Prepping to Go Home

Cleo got us our haul out Saturday at 08:00 - that was our only choice. What a mad scramble. To get come out on Saturday … the boat will be perfect but we may be a bit of a wreck with three nights in the boat yard. I am hopeful that we can get everything ready to go before Monday. That way we can take Monday and do something more fun than just sit around … maybe drive to Pargas and take a day trip to Antipaxos or something on a tripper boat? Or perhaps just drive down to Lefkas and enjoy the beach somewhere.

We started out from Pargas toward Preveza pretty early because it was about 30 miles away. In putting the boat away the big issue is getting the jib down, that’s the one job that is a bit of a bitch … so on the way to Preveza Marina noticed there was no wind and boom … down it came. We did a nearly perfect job of folding it but there just wasn’t enough deck, but it was manageable so when we were stern to the mole in Preveza we took it ashore before the crowds were on the boardwalk and properly flaked it. We also did all the chrome inside the boat and I lanocote’d everything I could think of. I decided not to work on the engine until we were stopped and thought I might do it while we’re out of the water. No point in tempting fate – having the engine in pieces when you might need it.

The girls worked hard, cleaned the SUPs and put them away, and also washed the sheets (ropes) in our bucket which used up water (which we wanted to do). Staying at the mole in Preveza is very cost effective relative to being in the Marina at Cleopatra -- about 50 Euros a day less, and you have so much more to do than just work on the boat. The only challenge is being on board Saturday night when the local disco goes hard until 05:00.

Once the sails were down and the windex was off, it was just a matter of getting the boat cleaned up. Lots of vacuuming, wiping and scrubbing, getting rid of food, taking the sheets (ropes) off. We powered over to Cleopatra .. a whole 5 minutes from Preveza, and backed into the haul-out station where the travel-lift picks up the boat and moves her into the boatyard. The current runs 2-3 knots sideways at Cleopatra so you must seriously commit to getting the boat behind the concrete wall, where the current stops.  It's really interesting when your stern in in sheltered water but your bow is being pushed by current. Causes a slight pucker-factor. 

The next two days were fairly easy as we had done so much in advance:  washing cushions and canvass, putting the Halyards away into their Ikea box, getting the interior put away, changing oil, transmission oil, and antifreeze, then doing the same (except antifreeze) for the generator and outboard, washing stuff with fresh water, waxing, turning off the fridges, emptying the water tanks, surreptitiously filling and emptying the holding tanks several times to clean them out and putting Lanocote on any metal part we could think of that could possibly seize. 

Meanwhile someone is doing laundry -- like 5 loads of it ... sheets, towels, stay-behind clothes, walkabout clothes; everything was in great need of a proper wash with laundry soap. Finally, off come the steering wheels, the canvass and all sun-shade elements so we're all buttoned up for another year. How well you do is evidenced by how hard it is to startup the following year ... this we will find out in about 10 months time.

Cliff Jumping on Antipaxos and back to Pargas

Another Lazy day in Lakka. We got up and did some reading, some listening and then went in for brunch – to the same place we had a great brunch the other day. Originally, I wanted to order what Hugh did – a Popeye crepe, but the cream cheese didn’t really appeal. Unfortunately, I ordered Eggs Benedict … and for some inexplicable reason, Marina did the same. What we got was a grilled cheese on white bread with a fried egg on top smothered in some type of miracle-whip-inspired yellow sauce and a couple of rashers of bacon on top. Yuck is the only thing that comes to mind. I scraped off the sauce, choked back the grilled cheese, and then ate the egg, again smothered with sauce.  It sat in my stomach as a lump, bigger than a bowling ball. 

New favouite breakfast place in Lakka...
but DO NOT order the Eggs Benedict

I decided to take a bit of a walk up the road just to get some miles on my legs. The girls did a little window shopping but didn't buy anything. We got some food, ice and bread and headed back to Tara for the crack of 1pm.

Girl-power raised the anchor and managed the boat, they’re both getting more comfortable on the helm of the boat as I do less of the driving. It’s as much about confidence and experience. The more you do it the better you get at it – assuming that you don’t get over-stressed by doing something that is too difficult for your skill level.

