Day 356 to 359: 5th to 8th June 2018 - Vonitsa, Lefkada, Nidri, ready for Athens!

Tuesday

Up, breakfasted, and considering boatschool when we got a message from Helen saying that the crew of Titania were going for a walk to visit the Venetian Fort on the hill. I quickly reassessed the morning and sent Patrick and the kids off walking while I stayed on the boat to tidy the kids cabin. I enjoyed a lovely hour or two of solitude which passed only too quickly while Patrick and the kids sweated up the hill and explored.

Back in time for lunch and a little rest before we heard the voices of Ben and Annabel who had swum/rowed over. The kids then spent a good couple of hours playing in the water before Helen and Matt came over too to join in the fun.

In the evening we cooked a whole chicken on the Cobb on board and had an enjoyable last night with the Titania Crew, promising to meet up again when we return to the UK for Christmas.

Wednesday

Up and off early as we wanted to call in at Lefkada, wind was supposed to build and Patrick was concerned about my ability to moor Laurin with  crosswind if it built up... I agreed! It took us just over 3 hours to get to the bridge which we made with 5 minutes to spare before opening time, during which Patrick and Esmé tried to suss out how to work with loom bands!

We then found an easy berth on the Town Quay and Esmé and I hiked off to buy bus tickets to Athens for Saturday before heading back for lunch. We bumped into some other boat kids and decided to stay the night as the mooring fee was less than 10 Euros for the night.

In the afternoon (after the obligatory ice cream) we did a tour of the chandleries, finding new hinges for the toilet seat, mc-4 connectors, a spare winch handle and a new halyard shackle for the mizzen.

In the evening we went for a lovely stroll, with Esmé alternating between skipping and practicing her knots!

Thursday

In the morning we had one last walk to the final chandlery where we were happy to find new coat hooks, and Esmé was mesmerised by the large array of fixings and fastenings. 

After a brief shop for a new toy the kids played for a while before we headed off, AJ helming us down the canal!

We sailed to an anchorage called either "Varko" or " Two Fox Bay" depending on who you ask. The other kid boat had said they were heading this way and it looked like a good choice, however despite a promising start, 

the Laurin kids were struggling with motivation for school work after our morning's shopping and so were somewhat delayed heading out to play with new friends on the Cat, "Altogether". In fact Esmé took so long that they had left by the time she was ready to play, cue major disappointment!

As more and more boats left the anchorage we took a second look at the weather forecast and decided we'd perhaps be better anchored near Nidri so motored south. As we approached we saw a sea full of anchored boats and took quite a while to choose our spot. I'm sure it will be even more crazy in Summer when we return with the cousins!

Friday

Up, more boatschool drama, then up anchor and on to the IBA Athos Hotel pontoon where we are booked onto for the next 5 nights. In the morning we are heading to Athens for 3 nights at AJ's request so we can see the Parthenon and head out to see Poseidon's Temple. Most of the afternoon was taken up buying picnic supplies, booking in, finding a laundry and also a place to exchange our gas cylinder before we had an hour and a half relaxation in the hotel pool!

 Now scrabbling around packing and contemplating a 6am start after weeks of not waking until 8:30 am.

Day 355: Monday 4th June 2018 - Jobs day and meeting up with friends.

We woke to a lovely calm morning in the anchorage and we quickly assigned an hour to schoolwork as we wanted to try to get on to the town quay late morning to allow time for shopping even if shops shut for the afternoon. AJ really wasn't feeling like learning so opted to read instead (potentially one of the benefits of our new "300 points per week" school regime, hopefully he will catch up later in the week.) He is somewhat perturbed that reading doesn't count as "school" but I recently read one approach to home schooling which advocated not calling anything school that they would voluntarily do anyway. This seems to work for us with reading as AJ would happily read all day and I read with Esmé at night which she really enjoys too. Both are reading well above what is expected for their ages.

