This is our last blog post for 2024. We are currently on the island of Aegina (pronounced Egg-in-a), where we have lifted SCII out of the water. This was a new experience for us, as it is the first time lifting out somewhere other than Gocek.

We have lifted out SCII a few days earlier than planned. The boat lift at the yard on Aegina is exposed to northerly winds that make it impossible to lift or launch when the wind is too strong. We had a weather window a few days earlier than planned so went with that and stayed an extra few days on the island. We had done most of the preparation work for lift-out while at anchor, including taking off the heavy sails that are 17 meters x 7.5 meters. Folding them on the deck of the boat is not easy! We were lucky to get one day in Aegina harbour, which is notoriously difficult to find a berth. This enabled us to wash most surfaces with fresh water before going into the yard, as well as cleaning out our two refrigerators and the freezer and packing things away for the winter.



Since lift-out, we have travelled around the island visiting some of the sights. This includes exploring villages on the island, the temple of Aphaia and the Monastery of Nectarious. The temple of Aphaia was built between 500 and 490BC. It is amazing the precision of the construction, given when it was built and the equipment available.



We did plan on visiting Paliao Chora which is a very early settlement on the island but it was closed because of the current fire risk. Paliao Chora has 36 small churches remaining of the original 365 (one for every day of the year). The churches reported have beautiful frescos but we could only see the churches dotting the hillside from afar. Oh well! We have to leave something for next year when we return.



Speaking of fire risk, there are currently a lot of serious fires burning around Athens just to our north. We have at times seen a lot of smoke, although most of it is not coming directly over us.

We also caught up with Jenny from Queensland who owns the sailing boat Far Away II. We met Jenny in Kos last year and she recommended the boat yard where we are wintering SCII. We enjoyed a lovely lunch with her at Souvala, discussing all thing sailing and places we have visited.



Summary of 2024
This year we have travelled about 900 miles (1600 km) and used 410 litres of diesel for the 4 ½ months. We've visited the islands of Serifos, Poros, Dhokos, Agristri, Aegina for the first time as well as areas of the mainland Greece along the Eastern Peloponnese and the Saronic Gulf. We would have liked to spend more time in the Cyclades islands on the way here from Türkiye but by the time we got to the Cyclades the Meltimi winds had well and truly set in. It was just too windy in that area to enjoy it. The Saronic Gulf has much more settled and predictable weather patterns although not always enough wind for sailing. Can't have everything!

This year there was a disappointing number of dolphin sightings and only one turtle seen while swimming - although it was a very large one. A couple of fishing lures have done quite a few miles while travelling with no fish being tempted. No squid or other fish caught but we didn't try very hard!

SCII has been pretty good to us this year. We had to get the anchor roller assembly repaired and the blockage in the cooling system fixed. We also replaced the service batteries that were only 2 years old. Hopefully these new ones last longer! Our new fridge / freezer is working well despite the challenge of working in a very hot temperatures at times. Out hottest day was 39 degrees, with an overnight low of a sweltering 32 degrees.

We still love SCII and have enjoyed our times sailing the coast of Turkiye and the numerous Greek islands. Thanks to Ton and Bram for keeping SCII in good condition in the past. A very special thank you for Ahmet, who has done all the maintenance work on SCII for the last few years. We will miss having you point us in the right direction when it comes to looking after SCII.

Plans for 2025
In 2025 our current plan is to travel though the Corinth canal to the Ionian Sea, spending May and June revisiting the Ionian islands - last time we were in the Ionian was over 20 years ago. Then we plan to head to Albania and Montenegro, which enable us to do the Schengen Shuffle and manage our 90-day visa. We think we will possibly come back to Preveza in Greece where we will winter SCII in 2025.

For now, we are off to Athens for a few days then to Bulgaria for a 2-week road trip.