Monte Carlo to Anse de la Salis (off Nice - France)

The distances off the coast of France are quite small ... There are lots of marinas and anchorages to go to in distances of 20 to 30 miles. Unlike Italy where the distances are more like 50 miles apart and where there are really very few places to anchor. This is a welcome change because the kids prefer to be at anchor and our sailing kitty likes saving the 70 to 100 euros a night for moorage. High season rates kick in July 1 and are minimum 100 euros a night so if we aren't careful we can go through our entire months' budget on moorage (assuming we don't eat, drink, use fuel, or anything else that costs money) .... not to mention house taxes are due the first week of July. Yikes!

The kids and Marina dropped me off in the Nice Harbour and I took the dinghy to shore on a quest for an Internet stick and some food. I found a place but they were sold out. Finally got to a SFR store and got an Internet stick. It amazes me how big a disparity in telecoms cost there is across Europe. In France it was 125 euros for a stick and 1 gig of transfer. In Italy, a stick and 5 gig was 29 euros, in Malta it was 49 euros. Greece was 49 euros but they blocked Skype, Turkey was 75 euros but gave 4 gig transfer and they only count uploads. Israel was about $100 with about 3 gigs of transfer. So about a 5x difference in price ... across a fairly close proximity. No wonder the EU is regulating these companies, all of whom make healthy profits.

After all that I got back to the boat with an internet stick and some food too and we left for an anchorage about 10 miles out of town. We settled in and I lit up my Internet stick and ... it wouldn't work. I tried everything, different computers to no avail. In desperation I pulled out my iPad and actually connected to a beach restaurant on the shore's WiFi. Being resourceful, I pulled out our WiFi repeater and poached the Internet all night (merci beaucoup Plage Keller). We were treated to a local fireworks show that night too.

While I did watch the entire game it wasn't very fulfilling. One, then two, then the killer third goal while we were on the PP, you could tell it wasn't going to be. Twice in my lifetime the Canucks have made it to the 7th game of the finals and come up short. It is so gutting that I may not watch hockey for a while next season. It would have been different with Samuelson, Hamhuis, Raymond,a healthy Kessler, Henrik and Edler. The bright side was Bieksa, Salo, Hansen and Tanev, the big question mark is Luongo. Maybe in 2012 we can win it all. They certainly could have used the 3 wasted games against Chicago and Nashville to add to their energy reserves against the Bruins.

Bottom line, it hurts to be a Canucks fan.

Visiting 007 on his Home Turf - Monaco!

We powered out of San Remo towards Monaco. I don't know about you but I had always thought Monaco was small but I was surprised to find out how small. Think Coal Harbour to about Main Street. The terrain is nearly vertical so it goes up quite high with an interesting mix of new skyscrapers and old buildings.

We had arranged to stay at YCM (Royal YC de Monaco) but it turns out the entire port is administered by one authority. We had to drop Marina off to find out what was happening because the radio wasn't working (actually the radio worked fine, it was the human element on either end that was having trouble with communication). When we called in to the port guys the second time waiting for our slip, they said they couldn't see us. We gave them our exact coordinates (near the Optis sailing in the harbour) and the guy said .. (no lie) "oh the little sailboat"' and in Monaco, that was true, our 50 footer is a little boat.

We got off the boat and did some exploring as a family. The two things that struck us about Monte Carlo were the size of the boats: 100 footers were small, and the unbelievable cars: Ferraris, Lambos, Aston Martins, Maseratis, Porsches, Beamers, MB's, Bentleys, Rolls Royces, new and old but all in immaculate shape.

Marina and I went to the casino but shied away from the 20 euro cover charge, opting for a coffee and a beer for 20 euros instead. We engaged in people watching for an hour or so, me nursing my $20 beer, Marina her $10 coffee. Monaco is a place to be seen. It reminded us a bit of Vegas, with more old world charm, part Ritz Carlton and part working harbour. A curious mix.

As we have said before, while we like 5 star, we can only take so much, so we got up early and decided to head to an anchorage just west of Nice. Monaco is really set up for the big money .. 50 meter boats, loads of cash to drop while the crew deals with the boat the owner flys in on the helicopter. Then head to the casino to drop some coin into the Royal coffers. It's not exactly the shoestring budget cruising that we are doing.

