Sailing in the Mediterranean Episode 278 Chris Ryba of S/Y Olivia Grace   This is from the great website Chris put together to record this voyage: https://oliviagrace.travel.blog/home-page/ This voyage began in 2015 when I sent Joy a text message: “Just an idea… what do you think of taking a 6-month sabbatical?” I also sent a link to Sailing Totem (https://www.sailingtotem.com/welcome-aboard). Fully expecting a quick dismissal, I was floored upon receipt of her response, “that sounds awesome. Lets do it.” A few days later, Jimmy Cornell’s treatises, which detail world cruising routes and destinations, arrived via Amazon and we were “off to the races.” Since that time, countless hours have been spent planning and preparing. From the big issues, (e.g., money, home, safety and education) to the small, (mail, lawn care, snow removal), we’ve done our best to ensure a safe and seamless transition to a “voyaging lifestyle,” albeit a temporary one. From 2015 through 2020, on any given night our dining room table was covered in nautical charts, cruising guides and nautical almanacs. Winters were spent at Larsen Marine in Waukegan partially refitting the boat for extended cruising. Broad information on the refit is detailed under “Our Vessel” and blog entry “Outfitting for 2020 Sabbatical.” We broke the news to the girls in 2017 and received a mixed response. Frankly, neither of them is excited about this. And, admittedly, our anticipated track is a long one. Of the two, Frankie—who spends 5 days per week sailing Optis during the summer—is more resistant, but mostly because she does not want to leave the dog. Evelyn, on the other hand, is largely ambivalent. But given the choice, it is clear that Evelyn (13 at the time of cast-off) would rather be with her friends and electronics than with her parents and sister aboard a small sailboat. From my perspective, that’s all the more reason to go and go now......"               Please Consider supporting the podcast in Patreon   My Boat is for sale here are the details!   See Dream at anchor in Turkey near Gocek If you have ideas for future podcasts or comments please drop me a note! and PLEASE rate my podcast in iTunes and perhaps write a note. link https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sailing-in-the-mediterranean/id566678892?mt=2 https://www.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!