News About The Greer Family

November 12, 2002: Welcome to Monastir, Tunisia

Public Beach Next to the Marina

We arrived in Monastir, Tunisia from Malta on October 18. Since then we have discovered the market, got to know some of the other cruisers here for the winter, and started doing a little exploring of Monastir. Monastir is located on the East coast of Tunisia, just south of Sicily and directly west of Malta. Tunisia is a moderate Arabic country with no oil resources. While a French protectorate until 1956, Tunisia is now independent and with no oil resources relies on tourism as a major part of its economy. French is widely spoken and many people also speak English. The weather is mild, but we have experienced two storms in the last week and we've had our winter clothes on for both of them.

Public Market

Supermarkets only stock dry goods, so we make regular trips to the market to stock Dragonsinger. Fresh fruit and vegetables are plentiful and inexpensive, but you can only buy what is in season. This can make meal planning a bit of a challenge, but we have been adapting. It is surprising how much food two adults and three growing children eat. We know, because the market is about a kilometer away and we have to haul everything on foot back to the boat.

Monastir has a large purpose-built marina designed for long-term cruisers who want to winter in Tunisia. They are many cruising boats here and we are starting to get to know some of them. We had hoped that there would be more children, but so far there are only two other boats with traveling families. One is a French boat that plans to leave soon. The other is Ganymede, a Northwind 56 with three people aboard.

Maggie, Charlie, and Tony Watts

We first met Maggie, Charlie, and Tony when we were in Palma last April. We met up with them again in Stromboli, one of the Aeolian Islands north of Sicily, where Charlie, Jocelyn, and David climbed Stromboli for Jocelyn's thirteenth birthday (Charlie is the same age as Jocelyn). We met them again in Croatia this September and we now get to spend the winter together. Charlie likes having Kevin to play with, but he also enjoys spending time with Jocelyn as the two of them have had rare opportunities to be with other people their own age in the last year.

A Year of Travel

We have traveled continuously since December 1, 2001, with only two long breaks (one in Barcelona and one in Palma). We are ready to have a break and settle down in one place. In the last year, we have traveled more than 3,800 nautical miles (more than 7,100 kilometers). We have spent the equivalent of 28 days and nights at sea with seven passages of more than twenty-four hours. If you are curious about the details, you can view our travel log and see each and every passage that we've made.

Halloween

The Haunted Boat

On October, 31 we celebrated Halloween. In Canada and the US, this is a major celebration, especially for young people. Pumpkins are cut out and lit with candles and little goblins and ghosts dress up for the event and go out from house to house collecting candy. We decided that rather than dress the kids we would dress the boat and turn it into a haunted house. Allen had spent the week making spooky decorations after school and they were hung about Dragonsinger. Maggie Watt on Ganymede invited the children for a special Halloween dinner:

A HALLOWEEN DINNER

To start you off: A WITCH'S BREW
Followed by: VAMPIRE BLOOD
The main event: THE HAND OF FRANKENSTEIN
The sweet finale: GHOSTLY ISLANDS

Thankfully Maggie is an excellent cook and after the kids had their Halloween feast we brought each of them over to Dragonsinger, one by one. Glowing pumpkins welcomed them as they were blindfolded. Then each child had to walk through slime (gelatine), dead eyeballs (cooked pasta in water), and then take a dip in blood (warm water). We led them downstairs where strobe lights simulated lightening, string made for good spider webs and blind-folded and in the semi-darkness they had to feel their way to candy. It was an interesting way to celebrate Halloween.

A Second Home

View from our apartment

There are a number of personal projects that David and Karalee want to pursue while we are here in Monastir. We have discovered that it is almost impossible to get these projects done onboard Dragonsinger when school is in session. There is not enough space, there are two many interruptions, and we really need a place where we can spread things out and they will stay that way.

Inside our apartment

For the next few months we have rented an apartment right next to the marina. The water in the bath is tepid, the television's horizontal hold doesn't work too well, but it does have lots of space and is located in a quiet part of the marina. We will use the apartment as an adult-only place where we can get off the boat, spread out, get a lot done, and have a second home to escape to when needed. And we're sure that we will allow the children in from time to time, if only to watch cartoon shows in German.

David's Diary

We have spent so much time traveling for the last few months that David has had no time to keep his diary up-to-date. He hopes to catch up during our time here in Monastir. For now, you can read about Rome, Pompeii, the Aeolian Islands, the night that Jocelyn climbed a volcano and turned into a teenager, and our three-day passage around Italy to Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Itinerary

We will spend the winter in Monastir, Tunisia. We expect to do a little bit of traveling within Tunisia, including a trip to the desert, but most of our time will be focused on school and planning our travels for next year. Here is what our plans look like so far:

November - March:	Monastir, Tunisia
March - April:	Back to Malta, then head for Greece
May:	Travel through Greece towards Istanbul, Turkey
June - August:	Cruise Turkey
August	Find a safe place for Dragonsinger in Turkey and return to Canada