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Med trip:
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There's an
article on our September '06 Greece trip (one of the cover stories) in
last year's summer edition of American Sailing Association's Member News
Magazine!
Click
Here to see the on-line version at ASA's site with a few scenic shots.
| .Yiassou!
("Hello,"
informal, and probably misspelled.) Welcome to our Greece page.
Greece is so cool, and has so many possibilities, that we decided to add
a dedicated page after just one trip in September '06. That trip
filled two 49-foot boats so quickly after we announced it that we hoped
to offer Greece trips annually. 2007 didn't happen, but we picked
up where we left off with our September '08 trip. 2009 got away from
us; this summer it's time to go back to the Med!
Greece has a ridiculous amount
of shoreline and islands, and it combines the Mediterranean climate, the
Mediterranean diet, and many wonders of the ancient world. It's all
affordable and accessible, with many charter firms and locations to choose
from. Best of all, as a sailing vacation, its hard to beat.
That makes instruction easy, too, and our trips can lead to Basic Crusing,
Bareboat Charter, or Coastal Navigation certification.
As with our BVI trips, its
appropriate for a wide range of experience levels. Some people are
almost beginners; others have taken all the courses already and still want
to go.
Our inaugral trip was out
of Athens. We chose that for travel logistics, touring possibilities,
and the widest range of sailing options based on whatever the weather threw
us. It worked out brilliantly. Our 2008 trip was on the opposite
coast and had similarities and differences. Hard to say which area
was nicer - we'd gladly (and probably) return to both!
Below are trip logs from
each adventure with photos. More photos, and some short videos, will
follow. Check back in from time to time, or contact
us to be notified. |
1997 Optimist Pram Caribbean Championships, St. Thomas,
USVI. S. Card, photo.
Why is this on the Greece page? Because
this photo could just as well have been shot there.
We saw plenty of kids on Optis at Aegina and Athens.
And now for our trip logs!
All photos
& videos by
Director and "Dockmaster," Captain Stephen Glenn Card,
unless
otherwise noted.
September 2008:
Athens & the Ionian
Sea
Our 2008 Greece trip
was, overall, what were hoping for and more. Inconsistent winds were
occasionally disappointing, with the mid-day sea breezes sometimes coming
in the morning or not until late afternoon or early evening, but this also
added an intriguing logistical challenge in planning when to sail.
To compensate, we were treated to an escort of porpoises on several occasions.
Greek cuisine was seldom less than excellent, even better than the Dockmaster
remembered from the school’s 2006 trip. The Ionian proved to be a
very satisfying and versatile location which we will return to.
 |
Overview
| This is a large chunk of
the Ionian Coast of Greece, which continues north and south from the area
depicted. Sunsail's base is at Palairos, where the little red sail
icon is. The base is at their own marina and resort, Vounaki, which
boasts a very large fleet of small craft for rent (sailboards, Hobie cats,
Lasers, etc).
The gulf of Corinth leads
to Gulf of Patras, and then the Corith Canal separating the Greek mainland
from the southern peninsula, the Peloponissos. The large mass south
of the Gulf of Corinth on this map is part of the Peloponissos.
We strayed off this map,
heading north from Levkas to the island of Paxos, most of the way to Corfu.
We then came back and stayed in the northern half of the area shown here. |
|
|
"D-1:" ATHENS
Several of us flew Delta direct to Athens,
which is almost a 9 hour flight. We arrived slightly ahead of schedule.
Seats: much more comfortable than on Olympic two years ago. Coffee:
much worse. However, the airport food was fine - a very good cappuccino
and a ham & cheese pie went down very nicely.
Nora arrived on Olympic slightly later
and made her own way to the hotel. Andrew and Linda were already
in Greece, having split a week between Santorini and Crete. They
also made their own way into town.
The plan was to take two rental cars across
Greece from Athens to Paleros. Before you conclude that we were nuts,
remember that Greece is a very small country. The drive is around
4 1/2 hours, and very scenic. Driving ourselves avoided the risk
of flight delays, which are common travelling within Greece. There
are also not many options on flights, so the timing can be awkward.
Ultimately, two of the group decided to try the cross-country bus instead,
so we just took one rental car.
So, those of us on the same flight took
a regular taxi in to Athens and lucked out with a new Mercedes with good
A/C. Straightforward ride into town until the driver stopped at the
wrong hotel, but the right neighborhood. Quickly got back on track
and arrived at the Hotel Acropolis View where many of us stayed on the
last trip. Checked in and walked around Plaka a little and also got
the Metro one stop to Syntagma to explore some more and look for some sneakers
as I'd neglected to wear or pack some.
