JULY 2003

Back HOME

After arriving in Greece and especially Lakka on Paxos, it was like a home coming. Remember that this was the place from which Marit and I left a year ago to join the classic fleet for the races in France and Italy last august. It is where we said goodbye to “Kees” and its crew. So, I was happy to be once more back in home-waters: Greece. It remains by far the best cruising grounds in the Med, and they are so familiar: the winds, the small ports, the Greeks NOT speaking any English, the limited food choices, but still it feels more home than Holland.

So, both Sylphe and me were happy to be in known territory. We spent another week in Lakka, varnishing and cleaning and getting the boat ready for the first charter. Maynard and company joined me the last week of May for a charter that would take us past all the Ionian island and ending in Zakinthos. Especially this time of year and so early in the season had some surprises. Not to mention the rain and clouds for the first two days of the trip. But after that, it cleared up and we visited some unique places: To mention only one: Assos on Cephalonia, which can only be visited if there has been no wind, as the harbor and the anchorage are completely open to any swell from the prevailing NW winds. Still, we spent one of the more memorable nights there. The setting in the small bay and the enormous Venetian fort-ruins make it indeed a spectacular spot. Of course to my frustration it turned out that there was no supermarket and the tavernas refused to sell us any produce, so the promised home-cooked meal went down the drain. So much for an “open economy”. But instead, Barbie and Andrew had a memorable “Cephalonian meatpie” in one of the restaurants that had refused to sell us even a pork chop to prepare on the boat……….

During that week we kept running into some known fellows: Royal Tara and its crew and s/y Dreamtime. The last crewed by Australians made pictures of Sylphe under sail towards the Levkas channel. As it remains a difficulty to get a picture of your own boat under sail, we caught up with them as they were waiting for the Levkas bridge to open and we asked for copies of the pictures. The skipper did not hesitate a moment and five minutes later he was standing on the rail of his boat with a floppy disk with the copies. At full sea the floppy was passed over and we are now in the possession of a perfect series of photos of Sylphe cruising towards Levkas. Thanks guys…… Happily we kept running into them, in Zakinthos, Meganisi, Assos and later in Kioni. How small a world can be (there must be at least a 100 possible anchorages and harbors, so you do the math….)

It was nice to cruise so early in the season and avoiding the crowds. Although the disadvantage was that Maynard and crew were often the last to leave the bar (and sometimes the only customers) Still a W.M.D. cocktail has been invented and heavily marketed around the islands lately. Bush had been looking in the wrong country after all. The recipe can soon be found on the website, but remember it is hard to find, easy to conceive but highly lethal.

Maynard made a beautiful set of pictures that can be found on www.fototime.com/inv/EE4401055EDC58F (I hope, Maynard, you have no objection)

The next three weeks we spent cruising around the Ionian islands and exploring some more places. Kenan, Mariette and their 3,5 month old baby ZEB joined Sylphe, this must be the youngest crewmember so far. Bob and Marjolein partly had a holiday, partly worked as they made professional photographs for articles in magazines. We hope the website will be updated later with this unique material. Vathi on Meganisi, Assos and Kioni on Cephalonia and of course Lakka remain favourite as far as the Ionian islands are concerned.

By the middle of June I had new engagements in the Saronic Islands, right of the coast of Athens. There are two ways of getting there: through the Corinth Channel or around the Peleponesos. Since I have done the Corinth Channel a few times too often in the last years I opted for going around and finally visiting a last unexplored part of Greece: The southern Peleponesos. And again I did this part solo. Not in one go, as Marit and I had done some two years before, but this time stopping and seeing some of the ports and bays. And, indeed, it is worthwhile. Most of the ports are guarded by enormous Venetian (and older) fortifications, and one can easily imagine the enormous battles that have been fought here throughout the centuries. But the places are worthwhile. They are off the beaten tourist track and this is noticeable in pricing and crowdedness. Most of the boats are privately owned and I think I only saw one chartered boat. Quite a change for the normal Greek cruising experience. Koroni and Elafonisos will stay in my memory. The solo sailing was leisurely as the winds were favourable and this time reduced to day-trips. The dolphins were plenty and I am convinced to have seen two smaller whales…..although no proof available……

Coming around Cape Maleas, I was back in even more familiar waters, and coming into Monemvasia was like …….. well home. Chrissa, Stuart and Alex joined me there for a few days and we ran into “Little Albatros” again. Happy neighbors from our months in Monastir. Sailing up the coast towards Aegina was like a bigger party every day. People I had not seen for two years, places I had missed for two years. And every where the welcome was warmer than I could have wished for. Ermioni, Aegina, Leonidion, Perdika, Hydra……ahh, too many memories and good feelings. Anca joined me for a few days and we even sailed into the Cyclades. The memorable free-fresh-instantly-boiled lobster form the local fishing boat next door (boiled on the fishing boat) at the anchorage on the southern tip of Kea is one for the books. After that I had the boat and Greece to myself. In awaiting of Marits return from India, I am passing my days in my absolute favorite spot in Greece: Leonidion. The welcome here form friends, the peace of the village and the port, the never-ending swell entering the harbor (even with the new breakwater) and the fact that I have had the whole port to myself for 3 days in a row, make it unmistakably my number 1 destination. I am sleeping, varnishing, swimming and hanging and eating out with friends. I could get used to living in Greece and its pace………

Keep you posted,

Ahoy,

Roland

PS 1 And yes, even the Greeks are seriously hurt by a lack of tourism this year and season. Well, at least we know whom to blame for that.

PS 2 For those other yachties: I still have managed to sail around in Greece without having paid for a single day in port OR even having bought the Transit Log. Just keep telling the Port Police that you will come to his office and than forget about it. That is what they do too……