Yet another beautiful night in Greece has gone by, and I'm reminded that I still owe an update on our voyage.

Tracy and I departed Zea Marina in Pireaus after a stormy weekend, headed towards Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon. A very apropos start for the next leg of our adventure. We had light winds, which afforded just a bit of sailing before rounding the Cape and heading up the channel between the mainland and the island of Evia. Great day for a drive by of the temple, as we had a clear blue sky, and still cool temperatures.

We hadn't fueled in a few months, so we pulled into Olympic Marina to fill up and check out the boatyard for future layup potential. Nice spot, full tanks, and we continued north to the small town of Rafti. We picked up the evening breeze, and sailed along nicely for a couple of hours under Genoa alone. Really great to have the engine off and enjoy some piece and quiet. We anchored up off the city park for the evening and enjoyed a cool night under the stars.

The next morning, after an admittedly lazy start, we caught a south wind and sailed most of the way to the town of Eriteria. We were in a slow speed competition with a lug sail schooner about our size, and arrived at the anchorage about the same time. I got to appreciate the ease with which they dropped all sail as the turned into the wind to drop the anchor. We took the opportunity to put the kayaks in the water and paddled ashore for a freddo espresso. The town was pretty quiet, as the season hasn't really started here yet. We are pretty lucky to be here before things get crazy busy.

Continuing north, we tied up in front of our friends on Carpathia to await the evening bridge opening. The sliding bridge in Chalkis only opens between 10 PM and 2 AM, the exact timing of slack water subject to the perambulations of the town elders and the port police. The tide reverses here about 12 times a day, and they haven't managed to nail down the math to make it an exacting science yet. And not for lack of trying on the part of a millennium's worth of philosophers and mathematicians (Aristotle?). Apologies if I've exaggerated the numbers, but needless to say, we didn't know when we were going through, until we were going through.

We got the call on the VHF about 10:30 PM to be ready (which meant 'Start your engines'), and then ten minutes later to transit through. We passed through the bridge with cheering crowds on either side. No really! There were at least a hundred people on both sides of the bridge snapping pictures. I'm sure we are famous on somebody's post. That was well worth the 35 euro we had coughed up earlier in the day. See! Toll bridges do work.

After passing through, we had chosen to anchor around the corner from the main channel in a small bay that was well protected from the forecast light winds from the south. Unfortunately, we had to pick the hook back up after they forecasted 25 kt winds from the north had us dragging on a lee shore.

Knowing that I wasn't going to sleep much in that location, we got back underway and anchored just inside a small fishing harbor just after midnight. Nice quiet spot in 3 meters of water (we draw 2 m), and hopefully not blocking the fish boats looking for their docks early in the morning. Carpathia had also decided to find a better spot and followed us over to the harbor. I had a great sleep that night.

We headed north again the next morning with head winds for the first couple of hours. After that, some nice strong winds on the beam had us heeled over at 8 kts and on our way. We finished the day with light winds ending up in the small town of Loutra, where there are thermal springs to soak your bones. Not a lot of room in this port, but we got a spot alongside for the night and went looking for the spa. We chose to check out the public beach, where the hot (read boiling!) water bubbles out of the rocks and into the sea. We passed several spa hotels advertising their many different (and expensive) treatments, along with rows of Mercedes, BMWs, and Land Rovers until we found the rocky beach with bathers searching for a comfortable spot between the rocks and the water. Man! That water was hot! I spent most of my time, all ten minutes of it, sitting in a pool that had cool sea water pouring into it. And then I was done. Tracy lasted a bit longer before we called it quits, used the free freshwater shower, and headed back to the boat. I was amazed at the people that were sitting directly in the boiling water. It was just not my cup of tea.

The next morning, we continued our trip north towards the Gulf of Volos. We had very light winds until we got into the Gulf, but managed to get a bit of sailing in as we headed to anchor for the night. We chose a cool anchorage on the SE corner of the bay, near Milina. Apparently, there are several boats that winter over here, so it is a pretty good all-weather anchorage. Another beautiful sunset that I can add to my brain cells.

The next morning we had our first swim in Greece. The water is still cold, but it was refreshing and nice to be back in the water. We sailed towards Volos, where we will meet up with my sister Suzanne and stay for a bit. I have an unplanned trip back to the US for personal business, so Tracy will stay with the boat in Volos until I return.

Volos is a fairly large port in the northern Aegean. You might expect the waterfront to be set up for the sailing crowd, but unfortunately all of the berths have been taken up with resident or charter slips. That leaves little room for cruisers like ourselves, so most tied up on the south sea wall. We did try staying at one of the few Med moor stern to slips next the ferry terminal, as designated by the port police. That didn't work well due to the harbor floor being littered with a spaghetti work of mooring lines that we were trying to avoid with our anchor. After one night, we tried to adjust the anchor a bit to get away from the sea wall, and pulled the anchor right out of the mud. Since Tracy is here without me for the next week, we moved the boat back to the south sea wall for the duration.

That's about it for this post. I caught the bus to Athens at 4:30 the next morning. Tracy and Suzanne hung out and explored for the next week, and you may get to read about her adventures in a later post. When I get back, we are heading out to see the Sporades Islands. They are reported to be absolutely beautiful, so stay tuned.