{"id":6110,"date":"2015-11-08T17:43:58","date_gmt":"2015-11-08T17:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sabbatical3.net\/blog\/?p=6110"},"modified":"2025-10-01T16:32:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T16:32:13","slug":"israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sabbatical3.net\/blog\/?p=6110","title":{"rendered":"Israel for Sukkot"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Bloomfield-Saunders family poses at the Ashkelon Marina. From left to right: Laura’s niece Kalya, Laura, Laura’s sister Diane, her husband Jonathan, Mark, Laura’s Mom Shirley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just before sunset on September 23 we left Limassol, Cyprus heading for Ashkelon, Israel.\u00a0 At 4 am on the morning of the 25th, about 10 miles offshore from the Israeli coast, we had a visit from the Israeli Navy.\u00a0 Having passed this initial inspection, plus an extensive radio interview, we continued into the Ashkelon Marina for a more thorough inspection.\u00a0 Soon after we were moved from the security dock to a regular marina berth (seemingly the last one in Israel), Laura’s mother Shirley, sister Diane, and Diane’s daughter Kalya greets us with hugs and kisses.\u00a0 Laura’s mother was visiting for a month from St. Paul, Minnesota.\u00a0 It was Friday, so they left mid-afternoon to return to Jerusalem for Shabbat while we stayed behind to put the boat in order and to move it into a better position in the berth.<\/p>\n

The holiday of Sukkot began Sunday night, so we rented a car and drove to Jerusalem for the start of the week long holiday.\u00a0 The next Thursday, we hosted a Sukkot party on Sabbatical III for about 20 guests.\u00a0 Diane and her husband Jonathan gave us the raw material necessary to turn the cockpit area of Sabbatical III into a sukkah — a temporary hut topped with branches that serves as a symbolic wilderness shelter.\u00a0 Laura’s family got to sleep on the boat and came back to Ashkelon to play and swim again the next week.\u00a0 We spent a lot of time in Jerusalem (one hour and a half by car), and also toured around in Tel Aviv, Beersheva, and Ashdod.<\/p>\n

\"Sukkah<\/a>
Sukkah on Sabbatical III<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sheri,<\/a>
Sheri, Hannah, and Kalya in the Sabbatical III sukkah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Danielle<\/a>
Danielle and Noy in our sukkah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Kalya<\/a>
Kalya holds Kedem, the daughter of Danielle and Noy, in our boat sukkah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"On<\/a>
On the beach next to the Ashkelon Marina<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Shirley<\/a>
Shirley and Mark lounge on the dock behind Sabbatical III<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"At<\/a>
At the Ashkelon Marina<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Selfie<\/a>
Selfie taken at the Sukkot Festival held on the Ashkelon waterfront<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"View<\/a>
View of the Ashkelon Marina<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kalya,<\/a>
Kalya, Diane, and Jonathan at the marina<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Sunset<\/a>
Sunset at the beach in Tel Aviv<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mark's<\/a>
Mark’s cousin Rachela in her kitchen in Ramat Gan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Diane,<\/a>
Diane, Jonathan, and Kalya in the sukkah behind their home in Jerusalem<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kalya<\/a>
Kalya makes pancakes with her friends Eliana and Odelya in Jerusalem<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"In<\/a>
In Diane and Jonathan’s sukkah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We saw a weather window and took it, departing on October 21 and going straight through to Turkey just ahead of a weather system that brought strong thunderstorms\u00a0 to the eastern Med including flooding in Israel and Egypt (Alexandria in particular).\u00a0 We saw nearly constant lightening in the distance the last night, and some nice wind to sail with, and pulled into the anchorage at Kekova in the rain after a 53 hour sail. A sailing\u00a0 trip to Israel was a longstanding dream of mine, and the reality of it turned out to be fantastic.<\/p>\n

M.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Just before sunset on September 23 we left Limassol, Cyprus heading for Ashkelon, Israel.\u00a0 At 4 am on the morning of the 25th, about 10 miles offshore from the Israeli coast, we had a visit from the Israeli Navy.\u00a0 Having passed this initial inspection, plus an extensive radio interview, we continued into the Ashkelon … <\/p>\n

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