Sailing in the Mediterranean and Beyond

I have a delightful conversation today with Jeffrey S. Wettig of Shooting the Breeze Sailing Podcast. Even though this has nothing to do sailing in the Mediterranean it does have to do a sailing and a little bit about podcasting. When I left to sail across the Atlantic I had a little bit of time to explore a tiny bit of the Chesapeake Bay. Jeffrey gives me a little more detail about sailing in the Chesapeake and his future plans. I hope you enjoy this episode please feel free to contact me if you have any thoughts.

You can find Shooting the Breeze sailing podcast either by searching for in the iTunes directory or by going to his website here:

http://theescapepods.com/

http://medsailor.com/

If you're interested in my sailing instructional audio series here are the links:

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Keelboat Certification Lessons for the ASA 101 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/Eiig

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Coastal Cruising; Lessons for the ASA 103 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/PvOYK

Sailing! Learn To Sail: Bareboat Cruising Certification Lessons for the ASA 104 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/bwXh

Sailing in the Mediterranean Website

http://www.medsailor.com

If you would like to be a guest or have suggestions for future episodes or if you would like Franz to be a speaker at your Sailing Club or fundraiser please feel free to contact me.

©2015 Franz Amussen all rights reserved

medsailor.com

 

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Keelboat Certification Lessons for the ASA 101 Exam

Price $29.99

https://gumroad.com/l/Eiig

7 hour 6 minute: 16 lesson audio course

In this episode I talk to Ron Allen one of my listeners who reached out and asked to review my ASA courses. Over a period of several months I got know Ron and I thought the my listeners would benefit from some of his information on ham radio AIS and what it's like to live through a hurricane and lose a boat.

Ron goes into quite a bit detail on the AIS here are some links to some information on Wikipedia on this system

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Identification_System

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=aismain

And here is a link to the map which shows the current location of all ships equipped with the AIS system

https://www.marinetraffic.com/

I wanted to check out what was happening in Istanbul and one of the most busy waterways in the world the Bosporus Strait and this is what I came up with. On the web if you click any of the ships it will give you details, pretty cool stuff.

Here's a link to a list of ham radio Maritime Nets

http://www.docksideradio.com/Cruising%20Nets.htm

And here's a link on becoming an amateur radio operator (HAM)

Also checkout the 59 Degree North Podcast at http://59-north.com/

If you're interested in my sailing instructional audio series here are the links:

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Keelboat Certification Lessons for the ASA 101 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/Eiig

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Coastal Cruising; Lessons for the ASA 103 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/PvOYK

Sailing! Learn To Sail: Bareboat Cruising Certification Lessons for the ASA 104 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/bwXh

Sailing in the Mediterranean Website

https://www.medsailor.com

If you would like to be a guest or have suggestions for future episodes or if you would like Franz to be a speaker at your

Sailing Club or fundraiser please feel free to contact me.

©2015 Franz Amussen all rights reserved

medsailor.com

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Keelboat Certification Lessons for the ASA 101 Exam

Price $29.99

https://gumroad.com/l/Eiig

7 hour 6 minute: 16 lesson audio course

In this episode I talk to Ron Allen one of my listeners who reached out and asked to review my ASA courses. Over a period of several months I got know Ron and I thought the my listeners would benefit from some of his information on ham radio AIS and what it's like to live through a hurricane and lose a boat.

Ron goes into quite a bit detail on the AIS here are some links to some information on Wikipedia on this system

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Identification_System

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=aismain

And here is a link to the map which shows the current location of all ships equipped with the AIS system

https://www.marinetraffic.com/

I wanted to check out what was happening in Istanbul and one of the most busy waterways in the world the Bosporus Strait and this is what I came up with. On the web if you click any of the ships it will give you details, pretty cool stuff.

Here's a link to a list of ham radio Maritime Nets

http://www.docksideradio.com/Cruising%20Nets.htm

And here's a link on becoming an amateur radio operator (HAM)

Also checkout the 59 Degree North Podcast at http://59-north.com/

If you're interested in my sailing instructional audio series here are the links:

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Keelboat Certification Lessons for the ASA 101 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/Eiig

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Coastal Cruising; Lessons for the ASA 103 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/PvOYK

Sailing! Learn To Sail: Bareboat Cruising Certification Lessons for the ASA 104 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/bwXh

Sailing in the Mediterranean Website

http://www.medsailor.com

If you would like to be a guest or have suggestions for future episodes or if you would like Franz to be a speaker at your

Sailing Club or fundraiser please feel free to contact me.

