S/V Good Morning Vietnam: October 2019

Hi All,
I'm finally getting around to posting about the second part of our "vacation". After our three days in Athens we finally got to the real reason for our trip to Greece, sailing around the Greek Islands. The Saronic Islands to be exact.

When we first discussed chartering a boat with Jay and Carol we discussed whether we should get a local captain or not. Having someone that spoke Greek and would know where the best places to go swung us over to having a captain. Knowing what we know now, we're glad we had a local captain. More on that later.

Saturday was our first day on the boat, Ageri. After ordering food, drink and other items and having them delivered, we pulled away from the dock around 6:00 PM. Leaving this late would not normally be an option as we didn't drop anchor until 10:00 PM that night. We anchored in a cove / small bay off the island of Aegina.

Sunday morning we moved to a snorkeling and swimming spot of the island of Moni. Moni is known for the wild peacocks that live there. I never did see them but I sure heard them. They were quiet until disaster struck. I was the last one of us back to the boat from snorkeling and I noticed some smoke towards shore but couldn't really see what was going on until I was back on our boat. There were a dozen or so boats anchored around us. A sailboat that was anchored closer to shore was on fire. The peacocks were screaming and it sounded like people screaming "get off the boat!" There were indeed some people still on the boat when the flames were already visible on deck. They got off and in a few minutes the boat was fully engulfed in flames. It was a sad, sad sight to see that boat burn down. We stopped one more time to snorkel on the way to Poros, where we spent the night.

Our days pretty much consisted of the following... Wake up and have breakfast on the boat. Leave the dock. Mostly motor as there was not much wind most days. Stop somewhere to snorkel and have lunch. Move on to the island where we're going to spend the night, usually arriving early afternoon. Spend some time walking around town, checking out the sites and just enjoying the beautiful towns. Eating an early dinner (early for Greece where dinner is usually eaten around 10:00 PM) at one of the many small cafes with tables along the seawall. Head back to the boat, go to bed and then get up the next morning and do it all again. If it sounds like I'm complaing about this agenda, you are mistaken. It was great.

Sunday we were in Poros, Monday in Ermioni, Tuesday in Spetses, Wednesday in Hydra, Thursday in Methana, and Friday night back in Athens.

Docking. Docking in Greece is, from what I can tell, alway stern to. That is, the stern (back of the boat) is tied up to the pier. Sounds easier than it really is. Especially in Hydra. The technique is to drop your anchor about 100 yards from the pier and then back up to within a foot or two of the pier. Someone will jump off the boat onto the pier if there isn't someone wandering by to catch your lines. Two lines are run from the stern to the dock and back to the boat. Then there is a few adjustments getting the lines just the right length and tension on the anchor to keep us from hitting the pier. Then there is Hydra, a very popular destination with very little space at the pier. The first folks to get there tie up stern to to the pier. Then when the pier is full, the next bunch of folks tie up to the first line of boats. Then the third line of boats tie up to the second line of boats. Getting in isn't too bad, but getting out can be a pain and you'd better have some patience. It's pretty much just chaos with people yelling at each other and from there it gets worse when anchor lines get wrapped around each other. This is when the decision to have a local captain ranks as one of the most brilliant decisions we've ever made.

On Friday, after our stop for snorkeling and lunch, we headed back to Athens. This is when the wind started to blow. And did it ever! We had a 50 knot wind right on our nose all the way back to Athens. At one point we were running along the shore of an island where it was obvious we could get out and walk faster than the boat. We did finally make it back to Athens and spent the night in the marina there. Saturday morning Jay and Carol headed to the airport and we spent a couple more days in Athens before moving on to part three of our vacation.

I'm tired of typing now. Let's get on to the pictures...