Dinner: Nora found a restaurant with live
music. Very atmospheric and singer was nice, although it seemed to
be the same song prolonged most of the evening. He did play something
for Nora and she caught a little flak for that. Food was great but
the main dish (Nora's and mine, anyway) was dry. The Shrimp that
Andy got were the largest shrimp/prawns I ever saw. (He got more
of those jumbos somewhere else along the route, too).
Hung out on the roof looking at the Parthenon,
took pictures, enjoyed a drink, and retired. |
 |
At the Base
| Above & left:
Sunset over the Sunsail fleet,
Vounaki Marina, Paleros (yes, there are two spellings). This is just
part of the fleet. The view is from our Sunsail 39 by Beneteau.
The dramatic contour in the
background is Levkas, and the lighter grey to the left in the top photo
is Meganisi. Levkas is labelled on the map and
Meganisi is a small island adjacent to the east.
We arrived in the late afternoon, and were
shown to our Sunsail 39 almost immediately. We identified a small
list of things that needed attention on the yacht, none of which would
have prevented us from heading off for the week, but all of which needed
to be dealt with eventually. We gave the list to Sunsail and went
off to do our provisioning. To their credit, by the time we were
back, everything was completed, including the installation of a replacement
GPS chartplotter as the one we found aboard had an issue with the screen.
Nothing was left for the next day.
All that was left for US that day was to
find a place for dinner. (TBC)
|
|
 |
DAY ONE: MEGANISI
| Left:
Typical view in the Meganisi
Channel between Meganisi and Ithaca. We're looking at Ithaca here.
With breezes typically flowing
lengthwise in the channel, one is either tacking back and forth or running
along care free. Either way, it's a great sail and tends to cluster
boats together a little more for a little sailing camaraderie.
After getting a comprehensive
chart and itinerary briefing at the base, we set off and while en route,
decided on a lunch stop somewhere along Meganisi in the Channel, and then
back to Spartakhori at the north end for the night.
|
|
 |
| On day one, we got right
down to the serious business of relaxing. We found a tiny little
cove with enough room for two or three boats, anchored up, and did lunch
and swimming.
This shot is a still grab
from a video clip.
Like to see it? Here
it goes...
on YouTube. Choose
"watch in High Quality" below video screen. Please rate it!
video:
fun at anchor
After lounging around and
relaxing, we yanked the anchor and made our way around the corner, almost
literally, to Spartakhori. This is a charming little anchorage with
a few floating piers belonging to Porto Spiglia which one can Med-moor
to with laid mooring lines, This then obligates you to have dinner there
(or perhaps pay a transient fee instead). We anchored and dinghied
in. Dining was right on the pebbly beach, and we loved it. This anchorage
reminded the Dockmaster of Jost Van Dyke in the BVI.
There are other spots to
med-moor at or anchor and take a line ashore. There's very little
room to anchor and free-swing; luckily, we seemed to be the only boat wishing
to do so. |
|
-Lakka, the breathtaking harbor at the north end of Paxos. Our
boat is pictured bottom-left.
-typical morning scene in a Greek harbor; fisherman tending to his
nets.
|
DAY TWO: PAXOS
| Monday began with little to no wind, so
we began motoring. The idea was to head up to the northern part of
Levkas, through the Levkas Canal, and stop for water & ice and then
cut through the swing bridge and make the long run to Paxos. We motored
up the canal, which is very narrow. The channel here is marked by
stakes. At the "top" we pulled up to the gas dock at the Levkas Marina,
a huge complex. Getting water is like paying admission at the Met:
pay what you like, but you must pay something. Ice is bought by the
bag. Our timing worked out so that we were able to catch the 1pm
hourly bridge opening to open water. We did a combination of motoring,
motor-sailing, and sheer sailing along the way, with decent winds and a
nice angle of heel for our upwind sail. We arrived at Paxos shortly
before sunset, anchored up in gin-clear water on sandy bottom, and went
out in the dinghy to check that the anchor was dug in properly. It
was buried, and we checked our nearest neighbor's too and found similar
scope and a buried anchor.
So, I took a quick swim before shuttling
people ashore to explore.
Paxos is a spectacular place, almost a
"must see." In fact, the only reason not to would be if winds were
tough on the way up, making for a long slog to windward. If it blows
on the way back, it's a sleigh ride. However, negotiating the inlet
upon one's return can be tricky, which I'll elaborate on later.
