Lazy day. Not. ;)

I took the local free bus to the fish market this morning and bought a half kilo of gavros ( anchovies). Here is the bus schedule for the summer.

And here is my recipe for gavros marinados.

Meanwile, Bennett has gone with Danie on board Nanna to help him tie up to a mooring. 

Time for a coffee break. 

And lunch.

After lunch of Greek salad and gavros marinados, Bennett found the leak in the dinghy and fixed it.

All done! Now we wait 24 hours while the adhesive cures and hope that this fixes the leak.

The end of another perfect day.

Safe travels, Roane!

Roane, instead of taking the bus to Athens, found a ride with Paskal who needed crew on his sailboat.

They should arrive in Zeus Marina in the early afternoon.

Not much wind today, so motoring. 

Bye, Roane. It was very nice to have met you and thank you for all your help! And for a lovely sketch of Eidos, plus a note. Hope to see you back in Greece soon.

Calm seas.

They caught up with a French training vessel, Belem, that will carry the Olympic flame from Piraeus to Marseille.

Roane spent her last afternoon in Greece exploring Athens.

Meanwhile, I moved Eidos to a mooring in Navy Bay. Another busy day in paradise.

Day two.

Tiramisu for breakfast. 

After breakfast we pumped out the bilge, and happily both the automatic and the hand pump are working well. 

And next, spring cleaning starting with the kitchen.

In the afternoon, Roane did some of her computer work and later went for a swim, while I had a shower, a nap, and then made an omlet for lunch and soup for dinner. 

Swallowing the Anchor?

Usually, after the end of the season of sailing, I haul out my boat and go traveling. And so, last fall I decided to finally revisit my hometown in Poland. My sister has settled there and it gave us an opportunity to get to know each other again after many years of being apart. I also needed to file some documents, so that I could finally have a legal place of residence. I rented an apartment, opened a bank account, transferred my pension, joined some clubs, and reconnected with my elementary school friends. It felt good to have a permanent base. I found a favorite cafe which offered exposure to whatever sun there was in winter. I joined a local hiking group, and attended church on Sundays. 

I began to think that perhaps it was time to sell Eidos and move permanently on land. After all, I was not getting any younger. So, in early April, I returned to Greece and to my boat with the intention of packing my things to take back to Poland. 

Of course, I should have remembered the power of the Greek sunshine and the draw of the sea. I am now in limbo land where I cannot decide what to do next. I could of course follow my original plan and prepare to sell my boat. But as I look around at what has been my home for the past 20 years, I cannot seem to be able to move. I have a hard time binning even an empty jar. So many years of memories! On the other hand, the transmission needs repairing, the bilge pump needs replacing, and the boat yard owner is asking how soon will I launch. Perhaps I should get the jobs done before listing the boat. Perhaps I should stay on board to show her to prospective buyers. Perhaps I should take her back to the Ionian where some friends could look after her if I can't. I want to pass her on to a new owner in as good condition as possible so that he or she can love her the way I have. 

If I hadn't just signed a lease on an apartment, the decision would have been easy. But a couple of months ago I really did think that I would stay in my hometown permanently. I felt like, after many years of being a nomad, I finally found a place where I belong. But perhaps, the nomad in me is not quite done exploring. And perhaps it's not the right time to let go of my magic carpet quite yet.

Rest days

There was a strong wind blowing from the north yesterday, so I stayed on board all day relaxing. Luckily, this bay is protected from the north. 

Meanwhile, Justin rowed to shore and went for a scouting walk around the bay. He found another beach with a view out to sea. So we have access to three beaches if we want.

Later in the afternoon, friends arrived on another yacht and in the evening we joined them for dinner at a local taverna. Happily, the wind died down overnight.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, crafts people bring out their products to stalls near the harbour.

Honey, olive oil, hand made clothes, jewelry, soaps and more were on display. Justin bought some gifts to take home. And later we attended a play, Roots of Cotton at the Little Theatre.

We had a lovely evening and retourned after midnight to row back to Eidos on a calm night. 

Corfos to Ancient Epidavros harbour and a walk to the Sunken City of Epidavros.

Corfos anchorage. Very protected. We anchored in 10m so couldn't see the anchor but it seemed to have dug in well. 

Justin rowed to town for supplies and we had a very welcome swim and a lazy morning before sailing to Epidavros 12 nm away at 9am. 

Epidavros harbour in the afternoon before the swell rolled in. We arrived at 15:00 having motored the final part because the wind was on the nose (again!). Anchored in 13m, just east of the church. At about 18:00, just as we were thinking of heading to the village, the light SE wind brought in big swell and we rocked up and down all evening straining at anchor. Finally it eased at about 11pm and we had a calm night.

And the morning after very calm. 

On Wednesday, Justin rowed us to the village and we found a good place to tie the dinghy.

Eidos is so far away! Perhaps we will move her closer to town.

Lovely taverna near the dinghy dock.

I found my favourite cafe with comfortable chairs and friendly locals.There we met Michailis who is one of the actors for the performance on Saturday. He told us that there is a bus to Corinth at 6:30 and then a train to Athens Airport. It looks like a good place to stay longer.

And then, we walked through some orange groves to the Little Epidavros Theatre.

It is being excavated, so was closed to the public.

We continued our walk towards the sunken city of Epidavros.

Past several irrigation water pumps.

After about 20 minutes, we came to a beach which looked like any other beach but had a hidden treasure just under the surface of the sea. https://en.protothema.gr/the-unknown-ancient-sunken-city-of-epidaurus-incredible-video/

After we returned from our walk, we decided to move Eidos to the south side of the bay. We are now anchored in five meters of water with 20 meters of chain and it is much closer to row to shore. And hopefully more protected from the swell.

Galaxidi to Corinth

We had a bit of excitement in Galaxidi. Both Friday and Saturday night we could hear disco music from a local bar until about 3:00 in the morning, so sleep was hard to get. Then, on Friday there was a violent thunderstorm and downpour to wash Eidos for the second time. Saturday evening the wind picked up and my new neighbor dislodged my Fortress anchor. Eidos hit the quay until we secured her to the neighbor. I kept pulling on the stern anchor, and eventually she dug in again. Early in the morning, we untied the bow lines, pulled up the anchor, and left.

We saw several pods of dolphins along the way which was very special. They played in the bow wave and under the boat chasing us as we motored in the calm sea. 

That hill in the distance is the ancient Corinth. It was destroyed by an earthquake.

Finally, after 7 hours we arrived in the Inner Harbor of the new town of Corinth.