Today we’re heading down to Antipaxos to do some cliff jumping and enjoy the beauty without the gong-show of the Antipaxos bay. The girls did some cliff jumping while I managed the dinghy. 

The water was pretty deep where we anchored but Tara held like a trooper as nearly always in our memory. Marina asked me if I wanted to jump the cliffs but I decided not to – not sure why. We're all a bit on edge, another 10 days here and in reality I think we all want to be on our way.

We set sail to Pargas from Antipaxos beside this incredible 30 meter long 20M Euro Perini Navi sailing yacht. It must be mostly a powerboat however because our lowly Beneteau 50 waxed them hugely. We were beam reaching along at 5-6 knots when they were toodling along at maybe 2 kts. Perhaps the crew didn’t want to upset the owners but it did seem a little odd that a 30 meter waterline couldn’t get going. Put the bow down and get some speed man. We got into Pargas and decided to check whether we could go home early. We set a budget of $600 but quickly blew that into $1500. Oh well, if you want it, you gotta pay. The only logistics hurdle left was Cleopatra – hopefully they can haul us out.

In the water taxi

We went into Pargas on a water taxi and then walked around the town. We had until 12:30am (the last ride back) and we thought no-way … but it was indeed 12:30am that we caught the last boat … though the guys in the Beneteau 57 decided to bribe him for an even later ride. We made it up to the Sailor’s Bar, where I did a lot of people watching sipping on a beer. Jess ordered a 10Euro Mojito and said it was tasty. Not sure why beer is ½ price of Canada and booze is 2x price.

With the weight of another week off our shoulders, we all felt better. We knew we had a few days of hard work ahead of us but we were in pretty good shape mentally and all looking forward to going home.

Back to Lakka and the fun of "Wankering"

We could not fit a chocolate-bar-wrapper into our garbage and recycling bags so it was time to find a place to offload our garbage. We know Lakka has a garbage dump just outside of town. 

Jess had preflighted the engine and Marina and Jess had breakfast made and had gotten us ready to go other than lifting the engine off the dinghy. Given that there was not a breath of wind, we could have left the engine on the dinghy with impunity, as long as a 100 foot Pershing didn't cruise by 30 meters away … which happens with alarming frequency here in Greece.

Once we rounded the bottom of Corfu the wind turned on and we had a terrific jib reach into Lakka with between 6 and 8 knots of boatspeed. The girls sat on the bow cushions and I read, then steered the boat for a while. As always with a couple of boats on the bay there is a race. There was a 40 footer or so with both main and jib up coming into Lakka and we stomped by him using our waterline length to pound through the waves. It is amazing what a knot of boatspeed can do over a 10 mile reach – where you go from a mile behind to a mile ahead pretty quickly. That’s not happened too often to us in reverse. The B50 rates pretty poorly in PHRF, I think because it doesn't go up and downwind all that well, but in a reach … look out.  

We pulled into Lakka and chose a great space to anchor and had just finished stretching our chain when a Nielson Charter boat asked us what we were doing … “Just Anchored” and the lady on board said “you’re right in the middle of the channel” to which I responded with a chuckle, “Have you ever been to Lakka before?” because it was pretty much empty and there is no such thing as a channel...in Lakka you pack in like sardines. Marina and I attempted to explain this to the back of her head until she said, "We no longer wish to continue dialogue with you” in her lofty British accent. It was pretty funny. I wonder what she thinks about rush hour … people all over the road … what are they doing?

We sat on board, swimming and sunning for an hour or two watching the wankering up close. It is amazing the difference between the way people can handle their boats and the level of anxiety they feel in tight situations. Looking at our log we’re on something like night number 600 on Tara so we have a fair amount of experience dropping anchor and we still screw it up now and then. I remember being in Croatia and the guy telling us not to drop our anchor close behind him … now we’d just go ahead and do it … “we’ll move if we have to” … or “where do you think the boat is going to go?” I feel sorry for people that feel such anxiety as I know it can make your holidays less enjoyable.

