Lipso, Kalimnos, Kos to Symi ...all islands leading to TURKEY!!!

The weather wasn't so good for a few days but as always if eventually changed in our favor and we we were off again, this time to Lipso. Sometimes we never know were we might end up. Today was one of those days. Joseph had a plan for a few places and depending on how we did sailing we would choose our over night stop. The weather was good and the sail was great. Below are the three of us in Lipso.

  

We had a great meal that night... and cheep, a big plus in Joseph's book. The following day we headed to Kalimnos a large island. The weather was great and we had another good day. It was a quick stay and we were gone again the next day. I did not take any picture because i must confess I did not get out of bed when we left the port. It was too cold and Joseph let me have the morning off!

We headed to Kos... at the entrance we were met by the Greek navy!

Next morning we walked around town. We had seen a castle at the entrance and decided this could be a good distraction during our morning walk!

 

From the top of the castle we watched a very large motor yacht leave. It was impressive to see the control they have over the boat and it helped that the crew were cute! All blonde haired Brits!

 

The anchor did not set in so we had to move and we ended up mooring beside a Dutch couple. 

 

Mr Q and fiance Karien on their boat after a great night of food and drinking... we weren't sure they would make it out of bed :)

  

We headed for Symi knowing the weather window was closing.We have to make it to Turkey!

Winter hats...uhhggg!

 

Entering the main harbor of Symi town... quite the picture ! 

Been  meaning to take a picture of this for a while. Notice the lack of a child seat :)

 

A special Birthday shout out to my favorite oldest brother DOUG...you look fabulous for 40!!!

Happy Birthday, you have much to be grateful for...beautiful wife, 4 great kids, and an awesome sister...hahahaha

Hope everyone at home is healthy, happy and safe! next blog....TURKEY!!!!!!!

Tinos to Ikaria

In the morning the weather was perfect to face the long 65 NM to Ikiria. This would be the longest distance we had left to do in one day. The day started out great and by mid afternoon we were doing a steady 6.7Knots which would cut down the time greatly. We had planned to be able to do 5 !! We tied up in Ikaria a little late as Joseph likes to slow down in the evenings to try and catch some fish. No luck !!!

 

In the morning I took some pictures to show the spot we found. The locals were fantastic. Not sure we would have taken this spot without their help. A mooring had been laid for a larger fishing vessel that was no longer in the port ... so a nice spot for us because there was a lot of wind coming...

 

Before we left a local fisherman stopped by and gave us a bag of oranges to thank us for visiting his Island ... they were quite tasty! The people in Greece are as kind as the people in Portugal. They always will help if they can and are really genuine with their kindness!

Greece after Corinth Aegian, Lavrio, Kithnos, Siros and Tinos

Upon, leaving the canal we headed for our first Island of the east coast, Aegian. The weather was beautiful and with all the excitement I forgot to take some pictures. This island is popular with the people from Athens as it's not that far for them to travel.

Next morning we were off again. Some bad weather was predicted so we headed to a safe harbor for a night or two. Lavrio on the main land was our destination. We made it in record time and tied up for the night. We experienced 40 MPH winds for two days. We ended up staying for 3 nights, nothing to exciting but a great place to stop. Below is a picture of a few other boats that used the place to hide out.

 

 We usually eat on board but in Greece this is hard since eating out can be cheaper than eating in. But the menu at this local place nearly put me off eating... :)

The weather cleared and we were off again, another island another day :) This time it was Kithnos. We had one hell of a trip... but at least the wind was from our back most of the day, but the last 2 hours was a beat into some of the steep waves that are famous here in Greece. We made in safe and sound... see below!! A picture from our morning walk.

  

 In the morning we woke up and decided to go for a walk. As we rounded the corner we heard the guys below ... they have a very interesting control method. They tie their feet together to stop them from jumping fences and running away...

 

Our walk finished at a church. We stopped in for a little while to say a prayer and thank God for the help so far and perhaps for some more favorable winds :)  

As previous... as soon as the weather gets nice we are on our way again. This time to Siros and then to Tinos. We are rushing a bit knowing that we have all next summer to slow down and enjoy the islands. We first stopped in Siros for lunch and a break then later we continued to Tinos for a good nights sleep.

 

 

Corinthian Canal

So, we woke up next morning and made our way to Corinth. A town on the west side of the famous Corinthian canal. A German cruise boat had pulled in overnight and in the morning as we passed by they were getting a paint job! See the crane below (cherry picker)

 

The "sail", quotes as it was mainly a motor job, saw a 6 hour ordeal and mainly none eventful except that we passed a US flagged vessel going in the other direction... we had met a Canadian vessel earlier in the week. This was a little unusual ... but good! The picture below shows the boat ... shes a little different as she doesn't have any "rods" holding the mast up. They are free standing... for better or worse :)  

 

We arrived at Corinth and decided to go food shopping. We needed a few things so off we went. Below is a picture of a rabbit... ready for cooking... not something you see everyday!

  

 That night we headed into town, and came across a bowling alley. We decided to play a few games. All was going well until my "irritated asshole" started to cause me a little pain. My game went down hill from there and Joseph won. It was time to call it a night as we had a long day the following day.

 

 At around 7am we called up Corinth canal for directions for entering the canal. This was the first time since Amsterdam that we had to get directions or permission to pass through something. The first bridge which is lowered into the water to allow us to drive over and enter the canal... we were on our way!

