Savarna sailing blog

This blog records the travels of Savarna, a Hanse 531 yacht, following our taking delivery in June 2005 from the Hanse yard in Greifswald, on the Baltic. Having currently sailed as far as Turkey over the past four summers we are planning to head up to Istanbul, the Black Sea and then cruise the Cyclades Group during 2009, then complete the East Med Rally in April 2010 which will take us to Israel and Egypt followed by the ARC at the end of 2010 to get us to the Carribean then to New Zealand via the Panama and the Pacific.

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New Zealand cruising

Posted at 5:41 PM, Apr. 28, 2009

Current plans have us back on Savarna in Marmaris late May for a one month cruise. She is presently on the hard having just been antifouled, replaced the cutlass bearing, serviced the motor (and looks like injector replacements required which I had foreseen). Basically just a whole lot of maintenance that costs a lot more now than it used to given the current EUR exchange rate to the NZD. Funny how everything to do with boats in Turkey is quoted in euro’s and yet the exchange rate between the kiwi dollar and the lira hasn’t moved a whole lot.

We were delighted to accept an invitation to join Andrea and Gabriella on board their Hanse 531 Pointzero in the Bay of Islands for an Easter cruise before they head into the South Pacific for the southern hemisphere winter. They arrived in New Zealand last November having spent two years sailing to New Zealand from Italy. Weather was great, as was the company, and it was a nice touch to spend some time with them before we reunite with Savarna in a few weeks

Pointzero at anchor - Te Uenga Bay, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

In an earlier blog last year I reported that we had visited the Greek island of Spetsai which is reportedly where Leonard Cohen lives. I also commented that I was not a great fan. So when one googles “Leonard Cohen Spetsai” it comes up on the first page with a reference to this site. I have decided that this is a grave error on my part as he has recently been in New Zealand, had brilliant reviews and performed the concert available on the DVD - Leonard Cohen Live In London. So I have just moved my status from not a great fan to a big fan – an incredible concert and if I am still sailing at 74 as well as he is performing on his world tour I will be very happy indeed.

Bay of Islands, New Zealand, Easter 2009

Cheers

Keith

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