet of the German boat an motored along with them for about a mile. The didn't seem overly concerned and even waved at us. We watched a great tacking duel in very light winds between the Capitalia team (Italy) and Areva (France) as well. They appeared to have done an abbreviated course but match raced against each other. We were hoping to see the Spanish boat but they didn't didn't come out to play. I would like to see them do well. They are hosting the event and the people have been very friendly and helpful.

Watching the America Cup competition boats sail was an incredible site. Talk about serious spinnakers ! One had to be careful not to blink at an inopportune moment or you could miss a tack or a jibe, the whole process being so carefully choreographed although involving 17 different human beings. As Captain mentioned, we were able to get closer than imagined and had some fantastic views.

2-9-07

We spent the day doing some sight seeing visiting the Cathedral and the Silk Exchange which was the center of trade. The building itself is a wonder to behold. It has many engineering and construction innovations despite having been built hundreds of years ago.

2-10-07

We made a pre-dawn departure of Valencia, and are now enroute to Mallorca which is 133 miles distant. Our first destination in the islands will be Palma; having been unsuccessful in finding the specific type of diesel engine oil we need in Valencia, we have been told of a dealer in Palma. Despite dire predictions on the Navtex, the seas have not been too bad and the waves and winds have been quite manageable. We spent a part of the day playing with the whisker pole, and sailing dead downwind with the sails set wing on wing. We also played with our sextants a bit, taking sites on the sun and translating them to positions for navigation. Then the late afternoon was spent changing the bilge pump after hearing an alarming amount of water sloshing in the bilges. Happy to report all is now well with the bilges. It is now evening, and a very starry night.

2-11-07

Arrived in Palma at 1200 hours this afternoon after a very nice sail from Valencia. We thought about staying in a marina again but at 50 Euros a night that's getting a bit rich. We decided to anchor to give Charlene some practice. The holding ground doesn't feel all that good but we'll give it a go. We inflated the dingy and went ashore by dingy for the first time since Bermuda. Jackson is less than thrilled with getting in and out of it but with a kick in the rear the point gets across. We now know what it feels like to be homeless. No one would take us even to use their dingy dock. We ended up going to a commercial fishing pier just to let Jackson out of the dingy. We had a nice stroll around Palma after dark.

2-12-07

Divine intervention ! An alarm clock that was meant to ring at 7 am, blasted away at 5 am. Rustled from our sleep, we noticed that the wind had picked up. Then, the sound ...indescribable ... the anchor was dragging. Up on deck quickly to pull up the anchor and its heavy chain, not too bad thanks to the windlass. We finally landed safely at a pontoon in one of the Palma marinas after being shooed away from another because we were too small and not a member of the club. After all the excitement, we decided to pop down to see the Gothic Cathedral in Palma before heading back to meet our Shell diesel oil supplier. Cathedral was cavernous, with numerous stain glass windows and many beautiful altar pieces. Expect the diesel oil at approximately 35 USD a gallon to contain gold flecs.

2-13-07

After practicing anchoring in Porto Colom we set of the short distance to Bahia de Arta. This was the first time we tried to do a beach landing with Jackson. Let's just say it wasn't pretty. We weren't swamped but a fair amount of water came into the boat as it hit the beach. Jackson scrambled out and left Charlene and me to fend for the dingy. Cheeky of him I thought. After a short stroll it was back into the dingy to get off. It took a lot of coaxing to get Jackson back into the dingy but we did while he was still on shore so didn't have to do a water entry. I'm glad I have good foulweather gear so I could wade out into the small surf and get us away. Charlene and I paddled until there was enough depth to get the outboard going and come back to the boat.

We'll get an early start and then it's off to Menorca.

2-14-07

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. Jackson's second beach landing was better than the first but so was the overall landing. Once ashore he jumped right out with no coaxing. Getting him back in was another story. Charlene had to pick his front end up and put him in the dingy. Once back to A. J. Wanderlust he couldn't wait to get back on. He was out of the dingy in a flash. The one thing he did do that thrilled both Charlene and I was to roll over and over in the sand just before getting back in the dingy on the beach. He was white with sand (not bad for a black dog) and of course brought most of it back to the boat. We didn't let him down below for hours but some how there is still sand everywhere. It took ten pails of sea water to get the sand out of the cockpit of A. J. Wanderlust.