 

The other end, tied up and safe... We paid the bill, 170 euro and we were on our way again... 

Birthday celebration in Galaxidhi and Itea Greece!!!

So we left Patras early in the the morning and headed to Itea. On route we tried our hand at fishing... some new lures on hand ... but no luck. A last minute decision and we changed course for Galaxidi, a small port 5NM (nautical miles) from Itea.  We got a prime spot... we were the only visitors in town... but not for long. The following day we woke up to a Canadian boat in front of us ... what a surprise! They had sailed across the Atlantic from Canada, been to Ireland and then to the med. More interesting was they were coming from where we are going Marmaris Turkey. They couldn't say enough nice things about the place! Which is very reassuring.

We headed to Itea that afternoon in order to rent a car.  My birthday was the following day and Joseph had planned some R&R... but we needed a car... this seemed impossible to organize online. The bus ride was very interesting. We saw things I'm not sure we would have seem in a car and of course the people interactions can be so funny. We had the car for two days, so we could run a few other errands ... Joseph always has a few... but never tells me until we are on the way to do them... he claims he need a translator :) I guess that me :)

We headed back to the boat from dinner. We were leaving the boat for the night because we were heading to Delphi. We had dinner in a nice taveran and the owner helped us find a guide for the following day. It's unbelievable the number of cats in the town. Here is a picture of the latest addition to the family. They are even welcomed into the restaurant !

I woke up on the morning of my birthday to Joseph singing happy birthday to me. Now as you know we are living within 42 feet of one another all the time and he still managed to collect two little cakes for a morning surprise. The night before he also took a couple of boxes of matches.. not something he would normally do. Look closely... matches as candles... he tires :) So resourceful!

On entering Greece you are required to obtain a permit to sail, it's called DEPKA. The night before we tried to get one but the office closed at 2.30pm so the first task after the birthday celebrations was over to Itea to see if we could get one. After waiting 30 minutes for the office to open this customs officer appeared. Now the process was anything but simple! We filled out the paper and it seemed that something wasn't right ... but in the end he gave us what we thought we needed. He asked for 60 Euro, we paid and were on the road to Delphi.

The drive was interesting, we saw fish farms... shanty houses, but the highlight was when we came over the top of a hill, a flock of sheep were standing in the middle of the road... what a sight :) Phone camera at the ready...

We arrived at Delphi, this small town at the top of a big hill. The typical village we had come to know here in Greece. We had a delicious lunch and then we were ready for the the tour of the ruins. Our tour guide, Vicky was fantastic. We certainly would not have gotten as much out of the place without a tour guide. Earlier in Italy we missed the opportunity to hire a guide for Agrigento and I believe we missed out.  Every country believes its the center of the world or the greatest place, and the Greeks are no different, they even tried to prove it :) We had a great day and I can honestly say we learned a lot. The sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi extends over a series of terraces in the foothills of Mount Parnassos, between two enormous rocks, called the Phaidriades. For many centuries it was the religious and spiritual center of the ancient Greek world. According to tradition Delphi is the geographical center of the world, the omphalos ("navel"), the meeting point of the two eagles dispatched by Zeus from the ends of the universe to find the center of the world. The tour was fantastic! You have to Google more or go there yourself to find out more... I think we will do more tours in the future.

With the tour finished we set out to do the parts of the day I wanted... a soak in a bath and a message. I was in for a little more! The hotel was beautiful and the message was fantastic. The girl also gave me a facial. I was finally getting relaxed. Next it was a soak in the tub .. Boat life is great.. and when the water is 85 ... we have the biggest bath tub... and while the air temperature has not dropped off to much the water temperature is no longer the bath tub we came to love in Spain. 

It's off season here in Greece so for this hotel it was between seasons as they ski close by in the mountains. The hotel dinning room was closed so we headed back to town for dinner. As the picture shows, we had the place to ourselves. The food was great. We ordered steak and rabbit. Yes the fury pet ... The steak was the biggest I'd every seen. I think they could feed a small island with it. There was no way we were going to finish it. The rabbit was a sweeter version of chicken. It's not uncommon to get a free dessert. It's not unusually sweet but this was quite nice. Pear and honey. Joseph ate his... but I was full! Then we headed back to the hotel. We had great internet so I was able to skype with the Jacobis and the Memphis Kranzs and of course my birthday buddy..MOM! I also listened the Red Sox on the computer...Go SOX!!!

the view from our hotel...soccer fields!

We had been told about a monastery  that was worth a stop on the way back to Itea. So that was the plan for the morning. I forgot to mention earlier that on arriving at the hotel we were greeted but the lawn mower. Yes it's a donkey! The hotels owner's father keeps his donkeys on a piece of unused land beside the hotel. I tried to pet one... but he didn't seem too friendly.

Sun set from the hotel room

 

In the morning we headed for the monastery. It was a 30 minute drive... we knew we had the right place when we saw the tour buses. We were told that we could probable just join a tour. But we figured this wasn't going to work here as it was a Japanese tour :)... I think we might have stood out.

The place was beautiful. It was in tack as the pictures show. 

beautiful alter...

The strangest sight was a casket of the saint that founded the place. The body and in this case the hand was clearly visible. WILD!

 We were told that the route home would bring us over the mountains and the views might be amazing. Itea is the picture... the picture doesn't give the true magnitude of the mountains. 

 

In the morning it was on to Corinth, the town at the head of the canal...