From Greece to Turkey

Thank you is a puny word for what I would like to express. People of Greece - you are wonderful. As summer became winter and the sea and beaches became largely deserted, you were there practically everywhere I stopped with offers of friendship, food, shelter and history lessons. I arrived here in Alexandroupolis a few days ago and Nasos has been typically rock-like, helping out in dozens of ways. He even plumbed in some hot water at the Friends of the Sea Club, which has been my temporary home.

Next hop, tomorrow, (all going well) takes me over the border to Turkey. Before departure the coastguard will come to process exit from European (in sense of free movement) waters. Hopefully there will be sufficient wind and cross border communication to allow a simple sail to Enez - first port in Turkey.

Tomorrow will also be maiden voyage for Severne Turbo 2 (third sail). Thank you to Severne, Tushingham Sales, Thomas Stonero and Nasos for helping the sail reach here. And thank you to Babis for the stickers, particularly the WWF Pandas. My hope is that through this journey some funds can be raised for WWF. And just maybe perhaps it might foster a wider appreciation of the current trajectory of humanity, and any sort of contribution to something other than a head-in-the-sand response to it. The pandas give a bit more focus as to why I write these blog posts. People AND this planet are truly amazing - but we are backing ourselves into an increasingly precarious position by ignoring the reality of environmental decline and habitat destruction.

Hope you enjoy following the last 1000nm. Hope the message of how awesome people are is coming across. Thank you again people of Greece, you have bought tears to my eyes.