Before leaving Bahia de Arta we practiced sailing on and off the anchor giving Charlene practice. The wind was very cooperative for the exercises and in fact increaased to a force eight (32 to 42 knots) through the night while on our way here. We arrived just before two AM.

Getting the hang of anchoring now, just wish I had a scope I could send down to see for sure that the anchor was really firmly set. The idea of my house drifting away into the shore during the night does concern me. The wind played with us a bit, at one point increasing enough for us to put up the new storm jib, and then immediately dropping once it had been hanked on, thus requiring us to take it down and fly full sail. Apart from that however, the wind was fairly cooperative until we were ready to leave the shores of Majorca and head for Menorca, at which time it increased to 30 plus knots consistently. We made the trip across with only a tiny bit of head sail, reefed more than to the 3 reef level, and flew along consistently at 5 to 7 knots. Not sure what was under the boat during my watch, but the depth meter would suddenly plummet from 400 feet to about 10 and then fall off again. Did this more than 20 times,.. maybe a whale found us an interesting toy ?

Happy Valentine's Day !!

2-16-07

Upon leaving Ciudadella yesterday we went to unfurl the mainsail and found the gooseneck that holds the boom to the mast had shattered. We continued on to Mahon under headsail only and wonder of wonders found a Brit that helped us with the repairs. We now have a new gooseneck out of Stainless Steel instead of cast Aluminum and it was all done in one day. The most amazing thing is its carnival for lent and we still got it done. Our hats off to Lawrence for the great job and sticking around even during carnival to make sure it did get done. If not we would still be here next week. He arrived about 1915 and by 2100 The boom was back on and we were on our way back out to the anchorage with everything re rigged and ready to go. We are going to do a bit of sail training today 2-17 the we're off tomorrow for France.

Saturday, 17 February

Mahon's harbor, apart from being very picturesque, proved to be a great place to do sail training. Found some mooring buoys to sail on and off of, and then proceeded to a very friendly looking wooden pontoon. Sailed A.J. Wanderlust onto and off of this pontoon, thus learning the necessary techniques should there be an engine failure and sailing onto a dock be required. Then it was back to our anchorage in Cala Taluera. Set the anchor and retired below to change the oil in the generator and engine. Maintenance is definitely not my favorite part of a cruising lifestyle.

Then about 10:30 pm, it was up to dinghy Jackson to the beach for a little walk. And, horror !!! A.J. Wanderlust has dragged her anchor and we are aground in 4.4 feet of water, with a rocky beach just behind us and a cliff face in front of us. Abandon, the walk, we spend the next several hours trying unsuccessfully to kedge off and, in desperation, use the dinghy as a towboat to try and push the bow around. About 2:30 am, exhausted, we go onto a 30 minute watch schedule. Just praying not to go into the rocks and look for any sign of movement that could indicate a change. Sometime around 5:30 am, the bow turned as a result of a surge that came into the anchorage. Denny was on watch and managed to free us after an hour of fanciful steering and using the windlass to pull up on the anchor. Free at last, we reset the anchor and watched it until 8 am Sunday morning, when secure in our hold, we went off to bed for a few hours.

Charlene

Sunday, 18 February

We spent the morning touring La Mola, otherwise known as the Fortress of Isabel II. Construction was begun in 1848, and lasted for 25 years. The fortress was an incredible structure, with batteries allowing defence of surrounding land and maritime areas. As history goes, technology advanced during this period and revolution in artillery systems made the fortress outdated at the time its construction was finished, however, the fortress continued to be used for various functions. In the 1930's, large guns were placed overlooking the harbor entrance during a time of civil war. The fortress was used until the late 1960's as a military training center, and previously as a prison.

Charlene

Monday, 19 February

The wind veered to the North and strengthened this morning. We took advantage of these events to do more sailing exercises, sailing on and off the floating pontoon in less than the most favorable of circumstances. Charlene is doing a masterful job of this and getting the skills down very quickly. Presently, we are enroute under a clear and starry sky to Sardegna (Sardinia), an island belonging to Italy. We are on a beam reach and cruising along comfortably at about 6 knots. Because the route to Monaco would have had us on a beat we decided to make for Sardegna which is a more pleasant sail and we had planned on coming here anyway. Our latest issue, in what seems a never ending series, is that the radar at the navigation station now refuses to talk to the one in the cockpit, and thus, we have no radar in the cabin.