The waterfront is charming, wrapping around
most of the shoreline in roughly a U-shape. There are plenty of tavernas,
mini-markets, cute houses, bakeries, even watersports rentals and a glass-bottom
ferry ride to neighboring Andipaxoi (Andipaxos). Combined with the
walking and hiking tour possibilities, it has something for everyone and
every mood. We had dinner at a truly delightful taverna that claims
to have been in business since 1945, and is clearly family owned.
Couldn't commit the name to memory, and no one wrote it down, but it's
off one of the side streets with open-air seating, and the name begins
with an "N" and repeats (like Nisoi-Nisoi, or some such thing). If
you were looking for it, you'd know when you saw it. (If anyone is
go there without us, I'd be glad to explain how to find it.)
In the Ionian, the tavernas tend to have
you come inside so they can show you all the dishes on the menus.
You are often brough right into the kitchen, with the host proudly explaining
everything, and the chef nodding and grinning. It's great.
No surprises on which fish you are getting. You see it. |
|
-a lone dolphin or porpoise, Ionian Sea. When alone, they seem
to stand off,
but will follow for some time. Pods come right up to the boat.
-this has nothing to do with
Paxos or Levkas other than being in Greece.
I took this shot with a
Motorola Razr cell phone - only VGA resolution, or less than 1 megapixel.
Syntagma Square, Athens,
2006. |
DAY THREE: north
LEVKAS
| We began the day by walking
around the harbor at Paxos and up the hills above, getting a fantastic
panoramic view. Most of us had breakfast ashore.
We started our return trip
under power, with the wind trying to catch up, but decided to wait for
it to overtake and really develop. We later had the best sailing
of the trip as the breeze gradually picked up from mid-day in the typical
summer pattern and built to around 20 knots with 4-6 foot swells in the
relatively open area just north of Levkas. (The same wind would not
have produced waves that large in most areas to the south.) That
was toward the end of the day, and for a few hours prior to that it was
just a nice, steady breeze with gentle waves.
We encountered a pod of dolphins
or porpoises which looked initially like fish breaking (or might have been,
getting chased by the mammals). Once we ID'd them, they ID'd us and
came over to play. No one managed to get pictures or video, but we
got to see them playing in our bow wave and exhaling at the surface.
It was amazing.
Things got alittle
hairy once we made landfall at Levkas. It was early evening, the
swells were significant, and we had to try to pick out the inlet along
the shoreline, which was partially backlit. If we made a mistake,
we were in for a lee-shore grounding, probably on sand, but with breakers
pushing us up on the sand. Or, the rocks, if we misjudged the other
way. We took our time, compared the charplotter with the printed
chart, busted out the image-stabilized binoculars (not supplied by Sunsai;
I brought 'em), and identified the inlet. We were in, and had only
10 minutes to kill waiting for the 7pm bridge opening.
We were waived ahead by a
small fishing boat already waiting, and passed through first. After
preparing to Med-moor at a relatively quiet looking section of the town
quay, the vote was to anchor up for more privacy and no passing cars.
We did so, but due to the spacing of other vessels, we decided we did not
like the lay of it, and headed in to Levkas Marina for a slip, figuring
that long, hot showers and no anchoring issues would be worth the price
of admission. Someone from the marina came out in a skiff and guided
another vessel and us to our berths for the night, having us go stern-to
and pick up laid mooring line. That defeated the purpose for
us, so we asked to go further out and dock side-to, foregoing shore power
and water. This was perfect, aiming us into what was left of the
diminishing breeze.
We spent a few Euros each
for shower cards with 40' of time on each to be used as we saw fit.
After showering and changing, we walked into Lefkada, also called Levkas
Town. It's pretty large, but we quickly found a pedestrian area with
lots of different shops and stores, and realized that it was all locals
except for the stray yachties such as ourselves blending in. We found
an excellent taverna, arguably providing the best meal of the trip.
It was the Lighthouse Garden, with ivy and other foliage scaling the outdoor
walls and overhead wood trellis. Delightful atmosphere, and hands-down
the best mousaka any of us had ever tasted in addition to fine appetizers
such as tsazeki, calamari, eggplant salad (forget the name), Greek salad
and stuffed vine (grape) leaves. The calamari are whole baby ones
and some cuts from larger specimens. They are usually fresh, fried
lightly, and amazing.
