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We stayed in Votsi, a very small protected harbour, for 8 days which might be a record for us. The main port of Patitiri (in Alonissos) was a short dingy ride away. There were a few windy days but we were super well protected. The water was crystal clear. I bought a new starter batteryContinue reading “Votsi, a Marine Park, a Mama-Mia beach and Volos!”

Last night at 3am I was awakened by shouting from outside. The winds had picked up, and shouting in a crowded harbour is never good news. Anchoring in harbours is an opportunity to observe humanity operating in a free-form environment: there are no rules. You find a spot and you drop your anchor. This isContinue reading “3am: Trouble in the Harbour”

Skopelos was beautiful. Crystal clear water, not too much wind. The only issue we had was the taverna on the beach which was expensive and taking advantage of tourists (charged us 6 euros for a small plate of onions). Clearly this was a fleecing operation masquerading as a place to eat. After a few daysContinue reading “Skopelos to Alonnisos: little pieces of paradise”

Agoi Apostoli Bay in Evia was a very nice spot.  We had the bay to ourselves most of the time (probably because only idiots would come here from the south ), and we had our very own sea-turtle in the bay!  Even though there was supposedly outside wind we felt almost none of it inContinue reading “Evia to Skopelos: Smooth Sailing”

Batsi, Andros was a great anchorage for holding: our anchor was totally buried in sand on the bottom, but we were both getting tired of the high winds. The winds were always higher than the forecast and some local terrain was not blocking but enhancing the wind. Saturday was a day where the winds wereContinue reading “Batsi to Evia: Try not to scream”

We left Syros on a day forecast to have a very rare thing: winds from the south. We are heading as far north as we can this summer. Winds in this area are almost always from the north and sometimes very strong. We would absolutely take advantage of favourable wind. First we had to getContinue reading “Syros to Andros: Thanks for all the fish”

We had friends I’d known for 40 years on the boat (does that mean I’m old?) for about a week. It was nice to have help with the anchor and the dingy and motor. We moved around more than we usually do, since they had a limited time to see the ‘less touristy’ Greek islands.Continue reading “Beautiful Syros”

We stayed in Astypalia for just over a week. It is a perfect spot to hang out. Eventually we needed to head to Ios, which is about a 50nm trip (say 9 hours) north-west. We wanted to wait for the best possible winds, but we needed to be in Ios by the 19th to meetContinue reading “Astypalia to Ios”

I was surprised we had not left the marina yet, but May was unusually cold and wet for Crete, and we didn’t want to leave with crummy weather. We had a terrible rainy Friday, but then the rest of the week looked good, and most importantly we had east-west winds so we could sail north.Continue reading “And…..we are off!”

This is a picture of the Genoa Furler Motor from above. The Genoa, or JIb (there is a technical difference) is the big sail at the front of the boat. There is a control in the cockpit that lets me take in or let out the Genoa immediately. The lines holding the foot of theContinue reading “Genoa Furler Motor Adventure”