We had a whirlwind week of Athens to Atlanta, unplanned visit to my dad’s in TN, Clemson graduation, and Atlanta to Athens. It all went well, in retrospect I think we spent our good luck and needed a luck recharge. We arrived at the boat with Garrett and Dave Naylor our longtime good friend and found Homecoming all in one piece after spending a lonely week at the marina. There was some big weather coming in the following day so we immediately headed out to a large harbor that, although the wind would hit us, the waves should be mitigated.

Around 3 am the anchor alarm made its dreaded siren call. Rubbing the sand from our eyes we checked the navigation system on the laptop. The boat was on a straight course out of the harbor. We had positioned ourselves so we had plenty of weather room. As in we bet on the wind direction and looked behind us to make sure there was nothing hard to hit for a while. In this case the next stop would be a fish farm on the other side of the harbor. The wind was screaming at a solid 25-45 knots with some gusts that hit in the 60’s, the night was black, we had a full tent like enclosure up that the rain pelted against, and above the din Dave asked me hows it going? “This is my worse f…ing nightmare I shouted back”. The big question in my sleep addled brain was whether there was still an anchor on the end of the chain anymore. We had to regain control so with both engines started we brought the chain in and tried to keep from careening into the port or the shore as the wind whipsawed us one way then the other. When the anchor did in fact appear over the bow, the boat straightened out and Colleen was able to steer us towards a lit up hotel and drop the anchor again, carefully, so it would set and not bounce merrily across the bottom she lined us up and slowed us down as Dave pushed the anchor down button. The boat eased back and the anchor grabbed the bottom we put out more chain than ever to help the anchor set well lest it forget its primary job. The next day we hunkered down as the wind never let up. The gust that hit when the anchor broke free was over 60 miles an hour, I had swum down to see the anchor digging in before the winds started, but not totally under, and the anchor itself had a slight bend in the shaft, we’ll never know if it was one or all these things together that set it free. We’ve subsequently changed the shaft for a new straight one, and after we drop the anchor we back up longer and stronger than ever to make sure we’re dug in. I don’t think anyones nerves should have to take the anchor alarm wake up.

The following stop found us in a well deserved quiet harbor that we could paddle board, swim and take a nice walk. A shepherd (he actually carried a shepherds crook and he was old so he is a shepherd) shepherded a large herd of goats from one field to another along the shore. The goats were followed by a group of dogs. The dogs immediately drew our attention away from the shepherd and his flock as one dog was sniffing around on a female. Before we knew it they had consummated there on the beach. The post coital bliss didn’t last long as they remained attached at the hip, literally, its a dog thing. Unable to move, his buddies gleefully jumped on and knocked him over still attached to the young lass. Us boys felt so bad imagining his twisted member. Dave and Colleen promptly made a bet as to whether they would remain attached for under or over fifteen minutes. Dave won at over, as we had made it back to the boat and had sundowners before she finally unclamped from the poor guy. Garrett will be forever scarred from that event.

Panagia is a classic fishing port. Off season the cat population surpassed people and was just starting to equalize with our arrival. A large fishing boat pulled against the dock in front of us and the captain received a warm welcome from a group on shore. They all moved to the adjacent Taverna and feasted and danced and broke plates into the wee hours. We enjoyed watching the festivities and making up back stories for the participants. Later we asked about who pays for all the broken china and the Taverna owner seemed to have never considered it, in the end he came to the conclusion that it’s all included!

The wind was with us and we had a nice sail to Eritea. Eritrea spent some well placed tourist dollars on fliers and well aimed photos depicting the ancient Roman ruins that ran up the hill away from town (heh it got us there). The reality was large placards explained piles of rocks as baths and houses and forts. In any case we had a nice hike up to the acropolis and saw the Apollo temple pile of rocks that was on top of the hill overlooking the town and harbor. It was my first big hike after the Herman the hernia surgery and I did better than expected but was frustrated with how it limited me. We also got to witness the RAF Red Arrows practicing for the Queen’s Jubilee. I kept calling them the red barons instead of Red Arrows because of Snoopy. Quite amazing seeing the jets streaking low overhead doing loops over each other and leaving colored streams of smoke. Dave found us a nice family restaurant. The owner showed us her kitchen and what she could make, undecided we ended up with some of everything and didn’t regret it. Her young son (12ish )served us as she worked in the kitchen. The little boy rode his bike in the street then dashed in to help serve the food.