Anyway, Marina and I headed into town and dropped off our garbage and recycling, seeing a couple of kittens in horrible shape – eyes were closed shut with some type of infection and looking terribly scrawny. There wasn’t really much we could do about it. It’s hard to think that perhaps it would be better if they had not been born. It doesn't look like the same “sterilize, clip the ear, vaccinate and care for” the cats society is working here in Lakka anymore. It is interesting that since the economy has improved we have seen far more feral cats and we have also seen lots of dogs – something I don’t recall from 4 or 5 years ago.

We carried on with a walk to get some exercise and steps. You do begin to feel a bit pot-bound on a boat after a while and I think we’re all in need of some exercise and perhaps something new to do. The days are all mushing together and I cannot think of the last time I was counting down the days and they seemed to be going too slowly … weird. Perhaps this is the Karmic universe telling us that it may be time to move on … hard to say.

We carried on up a very long hill in Paxos up to a turnoff to a bay called Longos. We passed a quarry on the right where they harvest the characteristic white rock that most buildings, streets and stone-walls are made out of. The stone work here is beautiful and it works well for here, though both Marina and I like the look of granite more. We got to our 10,000 steps the hard way … in 35 degree heat, though we were uphill for the half and downhill for the back half … actually I only got 9796 steps … damn.  We ended up having dinner in the same spot because they have a brick oven for Pizza and we like that. Our waiter, George, was very chatty – he has spent winters elsewhere but seems to like Paxos – working from May to October and then lamenting about not having work the rest of the year. It’s hard to say whether that would be good or not … maybe I’ll try it and see what happens … I guess the problem for us is that the cost structure never changes – so those 6 months won’t have any sushi, Starbucks or aviation in them … so I guess we’ll keep working.

Bye Bye Scooby and on to Petriti...Something New

We decided to leave Kalami and head south. We’re not sure where we want to go today, probably Petriti or Lakka. We have another 12 days to go until Tara comes out of the water and we thought we’d try some new places. Petriti is on the bottom part of Corfu and is a quaint little fishing village. We skedaddled out of Kalami around 10 am and decided we’d have breakfast along the way. 

The slow-cruise originally caused by us having to watch out for overspinning the refrigerator compressor has become de-rigeur. It’s a bit like driving with my brother who shifts gears at 1200 rpm … the poor engine just idles along. I cannot imagine the amount of carbon we are generating inside the engine just toodling along. We were out in the middle of the Corfu channel when the AIS alarm starts going off. Hmmm, nothing in sight … turned off the alarm. A couple of minutes later we hear a toot-toot in the distance … there is a Cruise Ship about 3 miles away … Marina and Iooked at each other … hmmm, could that be for us? We change course 20 degrees and I went and checked the chartplotter. Sure enough the cruise ship was going to mow us over in about 3 minutes going 25 plus knots. Our 20 degree course change took us past .3 miles Closest Point of Approach or CPA … phew.  That thing is a god-send in traffic, especially at night.

Along the way Jess continued to read A Man Called Ove, a delightful story about an irascible old Swede that managed to die with hundreds of people loving him and his quirky ways. It was a bit tearful the ending and it kept us thinking about how someone can affect you in positive ways even when they’re difficult.

The wind came up with a terrific beam-reach so we pulled out the jib and started sailing. The wind lasted about 15 minutes and pooped out while Jess was working out on the bow. She claimed that it was hard to work out when the jib was draping itself all over her. Two-thirds of the way down Corfu we decided to try Petriti – what the heck and its only about an hour away (5 miles) we turned off the fridge and belted the motor. All this smoke came out at first but then the Yanmar remembered what it’s there for and charged us along at a solid 8 knots with barely any puff of smoke – once we burned off about 10 minutes of carbon buildup. 

The "marina" at Petriti

We dropped the hook at Petriti and cooled off with a swim. We’ve been on the boat quite a bit lately and I had accumulated 200 steps for the day, so we took the dinghy into town and went for a sightseeing walk. I went one way the girls went the other. We walked up and down the beach and around the town. 

