Blog #5 Greece
2nd
September ® 22nd September 2014
Yasas ( howzit in Greek! )
My last blog ended off on 1st September as we
sailed into Corfu Island and we had our very first night of rain. Little did we
know that this wet weather would carry on for the next couple of days. We went
into the old town of Corfu which has beautiful buildings in Italian, French and
English styles. They all occupied Corfu at different times. It was really
strange seeing a cricket and croquet pitch on this Greek Island. I walked
around the quaint town with my dad to look for a backgammon set made of wood. I
thoroughly enjoyed my ‘moussaka’ I had for dinner. Later that evening Tadji and
I bought glowing arrow plastic ‘helicopters’ which we played with in the big
square. The local children caught them for us when they came flying down. It
was such fun.
The next few days we spent time doing schoolwork inside,
hiding from the rain. We said a sad goodbye to the Orzechowskis on the 4th,
we had had such an awesome, fun time with them.
On the 6th we had a slow motor to our next stop
Mourtos on the Greek Mainland and the surrounding Sivota Islands. We anchored
in End Bay and I had to do the stern ropes, which means tying them to either a
rock or tree using a bowline knot.
My dad and I discovered a cave in the bay around the corner
and we swam through it. We saw loads of little fish and about six big fish we
could have eaten for dinner.
I was fascinated when
we saw a guy from a Superyacht standing on a pipe and ‘flying’. This soft pipe
was connected to a powerful jetski which blows water and air up the pipe at
high speed. This lets the person go high in the sky and do loop the loops. I
would have loved to have tried that.
We had our first thunderstorm anchored in Mourtos. It all
happened very suddenly when a few big black clouds came over and drenched us
with rain. The wind came up from nowhere and reached 30 knots and with that came
big waves, thunder and lightning. We realized the anchor was dragging and we
tried pulling it up and we couldn’t . It had then hooked against a rock so we
were safe for the moment . It was all rather scary. In the middle of this my
dad saved a huge, expensive dinghy that was nearly on the rocks. It belonged to
a big powerboat anchored in the bay. It had broken loose. For his good deed
they gave him two lovely bottles of good Greek wine. Luckily it was all over quite
quickly as the wind disappeared, the sea flattened out so we slept well that
night.
The following day we did an ‘aqua-race’ which consisted of a
swimming, paddling and noodle races plus a skurfing event and a special jump
off the bow. It was fun but exhausting. Later we went to ‘Turquoise bay’ for a
snorkel in the caves. The water was extremely blue. My highlight of being in
Mourtos was definitely hiring and sailing a Laser Pico sailing dinghy. I sailed
it around the bay with my dad, he was instructing me as I steered and did the
ropes. This is ‘proper’ sailing on a tippy, sensitive, small boat. I learnt a
lot.
Next stop was the Island of Paxi. It was great to be here
again and as always I love driving the rubber dinghy around it is such fun. I
feel like I am driving my own car. Oh yes and my dad winched me up the mast. It
was so scary!!
We enjoyed a vanilla cream pastry for breakfast in the most
charming main town of Gaios. Later when we were in the town having a drink and
getting WiFi we witnessed yet another Greek wedding. In my opinion the only
thing that Greeks do is get married and sit in cafes and drink coffee!
Two days later we upped anchor for the Island of Anti-Paxi
where we stopped for the day in the crystal, clear turquoise water which is
what the Island is famous for.
We had been informed that it was not safe to anchor there
overnight so we decided to move to the town of Parga another beautiful spot on
the Greek Mainland.
I immediately fell in love with this special town up on the
hill overlooking a small Island with a church on it and the port below. We
walked up to the old Venetian Fort dating back to the year 1337 which protected
their trade route bringing spices, silks and special metals to Venice and they
called Parga the eye and ear of Corfu which is just to the north west of it.
From the Fort the views were spectacular. I took lots of photos.
We loved meeting ‘Costis’ a Greek surfer and stand up
paddleboarder. He told us that in winter Parga has great surf in the exact spot
where we were calmly anchored. I could not imagine it. I loved the shops and
the buildings. I was sad to say goodbye to Parga as we had had a special time
there.
We were on our way to Two Rock Bay, our final anchorage before
heading to the big town of Preveza on Mainland Greece. My dad spent time
showing me how to do decorative rope work. I really enjoyed doing it and ended
up making lots of interesting things ! Two Rock Bay was peaceful. We were the
only boat anchored there and this was the first time we were alone in nearly
three months.
The bay was full of little fish which we fed with bread
crumbs. They devoured it greedily. Whilst having our lunch a little Greek girl
came snorkelling by with her dad. We allowed her to look around the boat and we
then gave her our inflatable crocodile since we could not take it back on the
aeroplane. It made her day.
Most evenings I am ‘killing’ my dad at backgammon on his
lovely new wooden set which was handmade in Corfu. Poor dad!
I am ending off now as we are about to arrive in Preveza. It
is now the 22nd September and our cruise is nearly over. It is here
that we will prepare the boat to take it out of the water for winter.
Will blog again soon
Lots of love Tristy XX
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