We left the dinner table
in stages and and walked around town. It was a weeknight but quite
alive, with bars and ice cream joints along the waterfront. Had to
have some of the latter before winding our way back to the boat and calling
it a night.
|
|
 |
DAY FOUR: SOUTH LEVKAS
| After getting fresh pastries
for breakfast and topping off the water and ice supplies, we made our way
back down the canal and began sailing as soon as we were out. The
wind was light but we toughed it out until our speed was consistenlty under
three knots, at which point we decided to motor for the time being and
sail later. That was a good decision: here is some video of what
the sailing looked like once in the Meganisi Channel again...
nb: high quality, large res, & large file.
Sailing
video
|
|
 |
DAY FIVE: ITHACA
| Here's a shot from Vathi,
the main port of the island of Ithaca.
A number of private and charter
vessels are seen Med-moored to the town wharf.
Vathi is a scenic anchorage
with towering hills and mountains almost completely surrounding the harbor,
and a large mountain just off the entrance completing the seeming enclosure. |
|
 |
| Another view, this time
from behind the tables of a waterfront taverna. Private vessel at
anchor. |
|
|
Dusk at Vathi, Ithaca, looking out past the western
headland.
 |
DAY SIX: MEGANISI
& BACK TO BASE
| The first and last island
we visited. This is a cliff face at the... - wait, we don't give
up this information that easily! You have to come along on one of
the trips!
The boat here is a Sunsail
39 by Beneteau, a sistership to the one we were on.
The Ionian has a lot of this
tall stuff going on. |
|
 |
MAINLAND
| While our official 1st Mate
(seriously, she's qualified and on the paperwork) looks on, we approach
Paleros on the mainland as the afternoon sea breeze approaches us.
It came as a dark line, black and then blue, with whitecaps as it marched
rapidly across the glassy waters. |
|
 |
| Moonrise as seen from Sunsail's
base, Vounaki, just on the outskirts of Paleros. |
|
September
2006:
Athens, Argo-Saronic
Gulf, Aegean Sea & Cyclades
All photos by Steve Card unless otherwise noted.
 |
"D minus 2"
| Many of us arrived in Athens a day or
two early to see the sights, and just in case we had a little jet lag to
get over. Heather and Steve flew over on Wednesday evening, arriving
Thursday morning Athens time.
Here's Heather, fresh off our overnight
flight, on the patio at Jimmy's Aunt's place in Athens - the beginning
of our private tour. Jimmy, a/k/a Crazy John, a/k/a Dimitris, graciously
insisted on taking us along for the ride when he got picked up at the airport
from the same flight. We got to see a very exclusive section of Athens.
You can, too: just look left! A wide angle lens exaggerated the perspective,
but it's still a huge space. This is one or two stories up.
Jimmy is from Athens, and goes back regularly.
He found out about our trip, signed up, took a few of our courses first,
and earned Bareboat Charter certification on this trip. He took Coastal
Nav with us locally last fall. |
|
 |
| You've all seen this: the Parthenon, atop
the Acropolis. No, I didn't scan a postcard. I took this shot
from the balcony of our room at the Acropolis View Hotel. It's a
cute little place, reasonably quiet considering the bustle of Athens, with
a nice continental breakfast spread downstairs in the morning.
Half the group wound up booking rooms here,
if for no other reason than Heather and I did first.
Note the crane hiding in the background:
there is regular preservation and restoration being done on this ancient
marvel. |
|
| This is the first taverna we encountered
upon wandering around after checking in. We were on a mission to
get to Plaka, a very old neighorhood that is a bit of a tourist trap but
more than makes up for it with a variety of benefits. The architecture
and layout is amazing, with many cobblestone streets and alleys.
There are great restaurants, enough shops to keep prices competitive, and
seemingly around every other corner is an area with ancient ruins and artifacts,
cordoned off and left as they lay. In fact, if you buy a property
in Greece and it is later found to have ruins, you cannot change anything,
despite the fact that the government won't compensate you for it.
The folks at this taverna tried to entice
us in, and it looked nice enough, but we didn't think we should stop at
the first one we saw out of general principle. Besides, they were
smoking up a storm. Greece isn't exactly a smoke free environment. |
|
 |
| A few hours later, this is where we ended
up. We had a very enjoyable first meal. (En route, the food
on the plane was excellent for air fare. We flew Olympic)
Note the lack of a real street on the right.
There are lots of pedestrian walkways and promenades either closed to vehicles,
or upon which vehicles enter occasionally as a short cut. To the
left, under the awning, you can see some ancient ruins. These lie
behind wrought iron fences typically, but otherwise are on full display
and often (if not usually) with a sign of explanation. |
|
 |
| Dimitris and Heather, discussing tour
options. Wide angle lens has distorted their features a bit; if you
didn't know them, you wouldn't notice. View is from the edge
of the Acropolis/Parthenon, looking down and out over much of Athens.