Petriti looks like it was pretty hard hit by the recession and there are still quite a few boarded up buildings and shops that haven’t reopened yet. That said it was a really nice little town. I walked up the hill and checked out some very nice places – unfortunately one of the nicest was situated beside this empty lot which serves as an impromptu garbage dump.

A local

There were also dozens of feral cats. I had no idea the ‘jibblies’ on male cats were so prominent. If humans had the same relative size we’d be sitting on a couple of grapefruit or cantaloupe … never able to cross our legs again. The girls enjoyed an ice-cream while I was on my walk and then we decided to go back to TARA for a dinner of BBQ Souvlaki, rice and Greek salad. Geez, even when we’re on the boat we’re eating Greek food! 

We were considering a swim when we saw a fully-formed turd float by and that dampened our enthusiasm a fair amount. As such we decided on a movie night. I hooked up the generator and we pulled out the disk drive and watched Bull Durham for the um-teenth time. It still cracks me up when Nuke Laloosh beans the mascot in the head missing home plate by 50 feet. In the end Nuke learns to be a ball-player and makes it to the “Show”, Crash gets his home-run record and the girl. All is well in the universe.

Back to Scooby in Kalami

Erikousa was an awesome anchorage and with a quick spy-hop in the middle of the night we had done a 180 and in the morning we were back with our transom pointing at the new marina that is being built. We decided to have breakfast in town and put the engine on the dinghy. I had spent an hour putting the RIB repair kit to use the previous evening and, shocker of shockers, Bonnie was pumped up to see us. We lit up the trusty Suzuki and headed in towards town (both restaurants and the mini-market). We sat down at an outdoor table and waved at a very disinterested waitress. Actually, that isn’t entirely true, I’m pretty sure that she was very interested in her iPhone. Anyway, the girls ordered omelettes and I ordered yoghurt and honey. I reckoned correctly that I would be able to eat both an omelette and yoghurt … and I was right. I also got to eat all of Jess’ tomatoes … very strategic ordering.

Heading out after breakfast

We then walked along the beach and I did a little bit of jogging. I had a brief conversation with an Italian woman who was asking if I was counting steps. I pointed to my Garmin & she laughed … una mille steps … we gave each other the thumbs up and carried on. The girls were in a deep conversation, not sure about what, but I wasn’t included .

We made it back to Tara and picked up anchor and decided to go back on the inside of Corfu. The outside has not much to see other than rocks so we decided we’d head back to the inside – with food, tavernas and good anchorages. Besides, the girls were missing the dog Scooby and wanted to go see him again. 

The handsome Scoobmeister!

There wasn’t a breath of wind when we left at noon and headed off back towards Corfu. After a couple of hours of powering we hoisted the spinnaker. It’s pretty big so we are a bit careful with it. Over the next couple of hours the wind continued to both build and move further aft. Once the wind was above 12-14 knots we decided to take it down but I made a few mistakes. First when you’re heading downwind it’s nearly impossible to pull the sock down the spinnaker. At one point I was nearly lifted off my feet as I’m trying to pull the sock down. I yelled for help, but wasn't thinking. We should have headed up, taken the power out of it and then pulled like the dickens. Instead I was pulling the sock down and fighting against it wanting to go up as it fills. Marina helped and we ended up getting it down, with me breathing heavily – about 50% from panic and 50% from exertion. Jess said it was the first time she’s heard my voice go up in panic – I would suggest not panic but urgent concern as my fingers were being crushed by the rope and I was being lifted off the deck by a very large sail. Head up, take the wind out of it, no problem. I need to think a little more about these maneuvers. I guess my head is so into airplanes these days that I am not thinking through my sailing moves.

