This is an essay how we see, feel and think about liveaboarding. I might put the whole thing into English in days to come. In short – we don’t fully get it. We can’t afford it to continue experiencing it either (Moneymoneymoney, must be funny, in the rich men world). »Habibi goes south« story is ending here. No regrets, it was fun, but it was also enough. At least here, in East Med. It might be fun to take Habibi North, who knows. It might be also fun for somebody else to keep her going. She is happy on sea – check her sell page . As you will see from photos, a lot has happened while overwintering …but somehow we don’t see this social life as the major purpose of cruising.

Ko je Habibi zaplula na jug, sva govorila okvirno – 1 leto. Realno pogledano bolj 1 sezono, torej nekako 7, 8 mesecev. Optimistično gledano pa dve sezoni, torej leto in pol. Ne na glas izrečeno, malo sanjano pa – mogoče bo pa to to, čisto neki nov način in smisel življenja. Mogoče zaplujemo okoli sveta, ali pa tja, kamor skoraj nihče ne gre, ali pa nas vrže nekam, kjer… Po drugi strani sva bila podzavestno pripravljena, da bo visenje na barki postalo muka in se bo zgodba hitro zaključila.

In zdaj je eno leto dobro minilo. Veva marsikaj.

North end of Voudhia bay, Milos

Iz Santorinija je Habibi zaplula proti drugemu še delujočem vulkanskem otoku v Kikladih, Milosu. Vmes smo postali na Folegandrosu. Plutje do tja je potekalo v stilu – jadra gor, pa dol, pa spet gor, pa spet dol. Kot ponavadi, ko so napovedani šibki vetrovi in računaš na nestresno lagodno jadranje, te potem samo premetava – vetra je premalo, da bi te držal v grdih valovih, ki se priganjajo in odbijajo od Neptunve kje.

After Santorini we headed to next ex-volcano, Milos. Less impresive caldera, but it had some nice rock formations and colors anyway, hot springs and convinient port. With two guests onboard we visited Poliagos and Sifnos and met a genuine monk seal.

Preden povemo kako je bilo na Milosu, Kimolosu, Sifnosu…se mi zdi fer do sojadralcev, da podam nekaj praktičnih informacij o Santoriniju, ki je po svoje bavbav, a vsekakor zelo vreden obiska. Besedilo bo zgolj v angleščini.

Before we start praising our time on Milos, Kimolos, Sifnos…we would like to give some practical advice to all the cruisers. Do visit Santorini / Thira; it is an amazing place. But do so out of main tourist season as well… Our visit was at the end of April, probably perfect time. Click on Read more (Preberi več).

Večino zime in zgodnjo pomlad smo se na Kreti najbolj razveseljevali cvetlic. Precej jih je endemičnih za Kreto. Na žalost je zaradi prekomerne pašnje koz pokrajina v poprečju precej opustošena. Na pomlad se je pokazal tudi efekt suše in je bilo orhidej bistveno manj, kot naj bi jih bilo. Vseeno sem z bero kar zadovoljna. Upam, da bo tudi mami, ki ima rada rožice. Lov na orhideje nadaljujemo na Kikladih, na Santoriniju in Milosu smo že “ujeli” eno, ki je ne morem identificirati. Za ogled gelerije klikni sličico, nato v galeriji lahko povečaš vsako sliko ali enostavno zavrtiš diaprojekcijo. Potrudila sem se poiskati imena, pri orhidejah so lahko napake, saj ni zanesljive literature.

Winter and early spring was for us also the time to enjoy flowers. Click photo for the gallery! There a some endemic Cretan species. We are sorry to report a lot of countryside is barren due to goat overgrazing. Also there was lack of rain in February and March so people told us there is much less orchids or are more short-lived than in previous years. I tried to find proper names for them but I’m open to corrections. Orchid hunt continues on Cyclades, I already have one unindentified from Santorini and Milos. However, I’m afraid a bit of draught hit here too.

Da ne bomo dolgovezili. Na Astipeleji nama je bila hora z ostanki beneške trdnjave kar všeč. Za vogalom je sicer spet hitro “tradicionalna” Grčija, zato je treba vklopiti ustrezne filtre. Klikni na fotografijo za galerijo (v Picasi nato lahko nastaviš diaprojekcijo).

Click on both photos to enter the galleries of our impressions of Astypelaia chora and Santorini – Thira complex islands. You can then activate slideshow in Picassa menu.

Sedaj se guncamo na boji v kalderi Tire – Santorinija. Dosedanje raziskovanje Santorinija nas je navdušilo. K sreči tudi še ni vseh množic turistov. Ko se zahodnik pomiri, se prestavimo še pod Oio, splezamo na hrib in poskusimo ujeti kako tisto pravo kičasto fotko in razglednic Santorinija. Dosedanje impresije: klik na fotografijo

Prepeva se nama takale na melodijo Willie Nelsona.

We started to humm a certain Willie Nelson melody with slightly modified lyrics.