In reality there was another big draw to get us going to France. We couldn't find internet service in Monaco and the internet sticks they sold would only work for Monaco, not France. What I really wanted was to get a French Internet stick so I could watch game 7 of the Stanley cup finals. I stayed up for every game watching the games through my Slingbox. So off we left at 10am for France to begin our journey towards Spain.

Loano to San Remo

Our last stop in Italy was San Remo. It has an older marina and the boats are really big. We had the pleasure of sailing most of the way to San Remo. It is so much more pleasant when you head downwind ... The wind seems lighter, the boat is more upright and the big bonus of being able to point the bow directly where you want to go.

We arrived at San Remo in the early afternoon and were directed between a couple of 80 footers. The electrical hookup was a 64 amp connection -- ours is a 16 amp connection and we have adapters for 32 and 48 amps ... But the 64 amp connection is about the size of my leg. I think we could probably run the house off of a 64 amp service. Thankfully, the ormeggiatore had an adapter and we had water and power. A few minutes after our arrival we were treated to some entertainment when a guy fell off his passerale into the water. He was yelling at the ormeggiatore and they were rolling their eyes.. It's not like they pushed him in or anything ... But if you fall in, you might as well blame someone for it, and the hired help is as good a group to blame as anyone.

The kids were in love with their computer screens so Marina and I walked to town to get some cash and check it out. We were caught in a bit of a rainstorm and most shops were closed, but you could tell that San Remo is a really nice place.

The next morning we were off to do some marketing and came back to the boat around 10:30 to wake the kids and get a move on. The next stop is Monte Carlo, home of Princess Grace, 007, and the Gran Prix. Should be great. Arrivaderci Italia. We had a great time.

Marina de Verazza to Loano and the Caves of Toirano

Our budget analyst decided that one night at Verazzo was the right number so we better head out and sailed 40 or so miles up the coast. Navigation is pretty easy here, keep the shore on the right, stay a mile off shore is our strategy and most of the time it works just fine. We continue to use Sea Clear charts and also rely heavily on Rod Heikel's books for Harbour charts. He has only steered us wrong once and we caught it early enough before we ran into the sand.

Loano is the beginning of the Italian Riviera -- the water is getting warmer, clearer, bluer and the bathing suits are coming out. The marina is huge and under development, probably about a thousand berths, with the majority being for boats 40+feet long. We had planned to stay for two nights, primarily to wait out some weather. We ended up staying three nights because we liked the place.

Staying in such a large marina means you must do a lot of walking. With Marina's neck hurting we kept it pretty quiet. I ended up walking to town by myself and with each of Marina, Jess and Ross, then did it again the next day. Nobody could understand why I was tired....might have been the 10K walking to and from town with everyone.

One of the cool things to do in Loano is to visit the caves at Troiano. These caves are massive and very cool to visit. We ended up trying to catch a bus to the caves and went into a bakery to get a snack and ask directions.

The bakery lady asked a customer with better English skills and then another customer offered us a ride to the caves. We arrived about an hour before they opened up (for the afternoon, not the morning ... I know, what a shock)  so we had a chance to sit down and eat some lunch. We were a bit disappointed that the tours were guided but the moment you go inside you understand why.

If the tours weren't guided they would lose some people plus the stalactites would all be broken off for souvenirs. And since they grow about 1 cm every 50 years, the caves would be destroyed fairly quickly. 

Tara breaks out of Porto Lotti

Here we are nearly a month after pulling into La Spezia. Porto Lotti is a beautiful, well run marina that has great amenities. The problem with these type of places is that they can be hard to leave.

We chose Porto Lotti because it has a good location and had stuff Marina and the kids could do when I spent three weeks in Vancouver for work ... Things like a tennis court, swimming pool plus a soccer pitch. 

Wait a second ... did you say work ... what the heck is that all about ???? Well, there was this proposal to BC Hydro and I went back to give the team a hand.

Saying goodbye to Matt

Anyway, we left Porto Lotti fairly early for us .. Around 10:30.  We had planned to drop a hook at Portofino but the wind didn't look favourable on windfinder.com, so we sought out a nearby marina called Marina de Varazza. 

Posh is an understatement for this place and at 113 Euros is one of the more expensive we have encountered along the way. The staff were totally friendly and very helpful. When you are treated well you don't mind paying. Talk about a massive marina. I would guess 1000+ boats are there plus there is a boatyard that was working on a couple of 50+ meter long boats. To give some perspective, I think the biggest boat in Vancouver is Jimmy Pattison's Nova Spirit and it is probably 40 or so meters. Here, a 40 meter boat is a mid sized boat. At 15 meters we have a big boat for Vancouver and a nice mid-sized cruiser for the Med.