With the spinnaker down we pulled out the jib and were still pushing high-5 knots and then turned the corner. The ladies wanted to head back to Kalami where we know there is both good food and a mini market to buy supplies. We passed a beautiful classic Dutch yacht on the way into the bay, and Marina ran the bow while Jess managed the helm. They both did a great job and we were very snug with a half-mile of chain on the ground. Just as we were anchoring a guy zoomed in with a rental boat and one of our British bay-mates gave him the “what-for” letting loose a few f-bombs … we laughed … this bay has a water-ski company in the corner – was he expecting a quiet anchorage? There are some yachties who just grumble grumble grumble …

We took to the water to cool down and scrubbed some of the scum off of Tara’s waterline. Amazing that after only two weeks the amount of gook that can cling to a clean and waxed hull.  This cooled us down and then Jess started reading her book A Man Called Ove aloud. She’s a terrific reader and it was quite entertaining.

Dinner at Thomas' Place included two
complimentary shots at the end, one Lemon Cello
and one a Kumquat Liqueur...both yum. 

Erikousa...something new!

The weather over the next few days is supposed to be very calm – with winds perhaps hitting the 15 knot range in the late afternoons. We decided to head up coast and to Erikousa to check out the beach there. It’s about 20 miles directly upwind today (of course) and a bit off the beaten path. 

This year we have further perfected the slow cruise –1200 to 1500 revs gives us between 4.5 and 6 knots towards our objective Erikousa. I have pitched an anchor there before with Ross, Matt and Mike Fedak, on our way up the coast to Croatia. We had left Gouvia and encountered adverse wind and 2 meter waves so I decided, much to Ross’ chagrin, to hide behind Erikousa and wait for the lower winds in the morning. We dropped a hook off the beach and then had a very early start – like 05:00 so we could get to Croatia some 200 miles north. Ross wanted to go back to the beach in the morning, I wanted to leave early so that we would get to Croatia in the daylight … the proverbial early bird got the worm, and by the time Ross woke up at 10am we were already 40 miles down range.

As we made our way to Erikousa I was reminded that once off the beaten path a little bit you are often a population of one. Where there might be 50 boats going to and from Paxos and Corfu, there appeared to be only one boat heading in our direction. Sometimes we wonder what the others know that we don’t – or perhaps it is something simple like we have the ability to take a little bit more time. When you are on a 1 or 2 week schedule a 50 mile sailing day can be a bit of a vacation-buster. But when you’re here for a month … it’s no so bad. 

We got into Erikousa and there were about 10 boats also anchored so we felt relieved we weren't totally against the grain. Marina and I SUP’d onto the beach … what an awesome beach. About a mile long and the sand is perfect. It shallows quite a ways out – like 15 meters from shore it is only shin deep. We pulled the SUPs up on shore and walked the entire length of the beach, encountering a number of people including a topless 60-something and walking by a kid who was pitching sand into the sea and having him pitch sand all over me. His mom gave him the what for, but Marina and I found it funny. We hoofed it all over the town, if you can call it that, and then back to the SUPs as the local ferry made its way to the ferry dock with what looked like a hundred people waiting for the Sunday departure back to Corfu. 

Spelling in Greece often brings a smile...

Through the day the harbour filled up, a boat here, a boat there. You know that comment about being off the beaten path -- well … that was a bit premature. Just before dusk more than a dozen Italian boats with what looked like all teens on board came into the bay and dropped anchor. They were all with OceanMedSailing and seemed to be on a floatilla adventure. While I originally expected a lot of teen partying, their boats were very quiet … maybe they have really good manners.

We had dinner on board, I read while the ladies watched Big Fish, one of our favourite movies...and then to bed. There was a slight swell from ferries or something causing us to rock pleasantly back and forth – but it might be one of those nights where you need to sleep sideways otherwise you roll around like a log in a lumberjack show.

