Mama Mia

As has been throughout most of our summer, the sails remained stowed and we motored the short distance from Cavtat, Croatia to Montenegro.  King called a few marinas while in transit in hopes that we could tie up and check in with no fuss.  The .Montenegro Marina quoted double for Catamarans.  That was met with "no thanks", actually it was more like "tell your boss he charges too much".  Consequently, we decided to take our chances at the main port where the big ships check-in.  The biggest problem here is they have huge black rubber bumpers which I'm sure are great if you happen to be a very large black ship but not so great for cruising boats, especially white sailboats.  Getting our fenders located in just the right spots to fend off was shear guess work.  Fortunately, the wind was light or it would of been impossible.  What little wind we had died as soon as we were secured of course.  The only problem checking in was they required a  boat operator's license.  Of course, we don't have boat licenses in the states.  Any fool that can turn a key can drive a boat.....no matter, King was told "anything that looks like a license will do"  so King retrieved his RYA Inland Waterway certificate and stamp, stamp "Welcome to Montenegro!"

The cruise on to Koto more than made up for the not so glamours entrance.  A spectacular fjord that reminded us of Norway.  At the end sat our marina which overlooked the UNISCO designated old walled town of Koto.   During our 2 days there we strolled the castle and did a bus trip to Perast to visit the island and its richly decorated church that according to legend was built by fisherman dropping stones where a vision of the Virgin Mary was seen.  Unfortunately, the weather turned a bit wild after that so, while not nearly enough time to explore, when a small weather window appeared we decided to grab it.

The night view was spectacular!

you never know what might be lurking in the moat

The Lady of the Rocks in Koto Bay

After multiple calculations and much debate, King convinced me that it was actually shorter to cross directly to Italy vs sailing down the coast of Montenegro, Albania and back to Greece to cross.  The difference, of course, is one required an overnight and the other we could day sail.  I caved.  The wind was still howling when we untied from the docks and we were unsure what conditions would be on the outside of the fjord so checking out was tricky.  While we could checked out in Koto we would have to leave the country immediately so it was decided to travel to the mouth of the bay and spend the night in Herceg Novi to ensure the weather we were seeing on the computer matched what was happening at the mouth of the fjord.  The marina there had space but the wind was still howling when we arrived and would of made med mooring worth the price of admission.  We nixed that idea and found space to anchor just off the marina in 40 feet.  Within the hour the wind laid down to a whisper and we settled in for the night.

Hat, binoculars, pilot book, clothes you can sleep in....must be an overnight crossing

September 22 - Ostinato departed Montenegro at 0830.  Not much wind but confused seas made most of the day less than fun.  By evening, however, Ostinato finally found a more comfortable ride.  The wind was light so while the sails were up the engines remained on.  It was a non eventful crossing, which isn't a bad thing.  Ostinato arrived in Gallopolli at 1600 the following day.  We called all the marinas listed in the Italy pilot guide but none had room for us so what to do.   I had the yellow quarantine flag flying.  We had to check in.  Our only option was to find the Harbour Master's office.  King pulled Ostinato into the quay and I jumped off to tie her off.  I barley had the bow line on before men in uniforms started pouring out of the building and, with much hand waving, saying "you can not stay here!  Government dock"  I pointed to our yellow quarantine flag and responded "OK, ....where do you want us?"  After much murmuring and second teams running information back and forth to the building, fingers pointed to an empty space on the quay near the "old town" where the fishing boats were moored.  The men who were enjoying their evening fishing in that spot were not thrilled about our arrival but took their displacement in stride.  Here we spent the next 3 days checking in.  Yes, it took 3 days.....but it was a pleasant 3 days filled with catching up on lost sleep from the overnight and exploring the old city that was conveniently right at our back door.  The best part was hearing "Mama Mia" coming from the fishermen as they chatted while off loading the catch from their boats.  We really are in Italy!