We had been traveling north up an island called Evia. Basically the same size as Long Island NY with mountains and a fraction of the people. Evia is attached to the mainland at Chalkiss, pronounced hock-isss by a “new” large tall modern bridge which we glided under after double checking heights of mast and bridge. It is also attached by the “old bridge” which has an odd ceremony for passage. The “old bridge” runs into the old town and opens by sliding down than back into a space beneath the road. Many a sailor has had a long unintended stay in Chalkiss waiting for the bridge to be repaired from this convoluted design, or as with us, waiting for the bridge authority to decide to open. We paid the toll to pass and were informed that the bridge would not be opening today but tomorrow. Tomorrow night we should monitor the radio from 9pm onwards and they would call us to be ready then to proceed. At 1:30 am they started to call boats. One boat was “Nicholas Seibert” and like a Abbott and Costello routine. The English captain would say this is “NIcholas Seibert” and the authority would reply “what is the name of your boat”. You could almost hear the authority laughing as they did this several times and he would reply in a pompous English accent “Nicholas Seibert”. All the other boats seemed to know the routine and once the call started they immediately weighed anchor and headed to the bridge. We waited for the authority to call us then got ready, we were last in line so were sure to not get one of the limited dock spaces on the other side. After shooting through the passage waving to the people lining the shore, the ever helpful bridge authority announced that all north bound boats (us) should move from the channel as a “very large cargo ship is heading down the channel”, We could see the red and green lights and dark mass of the boat heading towards us and obliged by moving to the side. Green or red is okay, when you see both green and red from another boat its heading directly at you. It was about 2:30 am, it was dark, it made us laugh. We went about 3 miles up and found a place to anchor, away in the corner.

Loutra featured a hot spa by the seaside which we enjoyed. The water fell like a shower from the large boulders and mixed with the sea water to make a good temperature to sit in.
We had hooked to a wall of the fishing port and when we got back to the boat after dinner a fishing boat came flying into harbor did a Tokyo drift against the wall in front of us, a truck backed up, a ramp came down, the fishermen rolled off cases and cases of fish, the ramp came off, lines were untied, and as they shot back out of the harbor in such a rush they tossed a half dozen fish on the dock for the waiting cats. The fish must have been running out at sea as we had never seen such a tight formula one type turn around from the normal placid fishermen.

We backed into Kyrikia and tied off at a Taverna who quickly won our business by passing us a quart of the local beer. As we watched the sunset two boats that looked like they were from the movie “Waterworld” sailed into the harbor. One boat, a catamaran, had truss beams that ran from each hull meeting in the middle, there was no mast. The trusses were festooned with bikes and platforms. The hulls were plywood with a fiberglass coating so you could see the wood and the seams between the sheets of plywood. The other boat was a 1950s classic with a red hull. The boats were full of people, children and dogs. They dropped sails just short of the dock, cranked up the outboards hanging off the back, the crew scrambled around and they were tied up in no time. We ended up sharing a delightful evening (till 3:30am) at a table next to the harbor. Turns out they are a sailing circus, www.seaclown.com They played songs, sang, told us they ate a lot of chick peas, had no refrigeration, peaked in the summer months with 20 or more people, and did performances passing the hat afterwards to buy the chick peas. Everyone has a different path to the end of a dock on the end of a Greek island, this was the oddest yet.

Needless to say after our late night and early wake up by Colleen (who supplied the sea circus group with some supplies), captain crabby took the helm and it was a rough ride to Skiathos. Next day we had a nice day at a beach bar that Colleen’s Hernia doctor recommended as her summer house is behind the restaurant. We took the dinghy to the very edge of the airport and sent Dave on his way. Skiathos has a “major” airport with flights to many European cities along with its fine Greek downtown and pretty beaches we can recommend Skiathos for a visit. We had fun exploring the “Mama Mia” Islands of Skiathos, Skopelos, & Alonnisos.


Skyros a small island lies 40 miles from anywhere. The community of Skyros long depended on themselves for everything so when the ferry service was being cut back and cancelled they bought a ferry. The ferry is notable in that they crank the theme to 2001 space odyssey as they come to port in coordination with the ramp slowly opening. Skyros is also famous for its port bathrooms which are normally to be avoided at all costs. Skyros showers are clean, new, nice music, disco lights, and bubble machine (which they didn’t turn on when we were there!).

Now we have turned north towards Macedonia and will be getting as far as we can and then will turn east towards Turkey. Northern Greece is not touristy and has a spectacular natural beauty. Lush and green. Our EU visa will be up at the end of June so we will be checking out of Greece for 90 days and into Turkey. Currently we are in what is called “the three fingers”. On the third finger the Akti Penninsula it is restricted. People are not allowed to sail within a mile as it is inhabited by Monks. They do not allow any females at all and males must apply for a special permit. Back in the day even female animals were not allowed. Mt. Athos rises from the peninsula and it is said that the monks chose this place to be closer to God. The finger is lined with 17 breathtaking monastery’s over 1000 years old. The architecture varies from castles, to Russian onion shaped domes to something resembling Hogwarts. They are divorced from modern society and govern themselves from their cliff side perches.

We’ve met, had dinner, talked with probably 6-7 other couples all older and on their 3rd to 10th circuit of the Greek isles. They all had cruised other places and ended up back in Greece. One lady was quite indignant and said “why would you leave Greece?”. The Eagles Hotel California song comes to mind as our one season stretches to two, the guests are trying to get us to stay, can we ever leave Hotel Greeceafornia?