©2015 Franz Amussen all rights reserved

medsailor.com

Sailing! Learn To Sail: Bareboat Cruising Certification Lessons for the ASA 104 Exam

Price $29.99

https://gumroad.com/l/bwXh

8 Hours 10 Minutes: 23 Lessons audio course

This is the second of a two-part interview I had with Bogdan Grigorescu, who lives in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. He's become passionate about sailing and we go into great detail about racing and cruising on the Black Sea. Bogdan has done some sailing in the Greek islands but since I've sailed in Greece  many times I was very curious to learn about sailing on the Black Sea instead. So I spent my time quizzing him about marinas, prices, and services that are available  for cruising sailors. I've searched for resources on sailing in this region for many hours and found very little information. In fact Bogdan gave me more information in this interview than I could discover in many hours of previous research. Just another reason why podcasting can be such an informative medium!

The beautiful Danube Delta

After the interview he sent me this e-mail:

Good morning Franz,

I just wanted to let you know that it was a pleasure talking to your yesterday. I am glad that I could be of help with relevant information regarding the Black Sea area.

In terms of resources, since I also looked for them on the web, I think the most comprehensive guides for cruising in the Black Sea are the following two books published by Imray in UK:

Cruising Bulgaria and Romania: Click HERE

It was last published in 2006, and thus it's not really up to date with the latest facilities on the Romanian coast. But overall I think it's a good travelling resource.

Crusing The Black Sea: Click HERE

This one was published in 2012.

Yesterday I could not remember the name of one of the main Bulgarian attractions on the Black Sea coast - the medieval fortress of Nessebar. As far as I know the town also has a marina and thus it's a great sailing destination….

---------------------------------------------

Bogdan also has a website which has quite a bit of information about him, his boat and the app he has developed for sailing. The website is www.mempapeur.com

Bogdan's Kelt 8.5

And the sailing app is available in the iTunes directory:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/odyssea-track-share-your-sailing/id793150820?mt=8

 

Please also visit our latest sponsor, the 59 Degree North Podcast at http://59-north.com/

If you're interested in my sailing instructional audio...

Sailing! Learn To Sail: Bareboat Cruising Certification Lessons for the ASA 104 Exam

Price $29.99

https://gumroad.com/l/bwXh

8 Hours 10 Minutes: 23 Lessons audio course

This is the second of a two-part interview I had with Bogdan Grigorescu, who lives in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. He's become passionate about sailing and we go into great detail about racing and cruising on the Black Sea. Bogdan has done some sailing in the Greek islands but since I've sailed in Greece  many times I was very curious to learn about sailing on the Black Sea instead. So I spent my time quizzing him about marinas, prices, and services that are available  for cruising sailors. I've searched for resources on sailing in this region for many hours and found very little information. In fact Bogdan gave me more information in this interview than I could discover in many hours of previous research. Just another reason why podcasting can be such an informative medium!

After the interview he sent me this e-mail:

Good morning Franz,

I just wanted to let you know that it was a pleasure talking to your yesterday. I am glad that I could be of help with relevant information regarding the Black Sea area.

In terms of resources, since I also looked for them on the web, I think the most comprehensive guides for cruising in the Black Sea are the following two books published by Imray in UK:

Cruising Bulgaria and Romania: Click HERE

It was last published in 2006, and thus it's not really up to date with the latest facilities on the Romanian coast. But overall I think it's a good travelling resource.

Crusing The Black Sea: Click HERE

This one was published in 2012.

Yesterday I could not remember the name of one of the main Bulgarian attractions on the Black Sea coast - the medieval fortress of Nessebar. As far as I know the town also has a marina and thus it's a great sailing destination….

---------------------------------------------

Bogdan also has a website which has quite a bit of information about him, his boat and the app he has developed for sailing. The website is www.mempapeur.com

And the sailing app is available in the iTunes directory:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/odyssea-track-share-your-sailing/id793150820?mt=8

 

Please also visit our latest sponsor, the 59 Degree North Podcast at http://59-north.com/

If you're interested in my sailing instructional audio series here are the links:

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Keelboat Certification Lessons for the ASA 101 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/Eiig

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Coastal Cruising; Lessons for the ASA 103 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/PvOYK

Sailing! Learn To Sail: Bareboat Cruising Certification Lessons for the ASA 104 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/bwXh

Sailing in the Mediterranean Website

http://www.medsailor.com

If you would like to be a guest or have suggestions for future episodes or if you would like Franz to be a speaker at your Sailing Club or fundraiser please feel free to contact me.