Capt. Denny and Charlene

2-21-07

We arrived in Alghero, Sardinia at 0400 this morning. After Jackson's walk he decided to take a swim. He fell off the boat trying to get on while Charlene and I worked hard to get him back on. He was almost on after his feet were in the water, then slid backwards into the water. It took us another half hour to get him to the transom and back onto the boat. He was very cold and frightened to say the least. We didn't get to bed until 0530 and were up again at 0900 to see what we could of the city. At 1500 we once again slipped the lines and are off for the island of Corsica with our next port about 90 miles to the north.

Capt. Denny

Thank you Denny for saving Jackson. The description of events above is a bit generous as to my participation, which in reality, amounted to hysterical screaming. Honestly, it is nice to know for sure that Jackson can swim, although he looks a bit like a lumbering manatee while doing so. Confused and frightened, we could not get him to go the right direction, and he nearly swam under the boat. He was not as traumatized as the humans, however, as when pulled from the water he shook himself off and went immediately to his food bowl and scoffed it down.

Tried to make peace with him this morning with a long walk. While getting off the boat, Jackson fell again, although this time on a cement step rather than in the water. He yelped and gave us both a serious look of betrayal for not keeping him from harms way. All ended well, however, with a walk around the old walled city of Alghero and its cathedral, after having checked into Italy with the Port Captain.

Charlene

22 February

Rented a car and spent the day driving around the island of Corsica after arriving in Ajaccio on the west coast at 0900. Very pretty island, and quite large, as we drove for about 6 hours solid and were only able to see the southern part and a bit of the east coast, before returning inland thru the mountains. Beautiful sandy beaches with turquoise water reminiscent of Bermuda, rocky cliff shoreline areas, mostly scrubby brush vegetation, except for the interior where there are tall pine trees in the mountain areas. Barometer went from 1011 at sea level to 881 in the mountains all due to altitude not a storm front. Old interesting towns in the mountainous interior, each had old buildings three stories high, cathedrals, stone bridges and walls. Jackson went with us and did a combination of looking out the window and relaxing in the backseat. We also took advantage of having the car to do some serious provisioning for both two and four legged crew members. The four legged crew's food bill for one was within nine Euros of the food bill for the 2 legged crew's bill for two.

Charlene and Capt. Denny

23 February

Slipped the mooring lines and left Corsica at noon today after a morning of laundry and returning the rental car. Next stop Monaco, which is 89 miles distant as of 8:45 pm. The seas are flat calm and there is no wind, so we are motoring our way along on a cool evening under a waxing half moon. We have not even bothered to set a main sail out to steady ourselves, as there is not even a hit of a wave in the seas tonight.

Charlene and Capt. Denny

2-24-07

Monaco, what a unique place. We arrived this morning about 1100 and found ourselves stern to against the quay 20 feet from the Gran Prix race course. We can literally step off the back of A. J. Wanderlust and be in traffic on the circuit. There are more Porsches, Ferraris, Astin Martins, and other exotic cars than I've ever seen in an auto show. We spent the afternoon walking Jackson along the entire race course. It is nothing like you see on TV. It gives a whole different perspective to what a driver sees. At the moment pit lane, the pits and paddock are a strip of bare tarmac. But starting the 24 th. of May it will be the center of a very busy weekend. It was very funny to watch these exotic cars drive around the course in everyday traffic with GP wantabes behind the wheels.

Saturday night we took another walk up to the Grimaldi Palace. This is where Prince Albert, the reigning Prince of Monaco, lives. It is a very beautiful place that dates back to the 16 th. century. The old town is there as well and the blocks of shops and flats above are kept in pristine condition. The street sweepers even carry around plastic bags to hand dog owners to pick up there messes. Jackson showed his approval by voiding himself in front of the Palace and a guard. The people here have been extremely polite and helpful. Of course there has to be a down side and that is the price of everything except the marina which we found to be very reasonable at about the same cost as Rosario in the San Juans. We stopped for a glass of champagne and a beer and it came to 29 euros. That's about 45 dollars. Charlene promptly spilled hers but the waiter replaced it at no charge. Needless to say we did not have another. The weather couldn't have been better with sun and the temperature in the high 60's.

On tomorrow to Viareggio in the Tuscany region of Italy.

