Friday 23 September 2016

WE'RE BACK. POROS, ANTIKYRA, GALAXIDHI, TRIZONIA

SAILING GREECE WITH RED RACKHAM

STOPOVER IN 39oC DUBAI
We're back in the Med. Not on our boat 'Fourth Dimension' but on our friends' boat 'Red Rackham'.

After nine months in Australia we made it back to Poros, south of Athens to meet Australian friends Michael and Anna and join them on the last legs of their sailing season on the way to Lefkas where they will winter the boat. They were in Istanbul during the attempted coup and now they, like many others are out of Turkish waters.

Time in Australia was great, longer than we thought, a lot of work, but being in our own house again, seeing friends, making new ones and knocking off at least a million house jobs that had to be done was ultimately satisfying. I completely enjoyed the gardening, planting more trees and harvesting and roasting my own home grown coffee. It's been the favourite coffee onboard. The down side was we missed a sailing season so it's great to squeeze a little sailing in aboard 'Red Rackham' before we head to Turkey to work on 4D for next season.

As is often the case in the Med, we've either had no wind, a headwind or a gale. This post and a couple of pics are enroute to Trizonia on the Gulf of Corinth. We've spent six nights snuggled in to the quay at Galaxidhi due to dramatic swirling cloudscapes, high winds and forbidding seas. Several swimming sessions a day and afternoon walks allowed us to sink in to the very agreeable pace there where the shop owners and restauranteurs were welcoming and generous. There are fascinating walks in any direction around the pretty town with a rich maritime heritage.

With a drop in the wind we headed to Trizonia, a lovely island that featured earlier in this blog three years ago. Trizonia is always a treat. The quaint abandoned marina has been getting some minor work. Three years ago all the lampposts were leaning at crazy angles with no power. Now they are repaired, straightened, painted and working. There is some strange work happening on the waterfront restaurant terrace too. In order to comply with regulations, all the permanent restaurant shade structures have now been sawn off at the ground, raised and dolly wheels attached to each post so that they are 'relocatable' even though they stay there year round and now have extra bolted tie downs. I'm not even trying to understand the reasoning.

Favourable winds predicted tomorrow, perhaps we'll see Michael's Swan cranked up and zinging.

AMBIDEXTROUS
EPIDAVROS SHORE WALK
EPIDAVROS AMPHITHEATRE

MARBLE CUTTING BOARD
UNSTABLE TIME OF YEAR. THE AFTERNOON BUILDUP
SAME RULE AS US: NO ONE ON BOARD WITHOUT GIN!    MIC IN SHOT, NO WAIT, SPEEDOS IN SHOT
BUNGEE JUMP ON THE CORINTH CANAL BETWEEN DIRECTION CHANGES
START OF THE CANAL TRANSIT
!
NOTHING TO SEE HERE, JUST A BLOKE FIXING SOMETHING
ANNA AND MICHAEL
THE ROUGH ROUTE SO FAR HEADING NORTHWEST
TAKEN BEFORE THE WIND CAME UP
OFF TO DINNER, ANTIKYRA
RESTAURANT VIEW ANTIKYRA WITH RED RACKHAM
FIG FIND, GALAXIDHI
OLD WINDMILL ABOVE GALAXIDHI
'FAIR LADY' 8 GUESTS 6 CREW.  GALAXIDHI
ENROUTE TO TRIZONIA
TRIZONIA NOW, WITH NEWLY REPAIRED, STRAIGHTENED, PAINTED AND WORKING LAMP POSTS
TRIZONIA THREE YEARS AGO. THREE AUSSIE BOATS, 'ANNECAM' 'SCARLET AND 'LATI'
THE LOVELY LEANING OVER CARTOON LAMP POSTS OF THREE YEARS AGO.
RELOCATING THE STRUCTURES AT TRIZONIA. JUST PRUNE THAT TREE BACK TO WHEEL IN THE STRUCTURE.
AWAITING WHEELS
NEW DOLLY WHEEL TO THE POST