©2015 Franz Amussen all rights reserved

medsailor.com

This is the first of a two-part interview I had with Bogdan Grigorescu, who lives in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. He's become passionate about sailing and we go into great detail about racing and cruising on the Black Sea. Bogdan has done some sailing in the Greek islands but since I've sailed in Greece  many times I was very curious to learn about sailing on the Black Sea instead. So I spent my time quizzing him about marinas, prices, and services that are available  for cruising sailors. I've searched for resources on sailing in this region for many hours and found very little information. In fact Bogdan gave me more information in this interview than I could discover in many hours of previous research. Just another reason why podcasting can be such an informative medium!

The beautiful Danube Delta

After the interview he sent me this e-mail:

-----------------------------------

Good morning Franz,

I just wanted to let you know that it was a pleasure talking to your yesterday. I am glad that I could be of help with relevant information regarding the Black Sea area.

In terms of resources, since I also looked for them on the web, I think the most comprehensive guides for cruising in the Black Sea are the following two books published by Imray in UK:

Cruising Bulgaria and Romania: Click HERE

(It was last published in 2006, and thus it's not really up to date with the latest facilities on the Romanian coast. But overall I think it's a good travelling resource).

Crusing The Black Sea: Click HERE

(This one was published in 2012).

Yesterday I could not remember the name of one of the main Bulgarian attractions on the Black Sea coast - the medieval fortress of Nessebar. As far as I know the town also has a marina and thus it's a great sailing destination….

---------------------------------------------

Bogdan also has a website which has quite a bit of information about him, his boat and the app he has developed for sailing. The website is www.mempapeur.com

Bogdan's Kelt 8.5

And the sailing app is available in the iTunes directory

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/odyssea-track-share-your-sailing/id793150820?mt=8

Also checkout the 59 Degree North Podcast at http://59-north.com/

If you're interested in my sailing instructional audio series here are the links:

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Keelboat Certification Lessons for the ASA 101 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/Eiig

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Coastal Cruising; Lessons for the ASA 103 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/PvOYK

Sailing!

This is the first of a two-part interview I had with Bogdan Grigorescu, who lives in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. He's become passionate about sailing and we go into great detail about racing and cruising on the Black Sea. Bogdan has done some sailing in the Greek islands but since I've sailed in Greece  many times I was very curious to learn about sailing on the Black Sea instead. So I spent my time quizzing him about marinas, prices, and services that are available  for cruising sailors. I've searched for resources on sailing in this region for many hours and found very little information. In fact Bogdan gave me more information in this interview than I could discover in many hours of previous research. Just another reason why podcasting can be such an informative medium!

After the interview he sent me this e-mail:

-----------------------------------

Good morning Franz,

I just wanted to let you know that it was a pleasure talking to your yesterday. I am glad that I could be of help with relevant information regarding the Black Sea area.

In terms of resources, since I also looked for them on the web, I think the most comprehensive guides for cruising in the Black Sea are the following two books published by Imray in UK:

Cruising Bulgaria and Romania: Click HERE

(It was last published in 2006, and thus it's not really up to date with the latest facilities on the Romanian coast. But overall I think it's a good travelling resource).

Crusing The Black Sea: Click HERE

(This one was published in 2012).

Yesterday I could not remember the name of one of the main Bulgarian attractions on the Black Sea coast - the medieval fortress of Nessebar. As far as I know the town also has a marina and thus it's a great sailing destination….

---------------------------------------------

Bogdan also has a website which has quite a bit of information about him, his boat and the app he has developed for sailing. The website is www.mempapeur.com

And the sailing app is available in the iTunes directory

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/odyssea-track-share-your-sailing/id793150820?mt=8

Also checkout the 59 Degree North Podcast at http://59-north.com/

If you're interested in my sailing instructional audio series here are the links:

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Keelboat Certification Lessons for the ASA 101 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/Eiig

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Coastal Cruising; Lessons for the ASA 103 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/PvOYK

Sailing! Learn To Sail: Bareboat Cruising Certification Lessons for the ASA 104 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/bwXh

Sailing in the Mediterranean Website

http://www.medsailor.com

If you would like to be a guest or have suggestions for future episodes or if you would like Franz to be a speaker at your Sailing Club or fundraiser please feel free to contact me.

