Doesn't time fly...

...I can't believe we have only be back on the boat for six weeks, it feels like we've already had a full season on board. But don't think that we're complaining, it means that it feels like time has slowed down. That may just be us, it does take a while to get used to a completely different lifestyle - or it could just be the heat, in which case, I will pour another glass of iced water and get on with this update.

Dolphins around Oxia

So, what have we done in three weeks since leaving Messolonghi. On our first day out of the marina we were greeted by three enormous dolphins, swimming and playing in our bow wake. There is nothing more wonderful to see than dolpins. They really do put a smile on your face.

View from Georges
Restaurant

On my previous blog I mentioned that our first planned stop would be to Kastos. That plan, as all plans, was subject to change, and did so at the last minute. The town quay was, unsurprisingly at this time of year, full with boats, so we went around to the next island, Kalamos and went on the dock in the little harbour. We last visited Kalamos back in 2005 when we chartered a boat in the Ionian, long before we bought Alhambra.
     Back then a very nice man met us on the dock, took our lines and introduced himself as 'George'.  He explained that he had the restaurant at the end of the dock, showers and washing machines were also available. Well nothing much changes in eight years. We arrived, George took our lines, and told us all about his restaurant, showers and washing machines. After a hard, 40 miles of motoring we decided to have dinner in his restaurant - all very pleasant.

Glassy seas on the Ionian

The next day we set off for Nidri, about 17 miles north-ish. Again, so unlike the Ionian, there was not a breath of wind - no need to even think about getting a sail out. We got the headsail out twice the previous day, but as normal, the wind went on our nose and after rolling in the headsail twice my daily exercise was complete. David and I have agreed that even if there is no wind, we should still get the headsail out so that I can haul on lines and winch the sail away, all in the name of exercise...
    
However, I digress. We arrived safely in Nidri, got a space on the Neilson dock and spent the afternoon relaxing around the very welcoming swimming pool. That night, we attended the weekly Neilson Quiz (it raises money for Sail Cancer) and is held at one of our favourite bars - The Tree Bar. All was right in the world again.
     That night, whilst catching up with friends who run the bar, and explaining we needed to take our mainsail up to Lefkas,one of them very kindly offered to drive us there the next day - this meant we could take our mainsail to the sailmakers without having to take the boat there. And so it was that on Wednesday 10th July we ordered a brand new mainsail - hopefully it should be arriving by the end of July - yipee (we think).

Since then we have met with some old friends, been for drinks and dinner and generally enjoying the waiting around for a new sail. Good friends on Locomocean, invited us to join them for dinner at a restaurant half way up the mountain, behind Nidri. Nothing special about the menu, typically Greek, all very nice and inexpensive, but the view was wonderful, as you can see.   

 

A few days later, another set of very good sailing friends on Fritha, arrived back in Nidri. They, unfortunately, are going back to the UK soon, so we needed to get a whole lot of catching up and socialising sorted out. They invited us to lunch on their boat in One Tree Bay. This bay is so named, because there is one tree in the Bay. There's a lot of other bushes and greenery and stuff around, but there is a particuarly obvious tree, on its own, in the middle of a field.

When we visited last year, it was one of the few bays that still had nothing in it. This year a beach bar has sprung up - unsurprisingly. The bay is fantastic, it has crystal clear water, perfect for swimming and you can see straight to the bottom. It has fantastic views all around, and the back drop of the mountains to complete the picture, as you can see from the photo above. However I really must get a picture of the Tree!

     We continued the week in a similar vein, lunch round the pool, drinks at the bar, dinner with friends. However, in between all this exhausting socialising, I have been making jewellery and writing my book. There are photos of the new jewellery and 'wine glass bangles' (as I am told they are called) on the Jewellery page. I have also taken my first commission for a necklace and earings set. I will let you know whether they liked it or not.

 

     Finally, I have to add two photographs of the other creatures in life that make me smile - dogs. As we left Messolonghi, a German couple, who live in Crete, when not sailing in Greece (keep up), rescued this adoreable fluff ball. It just had so much energy and bounce, you couldn't help but like it.

Then, when we were another dock for a day, opposite us, on a motor boat, a young girl arrived. In her had was the tiniest puppy. She put her down on the boat - the puppy scampered around and nearly fell off twice, overboard, then ran around yapping to her 'mum' whenever she couldn't see her. She had so much character, I could easily have 'stolen' her away. We believe there is probably quite a bit of Huskey in her, but not sure what else - either way, I'm not sure how long this little bundle of fun will stay this small.

 

That's about it for this installment. Hopefully by the next one I will be able to put up a photo of Alhambra and her new mainsail. Hopefully all the engineering issues will be sorted and we will finally be able to go sailing - properly!

 

Michele and Dave on Alhambra - Nidri, Greece