All Posts

Badge of the Royal Army Medical Corp Have you ever wondered why a snake entwined around a stick has become a standard symbol of the medical professions? No, I thought not. But I’ll relate, in any case, what I told the flotilla guests at the briefing on the morning before the yachts arrived at the old port of Epidavros. Now, most people know of Epidavros because of its ancient sanctuary of the same name, which has probably the finest preserved theatre in Greece. That is what m

One of the most delightful forms of entertainment is being safely moored up, not going anywhere, and then watching other yachties trying to tie up or leave. For some voyeurs, it’s schadenfreude , but for me, it’s “ there but for the grace of God ”. We have all done stupid things when mooring, or leaving a berth. It’s very easy to get distracted, and we have learned to take it easy and work through our checklist. But mistakes or bad luck can still happen. We had a delightful

We have knowingly sailed past four active volcanoes so far on Missy Bear: two in the Aeolian islands and one on Sicily last year; and now one on the end of the Methana peninsular. Admittedly, the latest one last erupted about 250 BC, but it still bubbles out sulphurous waters that fuel the hydrotherapy spa at ‘stinky’ Methana town. Apparently, if you keep your boat there, you don’t need to antifoul the bottom, because the eggy-smelling waters will keep all the barnacles and w

Our Cadogan guide says that Portocheli (Porto Heli) “ has as much personality as a doorknob ”. Now, I’ve seen some interesting doorknobs on our travels, but I’m not sure that that was meant as a compliment. By contrast the same guide says that Nafplio is “ a rarity in the Peloponnese: a beautiful city ”. It was difficult to disagree with that summary. We only ever took the Setsail flotilla into Port Heli (PH) once, and that was simply to avoid some high winds that were foreca

For those who are too young to remember it, this is how Gladys Pugh (played by Ruth Madoc) used to introduce her broadcasts in the BBC sitcom ‘Hi-de-Hi’, set in the 1950s holiday camp of Maplins. Well, Skipper may frown upon me saying this, but sometimes boating is like having a caravan on water. You pack up every day, stow things away, and move on to the next place. Then, you unpack what you need, spend the afternoon, and certainly the evening doing stuff around the location