©2015 Franz Amussen all rights reserved

medsailor.com

 

Sailing! Learn To Sail: Bareboat Cruising Certification Lessons for the ASA 104 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/bwXh

SHOW NOTES: this week's podcast features a great  conversation with Roger Van Dyken, owner and founder of San Juan Sailing. In additional to giving us a background on how he started the company and insight into what makes the San Juan such a superb charter location, Roger also rev3eals that he  keeps on the French canals. Given the popularity of our previous segments on the French canals I'm hoping to get him back in a future episode to talk about some of his travels on the inland waterways of Europe.

Roger's website addresses is http://www.sanjuansailing.com/

Here is some information on San Juan Sailing I took from their website which you may find useful:

San Juan Sailing & Yachting - History

It was a gamble, really. Back in 1982 we were warned that making your hobby your vocation would ruin a perfectly good hobby. I have always loved sailing, even before I had ever set foot aboard a sailboat. I checked out a sailing book from the library, got confused by all that strange terminology and frustrated, procrastinated. But in the summer of 1975, I gave my hard-working office staff a half day off and we went sailing together—first time. The wind whispered along at about 2 knots and I still was hooked!

We bought a sailboat, chartered it out to help pay the expenses, and found we were making money by accident. So in 1982 we started SJS with two sailboats—ours and a friend's. We chartered them out, taught school on them and sold boats. I made many mistakes. And I quickly learned that I hated it when my guests encountered mechanical difficulties or dirty boats or growth on the bottoms. But I took such vicarious joy when they had a great time, that is was almost as if I'd been sailing myself.

We learned a lot over the years, through good times and some really tough ones. I saw a number of my colleagues/competitors fail, and tried to learn from their experiences, as well as our own failures. But the passion that infused our staff to be rated as tied for the top charter company in the world by the readers of Cruising World has never left us. We brought that same perspective to our school (Marlene and I are both professionally trained teachers). Many of our charter guests and a good number of our boat owners first learned to sail from us. We were charter members of the American Sailing Association, and served on its Standards Committee and its Executive Board.

Our brokers earned the reputation of looking out for our clients' interests. It has been fun hearing people enter the office saying “My friend bought a boat from you and says you are the only way to go." Ditto for sellers. Then, so a buyer could make an offer with confidence, we required a reputable survey before listing—the only company we know of with that requirement. And 100% of our brokers are required to be board certified.

If our clients are having a great time, with boats as flawless (ask for our Preventive Maintenance Schedule) as possible (ok, they ARE boats), our whole world smiles. And if any one of them has a problem, I take it personally.

Thankfully, we have been fortunate in having staff that shares our passion, boat owners who make the investment in boats, equipment, and preventive maintenance; and instructors who love to teach as much as they love to...

Sailing! Learn To Sail: Bareboat Cruising Certification Lessons for the ASA 104 Exam

https://gumroad.com/l/bwXh

SHOW NOTES: this week's podcast features a great  conversation with Roger Van Dyken, owner and founder of San Juan Sailing. In additional to giving us a background on how he started the company and insight into what makes the San Juan such a superb charter location, Roger also rev3eals that he  keeps on the French canals. Given the popularity of our previous segments on the French canals I'm hoping to get him back in a future episode to talk about some of his travels on the inland waterways of Europe.

Roger's website addresses is http://www.sanjuansailing.com/

Here is some information on San Juan Sailing I took from their website which you may find useful:

San Juan Sailing & Yachting - History

It was a gamble, really. Back in 1982 we were warned that making your hobby your vocation would ruin a perfectly good hobby. I have always loved sailing, even before I had ever set foot aboard a sailboat. I checked out a sailing book from the library, got confused by all that strange terminology and frustrated, procrastinated. But in the summer of 1975, I gave my hard-working office staff a half day off and we went sailing together—first time. The wind whispered along at about 2 knots and I still was hooked!

We bought a sailboat, chartered it out to help pay the expenses, and found we were making money by accident. So in 1982 we started SJS with two sailboats—ours and a friend's. We chartered them out, taught school on them and sold boats. I made many mistakes. And I quickly learned that I hated it when my guests encountered mechanical difficulties or dirty boats or growth on the bottoms. But I took such vicarious joy when they had a great time, that is was almost as if I'd been sailing myself.

