Just back from two very HOT weeks with Mr H on the boat in various bits of Greece. Very pleased (and relieved!) to report that it’s been a waaaaay more enjoyable two weeks this year than the two we spent on board in Croatia last summer.
Main reasons being that we both have a better understanding of what the other would like from two weeks on the boat. H is no longer trying to turn me into a full-on sailor (no, it didn't go so well last year..) and I’ve been doing the bits that I can happily get done, feeling much happier now that the pressure of being a full on salty sea dog is off.
Also massively handy that there’s been almost no wind for the last 10 days. I much prefer a calm, flat sea, no tipping, nothing flying across the boat, no hours of bash, bash, bash, slapping against the waves. Although still plenty of rolling back and forth in an airless sweaty cabin at night.. Not so great for H who obvs loves sailing, but in 7 weeks away he will get plenty of windy time, hopefully. Having said that, the first 2 days it was too windy to safely leave Corfu Harbour so we stayed put, bouncing away on there waves just outside the Old Town. Corfu was actually much prettier than expected and our first meal there turned out to be one of the top 3 off the trip.
It was then pretty hairy as we headed south in the still-windy weather, going through this one narrow sea passage at the top of an island where they lift a road bridge every 2-3 hours for only 10-15 minutes (like that’s going to work!) for boats to pass through. Must have been 40+ boats waiting in both directions, none with much control in the gusting afternoon winds, hence there was a massive surge (same as at the airport when they announce boarding) of boats all trying to pass through the eye of a needle before the bridge came down again. Wacky Races carnage! We luckily avoided being hit by wind-stricken boats, but many didn’t…. I'm rather pleased that it won't be me taking the boat back northwards again at the end of the trip.
Anyway it’s ended up being a fairly serene time of getting up, pootling under engine to the next island or bay (anything from 30 mins to 5 hours away), arriving there as most boats are heading off so plenty of anchoring space, then reading, swimming, making ham and cheese wraps, popping the odd Diet Coke or Mythos beer, swimming round the boat for exercise (some days I did less than 300 steps according to my phone!) and sunning on repeat for several hours.
Interspersed with trips to shore in the dinghy to get provisions, more drinks (much needed in the mega heat) and the odd ice cream. Then dips and nibbles – tzatziki for H, houmous for me – with drinks and the ice cubes I carefully remake each day. Bbq suppers or meals ashore and then rinse & repeat.
The water quality in the smaller bays has been delightful, the full turquoise water, sandy bottom and anchoring with only a metre or so beneath our keel. We've been to Corfu, Sivota on the mainland (for shelter from the wind), Lefkada, Paxos (heading then past the amusingly named Anti-Paxos!) and finally to Kefalonia for me. Oddly, Greece didn't have ANY sandy beaches, mostly small pebbly ones, but with a pair of water shoes on we could swim ashore for a beer at a little taverna, then swim back, if we didn't want to get the dinghy out.
At least H reads all the navigation charts and apps properly, unlike the three boats in a row the other morning that all badly hit a submerged reef at the centre of the exit of the bay we were heading into, from the side, which is reef-free. Such an awful juddering and scraping sound as they hit it, then try and prise themselves off it…. and astonishing that, having heard the first one from a hundred metres away, the next ones did exactly the same thing.
We ate a lot on board, from bbqs to feta & lentil salads. Only found a few decent meals on shore (and several quite crap ones!) but did tick the usual boxes of black cuttlefish risotto, garlic prawns, chicken gyros, lamb cutlets, lightly fried courgettes etc.
After several months of being in Spain, in Harrogate, at the cottage, at Fi & Rich’s, out of the house during the tennis rental, at J&Rs and now here, all of which have been really good, it is now SO nice to be back home and being able to settle in for the rest of summer.
H is away for another month so I have lots of nice bits lined up and Mads & I will have some girl time together. A friend, Helen, is staying for a few days at the moment with her little dog, Scout, so I have some company for now.
Hopefully I’ll even stop rocking back and forth soon. One of the effects of being on board so much is losing your on-land equilibrium. Most embarrassing when I was at a little bar table with H on dry land and I thought the decorative bottle on the table was about to fall, so squeaked loudly and lunged to catch it. Turns out the bottle hadn’t moved at all, it was just my balance had a wobbling moment – yes, I felt like a right plonker!
The next time it happens, with any luck I'll have had a cocktail or two first, to justify it.
And one very good thing is that I am writing this from the hairdresser. The boat has a major downfall in that the second I set foot on it in the Med humidity, my hair turns a strange colour and starts heading outwards and upwards – I don't think this is quite what they mean by chic boho beach hair.. so in another hour my yellow straw head will, thank god, finally be gone!
Happy rest of summer, everyone x x