Month: June 2017

Here in the Cyclades, the dominant weather pattern in the summer is sunny skies and a heavy north wind that can be fun for kiting, but not so fun for keeping a sailboat happily secured. I asked a local how long the meltemi season typically ran, and he said “July 1 to August 11”. Sir, why so vague?

So, with my trusty forecasting mobile app predicting a real honker next week, we’ve decided it’s time to wander towards the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, where the kiting should also be good, if a little unpredictable.

From Plato’s Gialos, we sailed in light west wind up the left side of Sifnos to Chirronisos Cove.

Best snorkelling yet in Greece, lots of little colourful fish, a school of baby barracuda-types, but nothing big enough to take a shot at with my speargun, which spares me the test of my aim.

Another short sail on Wednesday across the 7 mile strait to Serifos, into the big protected bay, overlooked by the old whitewashed hilltop town.

I’m told it’s a great walk up to the top. We took the bus. Drinks in the town square after strolling the labyrinth.

Then yesterday, a mix of sailing and motoring to cover another 18 miles to Stephanos Bay on Kythnos. Cracked open the bottle of PC peanut sauce (thanks Deb!) for our old camping favorite of pork and couscous. And I scratched back a couple of games in the ongoing backgammon tournie (Kath still winning 71 games to 65), AND first night swim! Just me this time, but Kathy’s at least considering it!

After a terrific couple of weeks with Marc and Deb, and with no wind in the forecast, it’s a good window to catch the ferry southeast to Santorini. The dock in Sifnos was a perfect spot to leave Coral under the watchful eye of Spiros, the port manager, and our friendly neighbouring sailboats at the dock.

First stop after the sheer chaos of the Santorini ferry port (complete with hustled car rental and the outrageous cliff drive up from the port) was the scorching black sand and warm sea of Parissa Beach.

Yup, that’s Kath out there swimming cooling her nearly burnt feet.

Then on to our hotel in the cliffside village of Oia for strolling, gazing, shopping and sunset staring over drinks and a little maki roll.

Did I mention it’s HOT? Sweet cooling AC made our first terrestrial sleep in several months very decadent!

We apologize for the delay in posting. The arrival of Marc Labonte and his partner Debbie has demanded that we spend more time socializing in real life than virtually.  Not helping is the fact that half of my laptop keyboard has stopped working, meaning I either blog from a phone or use a tedious on-screen keyboard, neither of which is a preferred option. I know, your hearts are breaking for me, eh? Anyhoo, grab a snack, this is a long one.

Leaving Antiparos, we headed north and across the straight to the also adorable town of Parikia (or Paroikia). We anchored in the large bay and scouted the sites.  

Mike was here last March and he took me to his favourite little restaurant under a giant tree–I liked it too, and I suspect this photo provides a clue as to why.

 

Then we visited the Church of a Hundred Doors, the oldest church in Greece in continuous use and a building so remarkable that the mentor of the architect who designed it was so jealous that he pushed his pupil off the roof. Said pupil grabbed his master’s foot and they both plummeted to their deaths. Okay, my keyboard issue does seem less dire now.

The next day we decided to head to the dock so we could fill the water tanks and indulge in shore power as we awaited the arrival of Marc and Deb. We started to raise the anchor, but halfway through everything came to a halt. Damn windlass!!!  How could we Med moor at the dock without a functioning anchor?!?

Well, I may have previously mentioned the horseshoe lodged up Mike’s butt–it’s still there!  Parikia harbour has mooring lines for the berths on the interior of the quay. No anchors allowed, the first time we’ve encountered this in Greece. Whew. Mike raised the rest of the anchor by hand, removed the windlass motor, dingied to shore, dropped it off with a mechanic, made nice with the port authority, Yannis, and upon his return to the boat we puttered to the dock, picked up our mooring line and  commenced provisioning. Ah, sweet water and the promise of a few consecutive days of showering.

Marc and Deb arrived Sunday, June 11th with a bucket of kiting gear and a small dose of jetlag.  Oh, and goodies from home! Bottles of fish and peanut sauce, plus our very own sheets, freshly laundered by Thelma–thanks Mother Hasson! We kept the welcome festivities simple with a walk through town, snacks under the giant tree, and gyros for dinner.

