To Mykonos via Kea and Syros and the meanest Meltemi caning yet..

Not a good season so far for the 'Sow'. My name for the Meltemi, that vicious wind the blows down the Aegean sea from somewhere between the Russian Steps and Northern Turkey.

Although it wasn't too tough, it kept us in Lavrio port for four days until we had no choice but to make a run on Friday the 24th.... That is because on Fridays all the charter yachts return to the port and there is no room for us. 
We did manage to drive down the Sunio Peninsular a couple of times and enjoy a little of what it has to offer...

Fortunately on the day, the wind was behind us and we anchored in the most surprising Kavia Bay on Kea Island after a fantastic first sailing outing for the season with brand new sails .

In the last two seasons we have circumvented the Cyclades islands. These are the ones Greece is famous for that lie south east of Athens. We had considered them a little touristy and having spent so much time in Greece we figured it was time to head for Croatia. This may have been a mistake. 

We thought we'd sample a few before Al arrives on the 1st July and so far we have found them quite impressive.

Nothing extraordinary about Kavia Bay itself but a perfect anchorage with clear waters and plenty of room. What did take us by surprise was the one taverna ashore. A cut above anything we have experienced. Tasteful and appropriate accommodation, spacious outdoor bar and restaurant, neatly laid out brollies and sun beds and even a foot shower for sandy feet..... 
Oh, and the food!.





The Sow had blown itself out and we woke to a calm morning and our ever reliable wind predicting app gave us the prospect of a smooth sail to Syros.
An early start for a 40 mile run, at 8:15 on Saturday the 25th June we weighed anchor and within 20 minutes had all sails up in a light 15 knot northerly. As we rounded the southern tip of the island the headsail came in when the wind dropped as predicted. With the Mainsail still up, motors on, all hatches open, we settled in for the calm run.... Then Bang!

The Sow awoke with vicious intent and within 10 minutes we went from 10 knots on the port beam to 35 in bucking seas. 
The hatches! By the time we reacted the port cabins were inundated. Mattresses soaked, floors awash, bilges filled as we attempted to remedy the situation inside what felt like a washing machine on a quick cycle...
And it just got worse. For the second time ever we had the kids in life jackets and for the first time ever both Sal and I donned ours. We still had another 30 miles to go in this! So much for that app..

The town of Ermoupolis on Syros is the most impressive we have seen. This is not just because it offered relief from the severe beating we had taken, but, according to Thanasis, it was once the capital of Europe. It was where the fur from Russia was distributed throughout Europe and its wealth is evidenced by the fact that all streets and ally ways behind the building lining the tidiest of quays are paved in white marble.



A motorcyclist's nightmare but stunning to look at and such a pleasure to meander through.

Thanasis, the man who takes care of the yachties could not have been more pleasant, helpful and apologetic about having to charge us a pittance to stay. Port taxes of €7.50 per day, free power and water and one free shower for Sal and I, otherwise €2. We never bother, the boat shower is just fine.

Free power in 30 degrees means air -con a must. A separate plug in point on the boat so two cables required  from the box. Normal power came on right away, but the air-con would not start. We have had problems of melting connections before because the air-con draws so much power so a start point was to check the wiring in all the connections.. To the box, to the boat and then to the internal system... 


Methodically, in sweltering heat I went about the task revealing no problems with any of them. Tried the air-con again, no joy.
Ok, next attempt was to simply circumvent the plugs and temporarily hard wire the system just to make sure it wasn't the plugs. No joy.... 
Sal had mentioned the switch on the main board, but the one she was talking about was for when the generator was driving the power and not the mains.. Well, nothing for it but to try that switch! It was rather like dismantling the entire engine only to find you'd run out of petrol! 
What a dick! Sal to the rescue... again!

We had given ourselves one day in Ermoupolis before heading to Mykonos but it just simply grew on us. What was our hurry? It is surely for us the nicest town in all of Greece. So three days of getting the boat back into livable condition, drying mattresses, mopping salty floors, washing decks and emptying bilges. Swanning the marble streets in the cool of the day, sampling cafe's and restaurants and for madam, some retail therapy, just because. 

A neighboring boat suggested a restaurant they had stumbled upon purely by chance. By day it is just a nondescript door right opposite the Opera house which is apparently a mini version of La Scala. At night it opens to what looks like a private court yard and served what Sal puts as the best meal she has eaten in Europe... Octopus cooked in red wine with a fava bean mash. So simply, so amazing.