We spotted what looked like a couple of boats motoring away from the town so headed over there. We did a slow drive into the "marina" and spotted a big German boat alongside the one pontoon. As we actually only needed to be alongside to pick up water I shouted across to see if we could raft up just long enough to get water.... he said he didn't understand but some other guys on the pontoon said there was space to go stern to further up. After a failed run up in astern I adjusted our starting point and did a textbook med mooring (I think much to the amazement of the worried looking guys on the pontoon). We were then followed in by another boat crewed by yet more British that had perfected the salty old sea dog look much better than I ever will, however unfortunately their approach wasn't quite so uneventful and they managed to get the anchor chain of the boat next to them wrapped round their prop. It took a long time for them to sort themselves out!

AJ and I then headed off with rucksack, bags and the granny trolley to find a supermarket while Esmé and Patrick were left to fill up with water. Patrick came to meet us on our way back and took some of the bags back to the boat, quickly packing the cold items into the fridge,  while I picked up Gyros for lunch.... definitely not as good as the ones in Sivota!

We wanted to make the most of freely available water before we headed to the anchorage so left the non perishable shopping to be put away later whilst  while I cracked on with a couple of loads of  hand washing by which time Patrick had completed two diesel runs with the granny trolley and the whole family took decidedly longer than usual showers. Note the absolute carnage, including the shoe basket which usually lives in the heads (bathroom) but needs to be turfed out for us to have showers! Last job was to refill the tanks with water before finally heading back to the anchorage to catch up with the crew of Titania, the kids eagerly looking out, trying to spot their friends that they hadn't seen for a couple of months!

After anchoring we quickly hung the newly washed clothes out whilst checking that the anchor was holding. We then dinghied over to Titania bearing drinks and snacks as well as Annabelle's birthday present and card. It was lovely to catch up and after a while Patrick dropped the kids on the island before the adults decided to grab picnic stuff and meet ashore for a light dinner.

Still more catching up, with the kids running wild over the island. Including the girls negotiating a finish line for their little sprint race! All too soon it was getting dark and the mosquitos were out in force so we parted company and arranged to meet the next day for fun and games.

Day 353 and 354: 2nd and 3rd of June - Gaios and Vonitsa

Saturday

After a leisurely scrambled egg breakfast Esmé announced she would like to play on the beach with her friends. I was somewhat sceptical as I couldn't see them anywhere but thought it would be a good opportunity for her to practice swimming. I grabbed on of our inflatable noodles to help her as it was quite a way to the beach, and then we both climbed down the ladder for some morning exercise. Unbelievably by the time we got to the beach her friends had arrived and were talking about hiring a kayak which Esmé could join them on so I headed back to the boat, by which time  AJ was comatose in the forepeak enjoying the free wifi. After a while AJ spotted E on the kayak and so opted to join in the fun with the boys by taking the dinghy ashore and for a good while the boys played together practicing dropping the dinghy anchor.

All too soon it was time for us to leave. The previous day Esme's friends' Mum had told us about some Greek Dancing they were going to see in Gaios, and the girls were keen for Esmé to come along. Also a friend of mine, Katie, from my breastfeeding days was on Paxos and would be in Gaios that night so we had a double reason to head there for the night.

As we motored out of Mongonisi we saw the most enormous cruise ship. Boats seemed to be coming and going delivering passengers ashore and Patrick remarked that it would take a long long time to take all the passengers of that big ship. As we got closer I saw that the ship was called "The World". A quick Google reminded me that this was a private ship with 165 apartments which could be bought by private individuals.... that huge ship only had about 400 passengers maximum! What I found really cool about it was the owners of the apartments on board get to choose the ship's itinerary by vote. They've been to the Arctic and Antarctic as well as loads of other cool places!



It wasn't long before we were scouting out a mooring place in Gaios, finding one right by the square and only needing a couple of attempts for the stern to mooring due to a bit of a cross wind. Gaios looked lovely and Esmé and I headed out to do some shopping leaving the boys on board.

