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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"
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A Bit AWOL... This blog entry covers the two month period between 31st May and 31st July, which was spent living aboard Comino in and around Corfu. I somehow managed to mislay my writing mojo during this time for reasons I can't quite explain, although sheer bone idleness probably has something to do with it. The problem was the sun shone brightly every day (nice problem to have I hasten to add) and we became more and more chilled. Greece has this effect on us, hence we love it so much! The relaxed routine of marina life took on a leisurely pace all of it's own and I'm ashamed to say it was quite an effort to untie our lines and slip out to sea, even just for a day sail. I'm awarding myself 3/10 for being AWOL blog wise as I now, rather belatedly, start to reminisce about the past couple of months. For the record, I'm writing this back in the UK. It's blowing a gale and raining cats and dogs outside - a typical English August then!!! No worries, we'll be back on the boat in a few weeks, but in the meantime here's a brief overview of how things went whist we were away. Back Into Boat Life... When we arrived there was much work to be done before we could properly settle back into boat life, but first things first we switched on the fridge and fetched some supplies. Another reason Gouvia Marina works so well for us as a base is the huge AB Supermarket just a short walk away. In a jiffy, some edibles and a bottle (OK... two then) of white wine were chilling nicely, ready for a sundowner to welcome us home. It was already feeling like we hadn't been away!! After a couple of days of contemplation we got stuck in.
After a week, we were ready for our first sail and headed off to test if the boat functioned as it should out at sea. Having A Nipper Aboard... It wasn't long before we had some visitors. Our daughter, husband and wee grandson had booked themselves into a nearby apartment with breathtaking views across a lush wooded peninsular all the way to Albania. The time had come to get the nipper aboard for his first experience as a sailor, but not before some safety issues had been addressed. I equipped him with a lifejacket and made him sit and study the basic principles of boating with a large whisky and a cigar......only kidding..... it was a chocolate finger and a mug of milk. And so, over the next ten days, we did a bit of sailing up the North coast of Corfu, anchoring at Kalami and swimming off the boat. The nipper ventured into the sea a few times, but it must be said he wasn't overly keen to slip into 20 feet of water off the back of Comino. He loved the beaches, though his favourite stretch of water was the marina pool. When he wasn't swimming, eating or sleeping he liked to have a little pose for the camera in his trendy sun suit and rather stylish shades! What a wonderful family holiday it was and hopefully we'll do it again before too long. The Russians Are Coming... Whilst we were out and about on Comino we kept seeing a large Superyacht anchored near to the marina entrance. It was called Universe and a quick check on Google revealed that it had been delivered to a wealthy Russian the previous year. Early one evening back in the marina, as we sat in the cockpit with a sundowner, a rather posh tender from Universe pulled in right beside us, crewed by very well dressed chaps in uniforms bearing the name of the master vessel. As they docked, two heavy looking bruisers stepped off and marched up the pontoon to the swanky restaurant at the end. A few minutes later they returned, presumably having cased the joint and the tender quickly departed. About an hour later the tender was back. Two bodyguards jumped onto the pontoon and stood to attention. Coming from the lounge cabin an extremely well dressed couple hastily stepped off the tender, followed by two more bodyguards taking up the rear guard. The group then moved forward at a pace with the bodyguards forming a kind of close protective circle around the big wigs. A few hours later the same formation came back from the restaurant and in an instant the tender was off again. What was so striking about the whole thing was that during the coming and going nobody spoke, nobody even looked at each other, they all just stared straight ahead performing what looked like a well rehearsed routine designed to enter and exit as fast as possible. It was all a bit spooky actually. Here are pics of the mothership and the tender. An Unexpected Re-Union We first met Roger and Lynne in Albufiera (Portugal) in 2012 and then again in Gibraltar in 2013. We had some really good laughs together, always over a few beers and generally trying to put the world to right. Roger, an ex pilot, was particularly entertaining and extremely irreverent. But, because everyone in the sailing world is on their own particular journey, we said cheerio in Gib and we haven't bumped into them again since. Then, out of the blue, we had an e-mail from them at the beginning of July to say they were in the South Ionian, around Kefalonia to be precise. This was about 100 miles south of us. I replied asking if they were planning to head up to our neck of the woods anytime soon and to our delight they said they were. Arrangements were made and we agree to meet up in Lakka Bay on the island of Paxos. On 25th July we set off from Gouvia for the six hour sail down to Paxos in gloriously sunny and flat calm conditions. Actually, with so little wind, we motored all the way. Once inside the bay it wasn't long before we saw two familiar faces waving at us amongst the dozens of other boats around. We anchored close by and in a jiffy we were onboard Roger and Lynne's boat chatting and laughing as if we'd never been apart for six years. After a very long lunch, lasting till gone 5pm, it was back to Comino for a siesta before setting off again in our dingy to pick Roger and Lynne up for dinner ashore in the quaint village of Lakka. A late night in a taverna was inevitable and I believe a few more vinos may have been consumed. Was there a slow start the next morning maybe? I should say so! It was then our turn to host lunch and once again the afternoon was lost to even more laughter and tales of our respective journeys to where we were now. We said our goodbye's early evening because we intended to set sail at around 9am in the morning and they declared that there was absolutely no chance they would be up by then. Our trip back was calm and sunny and we both reflected that the past couple of days had been absolutely brilliant. Here's a few pics of gorgeous Lakka. Somehow, with all the fun and frolics, we hadn't taken a single picture of the four of us together. There will be a next time though. Bottom right is a snap of what it looks like when you're far out at sea in flat calm weather - quite eerie don't you think? The next time with Roger and Lynne actually occurred only a few days later. Like us, they were going home to the UK for August and they arrived in Gouvia Marina to park up their boat for a month. So what do you think happened?......Yes, we had our final evening at a local taverna doing what we do best - laughing over a few vinos. Not too many though, we had to fly the next day and did we take that group photo?.....No, we forgot again. Summary... Two months on Comino was amazing. We're not sure we could do nine months any more, or even six months for that matter. Going home for August is definitely the right thing to do. It was very hot during June and July, so a break from the heat is very necessary. We really need to do some more adventurous passages down to the South Ionian - to Kefalonia, Ithica, Lefkas and all the other little islands in that area. We want see more of mainland Greece too. We'd like to see Roger and Lynne again in September, but they are more nomadic than us. Plus, they do more hardcore sailing - crossing Biscay, sailing from Brighton to Greece, nipping off to Turkey, heading up to Croatia - stuff like that. It's interesting to see how nature completely takes over your garden in just two months. Thank goodness we had someone to water the pots and containers - how wonderful to come back to so many flowers amongst the jungle of overgrow grass and shrubbery. Little things like a new tap, complete with pull out shower attachment, made us feel good. Mind you, a little platter of this n' that made us feel even better. It's fair to say there are a lot of boats in the Ionian and around Corfu the anchorages are often quite busy. However, there's always a space somewhere, whether you have to snuggle up to a large neighbour or a small one!
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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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