Gummy sharks and other tales

Vessel Name: Amble
Vessel Make/Model: Beneteau Oceanis 43
Hailing Port: Sydney
Crew: Jane and Brett Campbell
About:
Brett is a keen racer. I'm not, so named our boat 'Amble' as a subtle reminder. Herbert, our Ragdoll cat, is also onboard and, at the age of 12, miraculously turned into a sea cat. [...]
Extra: 'Gummy sharks' is a ref to my fear of dying slowly. Good to be positive! In the early days of coastal sailing I was worried about drowning slowly if I fell overboard. The thought of a shark speeding things up cheered me up—but, bother, no teeth.
23 July 2014 | Zante Town, Zakynthos
20 July 2014 | Ay Nikoloas, Zakythos
17 July 2014
15 July 2014 | Argosotlli, Cephalonia
13 July 2014 | Poros, Cephalonia
18 June 2014
18 June 2014
03 June 2014
01 June 2014
29 May 2014
20 May 2014 | Corfu Town
18 May 2014 | Corfu
15 May 2014 | Sarande, Albania
Recent Blog Posts
23 July 2014 | Zante Town, Zakynthos

Calm to chaos (unusual?!)

Here we are in Zante Town It’s a surprisingly big place, which shouldn’t be a surprise as it’s the capital of Zakynthos. Then again, Argostoli is the capital of Cephalonia and, other than great yacht and knee services (and people), not much there. Altho lots of watermelons! Great fruit and veges. Anyway, [...]

20 July 2014 | Ay Nikoloas, Zakythos

Dimitris Theodosis

It is just so wonderful to meet met men such as Dimitris Theodosis. Nothing is too much trouble for him, and although young (I'm getting old!) he's endlessly patient helping, if need be, yachties moor their boats on the town quay; his domain it seems. We even watched him row out to yachts, climb aboard [...]

19 July 2014

Washing machines, Zakynthos

Being Saturday (now that took awhile) we've been on the island of Zakynthos for three whole days. Two of which here in St Nikoloas, a tiny village of about two tavernas and a tourist shop -- and quite a few boats, caiques, that take tourists to the Blue Caves.

17 July 2014

Navagio Bay, Zakynthos

Up at dawn to sail with the tide. Or not! Up at 7 to have a cup of tea, and then leave Argostoli about 7.30 for the five-or-so-hour motorsail to NW Zakynthos. The weather's looking great, which is handy, as the prevaiing winds are from the NW so rather not get caught on the west coast in bad weather. [...]

15 July 2014 | Argosotlli, Cephalonia

Relay part for anchor!

Well, my vocabulary might not be increasing but context is. 'Relay' being my new word of the day.

13 July 2014 | Poros, Cephalonia

Octopus!

Poros is a surprisingly pretty spot. The water is fantastic. How many different types of blue are there? And greens? Fun to kayak along the sandy shores, stopping (as I'm not as fit as I should be) to admire the colours.

Washing machines, Zakynthos

19 July 2014
Being Saturday (now that took awhile) we've been on the island of Zakynthos for three whole days. Two of which here in St Nikoloas, a tiny village of about two tavernas and a tourist shop -- and quite a few boats, caiques, that take tourists to the Blue Caves.

Locals more than helpful, and how they make any money is beyond me. Papanyais motored out to Amble as we were anchoring to suggest, rather firmly, that we move as we were in the way of the local ferry. Hmmm, not according to our research but happy to go with local knowledge. So Papanyais took us to his mooring that was all of 100 metres away, saying there was no charge but perhaps to use his taverna.

Stayed the first night on the mooring, which was great. Sounds of goats and roosters and then the tourists arriving by bus in the morning. Most here to go to the caves, which we did too. Papanyais had one of his boat guys pick us up from Amble and off we puttered, just the two of us with the driver, to see the varying blues of the water as the early morning sun hit the east coast as well as the purples and oranges of the, what, fungi?, below. Really colourful.

Our boat batteries are not charging to full capacity as we don't give them enough engine time, so we decided to move to the nearby town quay that has space for about a dozen boats. It's free, along with the water and electricity. Unbelievable, but we should be getting used to this by now. Nahhhhhh! I don't want to get used to it. Anyway, Dimitris is in charge of the quay area. Another young fellow, and in return for the spot perhaps we could go to his taverna. Oh, and while there please help ourselves to the free washing machine and wifi.

I'm getting repetitive. I am repetitive! But the area is gorgeous: full of greens and blues of the sea; the people generous and kind, and the climate is great. No hyperventilating when swimming and lots of people smiling.
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