 

The next two days were a blur of happy kiters, booze, and tasty food.  I am happy to report that TripAdvisor’s #1 pick for Paroikia, The Little Green Rocket, lived up to the hype: a funny waiter, amazing food and a damn tasty margarita.

Note, Debbie and Marc take better photos than us with a much nicer camera, so we will do a supplementary post with some more pictures and video of their visit soon.  For now I will proceed with my crappy phone photos.

On Wednesday the wind went away, so we refilled the water tanks and headed around the north end of Paros to Naoussa, stopping for lunch and a snorkel along the way.

Continuing on to Naoussa, we anchored in Ionnis Bay in front of the standard adorable church and local boatyard.  Our new friends Ota and Petra, who we met while staying at the hotel in Aegina waiting for the boats to be readied at Planaco, were already anchored in the bay, so they joined us for a drink and brought me birthday bubbles! I like these two!

Ota and Petra couldn’t join us for dinner because they are traveling with a beautiful young dog, Bauki (birthday bonus: some doggie love!)

The four of us piled into the dinghy for the long trek to town–thanks David and CM for having a dinghy motor with so much power! We wandered around the chic (also adorable) town of Naoussa, had drinks by the water and dinner at a less sucessful TripAdvisor pick. I wanted birthday pizza, but it did not measure up to the pizza from Lollo’s in Antiparos.

The next day we went back to  town for a delicious lunch with Ota and Petra (best calamari so far).  Then Mike and I went in search of a good hardware store.  We stumbled onto an amazing one about 5 minutes before they closed for siesta and made two exciting purchases: a fancy heat gun kit to aid me in my varnishing chores (complete with multiple scrapers and shrouds to protect nearby stuff) and two 10 litre jerrycans for topping up our water tanks. On a sadder note, until that day I was convinced that the Greek cats were either immortal or invincible.  Suffice to say, I have now seen evidence that they are neither. Back at the boat the kids used the dinghy to wakeboard with their kiteboards, video evidence is forthcoming.

The next morning we left Paros for the next island to the east, Naxos.  Mike and Marc sail together like a well-oiled machine, so I spent the passage crushing some serious candy. Approaching Naxos Town you are greeted by the Portara gateway from the unfinished Temple of Apollo.

We stuck our nose into the harbour and decided to anchor there for lunch. Marc used some leftover gyro pork to make his mom’s rapeure, and oh my, it was fantastic potato-y porky goodness!

Bellies full, we hauled the anchor up and dropped it again a couple kms south in Ormos Ayios Prokopiou. There was only one other boat anchored, but the beach area is quite developed: we even saw our first lifeguard. Actually we met him when he shooed us in the dinghy off his beach–no motors allowed!  He directed us down to the little dock waaaaay down in the south end of the bay in Ay Annas (again, very thankful for the 25hp dinghy motor!), which was better for us anyway as that’s where the provisions were. After filling up the dinghy gas can we hit the beach bars for lunch and people-watching (our first topless sunbathers).  Back at the boat, Marc made tasty pad thai for dinner using the fish sauce they kindly brought us from home. Too hungry to stop and take a photo!

The next morning the kids went for a hike up Mount Zeus while I enjoyed a day of lazy swimming and solitude–not a single other boat in the huge bay. Bliss.

The next morning we toodled a bit further south to Mikri Vigla, another large, quiet bay. Mike and Marc tried to kite with varying degrees of success both before and after lunch at the local taverna.  David, the boys broke out the Fortress to be our stern anchor and now it is living happily on the deck.

When we tried to leave the next morning, our old friend the windlass got cranky again.  This time it was a corroded wire on one of the operating buttons. Happily, there was a new spare button on the boat. Nice inventory, David.  Next stop, a return to Antiparos!

We had a nice sail between islands, along the south side of Paros, and north up the channel between Paros and Antiparos, approaching Antiparos harbour through a sea of kiteboarders.   My photos are not worth sharing, but I’m sure Marc took some that are much better. Stay tuned. We anchored near our old spot  in Antiparos harbour and after a quick trip to town for gyros and groceries, the kids headed over to Poundha in the dinghy to do some kiting. I succeeded in my lobbying to return to Lollo’s for pizza and it was even better than the first time. Ah, pizza itch scratched! For now, anyway…

After dinner we went to the highly recommended Vicky’s for ice cream–good call Henley, Duncan and Arlo! I had one scoop of salted caramel and one scoop of banoffee. Nope, it’s not banana and coffee–it’s banana and toffee!!!