On our return we found Patrick next door pulling their plumbing apart trying to figure out why they had a freshwater leak. He was pleased to see me as he had figured out that the connection to the fresh water pump had been sat in the leaked puddle of water and thought that I might be able to reconnect it and work miracles. Electrics is very clearly my department on board Laurin. Not because I am particularly knowledgeable, rather that Patrick prefers plumbing! Patrick had already pulled off the sodden insulating tape to find broken connections so I checked that there was still power getting to the pump (yes) and connected it to see if it worked (no). To be fair that is about the extent of my electrical ability but our new friends seemed to know even less than me and were very happy that at least they could tell the syndicate manager of their boat that they needed a new water pump. I guess it might have been fixable but we usually take the approach of buying a replacement "whatever" and then trying to repair the old one as a spare.

Once back on board Laurin I had a lovely shower with some of our precious water and then got changed ready to hunt for the place where the Greek Dancing was to be... "Genesis near the green man, along from the village square". Luckily before we left, Katie's husband's Aunt and Uncle dropped by to say hello and that Katie was on her way to see us, and they were able to point us in the direction of "Genesis". By the time we had got ourselves organised and off the boat Katie had turned up and we had a lovely catch up before both families went our separate ways for dinner.

We walked along the quayside to Genesis and quickly saw that it looked absolutely lovely. Patrick and I exchanged a look and brief words, quickly deciding that we might have to blow our budget a little tonight in order to allow the kids to follow up the friendships they had made the previous day. However when I asked about the Greek Dancing the waitress looked completely confused and said there wasn't any tonight. There was also no sign of the children's friends. We sadly started to walk back to town, telling the kids we'd have some lovely (cheap) Gyros instead, when we bumped into the boys of the families they had made friends with. They told us their parents were in the Blue Dolphin Bar and that they were having a bit of free time in the town. AJ and E looked longingly at us so we let them head off with the boys, under strict instructions to stay together. As we were approaching the Blue Dolphin we saw one of the girls who we stopped and chatted to. I then realised that I might not recognise the Mum I spoke to on the beach the previous day. We were all wearing swim stuff and people look different with clothes on! The girl pointed them out and Patrick and I continued on our way. As I approached I wasn't sure... I didn't recognise any of them... It felt very odd going up to a group of strangers asking if I had met them on the beach the previous day. At first they looked confused and then realised that they had seen our kids playing together, the lady I had spoken to the previous day wasn't there. Anyway they invited us to join them and very kindly bought us drinks after which they quizzed us on our life, and about collision regs as they had hired a little motor boat earlier that day and were unsure what side of the "road" they should drive on!



We all walked up to the restaurant and we got to know these guys a little better. Craig and his family have a house on the Island and were hosting their friends this holiday. Craig obviously knew the owner of Genesis and was a regular, in fact I think he is known as the "British Ambassador to Paxos"! No sooner had we arrived than tables were moved around and the kids were sat all together on one table and adults on another.













Very soon we were all chatting, the wine was flowing and Craig was insisting on very generously buying our meal, which felt extremely awkward but decidedly more acceptable the more we drank!






I was still unsure where this Greek Dancing was going to come from as the waitresses brought out amazingly delicious food. However it seemed to matter less as the evening went on as the kids were having a great time playing with their friends. Miraculously though, once the kids had been fed main courses and ice cream, music started and two lovely ladies danced for the kids, eventually getting them to join in before they all sat down again and lights were dimmed for yet more dancing in a circle of fire! The kids were mesmerised.

All too soon the evening drew to a close, however just as we were beginning to say our goodbyes Katie appeared with sweets for the kids which were very much appreciated!

The night was absolutely wonderful and may well be one of the highlights of the trip. I always say that the most memorable times we have are those which are completely unplanned and are made special by the people we randomly meet. Craig and his friends were so generous, inviting us into their friendship group for the night and buying us dinner. He even offered to let us use his house on the island for a few days! I'm hoping that at some point we can repay his generosity but if not we will definitely "pay it forward"!