Capt. Denny

2-26-07

We arrived back in Italy for a very short stay. The city of Viareggio was our destination on the Tuscany coast. This is the home of some of the premier Italian boat builders, Parini Navi, Benetti, and Codecasa. These boats are phenomenal. The masts are so tall they must carry a red light at night when in harbor to comply with aviation rules for towers. It is amazing what 30 million dollars can buy in a yacht. It was also our best case for getting the parts we needed for making a permanent mounting for the solar panels. We found what we needed after a short walk around town and then it was time to leave. The harbor has a very nasty surge in it from the entrance having breaking waves. We even found a stern line had snapped upon returning (fortunately we had doubled them up before leaving). To enter you have to go around an unmarked sand bar for 800 meters until coming though the entrance. It was very nerve racking and we did take one wave that sent sea water cascading across A. J. Wanderlust. It also shoals to about 10 feet making for a worrisome time. Leaving was much easier although the sun had set. We ran with the breakers as we left making it much more comfortable. Once we were clear it was time for a cocktail (only one) to settle our nerves. We are now on our way back to Corsica to see the east side of the island.

Capt. Denny

27 February, Tuesday

Talk about a bad day !!! Yesterday, while in Viareggio, Italy, we fueled up. Apparently, paying approximately 8 USD per gallon for water. This morning, being low on batteries, I started the generator, and it stopped. Given it was not working, we decided to run the engine to charge batteries, and it stopped. Now in desperation, out came the solar panels, thankfully the sun remained in the sky. As both generator and engine failed, Denny suspected a fuel problem. After cleaning out what can best be described as the " catch all junk cabin", the fuel filters evidenced much water. Six hours later, they were all changed and the generator and engine was up and running. It is now 8:30 pm and we are running down the east coast of Corsica. Every 15 minutes we are meticulously checking the fuel filters for signs of water or debris, so far so good. My once beautifully manicured hands are full of diesel, and oil remains under my cuticles from having changed that a week or so ago. Never knew sailing involved so much maintenance. Thankfully, most days are less tedious.

Charlene

2-28-07

As Charlene said yesterday we spent the day in the engine room cleaning out fuel filters. What she didn't say was the day was beautiful. Blue skies and warm soft winds. We were sailing at about 5 knots but had our heads in the engine room. Today we had 40 knots of wind from the direction we're going and only made 20 miles. It seems we just can't win. We are in Porto Vecchio waiting this out before trying to cross the Strait of Bonifacio which is report higher gusts. It will be an early start tomorrow and we will sail down the coast of Sardinia until dusk the make the turn to Naples, Italy which we should be in by Friday morning.

Capt. Denny

3-1-07

After a mixed day of winds we are in Porto Rotondo on the east coast of the island of Sardinia. We decided to spend one more day here because of the beauty of the island. The north coast is full of small marinas and anchorages. This will be a place I will come back to when I have more time.

The storm jib Charlene purchased from Lawson Sails in Dallas has been a God send the past couple days. It has set perfectly and has given us the ability to sail to windward even in 40 knot winds. This afternoon we looked at Jackson and it looks like he has dandruff. It's in fact salt from all the salt spray. This is the first time we haven't had rain to go with the spray to clean things up. Our foulweather gear is coated as are our boots, gloves and faces. It was another slow day with only about 40 miles covered in 10 hours. That's what happens when you have 40 knots of wind on your bow. We did several sail changes and reefs today which also slows us down. Went from full main sail and working jib to storm jib and four reefs in the main several times. Fortunately the storm jib is hanked on to it's own inner forestay so it just gets tied off when lowered and then can be hoisted again with simply untying the sail tie and up it goes.

Tomorrow we will sail farther down the coast before making the turn to Naples and the Italian mainland.

Capt. Denny

3-2-07

We had a great day sailing down the east coast of Sardinia. What a beautiful island. There are many secluded bays for anchorages on the north and east sides of the island. We spent last night in a mega yacht marina and much to our surprise the cost was 7 Euros 40 the cheapest place we have stayed to date. Of course nothing was open but Jackson got a walk and was glad to stretch his legs. I think he wishes he was still there after the late afternoon squall that hit us. We got into an area with very strange wind patterns. On the farm land and prairies you will occasionally see little dust devils that blow up looking like mini tornados. We had this on the water but they weren't exactly harmless. The wind would not only increase but change directions making it difficult to predict what would happen. They would last from a few seconds to minutes. One particular gust went from the teens to over 50 knots in seconds pinning us down until we could get the mainsheet released and sail out of it. Within an hour of going off watch the wind came back and this time stayed for a considerable length of time with gusts into the high forties for a couple hours while we ran under storm jib only. The seas went from 1-3 feet to 5 to 8 feet just as fast and are now taking a long time to settle down even though the wind is back down to 15 knots. The wind's dead behind us and we're rolling back and forth uncomfortably. Poor Jackson became very frightened and has taken a while to settle down as well.

