Mike and Kathy's Cruising Adventure

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:

With Ian and Loren back in California, our young friend Connor arrived in Poros for a few days on his whirlwind summer European tour. A little detour through Greece on his way to meet friends in Italy.

Wanting to hit the donkey show in Hydra, we decided to leave Coral snugged up on the dock in Poros and get the 20 minute ferry to Hydra for the afternoon. A walk through town,  then lunch and a swim at the fantastic Spilia Beach Bar.

Kathy did a little birthday shopping (a couple weeks early).

Very cute, and came with specific instructions not to get them wet. Hmm.

Thanks to Connor’s urging, while Kathy shopped for bacon, we took a donkey ride that took us along narrow shopping streets and through restaurant patios. Ai, good donkey!

 

A quick morning motor to Spetses and our second new crew member arrived bearing a new Canadian flag to replace our old ragged one and a special surprise–basically our Canadian pirate flag! Thanks Loren!

Ian went for a run while Loren tried to take a nap and then we all dinghied to shore for the best gyros I’ve ever had, apologies to Tenekedakia in Aegina.  Ian was determined to find a lawnchair he could use on the bow of the boat (spoiler alert,  he never found one), but we wandered around and humoured him.  We did find his other requirement,  beer.  Whew!

The big hero of Spetses is this lady:  she was a ship captain and apparently seduced men at gunpoint… um, don’t we have another word for that behaviour now?  Let’s hope the next edition of Lonely Planet makes a few revisions.

Back on the boat, Ian and Loren were free to focus on fishing.  After a few failed attempts, the boys turned to the Greek bologna Mike described earlier, ’cause I sure as hell wasn’t eating it.  This is the result:

Another spoiler alert: lots more fishing, no more fish.

The wind and swell weren’t really in our favour, so we motored back to our previous anchor spot in the bay south of Porto Heli.  After an evening of Ian’s 70’s playlist we realized that the wedding at the beach bar on shore was basically playing the same stuff at a louder volume.  It was kind of magical, in an old-person kind of way.

The next morning we had some decent wind and hoisted the sails for our journey to Ermioni.  Luckily, Loren was a keen student, leaving me to use up Mike’s data plan and Ian to drink the beer he found in Spetses.

We had enough wind to make this newbie slightly uncomfortable, but the boys were unfazed.  Safely anchored in the bay in Ermioni, we went ashore for lunch and provisions (beer, wine and bacon, bien sur). With a light wind forecast, we settled in for a quiet night.

Well after dark, a Russian catamaran came and parked disturbingly close to us.  Well, the forecast was light wind, surely all would be well?  Mike woke up in the night to gusting wind and a cat one boatlength away.  God love him, he sat vigil on Coral, and when it all became too much he blew the airhorn to get the cat’s attention.  To be fair, the other captain was up and watching, but Captain Mike was past his comfort level and demanded the cat leave.  They did!  I think President Trump could learn a thing or two from my man!

The next day the plan was to head to Hydra.  We tried to anchor in the bay just west of town, but it was deep water and getting crowded, so we headed across the straight to Soupia, our old spot by the frog rock. Ian and Loren went for a run and a snorkel while I used up more of Mike’s data. Do you see a pattern?

The next day we headed for Poros.  Again, not a lot of wind.

We had a lovely visit with the boys, but we said goodbye in Poros, none the worse for wear, livers notwithstanding.  Thanks for coming boys!

 

Beautiful morning here, Ian casting a line off the bow, coffee close at hand.

A couple of milestones from this week that Kath neglected to mention: 1) first kite session on the saltwater pond near Porto Heli. Awesome. 2) Fell off the back of the boat while putting the passerelle to the dock. Hilarious, if it wasn’t for 3) Had my phone in my back pocket during event 2. Was there a betting pool for how long my phone would survive? Who had 44 days? Thankfully, I’m in Europe where mobile service is cheap, so I’m back in business for €100, though the battery sucks on this ZTE cheapo. Doubt it will stay dry all summer anyway.

 

Laundry done and water topped up, we hunkered down in an overcast, drizzly Porto Heli to wait for Ian’s arrival.

He was due to arrive smack dab in the middle of a four day ferry strike, but luckily we were on the mainland, so he braved a three bus odyssey to join us.  Ian arrived Thursday morning at 8am, and we waited at least four hours before we started drinking the cold away.