The view is roughly east by southeast. See the hill in the bacgkround,
with a small building capping it? Let's go there... |
 |
Shreedevi Thacker, photo
| This is later in the day, from that hill.
The building is a monastery, on top of one of the highest points in Athens.
One looks down
on the Acropolis! An underground trolley runs
up and down at quite a severe angle. There's an attractive restaurant
and bar, which we didn't try. The Saronic Gulf peeks through the
haze, to rhe right of Steve's head. Shreedevi Thacker, photo. |
|
Above:
Looks like a menu in a New Yor-Grecian
diner, right? It's because Steve's Canon Rebel XT was still in fluorescent
white balance mode after shooting some pics in the on-site museum, which
is definitely worth the visit. (Since sold, the Canon's been replaced
with a Nikon D40.) One problem with the Canon, which is still a great
camera, is that the screen is too small, faint and color-unfaithful to
evaluate pictures in daylight. Even the D40, which has one of the
best screens available today, can be difficult in full sunlight.
Right: a temple, on the same site,
with goddess columns. Forgot the name; Dimitris, let me know...
This is just a section of it. There are 6 full goddess columns. |
|
|
Good night, from the rooftop patio of the Acropolis View:
Guy, Susan and Peter.
| Day 1: getting started
Meet up at base, get acquainted with the
boat and each other, and take care of provisioning. We find our two
yachts, Azul and Escapar, to be in fine shape and very well appointed.
There was a choice to be made when we saw that Escapar had teak decks and
a bow thruster. Teak feels nice on the foot, but can get pretty hot
in the sun. Bow thrusters are considered a luxury on charter boats,
so becoming reliant on one sets you up for failure on the next trip when
you don't have one. It was a toss up, and as The Dockmaster was going
to do most of the photos and video, he opted for teak decks for better
lighting.
Above: part of The Moorings' fleet. Note the boarding planks:
this is typical for Mediterranean mooring, or Med Moor, for short.
One anchors out away from a wharf or breakwater, then backs down to it
and drops the boarding plank.
Right: Some of the Azul gang going through the equipment checklist. |
 |
We get a proper chart briefing from Thrassos,
one of The Moorings' charter captains.
Stole (short for Apostole), the technical
guy, did a comprehensive briefing on each vessel.
Early birds had a nice lunch at a shoreside
restaurant outside the marina. Dimitris recommended that we go with
the waiter's recommendation on what to eat. That was steak, and it
didn't disappoint. We also had a sampler of appetizers. A typical
leisurely, relaxing Greek dining experience.
Also, at the marina's restaurant/bar, we
had our introduction to that Greek specialty beverage, the Frappe - which
is a Nescafe-based coffee drink similar to cappucino. Don't scoff
until you try it- Greeks know coffee, and brew some strong and excellent
cappucinos in the Italian style, complete with a little biscotti or chocolate
wafer, as well as 'Greek' (Turkish) coffee. The Frappe comes with
a thick, creamy top that just won't stir completely into the coffee, no
matter how hard you try.
"Always the bold head. Always."
Later, the men went off to the supermarket
for provisioning while the women did - whatever the women did, we still
don't know.
The base manager, Kostas, called the supermarket
and they picked us up. When we were done, they drove us back in two
cars. Provisioning was an experience. Not intuitively laid
out by NY standards, and with much of the packaging in Greek, it took longer
than expected and was not cheap. However, it went down well during
the course of the trip and due to the excellent refrigeration systems (best
we've ever seen), very little food went bad during the trip. In fact,
everything that went bad was either poorly picked (a few of Steve's tomotoes,
for example) or accidentally frozen by the better than expected fridge
(which was adjusted subsequently).
Dimitris, one of our students, is from
Greece and of course helped out on the package reading front, as well as
going above and beyond both before the trip as Athens tour guide and during
the trip in picking restaurants.
Many people dined out that night, and the
hit was pig on the spit. (For some, anyway.) We ate aboard on Escapar
to shake down the 'cooker'- a multi burner range with oven, propane fueled,
and just like home except smaller. It's also gimballed and has pot
holder arms for cooking while underway.
