After getting to know each other over dinner and drinks on Friday night, the Corinthians set sail on Friday morning for Hydra. The first challenge of the day was running the gauntlet of anchors on the way out. For those of you who've never sailed in Greece picture this: rows and rows of sailing yachts, sterns to the pontoon and lazy lines in the water at the bow. Trying to negotiate the lazy lines on the way out without them lassoing your keel or being shredded by your propeller is a true art - an art that we would all master by the end of the weekend. Some of the boats were equipped with bow thrusters to help with the tight entries and exits. One skipper was overheard saying "yeah, the bow thruster, we'll probably never use that" about 30 seconds before realizing that he wasn't going to get out of the marina without it.
The sun was shining on the journey to Hydra but, unfortunately, there wasn't enough wind to get to get everybody to Hydra before beer o'clock so a few boats were forced to cheat by turning on their engines. Sure, that's technically not sailing, but when the beers and G&Ts are calling you listen. Being forewarned about how busy the marina in Hydra could be, we were pleasantly surprised to find that there was lots of room for the Corinthians fleet. That all changed when a glass-bottom boat tour arrived and quickly pointed out that some of our boats were occupying their spot. A bit of frustrating boat manoeuvring later and we were all tucked in for the night surrounded by the very picturesque Hydra and its surrounding hills.
Sunday presented itself with a choice - a 2.5 hour hike uphill to a monastery overlooking Hydra or a lie-in followed by breakfast ashore. Those that decided to lie-in were, unfortunately, fittingly rewarded by karma for being lazy when a yacht, moored to shore and surrounded by Corinthians, decided it wanted to leave. The end result, without going into the details about roving fenders, anchor lines, pushing off from a fishing boat and a broken anchor windless, was one yacht stuck in the middle of the harbour with their anchor chain firmly wrapped around several other chains (and who knows what else!). A couple of hours, a few trips on the inflatable dinghy and some dives into the cold water later the boat was finally freed. Sadly, by that time, any hope of a fry-up onshore had long been dashed. Not wanting to be upstaged, another Corinthian yacht decided to get their anchor caught in the middle of the harbour as well (this was after having to borrow a windless control for the anchor from another boat and having to toss it ashore when they were done!). A small row of fishing boats was almost demolished in the process but eventually the yacht freed it's anchor and was on its way. Learning from the traumas suffered by the first two boats, the other three managed to leave Hydra without any problems.
Spetses was the goal for Sunday with a few stops along the way for lunch in a quiet bay and maybe a swim (only for the brave though - the water hadn't had enough of a chance to warm up!). There was enough wind so most boats had a great sail relatively downwind. No nasty tacking to interrupt the relaxed feeling!
At first glance, since we were moored in a relatively secluded part of town, Spetses seemed like a very small, very quiet place. We soon discovered that wasn't the case as the rumoured 10 minute walk to dinner turned into more of 20-30 minute hike across town. While one boat opted to dine closer to where the boats were moored (maximizing drinking time by minimizing travel between dinner and drinks!)the other four boats made the journey across town and were nicely rewarded for their efforts by a fantastic, typically Greek, meal. Thirsty from their epic journey, the intrepid diners caught up with the fifth boat at Ice Cubes - a very funky little bar right where we were moored. If you thought DJ-ing was an art reserved for the young and tragically hip, you haven't been to Spetses. As the drinks were being drunk like booze was going out of style, dance moves (alongside attempted dance moves) were being performed to the beats being spun by a very talented, less young but no less tragically hip, woman.
Fortunately there's no better cure for a sore head then the fresh air and stunning views of the Greek Isles - and there was plenty of fresh air and stunning views on the way to Poros. The wind kicked it up a notch along the way so there was plenty of opportunity for some great sailing on the way. Having some stronger wind made selecting a lunch stop slightly more tactical (it's no fun trying to eat your Greek salad while your yacht is doing circles around your anchor in the bay!) but if you're going to have to challenge your navigation skills at least it's better to do it while you're trying to find a quiet bay and not while you're trying to avoid hazards in the Solent…
The entry into Poros was the most stunning of the trip. Sailing gently downwind and then motoring into the bay while hugging the coastline provided some beautiful views of the town. A few boats risked running aground while their crews busily took photos of the town instead of paying attention to where they were going!
The measure of a successful mooring in Greece is the amount of time between securing the boat and mixing the first G&T. Now that it was day three and reversing while anchoring was child's play, the G&Ts appeared on deck within seconds of the engines being shut off. Unfortunately, the tranquility of the scene was disrupted by the wake of a ferry picking up passengers. The saying "batten down the hatches" probably didn't originate with sailors trying to preserve their G&Ts from a ferry's wake but it certainly would have been fitting in Poros! Just like Hydra and Spetses before it, there was no shortage of fantastic restaurants and bars to explore in Poros. A few hardy Corinthians managed to stay in one bar right until closing time. Apparently, Monday is the new Saturday when you're sailing in Greece.
With the arrival of Tuesday came the sad realization that it was time to head back to Athens. Not before a great day of sailing though. The sail back to Athens was very relaxing - most of the journey was either on a reach or downwind. Wanting to squeeze out every ounce of holiday (and to take advantage of the stunning hillsides and turquoise blue water) nobody took a direct line back to shore. A couple of yachts decided to check out a small town called Methane - you don't have to venture too far into the harbour before figuring out that the town is known for its sulphur baths.
The last challenge of the holiday was negotiating the shipping lanes as we got closer to Athens. A rumour had been spread that Greek captains are very unforgiving of sailboats that get in their way and one boat decided to find out if the rumour was true. A few expletives and rude arm gestures later, it was discovered that the rumour was indeed fact. More than a few ferry passengers were probably talking about "those idiot sailors" over their dinners that night…
As Athens was getting closer and closer, you would expect that, after four days of sailing, everybody would be masters at entering marinas and securing sailboats. Not so, as evidenced by the first mate that dropped a fender into the water as they entered the marina (providing some good man-overboard practice) or the crew member who sat on the throttle while securing the boat sending it shooting back in to the fairway. It's also hard to explain how one boat managed to spend 92 Euros on diesel on a sailing holiday…maybe they were trying to fit in with some of the mega motor yachts that were frequently seen churning up the water?
Yacht Rebecca
Paul Newman (Skipper)
David Watts
Chris Atkins
Joanna Burke
Paul Burns
Jessica Carney
Kerinda
Green
Marion Harding
Melanie Haslam
Russ Meyers
Yacht Wanderlust Adventure
Gareth Wear (Skipper)
Michelle Smith
Vanessa Barlow
Tracey South
Tim Hill
Jo Heptinstal
Yacht Joy
James Getgood (Skipper)
Philip Sarell
Maggie Futcher
Lyn Chamberlain-Webber
Francesca Fearon
Sara Wain-Heapy
Yacht Constance
Steven Gear-Evans (Skipper)
Carol Bell
Catrin Sharp
Andrew Vago
Melanie Heath
Anne MacDougall
Yacht Aratousa
Neal Kelshaw (Skipper)
John Dodd
Sandy Mackenzie
Kanthi Ford
Emma Aldous
Jenny Harding
Organisers
Paul Newman
Gareth Wear
Author
Anne MacDougall
Copyright © London Corinthian Sailing Club, 18 Apr 2007