Capt. Denny

It is now early morning March 3, and things have settled down considerably. Finally were able to get a weather broadcast about 2:30 am this morning which told us that winds and seas would be diminishing. There was a beautiful sunrise at 6:48 am, preceded by lots of color in the sky. We are still rolling, but sailing reasonably comfortably under storm jib and head sail. Reasonably comfortable as compared to last evening when A.J. Wanderlust was heeled to about 35 degrees, being rather fiercely shook every minute or so, taking significant amounts of water over the side and just staying on ones feet was a precarious task. Jackson is now snoozing peacefully in the cockpit, dreaming of land I can only suppose. We are 142 miles from Napoli (Naples), Italy and sailing a course of 79 degrees.

Charlene

3-7-07

Sorry for the delay in updating. We are in a place called Vibo Valentia, Italy. We are waiting for the fuel dock to open then will get back under way and will be going through the Strait of Messina this afternoon. The strait is the passage between Italy and Sicily. The toe and the ball. Its been relatively quiet with no wind and a lot of motoring for the past couple days. Warm afternoons and sunshine. We did visit Naples and Salerno briefly. We found both to be dirty but it may have just been the part of town we were in. Naples is worth a come back with it's many interesting castles. The bay has many little peninsulas on it and everyone has a castle at it's end. Jackson has been able to get off the boat everyday and much appreciates it. we will be going up the east side of Italy then crossing over to Croatia.

Capt. Denny

7 March

Before getting fuel in Vibo Valencia, we were able to do a check on the bow lights which had begun to malfunction last evening. After a quick look to see that all was in place as to the wiring that runs thru the front locker, Denny decided to check the bulbs. As luck would have it, both had corroded simultaneously and the fix needed was nothing more than new bulbs. We walked up to a nautical store and were able to get extra bulbs and a block that we needed for the roller furling and, after a quick cappucino, were off for the Strait of Messina.

As we were fixing lunch in route, the propane ran out. After failing to convince Denny that we could go the next month without warm food or beverage, the decision was made to stop in Gioia Tauro, a large commercial port, in hopes of finding propane. Finding propane is a challenge in Europe. We arrive about 7 pm into Guoio Tauro and proceed to the inner harbour. We go up to the yacht club office, and are greeted with generous hospitality. Told to use the slip for free for the evening, and a gentleman tells us to be ready at 9 am tomorrow and he will take us to find propane. This evening we take a little walk around and are never able to find town, which is some miles distant from the commercial port. Our walk takes us down various unlit streets, past semi-finished buildings, and overgrown fields. We turn back after about a mile, and encounter a pack of stray dogs on the way back to the marina.

Charlene

8 March

We wake after a full 9 hours sleep, quite the treat, and head off for a quick walk with Jackson. Upon arriving to the entrance/exit of the yacht club, we discover a locked door. Jackson refuses to go back to the boat without a proper walk, and so I decide that a half wall and a stone jetty should be no impediment. After enlisting a reluctant Denny, I put together a chair and a table to hoist Jackson upon. Denny climbs over the wall and prepares to catch Jackson on the other side and ease him down onto the stone jetty. Jackson gives me a look of "what have I done to deserve this" and Denny a look of " and I thought you at least had better sense." In one piece on the other side, a short scamper over rocks and Jackson is up on the road for his morning walk. We return and wait outside the yacht club gate, not wanting to repeat the creative exit process and pray the gentleman will arrive to (a) let us back in and (b) take us for propane.

