We decided to head up to the Blue Coast for breakfast but figured we should take our papers to the Port Authorities first. Of course we forgot some necessary papers and had to go all the way back around to the boat and back to the office again. She charged us for three days…we are only staying for two nights, I suppose it is semantics. Regardless, it was only 7 Euros so who are we to complain.
We meander over to the Blue Coast restaurant and had eggs and bacon and the most amazing sausages. As we passed by we noticed a beautiful fishing boat… a fishing boat like the type we are used to…. wait a minute…That’s a Grady White! A 26 – 28 foot Grady White! What’s it doing here!?!? So here we are…we are in Greece, the architecture is reminiscent of Italian (it’s Venetian)…. and all we hear are British accents, and there is a boat made in Richmond. It is all very strange!
After breakfast we stop in at the bakery and pick up some fresh bread before heading back to the boat. Maintenance crews are mowing the knee high grass and repairing rockwork around the quay. There seems to be a bit of a buzz in the local air and we think it must have to do with the increasing number of charter yachts. Tourist season is almost upon them….foreign money is arriving….
It is still quite cool, there is a breeze that has a bit of a chill to it. We grab the cameras and a light fleece and a pack and head up a path for a walk. Once away from the water we are smoking hot and off comes the fleece.
We find a path to a beach and walk along the waters edge. The water is still cool, about 19 degrees. We can see the old Venetian Monastery in the distance and decide to see if we can navigate to it. We pass the tackiest of water parks situated in a lovely bay below the Monastery and think to ourselves…”WHY? Why would you come to the Mediterranean to go sit in a tacky tourist spot and use a chlorinated pool?!?”
As we walk the road we see the top of the old Monastery above the trees and find a small goat trail through the brush. We poke our way through and think…there is probably a driveway in and here we are bushwacking to get to it…. Kirk in front to break the cobwebs for me, but no, this is Greece and there is no sign, no road, no real access to the ruins. We are alone with the crumbling walls. We take a few photos and pick our way back out and along the road.
A sign points to some place called Sand Beach Bar. We take the road down and pass a few Brits who tell us it is closed. We think “Awesome! That means no one will be there!” We are not totally correct. There is a sailboat anchored in the bay just off the shore. We plunk ourselves down on a wall and enjoy the magnificent view. I think I am finally relaxing into the holiday. Deep sigh……
We wander down to the far end of the beach and find a rock to sit on and just take it all in. A lone fellow cones down the beach to a spot roughly midway between the path we entered on and where we are. He looks at us for a few moments and puts his pack down. Kirk says… “A local come to enjoy the sun?” I say “Great…as long as he doesn’t strip” I really should learn to keep my mouth shut! Shortly thereafter his shirt comes off….he bends over and Kirk says “He’s wearing a thong!” I didn’t need to know that! But a moment later….the thong comes off!!!! Now what?!?! I feel held hostage…he keeps looking towards us. We see a small path through the scrub and decide to take an alternative exit. A short trek through the olive grove and we are back on the road and walk back to the harbour.
Once back we see that almost all of last night’s boats have left. We are virtually alone. But not for long. The next wave is on its way. A Mega Yacht (BC terms….small for here) arrives and drops two anchors about 300 feet off the quay…exactly what weather did he hear about that we didn’t???? It IS true that we have been watching a dark cloud over the hills above the town….and listening to the sky grumble all afternoon…. but it seems that the weather stays relatively stationary up there. It tossed a few raindrops on us in the early evening, but it doesn’t seem to be developing further. The Gods of Old just seem to be asserting their presence.
A couple of boats came our way to the new harbour and we assisted them with their docking. One was a pair of English, the next thanked us with greetings of “merci beaucoup”! They probably saw our Canadian flag and mistakenly (sadly) assumed that we were bilingual. I actually am embarrassed that I can communicate so ineffectively in French and think that perhaps I will take a course in conversational French. Why is it that we regret the decisions that we make in our youth. As a teenager I thought I had no use for French…now I wish I had it. A woman on the boat we assisted comes down to watch the entertainment (we are sure that we will provide equivalent entertainment for others eventually….) and says to us “You are from Canada?” Kirk says he feels like saying….”No, we are American but fly the Canadian flag because Americans feel safer flying the Canadian flag than their own” We think better and just say “Yes, from Vancouver” and leave the sarcasm in the inner voice……
We thought the town would be quiet tonight since few boats had arrived by 5 pm. But this seems to be a late day and one by one a large number of boats from the company Sailing Holidays has come in. Two boats have come in side towing another. We hope we don’t end up in that position. About 20 boats from this company have taken over the quay. All the boats in the new harbour (where we are) seem to be private, or private charters. We are still happy with our vantage point. The fishing boat comes back and looks annoyed that all the private boats are still here. The sky is still grumbling some five hours later….and showing no signs of ceasing its complaints. The sky is thickening, darkening, and lowering, the hills are going to disappear soon we think…….and the rumblings are coming closer…..we are happy with the enormous size of the bimini on our boat, and the fact that it overlaps the dodger….we are also…….shockingly…… happy to be at a dock….snuggled under a blanket…glass of wine in hand….thinking about making a risotto and a salad for dinner…. life is grand! We have sampled the bottle of three-twenty and find it quite palatable. The books say that many of the local wines are superior to the imports from the mainland and we seem to have found one that is quite nice. And again it is in a 1.5 L plastic water bottle. We think this may be the one we will stock up on and again are happy it is in a plastic bottle…less opportunity for breakage.
Eventually the sky wears itself out with its mutterings and the clouds disintegrate. This seems to be the norm here right now. It is clear and cool in the morning, the air warms in the afternoon and the clouds build over the mountain. A localized thunderstorm builds in the early evening, and then it quietens overnight.
We are too lazy to walk around to town and visit the internet cafe and instead turn in at 2130.
Tomorrow we move on.
1 comment
Beautiful photos Paige! Looks like you had a perfect day!