We all stayed on the boat that night, the
usual way to begin a charter, and tried to sleep through the anticipation
of a fantastic trip. |
|
|
Day 2: Aegina
Some of us make breakfast on the boat and
others go out for a frappe. We tidy up some loose ends and get off
to a somewhat late start, but hey - we're on vacation!
-Set sail for Aegina. Light wind,
but sailed almost the whole way upwind. Wind improved as we got alongside
the west coast of the island.
Motoring shortly before arrival at Aegina.
This
is Azul, consisting of:
Jacqui, Shreedevi, Susan, Anne, Peter,
Dimitris, and Guy.
(Photo taken from Escapar.)
-Azul puts in first, scouts out spots,
and finds a little room in the 'New' (outer) marina. Berthing is
first come, first served in Greece...
-Tour Aegina town, get some dinner recommendations,
view blessing of mayoral candidate, have cappucino and snack alongside
the priest who later did the ceremony and his secular friends, waterside
dining.
-We spent a quiet night on board.
Wide angle distortion of Anne, on our way into town, Aegina.
Town is always a very short walk from the boat.
|
 |
| Day 3: Idhra
Breakfast aboard for some and a run (walk,
really) into town for others for coffee, pastries, fresh bread, a few last
snapshots.
Then, off to Idhra (Hydra). This
is a relatively long run and due to light winds, which of course are on
the nose, we motor initially to make some time and then reward ourselves
with sailing.
Dockmaster gets his first, and probably
only legitimate, run-off by a fish while trolling. Lost it. (More
on that legitimate stuff later.)
Azul acts as scout and enters Idhra first,
takes the last spot on the quay with a Med moor, and radios Escapar to
join up stern to bow.
Delightful time at Idhra. Azul makes
a wonderful lunch spread worthy of video. Escapar splits up
in many directions: Azul's lunch spread, swimming and snorkeling off the
rocks around the corner (fabulous spot, with swim ladders and little sunning
platforms, and a resident barracuda), walking around the town. There's
only walking, unless you want a donkey ride, which several people did.
No cars or mopeds on Idhra!
Left: Rainbow over the Aegean
Sea. View is from part way up the mountain that is Idhra. |
|
The gang from Azul, as photographed from Escapar. By the
Unknown Photographer, with Shreedevi's camera.
That's "JFK" as the women dubbed him, walking away to the right.
"Aristotle Onassis" is out of view ot the left on another boat.
 |
A number of us in different groups take
a long hike up to the top of Idhra where there is a famous monastery and
incredible views. Peter and Susan got there in a timely fashion and
were greeted by the Monks and shown all kinds of hospitality. Heather
and Steve got there too late, and it was dusk. Got some spectacular
sunset views that made up for it, and a hell of a time coming down the
mountain in the dark. We were accompanied by a "teenage" kitten much
of the way up, and again coming down. It kept crying for attention,
and let us pick it up for brief stretches but wouldn't let us carry it
for long.
Eventually, it took off when we approached
the town again.
View from the monastery on top of Idhra, looking down over the
Kolpo Idhra (Gulf of Idhra) and the mainland Peloponnisos. |
|
Dinner time. Everyone did their
own thing, and most people were delighted with their meals. Heather
and Steve scoped out a place that was friendly and atmospheric, a little
removed from the waterfront, and it would have been great except for Steve's
fish dish. He's not known to be much of a fish eater, despite trying
to catch them (and sometimes succeeding). This was an experiment
gone awry: he mistook the local Dorade for Dorado, which is more commonly
known to Americans as Mahi Mahi. It was a whole, unskinned, nasty
little fish. Nicely prepared, but not something Steve could deal
with. Coffee had to be a contender for the worst in Greece, too.
Everything else that came to the table was adequate to excellent, so overall,
we were happy. The staff felt bad for Steve that he didn't like his
fish, and dessert was complimentary (and awesome).
Several of the others had a great time
speaking and drinking with Greeks and other Europeans at a bar on a bluff
looking out over the Kolpa Idhra (Gulf of Idhra). It's truly a spectacular
little island. Swimming, snorkeling, lounging on natural rocks by
the waterside, dining, hiking, and just relaxing without the sounds of
cars or mopeds. |
Day 4: we Diverge...
Azul - Cyclades;
Escapar - Spetses.
Then, something unexpected happened.
The gang on Azul was hell bent on getting out to the Cyclades. However,
back on Escapar, the consensus was to sail and due to light winds, that
would eliminate the long trip to and from the Cyclades. The Azuls
were prepared to motor the whole way there and back if need be. Also,
there was a contingent that really liked the idea of maintaining the flotilla,
small as it was.