September 25 - Our check-in at Gallapoli started the 8 day clock in which we had to apply for residency.  With the D-Visa, we acquired last spring in Miami, this would enable us to stay in Italy all winter AND travel other Schengen countries for a year vs the current 3 month limit.  King estimated if we day sailed it would take us 4 days of hard sailing to reach Marina Di Ragusa, the small beach town where we will winter.  The delayed stamping in also delayed the clock but it would still be a rush.  The first port, Crotone, was a 70 mile day so we were up at 0515 and off the dock at 0600.  Not enough coffee in the world to make that feel good.  While we left in light winds we soon found great wind from the NW providing a beautiful downwind sail resulting in our arrival at the marina at 1700.  The next morning we did it all over again to Roccella Ionica.

Off the SE coast of Italy near Roccella Ionica 

September 27 - A gale was forecast to be heading our way in the next few days.  If we were going to arrive in time it meant another over night jump or leaving the boat somewhere on Sicily's east coast and driving into Ragusa to file our papers.  In the rush to make a decision, we had forgotten about the Blood Moon. Lucky for us, we decided to jump and oh what a fabulous night! Between the eclipse and the fact that we actually got to sail, it was perfect.  Heavy dark clouds surrounded us all day but once the sun slipped below the horizon they opened a narrow path leading south with the moon lighting our way.  Best eclipse ever!

What a spectacular night to sail!



Our first glimpse of Marina Di Ragusa

September 28 - ......Marina Di Ragusa was a welcome sight.  The weather was sunny and the winds had turned with us as we curved around Sicily's southern coast allowing us to sail all the way in.  It was a perfect last sail of the season.  After topping of the fuel tanks we were led to our new home......in between two 45 ft Lagoon catamarans.  Once we were squeezed in, (med moored, of course) King got to work putting the passerelle out.  The quay was so high that we had to crawl to get off the boat and slide on our butts to return.  The quay was less expensive than the floating docks.....and close to the heads but this was not going to work.    No problem, the lovely ladies in the office found space for Ostinato on I-dock and we were soon settled in to our berth for the next 7 months.  Wow!

This year's neighbors are made up of Swiss, Dutch, Aussies, and Brits....and that's just on I pontoon.   As is the case with many marina's with a winter cruising community, there are lots of activities to keep us entertained over the winter including dinners, happy hours, Italian lessons, and trips to the symphony in Ragusa.  We also hope to spend lots of our time this winter exploring all of the wonderful cities Sicily and Italy has to offer.  So, while our sailing may be over until next May we plan to continue to have a few adventures this winter.  Stay tuned!

Porto Touristico Marina Di Ragusa 



The "run way"

Solving of the Missing Sock Mystery

Checking out of Greece in Corfu
Can you find Ostinato?  Think small...center left

August 11 - We untied lines early and moved Ostinato around the coast to the Port of Corfu to complete the checking out process required as a non EU yacht.  By 1000 Ostinato was on her way north.  In 34 hours, or so, we would be in Croatia!

Dolphins ride our bow wake in the
crystal clear waters off the coast of Montenegro

The trip was mainly a motor.  Occasionally, we would unfurl the jib for a brief period but the winds were just too light to give us much more than a 1/2 knot boost. And then it would start flapping again and beg to be bought in.   We decided to try a 3 hours on and 3 hours off watch system this trip, versus our usual 2/2.  It worked well but King admitted to cat napping a bit more than usual.  The night sky was a real treat.  I always forget how outstanding the sky is during a crossing until I'm forced, dragging and kicking, into doing an overnighter.  The reward of seeing such beauty takes away some of the angst of losing a bit of sleep.  This night, I was rewarded with witnessing the spectacular Perseids meteor shower. The sky was simply filled with "falling stars" as we crossed the Adriatic.

By mid afternoon, Ostinato had med moored onto the customs quay in Cavtat Croatia.  Beyond the roped off area for yachts checking in, the remainder of the quay was filled with fully crewed mega yachts from around Europe.  We decided the anchorage would be best for us.  Just as we began pulling away from the quay, King noticed we had no propulsion from our starboard side.  Oh good grief!  After bouncing off of the big catamaran to starboard, we limped to the anchorage sideways and quickly got the anchor down.  King went in the water, hoping the prop had simply picked up a plastic bag while on the quay.....no plastic bag.  We were both too exhausted to deal with it today.  It would be dinner and then to bed.  We would "think about that tomorrow".

hmmmm who's chain is this?

