Susie sets sail

Catch up...

Where does the time go? I can't believe it's a month ago since i last blogged. I also can't believe how fast that month has gone.

We have squeezed in so much. One event where people have been very generous was on May 29th. Over the months people have been donating and raising money to help Mark and Maureen who I mentioned in an earlier post. Mark was paralysed in a tragic accident in March and is now back in the UK at Pinderfeilds hospital in Wakefeild.

He’s making slow but steady progress but will be wheel chair bound from now on. Mark is a very intellegent and get up and go guy. He wont take his dissability lying down beleive me.

A group of close friends decided to have a race and all proceeds go to Marks fund. It wasn’t just the Brits who took part but Greeks, Irish, Scottish, a Cornish person and several other nationalities too.  

Kevin, myself, Bob, Big Tony (TT) and one of the Greek lads ,Gilley (can’t spell his name but that’s how it sounds) set out the starting marker. The day was perfect, warm and breezy.

Hmmm i think i was down below getting the guys a beer when Keith took this one.....

The race started in Lefkas and went to the halfway buoy just outside Previsa. It was then a qick as you can manouver and  leg it back to Lefkas.

About thirteen boats took part, some old veterans and a few youngsters. As usual there were favs but I always like to cheer on the underdog.

As they got underway the more experienced jostled on the line, tacking port and starboard and all working to be first over the line and on a good track.

Waiting for the gun for the off is always exciting and the time when a few T bones, scrapes and swearing goes on.

Gilley suddenly let off a blast on the horn warning everyone they had five mins to the start. Being on the committee boat meant we had a great view of the mayhem. Another blast and they were off, heeled over and cracking along.  Time to crack open the beer soak up sum sun and wait for their return.

Unfortunatly about an hour into the race the wind went and there were talks of abandoning the proceedings, a couple did retire but the competition amongs some of these guys is second to none and no way were they retiring. Although the wind eluded some, others found small pockets and sailed home in good time.

All these sailing pics were taken by Little Keith, photographer to the rich and famous.

 

This is the old veterans boat with a young backup, they came in first....Well done Jungle.

io 

The presentation evening was great. Lots of people Brits and Greek had donated prizes for the raffle. I'd done a cartoon and had it framed. Having looked at the list of prizes i had already chosed what i'd like. Forget the holiday villa for a week, a day sail on a super yacht, a fold up bike, scuber gear and the nice sailing jacket, I wanted the paragliding. How cool must that be to throw yourself off a cliff attached to a nice young man........

Guess what.......................................... I won, second ticket out of the hat and the first one the people weren't there. There was no hesitation i bound up with a smile as wide as the Vikos Gorge and selected my envelope. Am i mad?............yes.

Some of the motley crews taken by me on my little Panasonic so excuse the poor quality....

Above - Jungle

Above - Izola

Jane, hubby Shawn and Bob

This is Linda one of the organisors and great friend to all.

Tony and Liz, they chose my cartoon as their prize so i had to add their pic.

It was a lovely day all round and every one their attended for the support and love of Mark and Maureen. We hope they find strenghth in their time of need, we're with them every step and push of the way.

Love to you both.

Oh nooooo the last thing i wanted....

Was a kitten...........For three day's we have been aware of a kitten crying onshore, today the 15th of May Carol and i still hearing the awful crying decided to investigate. We traced the crying to a bush and when we pulled back the branches a small ball of fluff and claws shot out, I managed to catch it and stuff it in my rucksack. After a very nerve racking transfer to a box we took it to the boat for a better look. We think it's about four weeks old and although in good condition it's very scared and with eyes like saucers also very cute. Ollie is very intrigued by the mouth bite sized puss. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.....

Up anchor..

May 4^th and at 10.30 am I'm at position  38°41.4 - 20°42.1 we pulled up our anchor to start our real season of sailing. Our destination was a Abeleki Bay on the island of Meganisi 30°39.9 - 20°47.3. Well sail is not quite right, we motored.

Blue skies and sea, just a hint of breeze and we made our way out of Vlyho bay and towards our first real anchorage.

As we drifted into Abeliki  bay there were just a few boats  at anchor and three boats tied ‘stern too’ to the shore. These three had obviously made camp here, one even had what looked like a make shift conservatory on the fore deck and a bee hive on shore. I did wonder if it was illegal plants they were growing but as nothing other than sun power was used i decided it was probably tomatoes or something similar.

Of course a walk and rekey was on the agenda and we set off in a shower of rain. Up hill, down hill, up hill and down till we reached another inlet called Vathey. 

Charter boats tied up to the local quay were fendered off amongst local fishing boats draped in nets, buckets, plastic boxes and other fishy stuff.

Neat piles of red fishing nets sat on the pavement while small shops selling everything from sun hats, to reading glasses, aubergines and oranges.

Little tavernas with  their sun bleached chairs and bright blue table clothes dappled by the overhanging plants spilled out along the water’s edge.

Every shade of blue through to turquoise sums up Greece. Sky, sea, wooden window shutters left to weather in the sun, fishing boats whose reflection is almost mirrored in the still waters sea.Painted terracotta pots full of geraniums and trees with their white painted trunks to stop insects devouring their fruit. Blue and it’s many Mediterranean shades has become my favourite colour.