On the sea again –
Just can’t wait to get on the sea again.
The life we love is making music with my friends

And we can’t wait to get on the sea again.
On the sea again

Goin’ places that we’ve never been.
Seein’ things that we may never see again

And we can’t wait to get on the sea again.
On the sea again –
Like a band of gypsies we go up the Agean
We’re the best of friends.
Insisting that the wind keep turning our way

And our way is on the sea again

With all the nuisance of rough seas, too strong winds and suspicious anchorages!

Tako se lahko spet borimo z valovi, skrivamo pred premočnimi vetrovi in preklinjamo slaba sidrišča!

Gotrys

Zimsko obdobje se počasi končuje. Kepali se nismo. Pravzaprav je letos presenetljivo malo snega po gorah Krete. Raziskovanje Krete ni najbolj enostavno. Otok je velik, ceste pa tako tako. Po zemljevidu sodeč se skoraj vzdolž celotne severne obale vije avtocesta, ki povezuje večja mesta Hanijo, Retimnon, Heraklion, Agios Nikolaos in Sitijo. V resnici je to enopasovnica s širokim odstavnim pasom (ki ga Grški vozniki tretirajo kot vozni pas in te neusmiljeno rinejo nanj), včasih še tega zmanjka (pri Maliji se moraš voziti čez središče mesta), proti Sitiji se šele gradi itd. Nekatere ceste čez hribe so sicer dobre, a hudo ovinkaste. Vožnja za avtom in naše lokacije na vzhod traja pol dneva, na zahod cel dan. Južna obala je še bolj razbita in jo povezati v enoten izlet praktično ni mogoče.Vodnih povezav izven glavne turistične sezone ni. Pretežno v sliki sledijo vtisi oddaljenih lokacij.

The time for exploring Crete is almost ower. We did not ski but neither did we swam on exotic beaches. Driving on Crete is slow going and the island huge. In photos below we’ll try to give you impression what can be seen on the long trips. If you wish to explore Crete on your own we suggest moving about – you can’t expect to be stationed somewhere and do daily trips.

Heraklion je glavno mesto Krete. Če ga na hitro ošinemo, je veliko mesto, brez romantičnega središča ali podobnega. Zato Habibijevci tam kaj dosti nimamo iskati. Vseeno smo se podali na izlet v Knosos, ki je v predmestju Herakliona. V nedeljo, saj je izven glavne turistične sezone arheološko najdišče možno obiskati zastonj, enako pa je brez vstopnine v nedeljo tudi muzej v mestu. Najbolj znana naselbina s palačo skrivnostnih Minojcev je tudi najbolj kontroverzna. Je edino arheološko najdišče v Grčiji, kjer obiskovalec lahko dobi nek pravi estetski občutek, kako je verjetno bilo.

Habibi crew is not keen on discovering big cities. Therefore the capital of Crete, Heraklion would not be or call of choice wouldn’t it held the best archaeological site – Knossos palace. Although being much criticised, we really liked the site and got a fairly good impression how the impressive complex once looked like. After strolling this labyrinth it is worth to see the most known Minoan artefacts in the Archeological museum in the town. Museum proper is being renovated for years but a small collection is put on display in one temporary room. Off season both sites are free of charge on Sundays, but open only in the mornings. Also other important Minoan sites are kind of impossible to visit in the afternoons (Zakros and Malia palaces, town of Gotrys) so I can’t comment on them, yet.  But we have stumbled upon smaller, unfenced sites. Especially we liked the Kastro above Kavousi. It was a part of great walk, most of it on trails used way back in Minoan times. Other thing you can do near Heraklion is pay a visit to Cretaquarium. It is well made and even if entry is a bit pricy, we were happy to see all these fish which became so rare in the Greek seas.

Ruined lighthouse on Cape Aghios Ioanis

Malo nazaj se mi je zapisalo “Kreta sicer ni raj na zemlji”. Zakaj, sledi v naslednjih nekaj fotografijah. Sicer se zelooo trudimo najti spokojne lepe kotičke ali vsaj zaposlovalne aktivnosti. Kljub temu se nam že vsem trem od “zimovanja” malce slabša. Okolica ne pomaga. Recimo tale svetilnik na t.i. rtu svetega Janeza. Sploh ni star, najprej sva mislila, da je beneški. A ne, zgradilo ga je francosko podjetje v drugi polovici 19. stoletja. Krečani so ga pustili propasti, ker pa je točka navtično zelo pomembna, so vseeno postavili nadomestek – lučko na podstavku malce višje od svetilnika. V Jadranu takega zanemarjanja pač nismo vajeni…

We chose Crete for overwintering mainly because of it’s mild climate. It seems this winter turned against us so we are a little bit depressed. The countryside is not helpig much – we expected much more picturesque places. Bad and the ugly stuff we met all over Greece unfortunatelly continue here too.

Ronja jo je skoraj potacala. Rastla je osamljeno v redki borovi hostici na višini 600 metrov. Zgodnja. Sorodnice še zbirajo energijo, da bodo pokukale na plan. Sodi v veliko skupino Ophrys fusca.

We found it on a walking trip when Ronja almost trod on it. One of the Ophrys fusca group. It is early (altitude 600 m in pine forest) and we are waiting for others still to come. We have proper Kretan winter at the moment.