The Next Couple of Days

We woke up around 8:30 and discovered the powerboat beside us had already bugged out ... and nobody woke up. How excellent is that? I woke up and headed up the dock .. after a quick visit to the awesome flushing toilet, I bought some ice and fizzy water and brought it back to the boat. I had noticed that they had camping gas at the store so I gathered up our old bottle and walked back up the dock. Marina hasn't figured it out yet but I am trying to stockpile steps. She gets a 15% premium (for her short yet shapely legs) if we walk the same distance so I need all the help and subterfuge I can. We managed to exit Gouvia without sucking anything into a propeller and headed back to Mandraki. It's supposed to blow pretty hard today so we want shelter from the NW wind. Spending time in the Ionian is a bit like sailing in English Bay ... you start to shit bricks when the wind gets above 15 knots. We have a well found vessel with an experienced crew ... so ... we've got to stretch ourselves a little bit over the next couple of weeks otherwise we might just as well be power boaters. After anchoring in Mandraki we headed into town to do some souvenir spending and to get some more steps on our FitBits. Jessie picked out a nice new linen shirt for me, now I can look like an authentic Greek. 

The walking streets of Corfu Town

We had lunch in town and we were thrilled to find the best burger place in Greece (so far)! They were amazing...very hard to find a decent hamburger here - souvlaki and gyros no problem, but burgers are usually frozen 1/4 inch patties with 4 inch buns. 

The burger joint...

The burger. 

After shopping we went back to the boat, made a dinner of BBQ sausages and salad, then to bed.

We bugged out of Corfu Mandraki in the morning as we decided to spend some time in less travelled areas. The Lakka, Antipaxos tour is special but very much oversubscribed. Also, the less that we’re willing to do some “out there” things with the boat the more that we become the Chicken Littles that often populate marinas … you know the type, the cruising sailors that don’t want to go very far, sail in much wind or take a challenge. We came across a few of these in Gouvia. Live-aboards with 6 inches of growth on the bottom, no sails in the rigging and more than a little eccentric.  

We put our big-boy pants on, weighed anchor and decided to find a place along the coast that looks good. We went past a few bays and settled on Kalami – turns out we were there almost exactly four years ago on August 1, 2013 on our way back from Croatia. We ended up powering all night racing against thunderstorms and it took about 10 hours longer than we had figured. After about 30 hours of powering we pulled into Kalami and went to The White House restaurant for breakfast. Four years later, life repeats itself… except for the 30 hours or so that we spent powering was more like 3 hours. 

Jess is dealing with both being parented by a ratio of two:one and also that her friend Hugh went home. She has a heat rash on her legs so she is hiding from the sun reading books and watching the occasional movie until it subsides.  

Marina and I left her below and went out for a SUP paddle and a swim, and then we beached the SUPs to walk through town – if you can call 100 meters with a half-dozen storefronts a town. We encountered many friendly people and went into a tourist store where the proprietor invited us to go for a drink at her bar above the Super Mario store for happy hour that evening. That sounded good to us … then we thought we might have dinner out at the White House restaurant … beats cooking on board. 

Taverna White House

That afternoon we each had a workout in the cockpit and got good and hot before diving in the water. There must be a spring or some kind of cold-water influx into Kalami since the water temperature was around 24 degrees … better than perfect conditions for Vancouver, a little bit chilly for here. We were anchored near Calypso of Cowes, a 70 foot traditional ketch with a British Family on it. 

Calypso

Marina made friends with the captain as our boats drifted to within 5-10 meters of each other when the wind dropped off. Our solution was to put the boat into reverse to stretch out our chain while letting out another 5 meters or so. Problem solved.

After another swim and cocktail hour appies and drinks, we pumped up Bonnie and headed into the White House dock. We told them we were going to take a walk and we went to the Kalami Bar above the Super Mario supermarket for Happy Hour. Turns out we were the only ones there … funny, bars that are so much fun when they’re full can seem quite pathetic when empty.  Then the owner that invited us to come arrived with her 8 month old puppy “Scooby”, a mixed breed dog of about 25 kilos with short brown hair and a handsome face. 

Scooby

Marina and Jess are missing Kida so went to see him immediately. He was very orally fixated biting and gnawing everything he could. If you ask me, his bite inhibition could be a bit better (ouch!) but it was pretty good for a dog that was on the street just a little while ago. 

After our happy hour drink we went to the White House and got a waterfront seat for dinner. 

Our view from dinner...Tara is the white sailboat at centre. 

