End of an era.

And now for Andros…
It’s going to be another long day and it starts off breezy again so two reefs go in and a little headsail out and we are soon powering along towards Andros.
Again thunderstorms threaten but come to nothing and instead drive us along to maximum speeds of 8.56knts!! Fantastic sail and we enjoy every minute of it!
Gaviron Harbour on Andros turns out to be a lovely place and great for watching the ferries dance about each other while we drift about at anchor.
On shore we strike up a conversation with a local shop owner. Yannis turns out to be a smart young guy and the first Greek we have every met that has travelled extensively. Speaks and writes Japanese fluently as well as several other languages and has been forward thinking in opening an organic and local produce shop on the quay side. Needless to say we are surprised to see several boutique beer brands and set about sampling them. Yannis tells us he is keen to go to NZ and pumps us for information. Apparently he tried to ask the last kiwis but they got so drunk they couldn’t speak. Why doesn’t that surprise us!!? In turn we ask him about Greece’s financial woes. As usual it is dodgy dealings that are suspected and politicians don’t go out anymore in Athens for fear of being killed; “the word scandal doesn’t even come close”. Yannis’s main concern is that the military will get involved. On the islands you don’t really notice anything and the Greeks are studiously trying to keep it secret from the tourists but in Athens it is mayhem. With VAT going up to 23% on the 1st July all the Greeks are content to put their heads in the sand and hope it will all come good in the end and in the meantime act as if nothing has changed. Not sure this is a great plan but it wont really hit home till winter if it really does start to fall apart. It has been an interesting insight into Greece as it really is and the next day it doesn’t surprise us to hear all the ferries are cancelled from Athens due to a last minute strike.
We are sad to only be able to stay one day in on the island as Yannis tells us it is really beautiful and has some great sights but we have to push on as we have people that want to view the boat on the other side of the Corinth Canal. We will definitely come back to Andros again.

Sou Sou Sounion

We intend to get to Sounion today… but as usual it isn’t meant to be. First we have no wind then its right on the nose! We pull into Makronisi Island instead and spend a quiet night at anchor. A bright and early start sees us (well Murray actually as I go back to bed!) pass Sounion in the romantic morning light and after a motor, motorsail and a good sail we cleave our way through a huge school of tuna and weave in and out of frigates on some sort of exercise before turning into Aegina Town. As detailed before Aegina Town is its usual madness and we have ringside seats to the anchoring dance. In the morning we watch intently as the previous day anchoring attempts are unravelled or as in two cases abandoned as too difficult; both anchors and associated chains are ceremoniously decanted and left tied to the quay. Do hope the diver recovers them before the next lot try their luck! We are off to the Cornith today and again no wind. After a motor and a wee sail we end up at the canal just in time to go through. With super efficiency (yes we are still in Greece!) the paperwork is dealt with in five minutes and after a near miss with a rude powerboat driver we head off into the canal. What a cool experience!! (138euros worth but still cheaper than going around the Peleponese again) The canal is an amazing feat of engineering and hopefully will continue to pay its way as it would be a real shame to see it closed due to lack of funds to maintain and dredge it.
We pop out the other end and decide to push on to the Zoodhokos islands.

No wind…
After a lovely night drifting about at anchor we motorsail up to Omos Vereses. The gulf of Corinth is really lovely. Lots of trees and interesting scenery. Shame we have to rush through but we will put it on the “to be revisited” list! O. Vereses turns out to be rather open to the thunderstorms that develop in the afternoon and poor old Mae slam and bangs about for a hour or so until the thunderheads finally collapse.
No wind again today and we motor slowly down to Galaxidhi. It’s a lovely spot and the quay has been recently renovated making it a perfect little yacht harbour… again we curse having to keep moving but we need to meet the potential buyers further up the coast.
And so off we go again the next day… motoring along cleaning and sorting out the boat… Trizonia is our stop for the night. The island is an interesting if odd place and certainly not the cute little harbour we were expecting. (Each year the numerous earthquakes it experiences move it 2cm closer to the mainland.) The “marina” is still just pontoons and a large wooden ketch has sunk right in the middle of it all. Apparently there are five boats in total lying on the bottom… just jolly!! We tie up and head off to do some washing… what a rip off 10euro a load and they don’t even dry it… needless to say I am not please and there is plenty of muttering while I decorate the boat with washing. In the morning we chat to Tony (old bloke that does gardinage here). He tells us the “marina” is still designated an anchorage and that if a boat gets into difficulty and starts to sink they aren’t allowed to do anything unless they have a contract with the owner. Once they asked the port police if they could drag a boat out of the berth and beach it at the very least but were not granted permission… it now lies below a nearby catamaran. Not somewhere I would want to leave my boat!!
No wind again!!... We are meeting Dave and Pat in Nafpaktos today so we head off early so we can get into the harbour. It turns out to be a great move. Nafpaktos is an amazing spot. An almost circular 2000 year old tireme harbour as tiny as it could be. We are the first boat in and we turn in a tiny circle and park up next to the coastguard rib (makes a great passarelle!)… best spot in the harbour. Unfortunately Dave then texts to say the car has broken down and they can’t make it… all that cleaning gone to waste! Never mind we chill out in the harbour watching the world go by and three other boats anchor up. Suddenly its “hello Key West” and Dave and Pat turn up. Excellent! They hop on board and we do show and tell for ten minutes then we leave them to it. Ten minutes later they catch up with us in the café absolutely smitten. After a bit of umming and ahhing Dave announces they want to buy her and as they realise we wont probably want to negotiate at this early stage they will pay full price! Needless to say we are pretty stunned but accept their offer instantly! Job done except for a test sail and survey. We agree to meet up in the next day or so for a test sail and sort out the rest of the paperwork and details… wow just like that!