Sunday

The morning after the night before wasn't quite so great. I was feeling a little delicate but we needed to be off in good time as we were heading towards Preveza and it was due to get quite windy later in the day, so by 8:30 we were already on our way. We motor sailed the first half of the journey and then suddenly their was wind and it turned into a lovely sail, however as we approached Preveza it started to get a bit lumpy with some confused seas so we decided to take the sails down some way before the channel into Preveza.

We first looked at the Town Quay but there wasn't much space and I was decidedly unsure about actually being able to moor Laurin in this much wind... by now it was a good Force 5, so we decided to take a look at the anchorage behind the marina. As we approached it, neither of us felt particularly comfortable. It was pretty exposed and although there were some areas of shallow water, the depths were all over the place and you'd only need to drag a short distance to be in 8m instead of 2m! We made the decision to carry on to Vonitsa where we were due to meet other kid boats tomorrow, hoping for a better protected anchorage. An hour or so later in building winds, we arrived at Vonitsa, snuck behind a little island along with a number of other boats, and dropped the hook. It was much calmer and such a peaceful little place; we were pleased we had pushed on.

After a beer and dinner I took the kids to the island in the dinghy while Patrick washed up. The kids clearly thought it was reminiscent of Wildcat Island from Swallows and Amazons and were soon to be heard making owl hooting noises as they ran through the woodland. A magical ending to a long day.

Day 352: 1st June 2018 - Mongonisi anchoring work out!

Kids got school done quickly on the promise of an hour or so at the beach to meet their friends from yesterday before we headed off. In reality the new friends were not around so we paddled over to another English boat we had spotted kids on to see if they wanted to play, which they did.

As we paddled along we started to spot jellyfish which was a huge disappointment as none of us like swimming with them. In fact one of our new friends got stung getting out of his dinghy at the beach but was extremely brave and stayed to play. We spent a fair while skimming stones and paddling on the paddleboard before finally heading back to Laurin.

We then packed up the paddleboard and  motored to Mongonisi while the kids enjoyed some electronics time. Mongonisi looked beautiful but we really struggled to get the anchor to hold. It took 4 attempts in the end which meant 3 lots of hauling up 30m of chain with our manual windlass. I wanted to get an electric one before we set off  but Patrick disagreed. In the end I decided not to argue as it is he that uses it! However after hauling the anchor up twice I took pity on him and did it myself the third time!

Only when we switched the engine off did the kids appear, saying it was great and could they go to the beach. Luckily they then saw the look of exhaustion on our faces, and listened to how many times it took us to get the anchor to hold. Suddenly their was a change of plan.... "how about we have a drink and a snack first, let us get you a cold beer"... Fantastic!

The kids then went to the beach in the dinghy and then after a well earned rest Patrick and I swam over and we went for another beer (adults) and ice cream (kids). Patrick rowed back to dig out the Cobb BBQ and then came back for me, AJ came with us so he could take the dinghy back and then the kids played and played until we called them for dinner.

We had been talked into buying pork shoulder wrapped round bacon and feta by the butcher in Lakka and the only way we had to cook it was on a bbq as our oven didn't work. I had half an idea that it would feed us for two nights but it was too good not to eat straight away!

After dinner Esmé wanted to go to the beach again but AJ wanted to stay on board so Esmé and I headed out in the dinghy. I had spotted that the bar had wifi and had ideas that I could chill out with a drink and surf the net while Esmé played on the beach. Unfortunately there were no kids for her to play with so we wandered along to the bar together and Esmé enjoyed youtube while I chatted to the couple on the boat next to us in the anchorage. On the way back E was quite taken by this lovely poster!

It was a pleasant evening and once back on board we could still pick up the wifi so the kids were over the moon when we let them have a late night enjoying all the stuff they can't do when we have limited internet.