Mykonos lies only 18 miles due east of Ermoupolis. The Sow had slumbered so at 12:20 on the 28th, we cast off to a fond Thanases farewell and a hearty thanks for spending some money in his beloved town and motored on calm seas to Mykonos. 

Nobody seems to like this place, particularly the dusty half built marina and we had decided to anchor in a bay south of the town but on arrival decided to take a look inside the marina just in case. This decision was reinforced by the rising northerly wind which hinted at our last unpleasant experience.

We were greeted and shown where we should moor, so we did.

This marina is renowned for crossed anchor chains and it is obvious why. Before reversing onto the quay, you need to drop your anchor literally between the bows of the boats on the opposite quay and if you are not straight when you tie up, you will almost definitely have crossed somebody's chain. We have med moored well over 100 times so no biggie for us, but then, in they came. Charter yachts with no idea. OMG. 


This is a yacht that has so far spent an hour trying to extricate. So we sit here in the re-awakened Sow with at least two chains across ours and no prospect of leaving until they do.

Floating, sailing and family unites.

So Friday the 17^th June rolled around and the boat was super ready to go back into the water. The 200 tonne Travel lift surrounded us and without warning lifted us (us being me and the boat) off its stand point while I was sitting at the nav desk.... Oh!

Um, so we were not so super ready after all. One of the winter jobs I had requested was that the anchor chain be repainted. 

I get that you may be asking yourself why I’d want to paint the anchor chain…? Well, not the entire chain. There is over 100 meters of it and somehow, when anchoring you need to know how much chain has gone out. First 30 meters, one meter of green paint, next thirty, yellow paint and so on. The entire chain was still laid out on the ground where they had painted it!

I have never used the anchor winch without the engines running, in fact I was instructed at the outset that this was the only way and so I tried everything short of starting the engines. 

The boat must be in the water to start the engines because they use sea water as their coolant and simply won’t start without it. 

Eventually we called an electrician who figured out a way to short circuit the windlass motor and in a few minutes the anchor was in and snug.

Once again, without warning the boat became airborne and we were off! Occupational Health and Safety, pah… this is Greece! I wanted to take a few photos and collect my bicycle which was parked between the hulls so I climbed down the swim ladder and jumped whilst the whole show was on the road. Nobody batted an eyelid.

Nikos the sail maker suggested I did not take the boat directly to Lavrio Port on Friday because Saturday was the changeover day for 200 plus charter boats and the port would be packed. 

He would meet me on Sunday morning 8:00am sharp, we would depart the marina, hoist the new sails to ensure they existed and he would then crew for me to Lavrio Port and get me a prime spot on one his mate’s moorings. 

Sunday the 19^th, sunrise.

Some final preparations, morning constitutional and at 8:00am on the dot Nikos arrived and off we went. The new sails looked glorious and within an hour we were parked in said prime position in Lavrio Port, power, water, 25 Euros. Woopdidoo!!

Thank you Nikos for the sails, the advice and the help in getting us to Lavrio

There were a few little last minute jobs to do before Sal and the kids arrived. Her last trip to the airport cost 80Euro. Nikos to the rescue. "My cousin is a taxi driver, he will pick her up..." 50Euro. He had done the same for me on my arrival. What a legend!

A nanna nap while the kids got back to movie watching until the cool of the evening (30 degrees!) We wondered over to the main piazza to sample the local atmosphere. William took his soccer ball as always and within minutes had a four man game going while Mum and Dad watched on, cold Vodka tonic in hand.

The 2016 Season begins...

Well, I’m back at the boat. I spent three solid weeks on the hard in this desolate boat yard at the end of last season and now it’s as if I never left. 

The Summer Amy is immaculate. She has been kept spotless, all the silverware is glinting in the evening sun,her bottom has been anti fouled, her hulls have been polished, brand new sails have been fitted and I am slowly remembering all the jobs I did during those three weeks. 

I have my music blaring because I can while I contemplate the season to come. 

The plan is to launch on Friday, test the sails on Sunday with the sail maker who will also serve as crew to get me to Lavrion harbour where we rendezvous with Sal, Will and Summer. There we will provision the boat and head off for the summer.

Now here is a real cutie. NOT. These birds are the scourge of any boat yard. They will find the perfect spot to nest somewhere in your boat rigging. 

