Summer Sailing in Greece

The summers of 2002 and 2003 saw our third and fourth  sailing experiences aboard Elifthiria. In 2003 we flew via Rome while in 2003 we flew in and out of Athens.

In 2002 we met Alex and Sally in beautiful Taormina and sailed along the boot of Italy (past Crotone) and then were laid up for several days due to bad weather at the heel of Italy's boot.

At one point, the weather got so rough that even in a protected harbour, the boat rolled all night allowing no sleep ... the four of us gave up and rented a hotel room (on land) for the night! Fortunately, while the weather was rough, the food was excellent, particularly the seafood!

Finally we made the crossing over to Corfu and spent the last part of 2002's sail in and around Corfu, visiting Parga castle and I believe sailing the Ambracian Gulf, visiting the ruins of Nicopolis where Alex stole watermelon from a local farmer's field!

In 2003, we flew into Athens and then took a quick flight to Corfu to meet up with Alex and Sally who were staying at the Gouvina Marina, just a stone's throw from Corfu town.

Evenings were spent at a local bar (G&M's) with day trips into Corfu city and around the island.

G&M's was a bit dangerous as the drinks were cheap, the music loud and the owner very personable as can be seen by his joy at being with Lisa and Sally.

The big deal came a few nights into our stay in Corfu when Christos popped the question to Lisa and begged for her hand in marriage! There were flowers on the boat and at the fish restaurant where we had dinner that night. It was beautiful.

After a few days it was time to set sail and we hauled up the anchor, and headed south along the Greek coast.

The sailing was amazing! Clear water, blue skies, the Captain's Treat (ie beer) when the hook was in, Sally's amazing cooking, cold white wine, visits from fellow yachties (sometimes with their dogs) and in general a time to relax and not think about the stress of life back home.

In 2003, we sailed past Parga (and its wonderful castle) down to Messolonghi and then near that most ancient of Greek sites, Delphi (which we took a bus to). Both Messolonghi and Delphi were wonderful experiences.

Messolonghi is well of the tourist trail but played a crucial role in the Greek fight for independence from the Turks (1830s) and is where the Hellenophile Lord Byron died! In Messolonghi, we moored in the largely empty harbour and Lisa and Christos went ashore to the local town hall that also serves as a museum of sorts. The minder let us in (the door was locked) and gave us a tour of the place which included artifacts from the war of the 1830s as well as some amazing Delacroix paintings!

We also encountered a large turtle that seemed to live in the harbour, one evening we watched it make the long circuit of the harbour, surfacing every few dozen metres to breathe and look around. It was an ancient beast that seemed to reek of wisdom (or maybe just the sea).



Delphi on the other hand is a very popular tourist attraction and although the people can be a bit much, it is well worth the visit for the amazing history and ruins of the place.

We also sailed to Ithaca and Kephalonia, where the most wonderful dolmathas lured us back to the same restaurant two nights in a row. The restaurant was located just outside of town, one walked for under a half-hour up the road and dined looking out over the mediterranean sea as it swallowed the day's sun ... truly magical.

After a couple of weeks sailing with Alex and Sally we returned to Athens for a couple of nights before heading back to Canada. Christos had arranged to meet with an Athens based Greek shipping company he had been introduced to in Toronto so off we went to the Athenian suburbs early one morning ... the executives listened patiently to Christos' pitch before basically saying thanks but no thanks (they were already working with JP Morgan) and then proceeded to shower us with gifts as it was the christening of the owner's grandson and thus all were in a festive mood! After lunch with the shipping company we headed back to Athens but not before they informed us that they would have a car pick us up the next day to take us on a tour of Athens; Greek hospitality is something to behold!

So the next day a black limo arrived at our (shabby) hotel and the driver whisked us to all the sites (Acropolis and others), picking up the tab on the way and generally treating us like VIPs. What a fun day it was!