Cres to Corfu, Greece

/in , , /by

Donley Cruise – Cres to Corfu After the low wind ORC regatta the new crew of Beth, Brian and Kat brought wind with them. The Donley cruise was from the island of Cres, Croatia to Corfu island in Greece. Five hundred miles of sailing with such famous islands as Losinj (had a nice swing bridge), Dugi Otok (the long island), the Kornati archipelago – a Croatian national park of over 140 islands and finally the island of Vis – the last of the Croatian islands. A quick overnight and the Grateful Red was in Greek waters. When the Greek god Poseidon fell in love with the beautiful nymph Korkyra he abducted her to the island of Corfu to be certain no other god saw her and they would have martial bliss. Wonder if this strategy worked. The capital of Corfu is the city of Corfu – a city from when Greece ruled the world. Jumbled streets, small shops and a terrific night light. Perfect place to stop and change crew.

ORC World Regatta

/in , , /by

The Offshore Racing Council was the governing organization for the world offshore regatta in Cres, Croatia. There is not an ORC governing body in the USA so the ORC regattas had never had a USA built boat with a USA flag in their regattas. In Spring of 2010 the Grateful Red was measured by an ORC measurer at Port Napoleon – qualifying the Grateful Red for the ORC worlds in Cres. We had a worldwide crew of Wendell, Ken and Charlie from the USA and team Holland of Leneke, Jeroen and Clarissa from the Netherlands, Trouble…no wind at the regatta. In the 80 mile offshore overnight race the TP52 racing machines with professional crews averaged less than two knots. The Grateful Red had sterring linkage issues and did not participate in the overnight. Team Holland lead by Jeroen and Clarissa, had a part fabricated on site and repaired the linkage. The Grateful Red raced the last day, only regatta day with winds over five knots, and beat a few boats. Success!

Dubrovnik to Cres, Croatia

/0 Comments/in , , /by

In Dubrovnik the crew jumped from three to seven with the addition of Raouf and daughter Michelle, and Alastair with daughter Isabella. Michelle and Isabella were both exciting six year old school mates in Prague with dads that were ready to sail the Dalmatian coast. Can’t tell you how much fun this crew had going from island to Island with Raouf always looking for the best harbor restaurant for dinner, wine and cigars, while Charlie was the leader of the crew for 2015. Captain Ken took on the responsibility of morning sail lessons for the girls, with a sailing test at Cres (and if Isabella and Michelle didn’t pass the final exam in Cres, two more weeks on Grateful Red). Charlie and Alastair were top foredeck crew; one only had to think spinnaker and the chute was flying! Ten days of a terrific crew.