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"There's always a plan, but unexpected things happen and we just go with the flow. Though I do believe that fate and destiny often play their part"
sailing blog
That was a long winded way of saying, whilst we are in awe of the full-time liveaboards who cut the umbilical cord with conventional land based living, it just wouldn't work for us. We've toyed with the idea in the past, but our plan for the next few years is all about shuttling between here and there. And so, via train, airport shuttle bus, plane and taxi we arrived at Gouvia Marina just before midnight and it was comfortably hot and still bustling with life. Having first hopped onboard to check Comino was OK we quickly changed out of jeans into shorts and headed for a bar overlooking our pontoon. A toast to celebrate our return was in order - a most welcome glass of local vino. That's what I mean about the contrasting lifestyles. We don't tend to stay up that late back home. Thinking about it, perhaps we should! For the next few weeks we did a bit of sailing, a bit of beach life, a bit of idling round the pool and a bit more exploring the area around us on foot. We also tried a few different eateries, including George's BBQ meat rotisserie (protein extravaganza) in the rather run down part of old, rustic Gouvia Village. Actually, that's not really fair. It's the part that is utterly original and apart from the odd bar or two it's untouched by tourism, so it caters mainly for the locals I think. Basically, George has a whole wall of rotating rods, cogs and gears turning big bits of garlic and herb infused lamb, chicken, pork and beef over a huge bed of searing hot charcoal for hours on end. The end result is nothing short of amazing. We get a mix of succulent tender meats, with crispy outer bits, served up with chips, tzatziki and salad. I rush back to the boat and we sit on deck in the late evening warmth consuming this awesome feast of feasts, washed down with a cold white vino, listening to our finest Ibiza chill-out tunes gently playing in the background. This my friends is what we mean by the term intoxicating. This is a little slice of heaven on earth. That last paragraph deservers a complete and unreserved apology to all vegetarians. The sailing part of this latest trip to Corfu was, as ever, a reminder of why we like to potter around on the boat. Being out at sea is so utterly awesome. Here's a few pics to illustrate an average day around and about the coastline of Corfu. September drifted into October and with that came a few changes in the weather. The temperature dropped to the mid 20's, but every now and then a violent storm loomed over us with a menacing forecast of big time thunder, lightening and rain. A few times we had some truly biblical weather. It was always short lived but my word it was pretty violent when it came. Luckily, the meteorological web sites we use were reasonably accurate and it was easy to know what was about to happen and when - suffice to say we didn't go sailing during these weather bombs. Sadly, on one such day, just sixty miles south of us a hurricane hit a fleet of flotilla boats and four were sunk. Thankfully, nobody was injured (or worse). The two pics below show what the daytime sky looked liked during these stormy periods and how spectacular the sunsets were in the aftermath. As some kill-joy once said "all good things must come to an end". On 17th October we flew home. The usual work to winterise the boat was done over the proceeding few days - it's a list of jobs as long as your arm. It's funny how we all do exactly the same thing on the day we leave - we all stop and take one last lingering look at our boat from the pontoon before we quietly walk away, in our case for six months. We all reluctantly abandon our second home with a heavy heart. We can't quite come to terms with the fact that our not insignificant asset is being left unattended in a foreign land thousands of miles away. How weird is that?
When we took off from Corfu airport the plane banked steep left and flew right over Gouvia Marina giving us one last, if not unexpected, look at Comino nestling down there in her winter home. Till the next time.
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A FEW PICS OF COMINO Click a photo to enlarge and use side arrows to scroll through. COMINO IS CURRENTLY HEREDID SOMEONE SAY SEAFOODOn our journey from Portugal to Greece we enjoyed amazing seafood almost everywhere we stopped. Finding the local fish market was always a priority because seafood was so plentiful and so reasonably priced. And, the displays were a feast for your eyes.
Locating a market sometimes meant pounding the pavements in searing heat, but if you kept your eyes peeled, you often came across a little clue. The pic below was a rather less than subtle advert for a fish market - it was eight feet tall.
Freshly cooked onboard, a plateful of giant prawns, baked in wine and garlic, washed down with a few glasses of local vino, was like heaven. Watching the sunset on the boat eating a meal like that was the epitome of "living the dream".
Now we're in Greece we've another favourite to savour. I'm talking about fried Calamari. It's usually good, but every now and then it's off-the-scale fantastic. At Natalie's Taverna on Kontokali Beach in Corfu, it was nothing short of epic.
We're based in Lefkas now and It's been a bit of a mission to find somewhere just as good. And we have. Rakias is a mere ten minute walk from the marina and this little fish market, with its very own taverna attached, is quite sensational.
Oh...and it's also worth mentioning that, on occasions, a bit of barbequed Octopus is on the menu at some of the tavernas we frequent. Can I resist....no. SUNSETS AND DRAMATIC SKIESNo filters, or any other monkey business, have been used to enhance these images.
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