The entertainment was watching a Pershing 54 powerboat (very sleek) with twin 1200HP Mann diesels move off the dock to anchor out. The moment he put the boat in gear it shot off like a rocket – I’d guess he idles at about 10 knots, so to maneuver he had to go in and out of neutral with these incredible bursts of power. Boy I’d like to see that baby run full-out. Apparently, they cruise at 35 with a top of 45 knots. Hmmm … get to Lakka in 45 minutes. Leave Lakka for Lefkas and be there in an hour … sounds good to me. I’d guess his fuel curve might be worse than that of Tara’s slow cruise though – 2 liters per hour vs. something like 500 liters an hour …slight operating expense differential!

We managed our way back to the boat safely and got everything sorted for an overnight stay. 

Time for Gardiennage and Water Up in Gouvia Marna

My alarm went off at 05:05 and it took me a minute to figure out what was going on, since I hadn’t heard an alarm clock for a few weeks. I padded out of my room and there were Jess and Hugh getting ready to leave the boat. Hugh finished packing, then Jess unpacked his shoes and socks (“Hugh, do you want to wear shoes on the airplane?”) and put them in his pack so he had them ready to go. Hugh pumped up the dinghy, we gave them last minute instructions on what to avoid and off they went. I tracked them into the marina and then headed off to bed. Jess decided to accompany Hugh to the airport and then grab a cab back to the NAOK marina. 

I was back in slumber-land when Marina woke me up saying that she can’t text Jess, so could I remind her of the name of the Hotel she needed to get a ride back from the Airport to.  Jess’ text back to me was “Yeah I know … I just don’t know how to catch a taxi … there’s a long line of cars but nobody in them”. I suggested she knock on a window as it was likely that they were just sleeping in their cars at 05:30. I heard her get back on board around … I have no idea what time, who am I kidding, and fell back asleep. 

Sunrise as Jessie got back on board. 

The rough plan today is to head over to Gouvia Marina for a night tied up tight as the weather is going to get windy, do some boat maintenance and gardiennage (fancy euro-word for boat cleaning) and maybe try to get off the boat for a day or two of something else, to help Jess adjust to being alone with her parents for the next couple of weeks. 😳  We pulled up anchor about 0900 and did the slow tour to Gouvia. Wind was already up to about 10 knots as we entered the marina. Nothing to the seasoned crew of Tara. Ha ... complacency set in.  The nose was getting blown right and Jess did a great job with the roving fender and I was watching Marina haul on with the laid mooring while the boat is nearly touching at the back. The fender is on the wrong side of the transom ... then I sucked the mooring line into the bow thruster. Go figure, something new. I reckon the Ormeggiatore felt a little sheepish as he was handling the line so he buggered off quick as a bunny as I jumped into the slightly ugly water and cut the mess away. Turns out it was a small piece that jammed into the blades of the thruster. No wraps. I showered off and we got into some serious boat cleaning, managing to use a lot of water to spray off the decks and clean most stuff off. We (Marina) vacuumed and wiped up inside, then I sat on deck for an hour while filling up the water tanks with 600 litres of very slow running drinking water -- thanks to the older British couple on the Bav 36 Serendipity for the extra 20 meters of hose we needed. Meanwhile a Kida look-alike ... not really a doppelgänger but black lab with a blaze on his chest, a little smaller than Kida but a very nice lad named Harry, happened by. 

He was recently adopted by Mary-Lee ... an American, likely service person that had been in Afghanistan, Japan as well as Greece. She's living in the marina on an older 40' Beneteau that looked like it hadn't left the dock in a while. Harry was a rescue ... apparently someone abandoned him near the marina and she adopted him. He was very handsome and equally good natured. He'd be a total keeper. I cannot imagine what the owner must have ben thinking to let him go. I also think living full time on board with a 30 kilo dog would be nuts unless your boat was 30 metres long and you had a full-time cleaning staff.  

Harry settled in the shade on his boat. 

