The Age of Ian and Loren

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!