There are interesting and beautiful caves, Papanikolis is one of them, named after a submarine that sheltered there during World War II.

The sea here is amazingly clear and you can see clear to the bottom, small shoals of different fish dart around causing a swirling mass in the water. Today we have a sort of ring tailed bream and another stripy one with a forked tail sheltering under the hull of the boat.

By the time we returned to our boat via the hills I was ready to collapse and by 9.30 ready for bed. Being a night owl this is very unusual for me and I put it down to sun and hill climbs and the fact i no longer have Porto on my doorstep.

Painting is one of our must do’s this year, so having selected a subject i set too. I’ve been procrastinating, i pull out all my painting gear and set up then think, hmmmm I’ll just have a cuppa.

Now sat in front of a blank piece of A3 paper hmmm, now how should I tackle the subject,  perhaps i should lie in the sun for a while and think about it. Two hours later and a rather red face and a few other red  bits i sit down mask of my paper, pick up my pencil and at last start drawing. Why is it so scary making that first stroke of a pen?

Time to go...

Having spent the evening in the Porto bar which has become my local over the last four months,  i said my goodbyes to Nicky, the forever smiling barmaid. An evening with Flash, Sharkey, Jane and Joe ended with us going back to Flashe's boat to sample his famous chips made in his special chip maker accompanied with Sharkey’s chilli.

It was sad not knowing when I would see them all again so this was a sad time for me. I’ll be seeing Flash during the summer as I’m boat sitting for him this winter on Andreas and will need to learn what all his knobs and dials do.

Flash belongs to a group called ‘Perverts in leather’ so enough said.

Joe is off cruising then possibley returning to the UK or Holland for the summer and Jane will be staying close by as husband is arriving on the 25th May.

Sharky is returning to the UK to get married however, Kevan and Lynda who are resident at the marina will be here when i return in the fall.

There are many others who now reside in Lefkas who I’ll see when i get back. And lots who have left to sail off towards Turkey for the summer.

I’ve also left behind my NEW bike, 'Fanny 11'. Although new to me 'Fanny 11' has had two other owners, Kevan and Jane. It’s a hand me down and i love it.

Before i left i went on a few bike rides with Jane, TT (tall Tony) all 6’7” of him, and of course Flash. As you can imagin it took some keeping up, not are they all much younger than me they are also fitter and i found the muscle commonly known as gluteus maximuse, boy does it ache. Although hard work and a ten mile slog, i felt great, i did this run three mornings on the trot and  wish i’d had the 'grown up bike' with big wheels all winter.

We wanted to be underway by 1100 so with just a few last minute jobs, tank filling, sorting lines etc we cast off on time. A few last shots of the marina as we motored past and a sad goodbye.

I’ve had a great four months here but we now have a summer of new adventures and new friends ahead of us and possibly meeting up with old friends at some point.

I helmed us up towards Vlyho which is to be our base for this year. Our first night at anchor was strange and i didn’t sleep well, different noises to the ones i’ve become accustomed to had me waking up every whit and while.

The anchor chain grinding on the bow roller, feeling the boat moving differently and the silence all make for a very different experience from being in the marina.

Sunday May 1^st is the 2^nd anniversary of our living aboard and as we were busy we didn’t celebrate it on the ist but Monday we decided to make it a memorable day. Breakfast in the cockpit with the sun beating down we decided to go for a walk around this large bay to the other side from where we are anchored.

The small olive groves are abundant with wild flowers, fig trees, lemon and orange trees and the smell from the honeysuckle, jasmine and other fragrant plants and trees is amazing.This corner had us confused which way do we go??

Looking down over the bay where Wildbird sits on a blue still sea gave me one of those moments i needed to pinch myself, am i really doing this or will i wake up and find myself in Cornwall looking at the clock and getting up for work. 

We wondered  up hill and down dale and eventually came to a lovely restaurant/bar on the waters edge, it was stunning. Large pots of geraniums left dappled light on the stone floor and small boats reflected back in the still deep blue water. It’s so clear you can see the fish swimming about.

Grape vines and wisteria shelter us from the sun  on overhead trellis, large lemons hang from trees, little tables with blue tablecloths, sun scorched pale blue chairs with raffia seats and Greek music playing in the background all help towards the ambiance, i could have sat here all day watching the world go by.

A Susie Valentine moment, where is my Tom Conti???

Across the bay the mountains rise up and dotted here and there clinging to it’s sides are a few houses with  tiled terracotta roofs. It’s here we decided to have our celebratory lunch, a selection of traditional Greek food washed down with wine in Carols case and water in mine.

Although we had planned to walk to the headland, having sat for a while and eaten and supped we decided to mosey back instead of the steady pace we had taken on getting here. This time we would savour the flowers, take pics and just saunter.

By the time we had gotten back to the boat we were both wiped out. Although it’s barely May the sun is hot and even though we were walking in dappled sunlight i bare the dreaded white strap marks already, and the owl eyes due to wearing sunglasses. This now means I have to make a conscious effort and frighten the local wildlife by revealing my white bits so I don’t look like a tanned zebra.