Somehow in the night, Marina hurt her neck and got a crick in it. She couldn't move her head side to side without a lot of pain. So, being self sufficient she researched it on the internet and we walked down to the local Pharmacia and bought her a neck brace that immobilized her neck and gave it some time to get better.

Even infirm Marina is a trooper so we kept going and she kept teaching.

The kids are closing in on the end of school but it seems the closer they get to the end the less they want to work. The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a grunt for everyone but the prize at the end is in sight.

Road Trip to Switzerland and Germany

Well...Matt had to go back to Vancouver for almost 3 weeks so we had to alter plans. At first it was a bit of a disappointment (I know...what losers we are...we’ve had 10 months of traveling the Med and we’re disappointed that we’ll lose out on 3 weeks?), however, we soon got over that, well, not really Matt who had to leave but for Ross, Jessie and me, we altered plans and expectations and although we had to give Corsica and Sardinia a pass, we decided a road trip was in order! I am very fortunate to have my mom’s sisters and their families live in Switzerland and Germany. So...it was time to re-visit my aunts, uncles and cousins – and we were welcomed and treated so amazingly well.

Our little...and I mean little car, that does not go too fast but we got to 150 km/h on the Autobahn reliably got us there!

First we drive about 7 hours to a tiny alpine village in Switzerland, called Lantsh-Lenz, about half an hour from Chur. My Auntie Iris, my mum’s sister, and Uncle Valley and my cousin Peter, arranged for a lovely, cozy apartment for us to stay in – one room with beds for all and a wee kitchen with table and chairs, and even a little balcony. It was less than 100 meters from my aunt and uncle's house. 

Enjoying Peter's yummy pasta!

We arrived, enjoyed an excellent pasta meal made by my cousin Peter, who by fortunate luck was visiting his parents for a few days, and then the next day we hiked up to Vastenos. Vastenos is a piece of property, used for farming in the past, about 40 minute hike up, up, up the hill, behind the forests and onto open rolling fields with the very old, wood barn/house at the top. 

The view up at Vastenos....its gorgeous!

The view is spectacular, a mountain stream provides fresh running water (and the fridge for wine and beer) and we had a “grill” – Swiss English for BBQ. My cousin Peter had a friend with his family join in and it was great.

Everyone in the barn enjoying a good meal at Vastenos

We stayed one more night and had a cup of tea together the next morning before heading out, to Germany where my mum’s other sister, Auntie Kay, lives in Remscheid. 

Uncle Valley, Ross, Marina, Peter at the back, Auntie Iris
and Jessie up at Vastenos

Sadly, my Uncle Fred passed away a few years ago, but their daughter (my cousin Vera) came from a town on the Baltic Sea in East Germany to stay for a few days with us too. 

Vera and Ross Grilling

And my other cousin, Eva, and her husband Achim, also came for an evening “grill” – I’m practically glowing writing about it, how special “family” is and how wonderfully welcome we were. 

Marina with Achim and Eva

When Vera had to go home, her son Philip arrived (he’s 22) and Ross had some appreciated testosterone in the house! Out came the air rifle, computer games and computer talk, swimming and deer chasing. 

Philip and Ross enjoying the air rifle. 

The deer ate all the young rose buds in my aunt’s beautifully cared for garden. I played a couple hours, maybe more, tennis with Dirk – who is extended family and went to the Caribbean with us many many years ago – and my muscles, unworked for a while, felt the pain for the next 3 days – it was a good hit!

All of us went to an Adventure/Challenge Tree Climbing place called Klettergarten (literal translation climbing garden) on what we thought was the last day. It was terrific! Platforms, cables, tires, ropes, rope ladders, rope nets, and more...with a zip-line finish! Everything was about 10 – 15 meters above ground (of course we were harnessed in) passing from tree platform to tree platform, and we had lots of fun! Ross and Philip led on while Jessie, Estella and finally I, brought up the rear.

