Day 334 to 337: 14th to 17th May - GREECE!!!!

Monday 14th May

We decided to do school ashore under one of the marina pagodas while Patrick serviced the engine. The kids took some time to play at the teeny tiny playground while I got set up and then both worked reasonably well for a while. AJ had had enough really quickly so he went back to the boat to help Patrick with the oil change whilst Esmé and I continued.

In the afternoon the kids took advantage of the marina wifi while Patrick and I used the knock off Go Pro to check the prop. We had been motoring a little slower than expected in the crossing, and the engine was running about 5 degrees warmer than normal. It looked pretty fouled so we decided to enquire about a diver to clean it up.

In the evening I had had enough of the rolling in the marina so voted for eating out. In the end we decided to be kind to our budget and got take away pizza to eat in a small playground we had found, then back for another early night as we still weren't firing on all cylinders after our 2 night crossing.

Tuesday 15th May

School was delayed as the diver arrived just as we were setting up and we all wanted to watch. The kids were really interested in the weight belt he was wearing and the guy was really lovely with them, even breaking off from cleaning the prop to fetch a seahorse he had spotted so they could take a look!

School work followed, using our new points system where I list a number of tasks and assign points to them. The points then get transferred into minutes of electronics time they are allowed! I try to provide more tasks than I expect them to do so that they can have an element of choice. So far it is working quite well.








By this time I was quite tired and getting ratty with the kids so Patrick took them for a walk up to the lighthouse which they seemed to enjoy!

Wednesday 16th May

We had decided to delay our departure to Greece until after lunch  and sail overnight as there was supposed to be still a bit of left over chop in the morning and none of us were in any hurry to repeat the lumpy sea we had had on the way from Syracuse. First job was a couple of loads of hand washing before filling up the tanks with water. I then wrote lists of schoolwork for the kids to get on with while I went shopping, although Esmé decided to do school later so she could shop with me. The shops here are small and expensive but eventually I had provisioned for 3 or 4 days and we returned to the boat. After stowing the food I cooked burgers for a big lunch so we didn't have to cook under way at tea time. We relaxed a little in the afternoon before filling the water tanks and motoring over to fill up with fuel. We had used a LOT on the crossing over.

We finally left for Ereikoussa (where we knew another kid boat would be) at about 5pm. There was small breeze at first so we enjoyed a leisurely tea under sail and took advantage of still being in mobile range to talk to family on a video call.

 We finally put the motor on at about 8pm as the sun set, by which time AJ had already appeared for the night watch hot chocolate!

It was a busy first watch with lots and lots of boats out and about with no AIS so I needed to be alert the whole time. Esmé kept me company as usual for a good while before finally disappearing at about 11pm. About 10pm I had to wake Patrick to take the mainsail down as it was flogging but we kept the mizzen up for a little stability as usual. It was around this time we were again joined by dolphins, such a lovely sight!

Feeling guilty that I had had to wake Patrick a couple of times whilst he was off watch I kept going until about 1:45 am but then was struggling to stay awake so got him to take over. Having got downstairs I then couldn't sleep straight away and eventually settled down about 3am, only to be woken again at 6:30am as we were arriving!

Thursday 17th May

Patrick and I rested for a while although neither of us could sleep, and then one by one the kids woke up and spotted the kids on the boat next door out and playing. It was lovely to meet new friends and having finished school super quick they are currently out playing on the paddleboard, having lots of fun!