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"Grey Pearl" 62-08 - Braun Jones and Tina C. Jones
September 29, 2006
Bonjour...
A few days ago we made our final passage for this season from St Tropez,
France to a sweet little port west of Toulon - Sanary sur Mer. It was also,
our last passage in the Mediterranean...bittersweet. But, ohhh the memories!
Braun will return to France in early November to load the boat onto a large
freighter - Dockwise Express, and she will be shipped back across the
Atlantic. He hates to do this but we have run out of time to sail her
ourselves.
We wish you all well -
September 5, 2006
Greetings from the bridge of the 'Grey Pearl' coasting along in Italian
waters.
We enjoyed five weeks cruising the azure blue waters of Croatia, a country
we recommend you place on your "must do" list. Early August we stayed in the
charming medieval town of Trogir just north of Split. It was in this small
harbor that Nordhavns were well represented - 5 of us in all: N40 'Uno Mas',
N46 'Resolution', N47 'Strickly for Fun', N57 'Goleen', and, of course, N62
'Grey Pearl'. A wonderful group of friends that we've been cruising with
throughout the month of August.
We managed to get away for a couple days and visit Stockholm, Sweden to
attend a wedding of friends. A wonderful change of pace - home of the
smorgasbord, Pippi Long Stocking, Absolute vodka, Swedish meatballs, herring
any which way you want it, and, well, just beautiful people, too. Thank you
Ray & Petra Kimsey for a festive & fun weekend. Hey - it was nice just to
use a head that wasn't moving. :-)
We'll be covering some cruising ground from here on out until mid-September.
We've already logged some 2,500 nautical miles on the boat this summer
alone. Presently, Captain & Crew (that'd be me) are taking advantage of the
favorable weather and doing a couple back to back overnight passages (50
hours underway). We decided we'll catch up on our sleep in say, sunny
Capri. Then we hope to connect with friends, Jeanne Daly & Ron Mallard in
Portofino/Santa Margherita, Italy as they kick off their Italian holiday.
Thereafter, we'll rendezvous with friends Steve and Annie Kellenberger near
Nice. Steve was a huge help to us on the Azores to Gibraltar leg/Atlantic
passage...more importantly, he kept us laughing the whole time. We'll do one
last leisurely cruise along the south of France and jet home in early
October.
We plan to freight the boat back across the Atlantic in November. It's been
an incredible summer and quite a memorable Mediterranean adventure these
past three years.
The bottom line - our Nordhavn trawler, 'the little ship that could' and
Braun's meticulous attention to maintenance detail, has enabled us make our
seafaring dreams come true. And, boy oh boy, we've got the bug. We're
kicking
the idea around for a Panama Canal/Pacific passage in early 2008. What can I
say but, stay tuned!
So for now, this the 'Grey Pearl' standing by - Over and out.
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