A
few weeks ago we were swinging gently at anchor in a bay off an uninhabited
island in the Cyclades; the salt was drying on our skin and we were sipping
g&t’s in the soft light. Our friend Jenny had just joined us; the weather
had been settled for two days, and we were in what we felt was the most
beautiful bay we had been in all our months of sailing. A speed boat, clearly
the tender to a much larger luxury motor yacht, drew up alongside – a
surprising occurrence as these luxury boats generally ignore the small sailing
boats. “Where are you from?” the leader asked. When we replied South Africa, he
shook his head in wonder. “HOW the FUCK did you find this place? 99% of Greeks
will go their whole lives without knowing it existed……..I find you excellent!!”
And off they went.....
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| Paliagos (Goat) Island |
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| Moon sinking from the boat at Paliagos |
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| The startling blue water off Paliagos Island |
......and
so, 2 months into our sailing this year, we find ourselves pretty excellent.
Jenny spent 9 days with us, and we sailed from one pretty Cycladic island to
the next even prettier island. It was some of the best sailing we have ever done
with mostly glorious light winds, mostly at our backs. We explored the
villages, swam in incredibly blue water, braaied on the back of the boat and
got the most out of Pegasus. This was what I had imagined it would be like! But
she left on Sunday, and the winds picked up and we take shelter yet again for
the next big blow.
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| Sunset looking over the magnificent caldera of Milos |
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| Eating watermelon on the back of the boat |
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| White volcanic rock on Milos with remarkable shapes carved out over millenia |
After
reading the last blog, our friend Charl commented that he had only just
realised that we were not actually on holiday, but we were living on the boat.
Henry and I had just been talking about this – in three years, we have been
sailing for a total of nearly 1 year! That's a sizable chunk of life! What we
don't write about is the day to day stuff that consumes us - washing clothes by
hand in buckets at the back of the boat, always rinsing frugally as water is so
scarce; sitting in wi-fi hot spots to catch up on work and life - a lot;
scrubbing the boat - strange winds have been blowing from the south dumping
half the Sahara on Greece and Pegasus - and the few spots of rain we have had
are muddy; preparing the boat to sail and cleaning the bilges and engine –
every time we are about to sail, fixing the toilet; helping other boats to moor
(Henry is brilliant at this); splicing ropes (Henry is a master at this, they
look so beautiful when he has finished them!); preparing Pegasus to sail, researching
endlessly the mechanics of getting a black water tank fitted; researching where
we are going to winter the boat….and on the list goes.
Things
we love:
The
Greeks who continue to surprise us with their spontaneity and friendliness
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| After buying pork chops, the butcher cleared a space on the fridge, chopped up a cucumber and cheese and plied us with Tsipoura (like Grappa).... |
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| ..an hour later we reeled out after being showered with hugs, kisses and gifts |
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| Dimitri the revolutionary - wanted Henry to join him to march against the Troika |
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| These men at a traditional ouzerie, one severely handicapped, stopped all passing children to give them sticky sweets secreted in their pockets |
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| Architect/ Engineer Nicos who we met while admiring his small hotel, drove us around Ios, showing us some of his favourite sites - more of this in July sequel.... |
Terazzo
floors
Ferries
Braaing off the back of the boat
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| Cleaning fish for the braai |
Sailing
with the wind touching our cheek – for those in the know, a beautiful broad
reach
Village
sausage, stuffed tomatoes...
Anchored in a bay on a quiet evening
....Lamb
kleftiko
....Grilled
octopus
....Cheese pies with honey
....Cheese pies with honey
The excitement, anticipation and sometimes anxiety of sailing into new harbours
Buying
fish from the fishermen in the early morning
Being stuck in beautiful places while the wind rages - and having time to fall in love
Churches, churches and more churches
Whitewashed
Cycladic cubist houses and alleyways
Signs - hand-painted (or not)
Traditional fishing boats and fishing life
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| Traditional wooden windlass for pulling boats onto the beach |
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| This old man rowed his grandson slowly round and round the harbour - for the sheer pleasure of it |
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| Mending nets - and socialising - in picturesque Naoussa harbour |
Meeting
fellow sailors and travellers from all over the world – mostly just passing the time of day,
sometimes developing a friendship
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| Nic, Helen and Oli from Aus who sailed with us for a day |
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| Jenny and Swedish hunks who entertained us into the wee hours |
Swimming
off the back of the boat
Being
rocked to sleep when the wind and the swell is gentle
Cafes and tavernas
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| Ouzo and meze |
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| More ouzo and meze |
Exploring ancient sites
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| Kouros statue in Naxos, lying in the quarry where it fell and broke a leg more than 1500 years ago |
Varied island life and architecture
Sketching in beautiful places
Things we dislike:
Being
rocked violently from side to side when the wind is up and the swell rolls in
Electrical
wires criss-crossing beautiful villages - and ugly modern architecture
Plastic
water bottles - everywhere
Quarrying
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| Marble quarry on Naxos - magnificent in a way, but awful |
Noisy
scooters
Night
clubs on the quay that stay open with loud music and rowdy revellers until 5 or
6 in the morning
Other
sailors who don’t help us to moor – sometimes a difficult thing in windy
conditions with only two of us
Boats
(always bigger than us) who force their way into the narrow space next to us on
the quay, pushing us skew and making us vulnerable
The
same kind of boats who drop their anchors thoughtlessly and cross ours, causing
mayhem in the harbour