As we learn soon, our new Italian friend is named Franc. He works a ship in the Strait of Messina and today is his day off. We gather our propane bottles and head off to town to have them filled. Upon arriving at Agip, the man working there immediately recognizes them as American and after talking with a colleague determines they have no fittings to match our bottles. We head back to the boat, thinking something of the barbeque nozzle can be used as an impromptu fitting, but to no avail. Then Frank, continuing as a gracious host, takes us to a camping store, where we are able to buy a two burner camping stove and gas bottle with European fittings. We head back to Agip for the third time with our new gas bottle, and then back to the port, after Franc invits us for a cappucino and croissant. Thank you for everything, Franc !!!

We head off at noon, but not before a little docking practice. The practice is slightly less than successful due to a ladder contraption hanging off the neighboring powerboat and results in warped stantions on the port aft quarter and a stretched lifeline. With A.J. Wanderlust slighly worse for the experience, we head off for the Strait of Messina finally. At 7 pm, we are through the strait and heading into the Ionian Sea. We have about 23 knots of wind on the bow and the seas are building.

Charlene

3-9-07

We are now into the 29th hour of this current gale. In the past 15 hours we've made 15 miles eastward toward our goal. ARGH!!!!!!!! Not very productive and getting battered at the same time. Seas have been upwards of 10 to 12 feet and we are beating straight into them. Jackson was very scared last night and sat under the chart table for awhile with me. Charlene's been using my bunk when off watch because the motion is much less and Jackson decided to climb in with her. He's never done that before. Even with the new cooking arrangement we can't use it in this rough of weather so it's been cold sandwiches and drinks. We expect this to last at least another 24 hours before settling down. It seems like the weather has conspired against us this whole trip. It's either blowing a full gale or not at all. We changed to the storm jib this afternoon and it took over an hour because of the water cascading over us and the wind preventing us from getting the inner forestay on and the jib hanked on it. We were finally successful, the motion is much less, and we are making some progress although not in the direction we want.

With the grey overcast days it's been impossible to get a good sun or star sight to practice our celestial navigation. Hopefully soon.

Capt. Denny

3-12-07

The infamous gale lasted for 56 hours and became very exhausting. We ran under less than the third reef of the main sail together with the storm jib and still were very uncomfortable rocking and rolling. We finally were able to use the camping stove set up yesterday and have something warm to eat. Cold sandwiches when you are already cold and wet from a continuous soaking of sea spray, just somehow do not measure up. Having hot chocolate was an added bonus. Unfortunately, we have not yet got Jackson's sling fully organized and thus have been trying to help him walk up and down the stairs, so that he is at least in the cabin at night when it is rainy outside. I think he has concluded humans are nuts, although their bunks are warm and cozy.

We have changed plans due to the winds and are now headed for Greece. Still plan to visit Croatia, but will do that a bit later when winds will take us that direction. It is a struggle, but I am learning not to fight the winds, weather and seas; nature always wins.

Very thankful that the water maker is fully functional as we received contaminated water somewhere. It is yellow from the tap and once settled, has an algae of some type that appears. We are refilling old water bottles and pitchers for drinking water until we can land somewhere and bleach out the tanks.

Charlene

This morning a car carrier, the "St Barbara" passed us close abeam, less than an eighth of a mile. There were two people out on the wing bridge but they didn't seem too concerned. Maybe that's because they're a lot bigger than us. We are treading along with 148 miles to go to Pilos in Greece which will be our first port of call. Time is starting to run out and we have only until the sixth of April (when Charlene's Mom, brother and sister-in-law will join us in the Canaries) to sail to Croatia plus the 1800 miles to the Canary Islands. We have sailed 8500 plus miles so far.

Capt. Denny

3-15-07

We arrived in Pilos, Greece on the 13th and had a nice walk around the city. The people were very friendly and helpful. It's funny walking Jackson through the streets. People either find him adorable or are frightened by him. If they only knew what a big teddy bear he is. We are passing him off for fun as a Siberian Longtailed Bear just for the reaction because so many people think he is a bear. We then quickly tell them the truth.

The fickle winds have left us again with no wind or when here it's right on the nose. We are again motoring with our destination this morning (the 15th) of Zakinthos on the island of the same name. Yesterday was also a day of motoring and it found us last night in the town of Katakolon. Last night was the first time during the trip we felt threatened. We were greeted at the dock by an guy claiming to be the captain of a fishing boat that couldn't tie a knot. He hung around while we got ready to walk Capt. Jack and didn't leave until we did. Upon our return he reappeared. We stayed below without engaging him in conversation and he finally left. Once in Zakinthos we will get fuel and clean out our water tanks which became tainted when we refilled them in Italy.