Last year it was up the back of the boom and unfortunately when I was clearing out the nest, it came with two eggs and a newly hatched chick....

I was gutted. All that time building a nest, laying eggs, one chick out, two to come and along comes this human!

I caught this little guy in the act of building a nest in one of the davits that hold the dingy. I thought my presence would deter any further action but when I rose this morning he was in full swing. I had to vacuum out the pipe just behind that wheel and in front of the white string and tape up the entrance underneath while this little guy perched only a few yards away and complained. Once I was done, he just could not figure it out and with that feather in his mouth persisted for a good half hour before giving up and probably losing his mate as a result! Humans!

Now, just for our record, I would like to briefly record an intense 8 months in the Southern Hemisphere between seasons.... 

Sal spent 12 weeks in total helping her mum in her final days and then assisting Paul in finding more practical digs, furnishing them and basically setting him on an entirely new life trajectory.

Sal shouted her Mum the lifetime bucket list item, a cruise. Paul was never interested, a sentiment to which I related but I persuaded him that if he went, I’d go. We all knew it would be the last item on Maureen’s list before she left us and so it was only fitting.

I had never seen Maureen happier. She was in her element. The day we disembarked was the day she was admitted to hospital and within two weeks she was gone. Rest in Peace Mausie, we are so glad we joined you on that cruise.

Her passing delayed our ski trip to Big White, Canada by a couple of days and changed our Christmas plans somewhat, from a family do at our house to a wake in Queensland. We did get to enjoy the best season Big White had seen since the 80’s. The skiing was sensational, although Sal had a nasty wipe out in a total white out and injured her shoulder and knee. The knee injury persists. Mark also broke his thumb. What’s the matter with these people?

I then went fishing with a bunch of mates to Weipa at the very top of Australia in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Exquisite, and the fishing gods smiled upon me from the third cast on the first day with a 6kg Barramundi and just kept smiling on all of us. Mackerel, Tuskas, Golden Trevalli, Tuna, Breem and we ate everything we didn't return to the water. 

It was hot, the water was inviting if you were happy to share it with sharks, crocodiles and lethal stingers..

Up to our paradise that is Sth Stradbroke Island with my buddy Marco. I can say without equivocation that I have never seen that place so utterly beautiful, calm and clear with the wild life coming right up to the boat, or right up to my chair while I fished the sunset. If any of you ever get the chance, you should join us there as many of you already have.

And then I clocked 60. Sal threw the bash of the decade, no holds barred, everybody she knew or knew of in my address book was invited and it was just so cool that so many friends from so many phases of my life made it and I have no doubt enjoyed it. The only problem was, it took half the night saying hello to 120 people and then the second half saying goodbye!

We were instructed to go sailing on the day while the house was sorted for the bash. It was a great day, it really was.

The annual Vivid Sydney was on, which to me surpasses New Years Eve by quite some way and is getting bigger and more spectacular every year. A couple of couples ignored the instruction not to buy any presents for my 60th and I was given a Bridge Climb Voucher. Sal suggested I wait for Vivid and do a night climb. What a good idea that was. It was worth the wait. Thanks Fiona, Chris, Kate and Tom. 

Mark and his flat mate Max Champion decided to Kayak from Balmain to Bondi Beach. A trip of 20kms along the harbour, through the heads and down the coast to Bondi. Against their protestation I borrowed Mike Chapman's boat and with some mates, followed them at a reasonable distance checking in and taking photographs from time to time. 

This is them on the outside at the bottom of the famous Gap. Sydney's favored suicide venue. Sadly it is a tourist attraction for that reason...

It was no mean feat, particularly because by the time they reached the beach it was down to 10 degrees and they were both soaked and nearing exposure. The whole thing was for charity and raised over $3000 for Kids With Cancer. 

Well done boys and thank you to all who donated. It is our number one cause and thank you Mike for the use of your boat, the boys appreciated it in the end and we enjoyed the trip. 

It was very nice to have lived at our home this southern summer. Last time we rented as our house was rented and it just didn't feel like we were home. It was a very busy period but we resolved not to even think about this season before it arrived and just enjoy being in Sydney in a newly renovated house... for the times we were actually there!

This is Summer and her friend using the conventional entrance to the pool.

And so, the plan this year is to head for Venice via the Corinth Canal, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia. It will mean going back to where we started this folly 5000 miles ago…

I’ll keep you posted as usual.