Season 4

We got our first glimpse of the whiteness of the building perched impossibly, like an eerie, into the precipitous cliff face above us. Our silver Mercedes taxi wound up the snaking, mountain approach-road, and pulled up for us to get a better look. We gazed in awe at the limestone landscape that dominated this tiny monastery, yet were also in awe of the monks who had the vision and fortitude to attempt to build their home here centuries before (in about 1500). It was half a m

In the same way that seeing kite-surfers in your intended anchorage can be disconcerting, seeing a kayaking school practising through slalom poles in a channel of falling white-water that you must shortly traverse, could also be mildly alarming! Alix and I are very used to sailing on the south coast of England, where a normal spring tidal range is about 4 metres. We have chartered a yacht on Vancouver Island (Canada), where we had to deal with a similar range, but one that cr

Spring is sprung… …the grass is ris’ I wonder where de birdies is? The bird is on the wing! But how absurd, I t’ought the wing was on de bird”   Tamarisk in bloom Swinging on the hook at the head of Ormos Almiropotamou, we were partly surrounded by a shrub-clad rocky headland, and well-sheltered from the expected southerly blow. From the greenery came the flitting, warbles of the many small, brown birds that were obviously excited by the prospect of another season. This verda

The wind was due to blow hard from the south, and Missy Bear was sailing northwards up the Evia channel – between mainland Attica and the island - looking for a nice sheltered anchorage on the island side. We headed for an archipelago called Nisos Petalioi, which looked like it would provide protection from most wind angles, if you looked hard enough. Towards Nisos Petalioi It was very early in the season, and we were not expecting many boats to be around. There was one catam

When you are heading towards, what you hope will be, a sheltered anchorage, its always slightly disconcerting to see a kite surfer whizzing around in the distance just about where you intended to ‘sling the hook’ for the night. Kite surfers never seem to get out of bed unless there is a F6 blowing. Indeed, when we did arrive at our intended stop south of the island of Antiparos, the wind was gusting in the low 20 knots from the north-east. The anchorage – Ormos Dhespotica - l

The forecast was favourable, the boat was ready, and Tony and I were set to do our 150NM delivery trip from Leros to Olympic Marina (it’s not far from Athens airport). Alix would fly and meet us there. We should have waited until the marineros arrived to help us exit our berth. But it was 07:30 and they don’t start work until 08:00. We had an empty berth downwind of us, next to an open channel, and we were almost pointing directly to the exit. Very low risk, although against

Sleeping on the chair of an airline departures lounge is never easy or comfortable. Despite being very tired, I think I managed just half an hour. We had set off from Cirencester late that afternoon on the National Express 444 to Heathrow (cheaper than a taxi!). And then our late-night departure on Aegean Airways had landed in Athens about 03:00 local time. Our connecting flight to Leros wasn’t until 07:30. Fortunately, the airport shops were open all night, and a coffee, san

Gabriella is from Puglia, you know, the pointy-heel bit of Italy. There are quite a few Italians around Leros; it was built by Italians after all. As well as being an avant-garde artist. she makes all her own pasta in her small restaurant here in Lakki. And it is delicious. I had ravioli, which was just one large one. It filled the dish - rather like a big soft fluffy pillow of joy, with a delicious, perfectly-seasoned meaty filling . Not only is Gabriella's Italian fare deli