Capt. Denny

Although there is no wind, it is a sunny morning, albeit chilly. Katakolon marina, while still being used by commercial traffic, seems abandoned as to small yachts, with the pontoons in disrepair, no basic services such as water, and virtually no lighting. We had a difficult time just seeing the pontoons when we entered. Last evening was a bit unsettling, being the first time we felt it necessary to lock the dinghy to the deck, close the curtains and do a review this morning to be sure nothing was missing, but more importantly that nothing had been added to A.J. Wanderlust. Jackson earns his keep just by being big sometimes.

The architecture of this part of Greece seems to dominated by red tiled roofs. A few Greek Orthodox churches dot the landscape, and there are many orchards and other agricultural ventures. The islands have a few hills, which appear volcanic, but most of the landscape is fairly low to the horizon.

Charlene

3-15-07 (Afternoon posting)

This afternoon, we arrived to the island of Zakinthos in the city of the same name. As we were entering a commercial port with significant ferry traffic, it was necessary to call ahead. We felt this advantageous also as we could arrange for fuel. Upon arrival we were met on the quay by a man from the port who called the fuel truck for us, and then once we were topped up on diesel called for the mineral water truck. As these vehicles had to park on the main street, only one could arrive at any particular time. He then took our documents and went off to do the official Greek customs papers for the yacht, and we later found out that although we spent only about 2 hours here, we incurred a 50 euro port fee. Once all the logistics had been arranged we had a walk around Zakinthos. A rather smallish city with about 3 streets paralleling the water and a number of short streets interconnecting them, nothing spectacular, but a taste of small port town Greece.

After Zakinthos, we headed off to the island of Kefallinia and spent the evening at the south end of the Strait of Ithaci in a town called Sami. Jackson and I went off for an evening stroll, and again found a small, quiet town, sleepy in winter, but most likely vibrant with the life of ferry traffic in the summer.

    Charlene

3-16-07

We made an early start from Sami and went thru the Strait of Ithakis, sailing past the island of Ithaci, before continuing onto the island of Levkas. At the north end of Levkas is a narrow buoyed channel where one must traverse when cruising along the east side of this island before again exiting into the sea. At the north end, the exit is by bridge which opens on the hour. Once thru the bridge, we made tracks for Parga, to spend the evening.

There are many ferries between the numerous Greek islands here and we see several each day in our travels. The landscapes are similar, with red tile roofs and lots of green trees atop rocky coastlines. We have had spectacular orange/red sunsets each of the past three evenings. Now all we need is wind, as much of our time of recent has been spent motoring.

    Charlene

3-17-07

Last night was spent at anchor in a little bay next to Parga, Greece. The entrance was tricky and lined with rocks making it difficult in the dark. It was very quiet and we shared it with one other boat. We took Capt. Jack ashore in the dingy so he could stretch his legs. This morning we looked over the side and could see the anchor in 20 feet of water. It felt like it had set well last night and we could see that it had. We departed early after cleaning the main cabin and stowing flotsom and jetsom that had been accumulating for a few days. Our last port in Greece was to be Kerkira on the island of Corfu. What a lovely old city. It was very picturesque. It's very narrow streets had no rhyme or reason to them. They just twisted and turned making us wonder if we would find our way out. As luck would have it we walked out to see A. J. Wanderlust riding next to the quay just a short distance away.

We crossed the border into Albanian waters about 1630 and are on our way to Dubrovnik in Croatia. We expect to be there late tomorrow night.

    Capt. Denny

3-18-07

Sailed along the Albanian coast today. Albania is a fairly low coastline, not the tall hills of Italy. Shallow waters about 2 miles out and nice looking beaches. The main town we saw when sailing past was Durres and it looked quite Soviet, blocky buildings and there were many half constructed buildings. Eventually decided to sail close to shores and within Albanian waters, although we knew there was a risk of being boarded by Albanian police, which in fact did happen outside the port city of Durres. They put fenders on their boat, as we did on A.J. Wanderlust, and they pulled alongside. One guy came on, asked where we came from and where we were headed. He didn't speak English and we didn't speak the Albanian language, so we brought out the charts to point. He then called a colleague at the port who spoke English to clarify the understanding and with the news we were off to Dubrovnik, we were sent on our way with no further issue or search.