Ross, Jessie, Philip, Marina and Estella

Then...we were supposed to leave the next morning, but Auntie Kay just had a thought, “too bad we didn’t tell Matt to come back via Dusseldorf to spend a day or two here”, and everyone agreed. So, onto Skype and a few hours later and some organizing from Matt’s side, he decided to come to Remscheid before we go back to the boat. So poor Auntie Kay has us in her house for a few more days...which we find lovely! We are learning about Bonzai Trees and still chasing deer, every day, several times a day. The fence man comes on Thursday to hopefully solve the problem. Almost as fun as the chicken coop!

The ladies after an afternoon in the hair salon! 

It was very fun to have Matt arrive! Jessie and I went to the airport in Dusseldorf using the new Garmin GPS car navigation system that I bought (a new toy for me!) and only took one wrong turn (it takes a while to get used to the way directions are given out). Matt was totally pooped out, having traveled over 24 hours. 

Back at the house we had a snack, a glass of wine and then to bed. The next day was very relaxing, although we did get out and do a little shopping mall excursion, and then a very fun grill (that’s German for BBQ) with Dirk and Bettina at Kay’s house. 

Matt, Dirk and Bettina

Started off with Lemon Drops and finished with wine after midnight...what a nice way to end our time here.

The next morning we all slept in a little and then took on the task of packing the car...the picture speaks for itself.

We were going to stop half way but between Matt and I there was enough energy to drive the whole way, which took about 13 hours (including a few breaks). Back “home” on Tara around midnight and happy.

Canucks 3 San Jose 2 - We're off to the Cup Baby!

Since I had to go back to Vancouver, I thought I should go to a hockey game. I was fortunate enough to have a work colleague Ryan that was willing to part with his tickets at a reasonable price -- still hurt though. So I scored two tickets, now who do I call to go to the game?


As you might remember, my brother, sister, and mom met up in Tuscany earlier this year in April. Conspicuously absent was my brother-in-law Andrew who stayed behind in North Vancouver to hold the fort. So .... I called up his cellphone and asked what he was doing for the game .... he said, "I'm off work so .... just going to watch at home ..." and I asked, "I have some tickets, do you want to go to the game" .... after a couple of seconds where he was probably trying to figure out whether I was kidding ... he came back with a resounding "YES". So, we arranged that he'd meet me at the Four Seasons and we would grab a drink or two in my hotel room -- since beers are $10 each at Rogers Place. 

Andrew showing off his towel and enjoying a cold one

I met Andrew in the lobby .... I had a hard time recognizing him because all I could see were his teeth from the "perma-grin" he had on his face. The day before I went back to the house to pick up my authentic (and autographed) Trevor Linden flying-skate Canucks jersey. Andrew had brought a towel .... and we did our version of a tailgate party and then headed off to the game.
Along the way I heard my name being called "Matt ... Matt ... Matt" and I turned around and saw our friends' son Sam Fedak running up to greet me. I haven't seen Sam in about a year and he's grown about a foot -- he's now taller than me. We exchanged a hug and asked a couple of questions about how we each were .... great to see him, and I was really happy he called out.


We joined the sea of people heading into Rogers place and found our seats in Section 109 ... in the opposition corner. Great seats, and on the back of each was a towel to wave .... so we had our props, I had my jersey on and we started cheering. 

Canucks and Sharks Take to the Ice in Overtime

The game was a curious one. I think the crowd was a bit corporate as the arena was kind of flat. The Canucks were behind 2-1 with a couple of minutes left. Then at about 1 minute left the coach pulled Luongo and with an empty net there was an icing call against the Sharks and 20 seconds left. The Canucks lost the draw but Daniel dug the puck out and passed it to Henrik at the point who sent a wrister towards the net and it was deflected by Ryan Kessler into the San Jose net. Bedlam ensues ... there are 13 seconds left .... whoa nellie, we're going to overtime.

Another unhappy Canuck fan after Kessler ties the game with 13 seconds  left

About 10 minutes into overtime with Vancouver pressing, the puck took a crazy bounce off the glass to Kevin Bieksa who sent a knuckleball slapshot to the net for the winning goal. Now real bedlam. If anyone at the arena said they saw the goal, I think they were lying. We were all tracking the puck to go behind the net, then it went back to Bieksa who made the winning shot ... and we were wondering what happened, until the horn went off and the confetti came out. We stayed for the presentation of the Western Conference Championship Trophy and then headed back West Georgia Street through thousands of deliriously happy fans -- grabbed a quick beer at a bar and then parted ways ... both happy as clams.

Henrik posing with, but not touching the Clarence Campbell Bowl awarded to the Western Conference Champion Vancouver Canucks