Testing times…
The next day after climbing up to the fortress over looking the harbour and still in shock we head off to catch up with Pat and Dave. We transit the Patras bridge mid morning (an amazing structure that floats ethereally over the water) and then engage in a “race” with a Hanse 38. 15 miles of tacking to windward, and we still manage to hold them off… Nigel and Tor (the owners) are most impressed and agree if Pat and Dave had been on board they would have been blown away but again Pat and Dave are having issues getting to where they want to be and took a wrong turning and ended up in Mitikas rather than Messalongi! We agree to meet up in two days time in Mitikas.
After pottering up the coast it’s the day of the test sail and the weather gods have turned and 6s and 7s are forecast. We make a brave attempt to reach Mitikas but in the end decide to pull into Kalamnos. It gusts nearly 30knots of cross wind as we pull in and we park with style and watch the fun and games as others (including a flotiila) battle up and into the harbour only to find ever decreasing space and difficult winds. Eventually George, the local taverna owner, has everyone sorted out, including the rafts in the entrance and we all settle down for a peaceful night. One day Pat and Dave will get to sail to boat!!
Bright and early the next day we head off to Nidri (taking no chances!) and pick up Dave and Pat. Not much wind today but they enjoy their sail and motor and are happy to go ahead with a survey and buy. We can’t get over the number of boats that are out and when we see Giba Ferez Keith and Denise tell us it has become absolutely manic since we left two years ago. We motor over to Tranquil Bay and anchor among the 50 or so boats that are already there.
We suddenly realise we are parked in front of a kiwi boat so we make friends and end up having a good look round an Amel Santorin. Maurice and Heather (from Rangiora!) are off around the world after 4 years in the med. We promise to keep in touch and head off up to Lefkas to sort a few things out before the survey in Preveza Marine.
Lefkas hasn’t changed much other than the price of the marina had gone up and the Riva Bar was gone!! It seems funny to call on the phone and reserve space and have the marina staff remember the boat… I’m sure that will stand Dave and Pat in good stead in the future. After a meal at Fortina and Lolo’s place we drop off the VHF for repairs and take Mae up through the canal to Preveza Marine. It is really strange to be pulling out the boat part way through the season and we are most unprepared but it goes smoothly enough and although the leave us at a rakish angle we are happy to leave her there for a few days.

End of an era
And so it was that the boat was surveyed, (the surveyor thought she was fantastic and if they didn’t want to buy her he would), and we spent a night in Zikas Hotel in Preveza. The end of an era and it all seemed to happen too fast and too slow at the same time. When she was re-launched we just couldn’t wait to get off but didn’t want to leave at all. The best thing we could say is that she was going to a nice home and we trundled down to Tranquil Bay to spend a last night on board.

(A small amusing aside here was Murray “pulling” a lonely Englishman whilst taking a dip… I don’t think Murray will swim alone again and who would of thought an Englishman would have been that comfortable stripping off to the buff in such a crowded harbour!)

For the last hurrah Murray and Dave spent a long and smokingly hot day motoring back down to Messalongi for the big handover.
It was a sad end but a bit of a relief as well and we contented ourselves we the knowledge that at least we got some great sailing in and we did get to see all the places we wanted to in the Dodecaneses etc.
So long Mae… happy sailing!