14/07/11 Well we stayed the night in the cove in Paros, went to the town by small ferry the next day for supplies and a look see.











All small narrow streets reminiscent of Naxos but no where near as historical.





Prices were up with the best, 13 euro ($26 nz) for Jenny and I to have a cold drink, coffee for me and a icecream lemonade for Jenny!

I will have to put a stop to Jenny's drinking! Seriously though prices were such that we limited our purchases to essentials and returned, light of hand, to Elixir.







Happy hour came and along with it a visit from the team off a charter yacht with 4 NZ's on board.







Birthday Girl doing what girls do best, opening presents!

Night time was upon us so we upped anchor and moved over half a mile to be near the orchestra.





The full moon rose over the horizon as we ate our tea on deck and then came the music and a return of our new found friends. We drank wine and listened to the music for a while then me being a complete peasant fell asleep for the rest of the show.


I do believe however that birthday girl Jenny had a great day and saw the music out to the bitter end.



16/07/11 06:30 we haul our anchor and quietly leave all the other sleeping boats as we putter peacefully out of the cove.
Main sail up and reefed genoa and we are off hard on the wind again for the 40 nautical mile bash to Kithnos.


Arrived Kithnos at 13:00 and set about tidying ship. We found a great anchorage and settled in for the rest of the afternoon and night kicked off with a swim and lunch.

Another beautiful evening under the full moon with now a plethora of various yachts from super yachts of some 200 feet over all down to very small sailboats of say 25 feet. All were having a great time with lots of laughter, swimming and banter.

17/07/11 03:30 We lift anchor and head out, destination, Poros (not to be confused with Paros of 24 hours ago). No wind, flat sea, motor at 2500 revs doing 6.8 knots. 40 miles to go again.

Girls stayed in their bunks and enjoyed a sleep in as the flat sea meant the motion was minimal. Engine noise does not seem to keep either of them awake. David and I duly ate our breakfast of cut up fresh fruit, cornflakes and plain yogurt as we swished through the water and watched as several cruise ships came out of the darkness and disappeared back into oblivion.





Late in the morning we enter the sheltered waters of Poros


We immediately try to find a suitable place to moor alongside



Coming back from the paperwork and ready to put to sea again












But not before drinkies!











Late morning and we are moving on, as it is just too polluted to swim in the town basin



Small island just out of town looks great for lunch and a swim before the long haul to the Corinth Canal where we plan to anchor off overnight before traversing it in the first light of tomorrow.









Calling in at a small cove for happy hour. Olives, rum, wasps that sort of thing.







Approaching the canal as the sun is setting. Impeccable timing once again. Now to find an anchorage and get tea on.



A quiet little meal at the end of a long day.



Just a bit of the old campfire gazing before going to bed for the night. We have an early start in the morning.





Before you enter the canal you must go to the Canal Control Office and pay your dues. We pull alongside and Ted and David head off to get the piece of paper.









We are not allowed to enter until the ship that is being towed has entered and we must follow her. This is difficult for us as she is being towed at 4 knots and we find it hard to get Elixir to go that slow so must keep going in and out of gear to compensate and to slow down.









Even though David and I had been through this canal before in 2008 it is just as impressive the second time and of course we are now going in the opposite direction.











Hand and foot holes dug into the walls to support the weight of ancient slaves carrying up the soil from the excavation still fill us with awe and a feeling of overpowering sadness for all those pore soles that must have ended their life in misery right here.









I get the same feeling like I had playing in the drains on the farm back in Hamilton, New Zealand as a kid! The toys have just got a lot bigger!





The bridge at the Corinth end submerges for us to pass over it and we are at the finish of the canal control area and head off the 33 further miles to the little port of Andikira.





Andikira is a picture perfect lovely little port with strong military links and well worth a stopover. Tomorrow we move further into the gulf to moor where we can leave Elixir and travel by land to visit the historical sites of Delphi.
That is it for now.