The Dockmaster had a slightly difficult
decision to make, but after due consultation with Captain Schorrr and crew
on Azul, and Dockmaster's Escapars, he decided that to make most people
as happy as possible, splitting up was in order. It worked out very
nicely. (BTW: this is what often happens in large flotillas.
They scatter more and more as the week progresses.)
Azul cranked up the diesel for the long
day trip out to the Cyclades, where they made landfall at Kea, the closest
of the islands.
Escapar set sail for the island of Spetses,
along the mainland Peloponnisos.
Azul reported having a blast motoring out
to Kea, with cockpit cameraderie in 4th gear and plenty of epicurian delights
to fuel it. They even sailed a bit toward the end.
The Escapars sailed almost immediately
after clearing the jetty at Idhra. We had one of the best sails of
the entire trip, upwind with 14 to 16 knots apparent wind typical.
The Sun Odyssey 49 was brilliant in these conditions; wish we could have
seen it in 25 just to compare it to the smaller Sun Odysseys we've had
out in more wind.
Escapars arrived at Spetses to find the
crowded wharf that it's known for. A smaller Bavaria with a British
charterer in charge got in just ahead of us, and allowed us to squeeze
in between them and the next yacht. The Bavaria was pleasant company.
Soon afterward, however, we met Cranky Captain. Cranky Captain operates
a local fixer-upper commercial vessel, and was coming back into port, only
to find his spot taken by charter yachts, one of them being the Bavaria's.
He hollored for everyone to get out of the spots, explaining that it was
his, and didn't we read the signs, etc. They were in Greek, but there
was this striped paint job that should have tipped us all off...
Anyway, after one or two boats started
clearing out, he decided he couldn't wait any longer, and backed down between
the wharf and the next boat. Of course, he didn't fit, but a few
blasts of his twin diesels took care of that. He literally jammed
himself in, pushing the entire charter fleet out of the way. Steve
told the Bavarias to inspect carefully for damage, and if there was any,
he'd supply a letter documenting Cranky Captain's impatience and lack of
seamanship as the cause. Amazingly, there was no damage, but all
the boats were squeezed pretty tightly together now.
Mark handled the Med mooring brilliantly,
and it was becoming clear that he and Jen would be ready for their own
trip next week, which they booked to be immediately after their vacation/training
cruise with us. They got right off the boat and onto mopeds for a
tour of the Island, including the Bouboulina museum. She was a well-heralded
sea captain who actually commanded a warship in the struggle for independence
from Turkey. Rumour has it she was so ugly, the only way she could
keep a lover in bed (and she had many) was at gun point. Or was it
rum point?
Spetses is ideal for a moped tour.
No cars, or very few - can't remember now. The promenade along the
harbor is very well laid out for this.
John, Lydia, Heather and Steve went swimming
and snorkeling in a nice swim hole a short walk from the wharf, and Steve
took pictures. Heather and Steve ate aboard and everyone else went
off in search of dinner spots after stopping back at the boat. Later,
the swim bunch went out for an evening stroll ending in coffees and desserts.
|
Day 5
Azul: remains in Kea
Escapar: heads on to
Poros
Azul actually did a day sail in the afternoon/evening
after relaxing and doing some dinghy practice and other instructional diversions.
Don't know if they had dinner ashore or on board; help me out, guys!
I know they were happy.
Escapar headed out after topping off provisions
and having breakfast. We tracked back past Idhra, up the Peloponnisos,
and turned in to Poros, an amazing island that is almost a peninsula appending
the Peloponnisos. We dodged an afternoon thunderstorm and motored
in.
Poros has residences lining the shore,
with a wharfs fringing the length of the developed area. "Developed"
isn't the right word, really - not in the sense we use here. Inhabited
is probably better. The channel runs right alongside the wharf, so
its' like driving through the neighborhood. Video clip of this is
coming!
Jen takes us in for a Med moor. We
opt for an area off to the side, a little more removed from the bulk of
the fleet. Our reward is to be near Thrassos, our chart briefing
buddy, who is captaining a charter on a fancy Sun Odyssey deck saloon job.
Dockmaster got a restaurant recommendation, which proved to be Heather
and Steve's favorite meal of the trip. (Thrassos was there, too,
confirming it.)
Dockmaster began searching for the water
man. That's the local fellow in charge of the precious water supply,
often in short supply late in the summer or early fall. There was
also a harbormaster, who was cranky when asked the whereabouts of the water
man. No matter. Steve got a description from other boaters,
and his last known position. Etc.
