The all time biggest pounding to Galaxidhi. Heaven by another name.

It was indeed a sleepless night. The wind gusting up to 30 knots off the sloping hills in front of us and an anchor so deep we could not see how well it was set. By the morning I gave the crew the options… Two more days here or we confront this wind in the open gulf for 32 miles to get to Galaxidhi which read like heaven compared to where we were.

Not knowing quite what we were in for, the consensus was to take it on… OMG! I can quite categorically say that neither we nor the boat have experienced anything like it.

By the time we got within viewing distance of our destination we were head on into 35 knot winds and the very ugly high frequency waves that knock up in the Med. So, it was climb a steep oncoming wave and bang, into the next one' again and again for 6 solid hours. Sal, the kids and I huddled behind a removable plastic windscreen on the helm and due to lack of room, Al hunkered down in his cabin listening to the torture we were putting the boat through. It will not happen again.

I’m not sure of the extent of unseen structural damage, but the trampolines at the front of the boat need repair and ultimately replacement. BOAT (Break Out Another Thousand)

So anxious was I to end the agony that as we turned into what I thought was our haven, waiting for the town of Galaxidhi to appear as we rounded the bend, there was no sign of it. Rod Heikel (Author of THE Book) had got the previous destination so wrong that we felt he’d never been anywhere near the place. We moored, got the book out and sure enough, I was one inlet short.. 

When Galaxidhi finally appeared it was everything we wished for. A beautiful, protected little hamlet and a spot, all be it a squeeze, on the wall… Problem was we were to attempt the mooring is a 15 knot cross wind.

Anchor down, in we went. I kept her high with the view of letting the wind push us down adjacent to the slot, then drive her in.. All went well till Sal warned that I was very close to our new neighbour’s anchor chain. 

I thought I still had some space to play with until GRRRRRRRRRRRR. Prop on metal anchor chain.. not a great sound. OK, out we go for second attempt and GRRRRRRRRR went our other neighbour's anchor chain.

What was really surprising was that both neighbours recognised the level of difficulty, were unperturbed by the fact that we were shoehorning ourselves in between them and were very friendly and accommodating. Second time and in as originally planned. Help with the lines, the water and the power came from near and far, but when Al went to plug in our power plug, the entire wharf went down? 

Still nobody complained until 'he' arrived from three boats away. A rotund Pom in desperate need of a man bra thought it was way more important for Al to admit that he caused the problem than actually working on the solution like everybody else. Al tried to explain that we hadn’t even plugged in yet, that the prob…. Bellow, bellow bellowing on went this knob attempting but failing to solicit support. Al kept his cool. Greg did not. It was awkward for the next couple of days. Fortunately we remained friends with everybody else.

I repaired the tramps, Al Googled a possible supplier of new ones and wouldn’t you know, the manufacturer was at the Olympic Marina in Lavrio where the boat spent the winter! 

We ordered them and had to wait a few days for their arrival. Fortunately, this is a lovely place to wait and there is Delphi just up the road, one of the most important historic sites in Greece. So the school term started with an excursion….

To get there, we hired the only thing available, an 8 seater van. Drove through the biggest and most maintained olive grove we have ever seen, literally the entire flood plain wall to wall olive trees. It's that flat dull green area in this shot....

Then up, and up we wound our way to Delphi the town which resembles an alpine ski village and instantly became a planned refreshment stop on the way home. 

We’d left our arrival until 5:00pm to avoid the 30 or so tourist buses and the heat which gave us just enough time to do the museum before it closed at 5:30… fluke or what? And a couple of hours to take in Delphi. Perfect.

High on the slopes of an impressive gorge cut over the ions by the River Pleitus and backed by two giant rocky cliffs, Phaedriades and Nauplia. This is where the Greeks worshiped the God of Apollo and the most important Oracle of Delphi was founded in 800BC. Want any further information…. Google it.

From the road we checked out the museum. The artifacts here are impressive and in most cases elaborate gifts from the known world all vying for favourable prophecies from the Oracle.

Then we climbed the sacred way....


Through the commercial district, 

....past the treasuries, 

onto the Temple of Apollo, 

and the amphitheater where the Wilkinson children did it again... 

Somehow they found their way around the back and as they descended the stairs into a no go zone a frantic whistling from security could be heard... 

and on to the top where the athletics stadium perches. 

A running track, 185 meters long backed by 25 rows of seating with a view to die for and still in amazing condition. 


Delphi has been excavated by the French over the past 100 years or so and started with nothing visible, everything covered by dirt. How does that happen? How does something so important, so impressive just simply disappear?

Other activities to while away the time… swimming, walking, cycling, paddle boarding, eating and drinking.... and my all time favourite job. Changing the non-return valve on a toilet!

Oh, and using small people to get into tiny spaces to fix stuff.

The new Trampolines arrived and were not quite as expected... they are going to take some time to stretch to fit and when they do, they're going to be very very tight!