We learned a lot over the years, through good times and some really tough ones. I saw a number of my colleagues/competitors fail, and tried to learn from their experiences, as well as our own failures. But the passion that infused our staff to be rated as tied for the top charter company in the world by the readers of Cruising World has never left us. We brought that same perspective to our school (Marlene and I are both professionally trained teachers). Many of our charter guests and a good number of our boat owners first learned to sail from us. We were charter members of the American Sailing Association, and served on its Standards Committee and its Executive Board.

Our brokers earned the reputation of looking out for our clients' interests. It has been fun hearing people enter the office saying “My friend bought a boat from you and says you are the only way to go." Ditto for sellers. Then, so a buyer could make an offer with confidence, we required a reputable survey before listing—the only company we know of with that requirement. And 100% of our brokers are required to be board certified.

If our clients are having a great time, with boats as flawless (ask for our Preventive Maintenance Schedule) as possible (ok, they ARE boats), our whole world smiles. And if any one of them has a problem, I take it personally.

Thankfully, we have been fortunate in having staff that shares our passion, boat owners who make the investment in boats, equipment, and preventive maintenance; and instructors who love to teach as much as they love to sail, to make it all happen. Best of all, we seem to attract a quality of charter guest that strives to bring their boat back in better condition than that in which they received her…if that's possible. Oh…and the hobby? Still our hobby. Among my greatest joys? Sailing in our islands, grin on my face, sighting another one of our boats doing exactly what we are…marveling in the beauties of God's great green earth.

San Juan Yachting

Nearly two decades after we founded San Juan Sailing, Joe Coons, a friend known locally as “Mr Powerboat", approached me.

 

COLD COMFORT: a little retsina to cool down in Vathys harbor on Kalymnos

SHOW NOTES: This is the third of several episodes which contain various recordings during my voyage this summer in Greece. Neil Fletcher and Jack Andrys were my guests and are also previous contributors to this podcast.

This episode is all about the food. We always ate well during this summer’s trip – sometimes exceptionally so – and this podcast focuses on three of the highlights. Andrioti’s restaurant in Nikhia on Nisyros boasts not only great food and good service but also a terrace with one of the best views in the Dodecanese, as mentioned in the show notes to our previous podcast. The brief video below should give you an idea of what we mean....

We also meet Soula, the charming but shy owner of Aegeo Pelagos in Vathys on Kalymnos. We find out a little bit more about her restaurant and her favorite dishes, which may come in helpful should you ever find yourself in this gorgeous little harbor.

Neil contributes an epicurean tale of his own about the frighteningly-authentic rustic French sausage he enjoyed in downtown Los Angeles a few years ago, and Jack weighs in with a little palate cleanser about his experiences as a diver following a helicopter accident off the coast of Karratha in Western Australia.

 

Palionisos Harbor

Finally we conduct an on-site segment from Taverna Kalidonis in the small anchorage of Palionisos. We interview the owner, who built the place from scratch following a turndown in the construction business. The food at the Taverna was not quite as exceptional as at Aegeo Pelagos, but the setting, overlooking the compact bay with a small number of buoys, simply could not be bettered.

You can find the taverna's Facebook page HERE. And below is a short video of this charming little harbor.....

 

We hope the above leaves you 'hungry' for more from Sailing in the Mediterranean. And since I often open the show with a couple of brief notes about my life in Utah, and my hikes at the ranch  I thought I would include here a photograph I took this weekend from the tree stand I discuss in the introduction. Look at that beautiful tall straight Aspen!

As always, I'm always looking for reviews for my instructional sailing podcasts which can be downloaded here too. The Bareboat Cruising Certification is an extensive 8 hour lesson which will set you well on your way to casting off those lines and exploring new horizons. Simply click the link below. Fair winds to you all!

 

If you would like to be a guest or have suggestions for topics to bring up in the podcast or if you would like Franz to be a speaker at your Sailing Club or fundraiser please feel free to contact me.

©2015 Franz Amussen all rights reserved

Sailing in the Mediterranean Website

https://www.medsailor.com

Audio Sailing Lessons by Franz

Sailing! Learn to Sail: Basic Keelboat Certification Lessons for the ASA 101 Exam