I’ve no idea where the time goes. We have sailed only about 20 nm since mid July. We’re in an even more remote little Greek island called Trizonia. Total population about 70 people. Small half finished marina - another project partially funded with EU money so that’s where the development stopped. Good for yachties because that makes it free. We are still travelling with the WA catamaran SV Purr and Peter is good with all things electric so we are tapped into the electricity each night. It’s a hard place to leave, but we really should move on and spend some time in the Ionian before the season is over. So we will weigh anchor tomorrow and move a little further west. It is all too easy to settle in one place. There are so many Italian yachts now. Turkey has a greater proportion of German and French yachts, but Greece is dominated by Italians - especially since it is holiday time.
Jarrad (my niece’s husband’s brother from WA) is still with us. He is having a very social time and reminding us how old we really are. While we have our ‘granny nap’ in the afternoon heat, he’s off socialising on the beaches. Oh to have all that energy. The temperature is generally in the high 30’s C these days so we’ve taken to having a siesta when the shops close down and getting up in time for 5‘ers (which we’ve postponed to 7pm when the sun is finally losing it’s strength). Mind you, we are forever wandering about with a beer can in hand claiming that it must be five o’clock somewhere. Don’t know how we will ever get used to small beers again. All cans and stubbies are 500ml. Daunting at first, but we’ve got the hang of them now hehehe!! We generally have a communal BBQ about 9:00pm which always makes it a late night - wouldn’t make it without our afternoon nap.
27 July 2010
Beejay has gone and we are alone again. Miss those girls so much. We are now in a wonderful little Greek town named Galaxidhi. It is not touristy, more a greek holiday destination and has great atmosphere, and restaurants and beaches (though the water is about 5 degrees cooler here because of the mountain springs emptying into the sea. We are waiting for a friend from Western Australia to join us. He should arrive tomorrow and then we will visit Delphi and Olympia before making out way to the Ionian for some more cruising. We’ve sailed almost 1,000 nautical miles since leaving Alanya Marina in April. Greece is such a lovely place, but we are surprised how baron the islands are - they look more like Egypt than photos of Greece. The mainland is greener though and the people, architecture and food are all wonderful. it’s easy to while away the time doing nothing. The ferry system is marvellous (as you would expect of a country made up of 60 inhabited islands).
7 July 2010
Had a wonderful 3 weeks with Sue and Ian (friends from the Gold Coast) on board. Sailed a little of SW Turkey and SE Greece with them. Now Beejay is aboard and we’re moving west across the southern Greek Islands towards Athens. Currently moored on an island called Naxos as the meltami (summer NW wind) has arrived and we are winded-in for at least a week. Bugger!
So Beej and I took off on a ferry to Santorini. Lenny chose to stay aboard to ‘look after the boat’ but we suspect it has something to do with the fact that we are in a harbour alongside the restaurant strip where each is tuned to the World Cup. Beer, sunshine, and soccer, why the hell would he trade that for Santorini? - go figure!
Summertime... yes! Wildflowers in Turkey are so amazing. Couldn’t say that I’ve ever really been into flora, but these wildflowers are so varied and beautiful (or am I just getting old?). No, these are amazing all right. Aside from the wild poppies and tulips that are literally everywhere, Turkey has some of the most unusual flowers I’ve ever seen. Check them out...
Lenny is running around with the camera taking close-ups God help me! The pollen is not like anything I’ve seen before. It is not unusual to wake up in the morning and go out on deck to find it covered in yellow pollen. The wasps are another small problem that ubanisation seems to have killed off in Oz... Here, they come aboard like flies in WA. Especially at dinnertime; and the only deterrent is smoke. Dining in the cockpit on a beautiful moonlit evening loses it’s romanticism when gasping for air amongst the incense sticks and mozzie coils that you have to burn to keep the wasps away.
12 May 2010
Having such fun doing nothing and going nowhere. We have taken a month to cover such a small distance - ah so what! We spent days and days just sitting in beautiful harbours, continuing with the odd jobs and making new friends. We nipped across to the Greek Island of Simi for a few days. Sort of illegal immigrants because we can’t check into the EU just yet (won’t bore you with that little problem). Such a beautiful place Simi as you can see fromthe photos. A labyrinth of tiny stone streets that work their way up steep hills. These Greeks must have great legs.
Now we have backed ourselves into a corner. We have friends and Beejay arriving from early June so we will have to stay in the south-west of Turkey for the next two months or get caught in the meltami. Nothing for it but to poke around from cove to cove, nipping across to a greek island to stock up on pork every now and then. Life is tough, but somebody’s got to do it. Must fly, we’re finally off to meet our Western Australian sailing partners from last season. They are in a bay about 30nm to our west and there is a westerly blowing (naturally) so it’s nose to it all the way. Bugger!
8 May 2010
Finally untied ourselves from the marina after almost 7 months “wintering”. We sailed overnight through to Kekova, one of our favourite spots on the southern coast. It’s so good to be at anchor again. Visited friends in Kalkan and then a week in Fethiye harbour - a lovely town with pine forests stretching down to the bay and mountains (still snow capped) all around. The call to prayer drifts rather loudly across the water five times a day. It wakes us at 5:30am each morning and reminds us of the time throughout the day. Funny how you subconsciously rely on it in place of a watch.
Anchored with a number of our friends (as is ever the case). We’ll all bay-hop more or less together as we migrate west this sailing season, trying to get to Greece without being caught in the meltami (the NW winds that play havoc with the quiet enjoyment of summer sailing in the Med.