The next morning I decided to be sociable and go on the group epidition. How cranky would I be if they had lunch with Tom Hanks while I was sitting in the cockpit watching Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt!?!  Marc rented a tiny car (we wanted to get scooters but they claimed at the rental place that you need a motorcycle license–isn’t that a bit overkill?) and we headed south. First stop–Soros Beach for some beach pong. I played but instituted my golfing rule of not keeping score. Isn’t it enough that I got some exercise? The others kept score of their games, but I don’t know who won.

When the wind knocked all of our drinks over onto the sand, we took that as a sign that we should move along. Next stop, Cave of Antiparos, an enormous cave in the centre of the island  in the edges of the mountain of Ai Yiannis. It’s the only upright cave in Greece that isn’t full of water. It has stalactites, stalagmites, and a huge rock formation that has been used as an altar. Deb took a selfie of the four of us that I’ll post later.

Continuing around the island, we went to our previous lunch spot, Captain Pipino’s, near Dhespotico because I remembered their french fries so fondly.  They did not disappoint, and this time the calamari was baby calamari, which was tiny, crispy and decadent. So yeah, I’m still not losing any weight on my Mediterranean diet.

From there we continued zooming through the hills to Monastiria Beach on the west coast, where waves were breaking and a guy was actually surfing.

Dinner was a meandering affair with multiple stops throughout town for drinks and nibblies. Marc and Deb made a new friend in the form of this little hedgehog. I refused to touch him, but I guess he was just too cute for the vacationers to resist.

This morning the kiting wind took her leave for awhile, though that didn’t stop Marc from trying to squeeze in one more session, launching from the dinghy just before we headed out of the harbour.

We picked him up on the way by.  Shoutout to the guy from Poundha who came out on a seadoo to make sure we were together and Marc didn’t need a lift back to the beach. Very thoughtful.

The kids had an exciting sail to Sifnos, hitting 8.7knots, while I huddled below and blogged.  We are now anchored in Plati Yialos on the SE coast of Sifnos. Marc and Deb have gone ashore to take a walk and play some beach pong, Mike is napping in the cockpit, and I am refreshed after my saltwater bath and freshwater rinse. All is right with the world, or at least I assume it is–I’ve been too busy blogging to check the news today. Ignorance IS bliss!

Shortly after leaving Nisis Varvaroussa we had our second dolphin sighting! This one was much more satisfying than the first, as you can see in this video! Dolphins

We proceeded to sail through some weird rainy/stormy weather, ultimately settling in the bay between Dhespotico and Antiparos for the night.  Once ensconsced, we hit the shore for food and WiFi. We were not disappointed. Octopus and calamari!  And WiFi! I’m on a Twin Peaks mission…

After a windy, rainy night, we headed to the town of Antiparos.  It’s not much to look at from shore, but if you wander inland it’s adorable!  

Apparently Tom Hanks has a place here.  Now we’re killing time and replenishing resources anticipating the arrival of our next guests on Sunday–Marc and Debbie!  Stay tuned!

 

Cut to the chase: Kathy swam in the sea yesterday! A quiet, empty cove on the west side of Siros, tucked behind Varvaroussa rock, hot sun and light wind was enough to convince Kath that it was time to test the Aegean. Summer has officially arrived in Greece!

We left the bustle of Aegina harbour 5 days ago having gotten the air conditioning system checked over and installing a new starter battery for the little diesel generator that will power the AC when we eventually snap and can’t take the heat. At this stage it’s still perfectly comfortable at night, excellent sleeping weather with a nice breeze flowing through the cabin when at anchor.

We’ve had excellent sailing conditions each day, doing 25-30 miles (an easy 4-5 hour work day), typically starting out under motor power, but on a beam reach in 13-15 kts by afternoon, and shortening sails when the sun bumps up the power.