Jackson has been pacing the cockpit the last couple days as the temperatures increased, and today decided that the bow had a nice breeze. Not sure how he sorted this out, but took Denny up there for a walk as has become his custom. Then instead taking care of necessities, he just plopped down and watched the world go by, by all appearances enjoying the breeze. Stayed there until about 5 pm when the sun went down, tethered of course.

The final excitement of the day came about 6 pm when the engine sputtered and came to a stop. Ops, forgot all about fuel !!!! Added diesel from the jerry cans and it thankfully came back to life with no need to bleed the air from the system.

Charlene

The barometer is continuing to fall at a pretty rapid rate so it looks like we may be in for another blow. The wind has backed to the southeast, another indication of where the low pressure system is. Hopefully we can get into Dubruvnik before it all starts. We should be in sheltered waters soon as we are only 9 hours from reaching port. It would be nice to sit one out for a change. It's very foggy tonight as well. A look around the horizon reveals nothing but a big black hole. A look up and stars are just barely visible but I suspect not for long. the radar is showing us at 12 miles from shore.

Capt. Denny

3-19-07

Well, the barometer has continued to fall and is now down to 993. The wind has come up and there's a bit of drizzle in the air. I think we're in for a good storm tonight or tomorrow. We arrived in Dubrovnik at 0800 this morning. After clearing customs and getting our cruising permit we headed up river in search of fuel. We found it at the Dubrovnik Marina. The staff there was extremely helpful and even offered to drive us to get propane. We were skeptical about whether they had the right fitting to fill a US tank but sure enough they did. We can once again use our oven so Charlene can get her regular doses of Pizza.

Dubrovnik is a beautiful old city dating back to the 1300's. The "Old Town" is all within a wall. The center is considerable lower than the outer wall so you have to go down many narrow steps when entering to get to Placa Stradun, the main avenue. Once there it opens up to a large space with shops all round it. There are apartments on the floors above. The side streets are nothing but steps leading to the outer wall with an occasional business or cafe. No cars can navigate the "streets" so it's nice to be able to walk freely down the center.

The people here have been extremely friendly and courteous. English has not been a problem either as almost everyone speaks it. I think they are very happy to have the tourism back after the civil war in the early 1990's raged through this fine old city. There are still many reminders of the conflict. When outside the "Old Town" it still has a feel for the old eastern European days of communism and the Russian influence when it was part of Yugoslavia.

Capt. Denny

"Staligrad", the old city, is an incredible labrinyth of old streets where every building is constructed of stone. The narrow passageways have tiny metal balconies, and the wider passageways have been overtaken with upscale shops and cafes. After walking from a newer part of the city near marina Gruz to the old walled city, we entered inside and simply walked this incredible place, noting the vast amounts of restoration underway, as well as still remaining evidence of the 1991/2 conflict that inflicted so much damage in this part of the city. Every second of our walk inside the old walled city was picturesque. We were able to visit 4 of the 14 churches included within the old walled city, including the churches at the Franciscan monastery, Dominican monastery, and the Cathedral. We also visited the museum of the Dominican monastery where there were examples of icon art from the 14th to 16th centuries, together with examples of 18th and 19th century metal workings that were given as gifts to the church.

Hoping the weather will hold for our few days in Croatia, although that seems unlikely. After the brief visit to Croatia, it will be a virtual race back to the Canary Islands, where my Mom, brother Bob and sister-in-law Tena will join for a week of island sailing.

Charlene

3-20-07

The weather went down the drain as predicted. It rained hard last night and this morning. The barometer continued to fall until about 1600 where it bottomed out at 983 millibar's. The temp's have dropped and it's cold. It didn't deter us though from going back into "old town" and visiting what we weren't able to see yesterday. One highlight was the two kilometer walk around the wall. The views of the city and surrounding area are spectacular. The people of Dubrovnik take great pride in keeping the city clean and kept up. As I said yesterday you couldn't find a more pleasant and friendly people.

Capt. Denny

Given the inclement weather, we opted to spend today in Dubrovnik. It is a remarkable city and there were no shortage of interesting places to visit. We began the very rainy day at an exhibition dedicated to the martyrs of the Yugoslav aggression, as Croatia terms their 1991/1992 civil war. Then we proceeded to the Franciscan monastery, with i