Jen, Mark, Heather and Steve shared a taxi
to a hilltop with ancient ruins, and a great panoramic view. Taxi
man waited (part of the package deal), and then took us to the local monastery.
This was amazing: there was a service in progress with only one or two
locals, and our group. Everyone else was from the monastery, plus an organist
and a cantor. Only the organist was in civilian attire. This
was a special treat; it was moving to see and hear their devotion to the
service. Plus, the musicality stood on its own merits.
Poros is fun to explore, with a multitude
of shops, cafes, and restaurants. It boasts a very scenic harbor
too. In fact, John and Steve took a night time dinghy run to explore
the mainland side of the channel, where it became obvious how different
things were from the "tourist coast" of Poros' south side to the Peloponnisos
north shore. It was very similar, but in the details, very different.
No tourists (except us, wandering along in trepidation, until we found
a place to grab some sodas and be on our way). Not that we were scared
of being robbed or beaten. We just felt a little out of our element.
The Dockmaster, for one, has rarely felt so safe as a traveller as when
in Greece.
|
This shot has nothing to do with Greece, but I like it, so there.
Day 6
Azul: Ak Sounion
Escapar: Epidavros
Azul had to start on its way back to the
mainland, and chose "Cape" Sounion, the end of the Attic Peninsula.
This is a nice day trip by taxi from Athens, too. One of Poseidon's
many temples is here, with spectacular columns. It's an anchorage
with few or no moorings, and no good if it's blowing from the south.
One has to be careful when committing to this anchorage as there isn't
much in the way of Plan B's.
Azul reported loving this spot.
Escapar, meanwhile, tried a mainland spot
on the Peloponnisos called Epidavros. This tiny little port is a
hole in a wall of mountains. This was the view as we approached in
a light shower:
"Shadows of Epidavros." Steve Card,
photo. |
Epidavros has a lot going for it. It doesn't
appear to be as heavily trafficked as the islands, is very "local" (restaurants
catering to them versus "us"), and is a very doable taxi ride away from
an amazing ancient ampitheater and ruins site.
The Port Police delighted the Dockmaster
by asking us to bring the ship's papers in to the station. No, really:
he was hoping someone would ask to see the papers and his license!
Wanted to experience the process. Got that out of the way, proudly
carrying the papers and his USCG Master's license in a plastic bag due
to light rain. Went up, and met with the guy, whose English was some
of the weakest we'd heard that week. Not a complaint: his English
was far better than our Greek, and also, we could converse. Most
Greeks in Athens and anywhere there is tourism speak English, so it's easy
to communicate.
Anyway, when the Dockmaster offered up
his license, the guy said, "I don't need to see this, Captain," and set
it aside without looking at it. Dockmaster was disappointed.
But, after paying a few Euros in port fees, we were on our way. The
rain stopped, so we could go and explore a bit. |
Day 7
Azul: heads back to Athens
Escapar: Ampitheater/ruins
tour, then back to Athens
Dawn, Epidavros. A fishing boat on its way out approaches
the lights marking the channel.
Steve Card, photo. |
Here's the ampitheater, with Heather and
Jen in the foreground. Notice the curvature of the seating as you
look at the top: this curves around to largely encircle the stage.
The name of the place eludes us right now, but it's a must-see.
If you stand right in the center of the
stage area, at ground level (marked with a circular stone), and speak,
the sound resonsates equally through the ampitheater and back toward you.
This was quite a culture that bothered to figure this out.
It was easy to arrange for a taxi, which
can take up to four people. The drivers wait for you as part of the
package, and if you're running a little late, picking him up a coffee at
the snack bar is much appreciated. Hell, get one for yourself while
you're at it! We did this whole tour in the morning, after a delightful
waterside breakfast ashore, and still had plenty of time to make the run
back ot Athens. |
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| The ruings adjacent to the ampitheater
are amazing. There is a stadium largely preserved and intact, as
well as lots of small stuff that needs more explaining and gets it in the
form of legends and maps of the area in viewing displays. A few examples
are forthcoming. |
|
| Escapar got a tour, and Azul got an escort.
Close to the marina in Athens, a group of porpoises joined Azul and played
off the bow of the vessel. No one wanted to miss it by going down
below for a camcorder, but Captain Schorr had his Canon point-&-shoot
available and snapped a great shot. That's Susan standing and Anne
draped over the lifeline. |
Captain H. Peter Schorr, photo |
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More pictures, and some video, coming soon!
Check back in from time to time, or contact
us to be notified.
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