Today we headed back to try and tie up to the concrete block Mike was so pleased to discover last post, but it proved less than ideal plus the water was quite choppy, so we abandoned the spot in favour of the little bay next door which is calmer thanks to a small island protecting it.

Clearly this called for more drinks, so we hopped in the dinghy and hit the beach bar for lunch.

Back to the boat for naps and fishing, we’re right on schedule.

Tomorrow we pick up Ian’s friend Loren in Spetses–perhaps we’ll celebrate with drinks!

With lots of nice crinkly coastline near Porto Kheli  (Porto Cheli? Porto Xeli?), Kathy and I have continued the tranquil vibe. Time to do a little repair job on the trusty inflatable dinghy, polish some lexan windows, drop off laundry in town, and splash around in the beautiful clear water that is quickly warming up, and soon may welcome Kathy for her first dip.

Since it’s always nice to know a friendly chunk of concrete in a convenient spot, I was delighted to discover this yesterday:

Coral was floating directly over this unmarked mooring in the early morning calm. Attagirl! Put that one in the GPS database for next time!

With lots of elbow room in PX Bay, we have quite a diversity of neighbours.

Tomorrow we’ll back onto the dock here to take on more fresh water, more food and booze, and oh yeah, our pal Ian MacDonald (that’s California-Newf IanMac, not Greely-Newf-ish IanMac). This should bode well for my chances of landing a fish? The dude is a master…

After the wonderful donkey show that was Hydra,

we putted 5 km down the coast to empty Ormos Molos, where we anchored and enjoyed being the only boat in the cove. Ashore was nothing but a swanky private residence with pool and tennis court hiding inside the courtyard, so I was happy to sip a beer, go for a swim, and lose at backgammon. The tube of ground beef that I purchased back in Hydra turned out to be Greek Bologna. Unfortunate. Fried and put in a pasta sauce, it was exactly what you’d expect from extruded meat sludge. Lesson learned.

Friday began with an attempt at taking this thing up a notch: by letting Kathy sleep-in while I solo’d Coral off to our next anchorage, searching for a kitesurfable beach.

Step 1) Raise the anchor.

Step 2) Run and turn off the windlass breaker switch because the beastie started up and wouldn’t stop.

Now, I had spent 2 hours the previous evening cleaning the windlass control solenoid contacts. Hmm. A clue? Ignoring the clue,  I blamed the foot switch next to the windlass. Must be stuck on, so I snipped it right out of the circuit, but the windlass didn’t care and hauled away when I flipped the breaker back on. That means the solenoid was stuck on, and since solenoids are pretty simple and robust, I hit it with a hammer. Well, just a couple of taps. That did the trick, and I must say, solving problems with a hammer is very satisfying! Couple of new crimps to reconnect that poor blameless switch, and away at the crack of noon. Yes, Kathy was up. As of this writing, the windlass solenoid seems quite cooperative, but the enforcer is not far away.

Anyway, all that and kiting plans fell flat as the forecasted wind never filled in and we spent a rolly night anchored near a small beach and more luxury homes on the Pelopennesian mainland at Kounoupi Kove.

I’ve tried my hand at fishing last night and this morning with zero success. Need to spend more money on gear, perhaps.

Mike has been doing a fine job of the Hydra blogging, but I don’t feel there are enough donkeys or cats represented. After all, they are both ubiquitous enough for there to be an entire store called DonkeyCat.

These cats were pretty excited to see a fishing boat come in.

After all, they work up quite an appetite showing real estate,

delivering water to boats,

and lugging wagons around.

In other news, the biggest boat we’ve seen yet pulled up today, Kyknos.  I can’t figure out who owns her, but suffice it to say they were accompanied by a military team on a motorboat with a sniper seat.

Once the giant boat was parked–just blew in for lunch, doncha know–we headed out for our own lunch.  The pizza place we tried was unimpressive after my wonderful pizza experiences in Aegina, but that memory was soon erased when we headed to Spilia Beach Bar for a drink.  It is a pretty magical spot!

I had originally planned to give you my perspective on the shitshow yesterday in the harbour, but I think I’m still too traumatized to relive it.  All’s well that ends well, and by that I mean that once it was all over and I had a little cry, Mike sat vigil on Coral and I went out for dinner by myself, drained a couple glasses of wine and downloaded last week’s Survivor and Silicon Valley episodes.  Aaaaaah… the keys to Kathy’s happiness.