Back to Tara ...the boat is good for another couple of weeks ... which is one of the things that we are trying to figure out ... what the heck do we do for the next couple of weeks?  We have a little boat maintenance to do, and we need to do some off boat fitness so that we don't all become tubs-o-lard. We did manage to walk to the grocery store and around the marina for the first 10,000 step day in quite a while (Marina did 12,000)... 😢). After a quick swim at the pool and Greek hamburgers -- all bun and no meat -- we went back to the boat for cocktail hour .... then out for dinner at Harry's Taverna 1912 where we had a terrific waiter that was really chatty (it might have been Harry himself). 

We had a nice time with him and learned a little more about Greek culture and politics. Funny, he's concerned about the Greek-Albanians, nearly a million of them that are taking the jobs of Greeks... if I could change one thing world-wide is to get humanity off the zero-sum-game thinking. The problem with jobs is not someone else taking them, is a general need for more. Making me poorer will not make you richer ... as we innovate, whether in service, product, or other value creation, that's how we all become better off.  Looking for someone to blame? Waste of time and you'll miss the point. Work hard, hustle, add value. After dinner we walked back to the marina ... by the flush toilets ... one of life's 'little pleasures', and back on board Tara. The wind was still pretty strong but nowhere near the 25 or so knots we had during the afternoon. We're such a cliche... the moment we get onto the boat it's a race to get ready for bed and crash. What party animals we are.

Muertos to Corfu - Hugh's Last Night

What a lazy morning. I slept until 09:30 and finally got out of bed as the kids and Marina were swimming. We needed food and water so we pumped up the dinghy, added some gas to the motor and Marina and I headed into town.  We went for a walk on the quay and spied a golden lab puppy on a 30 foot powerboat. We then selected a restaurant for breakfast and the all important morning constitutional. Breakfast was a tad pricy at 25€ but we got coffee, steamed milk OJ, toast, eggs and bacon -- which in Greece is kind of a blend of back bacon, regular bacon and prosciutto ... that would run you $18 at the Tomahawk in North Van, so maybe it's not too bad.  We then hoofed it to the grocery store where we loaded up on drinks and fruit & veg, dropped by the bakery on the way home and then back to the dinghy. 

Titanic...Tara...it's all the same. 

We pulled up anchor and headed north to Mandreki harbour on Corfu. We started off sailing but the wind pooped out so we pulled the kids behind the boat on the SUP and then we let out a long line and jumped off the side -- even Matt did it (he always feels like bait hanging off the line like that). 

SUP surfing!

Man down!

We offered Hugh the chance to ride on the SUP behind the boat by himself but he’s a wily bugger and saw that we might just keep on going if he fell off :-). 

Jumping!

"Fishing"

We pulled into Mandraki right at 17:00 — and since it was 5 o'clock here, I had a beer. The kids went swimming and then lounge-lizarding on the forward cushions while I caught up on email obligations. We showered and dressed for dinner, being our last night out. We pumped up poor Bonnie again (we really should get to fixing the leaks) and then piled in and tied up at NAOK which is a yacht club for dinghy racing in Corfu — full of activity as the Optis and Lasers were being put away when we arrived. There’s a nice cocktail bar / disco above the Yacht Club so we went there for a drink … I still have an issue with $15 drinks but … hey, we’re in Greece. 

Cocktails with a view of Tara in the background.

Then we wandered around the beautiful old-town of Corfu, looking at this and that. Marina “forgot” her wedding rings so she’s talking about getting a Greece wedding ring. I guess after 25 years she probably deserves it.

We meandered through the streets into a square where we sat down at the Olive Tree restaurant for dinner. We shared a number of dishes and appetizers and managed to knock back a fair amount of local wine. 

We then did some more shopping and people watching, then to the Corfu Palace Hotel & Casino to ask for a taxi to the airport for Hugh at 05:30. We made the longish trek back to Tara all in one piece and offloaded onto the boat. In spite of being Hugh’s last night on board Tara we were all in a good mood and bade each other Kalinita, knowing that in 5 hours or so we’d (Jess and Hugh) need to get up to go to the airport.