First stop was Cape Sounion, the point of land south of Athens, a good jumping-off point to the Cyclades islands. We made it safely across the busy shipping lanes that lead to Athens, with freighters and ferries looking menacing. What must it be like to drive a truck down the highway and not be allowed to hit any mosquitos? Those freighter captains must have some crazy stories. So many sailboats in these waters in the summer!

We had hoped to park in the shadow of the Temple of Poseidon,

but settled for a drive-by the next morning after a calm night around the corner at Palaia Fokaia. Us and one other boat dispersed in a giant bay, and then six lads on a charter boat park 100 ft away from us. Cozy.

The sail to our first Cyclades island of Kythnos was perfect, and by the time we arrived hoping to anchor in Fikiadha Bay, the wind was gusting hard and the bay was cluttered with boats, so we chose a slightly less gusty spot in nearby Episkopis Cove and spent the afternoon listening to the disco music drift out from the beach bar and watching other boats settle around us. A windy night to test the anchor, but the GPS alarm stayed quiet and our neighbours caused no trouble.

In the morning we putted back over to Fikiadha, and as boats headed out to their new destination we hunted for a good anchor-set and a bit of elbow room. Our 4th try seemed to do the trick, as snorkeling on each attempt showed some rock or shallow when considering possible wind shifts, the neighbouring boats, and the nature of the seafloor that the anchor had buried (or not buried) into. But we got settled, and then watched the bay pack tight around us. When a pesky catamaran finally decided they had parked too close to Coral and buggered off (I used my bigboy voice for one “you’re in a bad spot”), we hit the taverna ashore for lunch and gazed down at Coral.

You can see why this place draws a crowd. Things thinned out considerably for the overnight, the wind disappeared, and we dinghied ashore at dusk for our first beach campfire. Love the campfire. Staring at the flames, I felt a tingle and peered past the light to see our dinghy gently drifting 15 ft offshore, having slipped quietly off the fine pebble beach. A nice little adrenaline rush and a beautiful night swim, and another lesson drilled home. Er, whew.

And so with dinghy securely hoisted back on the davits, we sailed east to Siros yesterday to our private retreat. Blue green water, secluded beach, happy anchor, smell of wild oregano. A rock blocking my sunset. We’re having it removed today.

The morning was perfect enough to inspire another swim,

and now we are underway en route to Dhespotico on the west side of Antiparos. Sounds fun!

On the heels of our Hydra/Poros success, we followed up with a visit to the always impressive Epidavros amphitheatre and a taste of the quiet life at anchor, where our guest Connor quickly mastered backgammon and nearly skunked me by the 3rd game. Uh, he’s VERY smart. Obviously.

Rounding out the tour, we sailed in a fair chop and a firm breeze over to the ferry beehive of Aegina. Connor proved himself a natural sailor, snacking and napping as Coral plowed along under shortened sails in warm air and sunny skies.

Tucked in Aegina harbour, we hit the taverna without delay to congratulate each other on a good afternoon. Connor headed back to Athens the next morning to officially begin his European tour, and Kath and I focused on getting ready for our short hop to the Cyclades. A new battery for the generator (assuring ourselves troublefree luxury of refrigeration, hot water and charged laptop), a bunch of food and some clean laundry. Why did that take 4 days? Time flies when eating pizza and gyros!

Oh, and good news, I suspect: I’ve grown jaded and weary of recounting all the ridiculous harbour antics that occur daily, but simply know that each day at some point, something cringe-worthy happens and Coral rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Sometimes at me. [note from Kath–it was CRAZY!  Some old guy decided to reset his anchor. He pulled out and caused complete chaos in the choppy harbour for a good hour, not the least of which was nearly backing into the boat beside us at high speed, and the guy in a dinghy trying to help almost getting an anchor to the head.  I tried to take video to use in the inevitable court case, but was so flustered I screwed it up, stopping when I thought I was starting and vv.  Good lesson for the next time I try and get video evidence.  He left two days later and picked up his neighbour’s anchor, spending another 45 minutes trying to figure that one out.  Oy!)

Tomorrow we sail for the ruins of Poseidon’s temple. Let’s hope he’s in a good mood.

Here’s a little bonus footage of the donkey ride in Hydra: