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Bare Boat Sailing The Greek IslandsAegean Sea in the MediterraneanCaptain's LogJune 1997 |
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(combined notes with first mate)
Monday 9 June 1997: Lots of boat chores. We are helped by Simon, who may be temporarily hired by Vernicos Yachts to help out with Creta. We believe that he is a colleague of the boat owner. He is very familiar with the boat and provided us with the check-out. We got through the boat's systems, noting a large number of missing inventory such as equipment manuals, flares, boswain's chair, and an incomplete tool set. George and Hussein who were assigned to the crew's quarters decided to sleep on deck and wanted more blankets. The hand control for the windlass does not work and Simon works on this for quite a while before giving up. We noted the missing vacuum on our list but it was one of those things that we did not get to. The boat interior was completely carpeted and this would be a problem later.
We departed for Kea at 12:45 navigating visually along the coast and checking out our Garmin 89 GPS and radar for future use in case the weather deteriorates along our two week journey. An external antenna was attached to the deck port and auxiliary power was obtained from alligator clips connected to the battery and run up by the TV/VCR to the saloon floor. We pass inside of N. Fleves Island. At 4:22, the wind is from N-NE at 20-25 knots. Boat speed is about 7-8 knots with main, Genoa, and staysail set. The local topography shifts wind direction and creates some gusts. The water and sky are both gorgeous blue and clear. At 5:05 pm we pass Makronisos Island. Ah, the main furler is jammed and we can't get it either in or out. We will try to fix the problem when the wind is less gusty in the lee of Kea. Just outside the bay, we got it furled though the furling line is badly chafed.
At 7:45 pm we are docked at Kea (Voukari) making a distance of 37 miles. We were successful backing into the dock our first try. Behold, we are right in front of several Tavernas. What would Captain Ron say, "swab the deck mates and secure the lines," whilst the scalawag fetches a beer. We eat at a Taverna just 50 feet from our stern spending about $13 US each. Our three hour dinner ended at 11:30 pm with appetizers including fish eggs, yogurt (tadziki), and meal of stuffed tomato, along with bread, Greek coffee, wine, coke, and other tasty items. We called Simon to arrange for a new furling line to be delivered (150 feet of ½ inch line yacht braid) by tomorrow's ferry. We finally got to bed at 1 am.
Tuesday 10 June 1997: Up at 7:30 am. Made coffee successfully (if not quietly). Today's challenge seems to be the black water macerator. The holding tank seems to be filling up unexpectedly fast, even given a fresh crew. Fume alarm in the generator went off at one point and again when we opened the hatch to the compartment. A nice breeze came up at 8:30 am. At 10 am we take the bus to Chora to walk around. The cost was $2.50 US each way. The bus drive is also the restaurant owner from last night. Every inch of the island appears to be terraced. As a group, we walk up to the top of the Castro, where there is a hotel. Great pictures. Then, John, Cathy, Val and Kelly walk to top of hill above the town; quite a hike through tiny winding alleys. Chora is very picturesque. In several places, people have erected small monuments to dead relatives that look like small glass showcases. Usually they have a bottle of Ouzo and some dead flowers in them as well as other small personal items. Lots of red poppies, geraniums, and bougainvillea. Later we come down and met the others for lunch. Val sees Lion of Kea while the rest of us finish lunch. Lunch $7 US per person. Shop for souvenirs and take the bus back to our boat.
The shops close down in the afternoon and the museums close completely by mid afternoon. During our afternoon nap, someone evidently started pumping the holding tank at the dock in front of the Tavernas. The exit is above the water line, just to make it even less pleasant. Some guy from the Taverna comes aboard irate, threatening to call the harbor police. Very embarrassing. No one fesses up to who did it. After our nap, we walked around the harbor to the Mycenean ruins, Ag. (St.) Irene, dating to about 1650 B.C. The ruins are fenced in and you can’t see much, but the walls look nearly identical to those used in the village today. There’s a great view across the harbor back toward the boat. Later, some of the others go for a swim down the road toward Karissa, the main dock. We go out for ice cream. Getting our daily "Boss" will become a daily routine. John and Kelly go for Classic vanilla with chocolate cover; Val goes for caramel instead. Later take some sunset pictures. The sunsets are gorgeous here.
At 7:30 p.m. John goes to Karissa to meet the ferry at Karissa and get the furling line. The line they send is too short. He arranges with the local chandlery to buy some line, but must make another trip back to measure because they have only 120 feet, 30 feet shorter than our original measure. In the mean time, Kelly finds the refrigerator is not working; it keeps breaking circuits. The freezer is working only marginally. Doug and Kelly go to buy a couple bags of ice. We have dinner on board. Cathy makes spaghetti.
Wednesday, June 11th: We pass Kea Harbor light at 9:40 a.m. There is a very light breeze when we start. We’ve decided to make a run for the mechanic at Mykonos. The generator appears to have run out of fuel this morning after only 10 hours of operation. It starts up after we transfer fuel from the main tank. By 10:30 a.m., we have 10 knots of wind from the North. About 75-80 degrees on off our bow. Seems to be building rapidly, but then comes and goes repeatedly. Autopilot works well. Off tip of N. Yiaros Island at 12:30 p.m. - fix 37° 41’ N, 24° 41’ E Wind 15-18 knots from the North. Sailing under Genoa only due to fear of getting main stuck open. Speed 8 - 8½ knots on the GPS. Boat’s speedometer is totally wacky, as is the electronic compass. The binnacle's compass seems pretty close to the GPS track. Top speed is 9 knots at 1:15 p.m. The wind dies around 1:30 in the lee of Nandros Island. All the local islands seem thinly populated. We start up the engine, but then shut it down immediately because it sounds rough. Turns out it needs almost 3 quarts of oil. Vernicos showed us it was near full at the start, so it must really be burning a lot of oil. Restart engine at 1:55 p.m.
Wind comes back up along the southern shore of Tinos. Off south end of Tinos by 4:10 p.m. Wind drops off again as we start across Mykonos straits. Pass Cape Alogomandra (by Delos) at 5:10 p.m. Anchor in Ornos Bay 30 minutes after. We are on the side of the harbor closest to the fishing fleet. Dinghy launched by 6:00 p.m. We have some problems getting the outboard to run well. It has a tendency to run rich. We later solve the problem with a tune-up and running the gas out each time before shutting it down. Ornos Bay: 37° 25’ N; 25° 19.5’ E.
Around 7:00 p.m., John has trouble with septic (gray water) system switch--it keeps tripping off. Finally he opens the bilge to find that an entire bank of batteries has slid off their shelf into the bilge. Smell of acid is strong. We attach lines to the batteries, pull them back up onto their shelf, then tie them in place crudely. We finally get ashore around 8:00 p.m. to look around. Boss (ice cream) calling! John, Cathy, Val, and Kelly rent a car and drive into Mykonos for dinner. The others take the bus, not wanting to rent a car. While we wait for them, John finally gets through to Simon to explain the battery, septic, refrigerator, and freezer problems, as well as updating him on the sail. We are seriously wondering whether we should ask Vernicos for a new boat; we can’t seem to stay ahead of the problems. Simon tells us to make contact with a mechanic, a man named Nikitas, who has a yellow sail repair van by the harbor. Doug rents a moped and crashes it in route. Suffers from a sore arm he can hardly move for several days... prevents him from wind surfing. For dinner, we have an array of appetizers, including stuffed peppers, squid, eggplant salad, and giant beans (like big lima beans). They are all terrific. Price $11.50 US per person. At dinner, Doug tells a hilarious story that he would have burned his draft card in the 60’s, but he lost it... you have to know Doug to appreciate this fully.
Mykonos is charming to look at but very touristy and expensive relative to other places. Prices drop quickly as one moves away from the water. During the afternoon break, we see lots of folks whitewashing the lines in their sidewalks. There are wonderful bougainvillea everywhere. The streets are narrow and twisty, but that doesn’t keep cars from trying to navigate them.
Thursday, June 12th: John, Cathy, Val and Kelly went into town around 8:30 a.m. Looked around for the boat repair man. We were very lucky to find him easily and we arranged for him to meet us at the dinghy dock in Ornos around 3 p.m. after he finishes another job. We then go to get breakfast. After quite a bit of walking around looking for a bakery, we find one that has at least bread and coffee. Of course, as soon as we have eaten we find several better bakeries, including one that has a wide variety of wonderful treats and great bread. By about 11:00 a.m., we drive around the northern part of the island. We head first to Fanfari light and then up the Eastern side of the island to Lia. We have lunch in Ano Mera, near some of the popular beaches. Greek salad for about $5 US. We then head back toward Ornos to meet Nikitas. In route, we hit the local marine store (closed) and the supermarket. Val and Kelly pick up vegetables for dinner.
We got back to the boat and hung out waiting until 4 p.m., but no Nikitas. Turned out he had sent his assistant, but we didn’t know to look for him (and he didn’t recognize us). A bit later, Nikitas himself comes over (nervously in his unregistered van). The problem with the main sail is that it has stretched on the luff, thus it gets over-hoisted and jams aloft. We also set out to fix the generator, which wouldn’t keep running. Turns out it’s very low on oil (not just gas as we originally thought). We add 3 liters and it runs fine, but seems to leak some oil into the exhaust water. We later determine that, despite the slick behind the boat, it’s not burning that much oil. In other words, Vernicos gave it to us with very low oil, since it seized up after just 10 hours. Checking the oil is difficult and messy, since the dip stick is located totally out of sight on the forward side of the engine against the firewall. Takes a lot of groping and laying on the engine to get the stick in and out. We then fix the nonfunctioning freezer and refrigerator. When the batteries fell into the bilge, a wire got pulled out. The refrigerator and freezer appear to be working again.
Finally we get for a swim after a long hot day. It feels great. While swimming, Kelly found a long hunk of line around the prop and took it off. However, it does not appear to be the same type line from the mooring at Kalamakas. After all this, it’s late and we’re not in the mood to cook. We go back into Mykonos for dinner. Val took off and did some walking around on her own while we wait for dinner.
Slowly, we seem to be getting the boat back in shape. Big questions still remain about gray water system, which seems not to be emptying completely when we pump it out. Boat lists to port rather distinctly... should indicate some imbalance in tanks. Some folks are complaining about the heads (electric). Tony plugs the head this evening (then tried to get someone else to fix it for him.) A brawl almost broke out but was cast off by the Zen chanting of master Captain.
Friday, June 13th: Got up early to go to take the boat over to Mykonos for Nikitas to do the necessary sail repair. We go ashore around 8:00 a.m. to return our rental car. When we rented it, the man said we could pick it up early with no charge. Now his boss tries to charge us for an extra day. After a major brouhaha, we walk away at the original cost. Return to the boat without Doug. He’s trying to return his moped, but no one is in the store yet. We hoist the dinghy aboard, only to discover that the windlass is broken and someone has anchored over the top of our anchor rode. We ask them to reset their anchor, which they do without a whimper. We then re-launch the dinghy and go in to call Nikitas to tell him our problem. John calls Vernicos and speaks to a manager who suggests we contact Nikitas which we have already done. The septic and holding tanks all full. Everyone heads ashore to use heads and arrange trip to Delos. We call Nikitas, and he offers to come over and help us out. While we wait for him, all but John, George, and Kelly head off to Delos for the day. Major bummer as Delos is a way-cool ancient ruins of great historical significance.
Nikitas later arrives and jury-rigs the windlass. It turns out that Simon’s effort to fix the windlass was shorting the system out, because the two wires from the deck control were touching one another sporadically. We deliver Nikitas back to the dock and then tow the dinghy. Finally get the boat to Mykonos around 2 p.m. Mykonos Harbor: 37° 27’ N; 25° 20’ E. Nikitas meets us on the edge of the dock and comes aboard to help dock the boat. It’s an exciting anchor job, because we are between a ferry and the sea wall. We have to drop our anchor virtually under the ferry, then back up to the sea wall 100' away (remembering we are 61'). It’s not nearly enough scope. Once the ferry leaves, we go through the entire exercise again.
Once re-anchored, we get to work removing the main sail and doing the other major jobs. Nikitas works like a dog fixing the battery cables, wiring a remote button on the windlass, strapping the batteries down, tuning the outboard, and last, but not least, sending the main off with his wife to get shortened. We give him a longer list of needed repairs, but he only has time for the most serious ones. He has a lineup of other boats waiting for help. Nikitas is an interesting guy. He worked as an electrician for the U.S. Navy in Natick, MA for several years. Now, he does boat work in the summer and skippers boats back and forth between the Med and the Caribbean in the winter. His wife is also a skipper and they frequently deliver two boats at a time. She was born in Austria and lived in New Jersey during High School. They have a little girl.
While work proceeds, we go into town for a late lunch. After lunch, George and John return to the boat. Kelly stays to check ferries and shop. Val and Kelly are considering taking a ferry to Paros ahead of the boat if it has to stay over another night. Both are pretty frustrated with the boat’s ability to disrupt our vacation. Kelly bumps into the main part of our group around 4:00 p.m. as they are returning from Delos. Despite suggestions to return to the boat to make a plan, most of them want to go to the beach. Val, Cathy, and Kelly return to the boat. Nikitas’ wife returns with the main, and their daughter. We take the daughter and leave the sail (just kidding).
Val and Kelly decide not to take a ferry. As a group (½ our total group), we decide that staying at the ferry dock will make for impossible sleeping. Consequently, we go back to Ornos for the night after repairs are completed.. Arrive around 7:00 p.m. We’re not quite sure how the others will find us, but we don’t worry a lot about it. Around 10:00, Doug radios from a boat in Mykonos and arranges for us to go in and get them around midnight with a dinghy.
Saturday, June 14th: Get up early and depart for Paros at 6:45 a.m. after checking oil, etc. Coffee and breakfast in route. Nice cruise to Paros. Pumped all holding tanks by hand since electric pumps and plumbing seem to be clogged. Different people took turns at the helm for about an hour each. Arrive Paros (Parikia) 10:00 a.m. 37° 05.5’ N; 25° 09’ E. Set anchor and moor stern-to the dock, only to have another boat pick our anchor. Hurry to straighten out the boat and make a 1:15 ferry to Santorini. Before leaving, Kelly reserves a rental car for Monday. Di, the car rental lady, is very nice (a New Zealander). It turns out she had also been very helpful to John on his visit here two years ago. Tony, Doug, Janet and Carol Ann expect to take the later hydrofoil (Flying Dolphin). George and Hussein may not go over at all as George has friends in Paros.
Val, Kelly, John and Cathy take Ferry to Santorini "Ariadne" is a very nice boat and delightful ride. Stops at Naxos and Ios in route. Takes about four hours... we wouldn’t at all have minded f it took longer! We all agree that traveling by ferry in the islands would be a great way to go. Santorini Port: 36° 25’ N; 25° 25’ E. Upon arrival at Thera, we go to the desk of Kalamaki tours, one of many booking agents for local hotels and cars. We book rooms at L’Avante hotel on Kamari Beach (a black sand beach) on the south side of the island (away from the Caldera is cheaper and quieter). Cost $35 per person. This is the most we ever pay for a hotel. We also rent a Suzuki Samurai. It arrives without a top, which we had requested. We eventually head out to our hotel, which is entirely Germans except for us. Local tavernas serve wurst and schnitzel. We have a very nice dinner of squid and assorted appetizers.
June 15th-Sunday: We have breakfast at our hotel. The beach is nice, but pebbly. Last night, Cathy forgot her camera at dinner and is in a panic. Finally, she finds someone who picked it up. After that, we take off to see the island. First, we stop at Kamari tours and get a different car, one with a roof. Our first goal is the monastery. Val is navigating... we go to where it should be but can’t find it. We are at the highest point on the island, which is a military base full of antennas and such. "No photo" signs everywhere and closed gates. The only sign of a church is a closed gate with mission-style bells. We head back down the hill thinking we screwed up. Further down the hill, someone tells us we were at the right place, but it’s closed.
Our next stop is the ruins at Akritiri. They are wonderful. We meet Tony on the way in. He got a hotel just up the road and has already been through them and to the nearby beach. The ruins are covered by a warehouse-style structure which keeps us a bit cooler, but makes photographs difficult. There are no English tours as we go through, but a huge bunch of Germans ahead of us. All the frescoes have been removed and taken to Athens. We vow to go see them when we return to the City. On the way out, we bump into Doug.
Next we head to the Village of Oia ("Eeeah") at the far north end of the island. This is where the typical poster of folks sitting on a white balcony looking down on a blue ocean come from... they are not exaggerating. It looks just like they say, although it’s a bit hazy for our visit. In fact, there’s a northern California-like fog poking its head around the end of the island and moving down the channel between us and the island in the middle of the Caldera. It would be fun to come back and stay in the village some time. We have lunch then do a bit of shopping. We then head off to the archaeology museum in Fira. Unfortunately, everything is closed after 3 p.m. on Sunday We are also here on a holiday weekend. A local booking agent tells us that the monastery has been closed for years, even though all the tour books still list visiting hours! She also sells us tickets for the 8:00 p.m. ferry back to Paros and tells us of a local winery that might be open. We visit the Boutari winery next, which is practically empty--we weren’t even sure it was open as we drove up. We sample the wine. We buy wine. Afterwards, we head to the beach at Perrisa. It’s a lovely beach, but only Val swims. An umbrella and a cot cost $1 per person. Around 6:30 p.m., we head back to port to turn in the rental car and catch the ferry. We eat a quick bite near the ferry.
The ferry back to Paros isn’t bad, but not as nice as the first trip. Boat "Olympic Express." John has worried about the old Creta the whole time we’ve been gone, but its fine. Evidently Nikitas’ assistant had a delivery here and did come aboard to help straighten the boat out at one point.
Monday, June 16th: We pick up our rental car around 9:00 a.m. We drive toward Lefkes and Naroussa. In route, we stop at a pottery place recommended by Di-the car rental lady. The pottery woman is from Rhode Island and married to a Greek potter. They are on the Internet and doing well. Their home/studio appears to be a long-term construction project, but is beautiful. Her kids sail optimists and are fun to visit with. Val buys out the store. We each get one or two things as well. The potter and his wife are interested in finding someone to take their place for a year or two so they can come to the Carolinas in the US for a change. Lefkes is wonderful, non-touristy and unspoiled. We have lunch in a little Taverna that takes nearly two hours. We walk around the town, which is very quiet because of the holiday (Holiday of the Holy Ghost). We stop in a small weaving shop where the woman speaks no English. Continue our walk and visit the town church. It’s very hot and everyone is starting to drag a bit.
We then head toward the north shore and Naroussa. We stop only for a short visit and then head to the beach. We first try Kolumbria beach, but it’s very crowded. We then go on to Santa Maria Beach. We see Doug. Evidently, he finally got his wind surfing in this afternoon, although it wasn’t great conditions. There hasn’t been any wind for days, but he got enough to sail.
That night, dinner is in Parikia. First, Val and Kelly head off to do some shopping. Prices seem lower here than in Mykonos. Kelly gets lost in a leather shop and spend 45 minutes selecting a brief case ($50). Dinner is at a restaurant on the agora called L/Avante. It’s terrific. Di comes in and buys us a bottle of wine. Val and Cathy get a wee bit tipsy. Cathy crawls back aboard on the gangway.
Tuesday, June 17th: Everyone has returned from Santorini. Doug is packing. He’s feeling a bit worse each day and has decided to return to the States early, perhaps to start cancer treatment sooner than planned, perhaps just to be miserable in more comfortable surroundings. We help him carry all his belongings to the ferry, then realize he can’t possibly carry everything himself after we leave. We take a bunch of his gear and repack the rest while waiting for the ferry to Athens. John reschedules his flight to get him out of Athens the next morning. It’s a very sad good-bye as we all suspect this is Doug’s last trip. We sincerely wish he could finish it and we all fight back tears. Val and Kelly stop in the way back to the boat to get him a "wind surfing in Paros" T-shirt.
Leave the dock for Siphnos around 12:30 p.m. We finally get some wind and everyone’s spirits rise when we start sailing. Distance is around 30 miles and we are frequently making 9 knots. The boat sails quite well. John gives Kelly a radar lesson. Pass Ak. Kardvi Island around 4:30 p.m. Have to beat up to Vathi just above south end of Siphnos. Arrive around 6:00 p.m. on a dying breeze. Dinner on board of sautéed vegetables and sausage.
Wednesday, June 18th: Today we plan to hike and bus around the island. After well-intentioned plans for an early breakfast, we finally get going around 8:30 a.m. It’s already starting to heat up. We hike up a steep trail at the southeast end of the beach to the road above. Locals are laughing at us. We hike a hot and steep 2 miles up the road with several people fading fast. We hitch hike and a car stops to take several people to the next town. The rest of us keep going... it’s less steep now, but hot. There are olive orchards all around us. The heat and scenery remind me of Auburn (but with ocean views). A while later the rest of us get a ride in a van to Exambela, where we are reunited with the others. We had hoped to hike to the monastery at Chrysopigi, but never do find it. As we understand the advice of the locals, its a ways to Appolonia, so we catch a bus, only to find it’s less than a mile.
Appolonia is very cute. We ask around and find the curator of the local museum, who opens it up for us. He’s very nice and turns out to have authored a local tour book. Kelly and Val buy a copy and he signs it. On his advice, we walk up the stairs to the town of Artemonas, past a large church. We have lunch at a little place on the square near the bus stop and another church. Terrific lunch there. From there, we catch a cab to Kastro, which is the oldest continuously inhabited walled city in the island, dating to 800 B.C. The town is very small but has fabulous views toward Paros. We catch another cab (each ride is between $9 and $15 US) to Kamares. By this time, everything is closed. There’s a rather dirty beach, several tavernas, and basic shops. We grab a coke and another taxi back to Vathi.
Back at the Creta, the refrigerator and freezer are acting up again. Tony and Kelly go swimming. Val, Cathy and John go to visit a potter at the far end of the beach. Kelly swims all the way across the harbor and rides back in the dinghy. Val and Kelly go back afterwards and buy a bunch more stuff.
Thursday, June 19th: Leave for Kythnos around 7:00 a.m. Very light air and hot. Finally get about an hour of sailing in Midday. Wind dies again. Trip about 40 miles. After checking out the anchorage outside the harbor, we decide to stern tie to quay. There’s plenty of water even though it looked suspicious. We then flee around the corner to the beach just outside (east of) the main harbor. We return to the boat. It's 116 degrees on deck at 5 p.m., although it’s in a black cased diving thermometer. The harbor here has been developed for yachties, with local Taverna operators pitching together to provide showers, etc. and make the place nice. Late in the day, lots of boats descend on the harbor. It’s a madhouse, with boats racing to steal spots from each other. Not all these folks are competent. Kelly dives on the anchor to see if its clear. It is, but only because we bent the chain around a large concrete block when we backed down. Without this turn, we would have had two anchors over ours. Then, it’s back to the beach for John, Val and Kelly.
We go to check out the local hot springs, which flow into the local beach at the far (end. We then walk around town. We plan to depart around 3 a.m., and head off to an early dinner. Taverna: "Zorba’s" Dinner is exceptionally slow (3 hours) and expensive, but most people loved the fish they had there.
Friday, June 20th: Depart for Athens at 3:40 a.m. Hot with no wind. The first several hours we have a gorgeous full moon. It’s a pleasant and uneventful trip. John stays up all night. Arrive Kalamaki marina around 11:00 a.m. Again very hot. Cathy and John go to try and negotiate a settlement with Vernicos Yachts. The rest of the crew pack up gear. Val and Kelly pack lots of pottery! There are more than 20 bottles of water left. The crew waits a long time in the heat for Cathy and John to return. When John returns, we fire up the generator to run the air conditioner. As a grand finale to the trip, the generator burst into billowing clouds of black smoke. We shut it down and rush out with fire extinguishers, but they are not needed. The Vernicos man offers us shore power to complete our stay, but everyone wants off this crate.
Vernicos has offered us about $250 per person as a rebate for days lost. The group wants further compensation for the fact that the quality of the time spent aboard was compromised. John and Kelly return a negotiate further--unsuccessfully. They offer us a special discount of 10% percent at a local hotel. In the mean time, George has arranged rooms at another hotel closer in town at a significantly lower rate ($50 US per double). We take off for Hotel Aphrodite on Appolonia St. in the Placa. The room is basic but pleasant.
We go out to a nearby restaurant for dinner with the others. We are practically dragged in off the street by the proprietor. Val, Kelly and John go walking around old Athens after dinner. John is more dead than alive. We see the Temple of Olympian Zeus (most impressive, but locked up as it’s late in the day), Hadrian’s Gate, and the botanical gardens. John is fading fast and heads back to the hotel. Val and Kelly walk around the outside of the Greek and Roman Agora’s, and all around the Placa.
Saturday, June 21st: We wake and head to breakfast at 7:45 a.m. We are the last one’s down except for Tony. Val and Kelly say good-byes to the others at breakfast figuring they may not see the gang again, since they plan to head off for Delphi this afternoon. They head off to the Acropolis with George, Hussein, and Tony first thing to avoid the tour buses. Good move. By the time we leave at 10:30, it’s packed. We do the usual museum/Parthenon thing and take lots of pictures.
Next, we go to the Greek Agora. Didn’t realize that Socrates was executed in the prison here. The temple on the hill here is wonderfully preserved. The Stola museum is very interesting and pleasantly cool. Next, we walk about a mile to the National Archaeology Museum. We stay from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., when they close. We do see the Frescoes from Akrititi. We bump into Janet and Tony.
Some Final Thoughts: June was a perfect time for the sailing part of the trip, although we were a little unlucky on weather. Holiday crowds don’t start arriving until July. For the land trip, it would be good to do it earlier. As it was, we wish we had done the shore portion first, so that we could relax some on the boat after rushing around from site to site for several days.
Compared to my previous charter, where we sailed every day, I much prefer John’s approach of sailing every other day. It’s far more relaxing and is worth skipping a few destinations to see the one’s you do stop at in more detail.
It’s helpful to memorize the Greek alphabet before going to Greece. Many words are anglicized, but simply spelled in the Greek letters. It’s especially useful for road signs, only some of which are translated.
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