We awoke to high entertainment the next morning with front row seats to watch the mega yachts untangle their anchor chains.  Each of the big girls as they moved away from the quay found they had a neighbors anchor chain on top of theirs, some had two!  Finally, as they moved down the line exiting the quay, the harbour master yelled at Ostinato to move as we were about to be part of the drama.  It was time to work on the engine anyway.  Long story short, the dampening plate on the starboard engine had disintegrated.  The good news was, it had happened before and we had a spare.  The on-board magician had it put back together by the end of the day!

The magician at work!

In case you don't know what a pressure plate looks like
 its that thing in pieces in the upper left hand corner.

Cavtat anchorage

The holding in the anchorage had been good but it was full of mooring balls making it difficult to squeeze in.  As a result, now that we had forward propulsion on both engines, we decided it was time to move around to the anchorage on the other side of Cavtat.  Ahhhha, much better.  Not a mooring ball in sight in a big lovely bay.  Why hadn't we come here sooner?!  Of course, we were soon to find out.  The anchorage on the back side of Cavtat is mud and weed.  Ostinato, sat there quietly for 2 days until a brief storm blew through. With 25 k winds she, along with another 15 yachts at anchor, dragged around the bay, some numerous times, until the winds calmed several hours later.  While this location had been great for it's proximity for us to visit the beautiful walled city of Dubrovnik, we no longer felt comfortable leaving Ostinato unattended, it was time to haul anchor and move on.

Dubrovnik walled city

View from the sea

August 18 - We headed north to Zanton, taking a short detour past Dubrovnik's World Heritage designated walled city to catch a glimpse of it's outer walls from the water.  Magnificent!   The anchor was down by noon and we headed for Zanton's tiny information center to find out about buses back to Dubrovnik.  King had a mission.  We had purchased a T Mobile sim with 4 G capability but we only had a 3 G dongle.  It was time to upgrade......or so that was the plan.  We made the afternoon bus going south into the city and began our search for something that apparently does not exist here.  Each place we would stop looked at us as if we had 2 heads.  Most didn't have 3 G dongles, more less 4.  With great reluctance "Mr Ostinato" finally gave up.  While waiting for the bus, we drowned our sorrows at a little restaurant across the street with a lovely French wine for me, a coffee frappe for King and a large plate of beautifully lightly breaded squid......aha  - much better.

August 19 - Not a lot of planning is going into where we land each night.  The ultimate destination is

Mooring for price of a dinner

Split where we will pick up our friend Margaret who will be joining us from the UK the first of September.  In the meantime, we are just meandering around.  Tonight, after traveling up the Stonski Kanal to catch a quick view of its medieval town walls, we returned to Kobas where we Med moored to Niko's restaurant.  Here, we enjoyed a great fish dinner, power on the dock and wifi for about $50.  A deal in these waters.  We also met the charter boat captain on the yacht tied up next to us who provided us with contacts in Split to discuss our on going main sail and jib problems.

August 20 - 24 We moved over to the island of Mljet with the hopes of finding a few anchorages to slowly work our way up its eastern coast.  While we found a number of restaurant quays we could tie to, anchoring was not an option.....and the winds were picking up according to Debrovnik Radio.  Matter of fact, each day for the past week they have forecast a gale warning.  As you can imagine, after the anchor drag party in Cavtat, I was a bit concerned.  However, since we had yet to experience gale force winds, or much of any wind for that matter, we were beginning to get a bit doubting.  I finally agreed with King that maybe it was time to turn the radio off and find alternative weather.  We finally decided to move on to  Polace at the top of the island and spend some time time in the national park.  Your ticket into the park allows you to anchor for 7 days.  The holding was great and on the 2nd day, Wild Pony, an American catamaran, anchored beside us....and it actually had American's aboard!  What luck, Lynn and Dick had been cruising the area for the past 2 months and we were able to get recommendations on places we could visit that allowed you to anchor on your own hook.

A ride to the National park on Mljet island is
included with your anchoring permit

August 25 - Korcula - We entered the anchorage of Uval Luka and immediately spied another American catamaran.  Now we know where everyone has been hiding out for the summer.  Apparently everyone is trying to save their Schengen days.  As we swung past I yelled hello and confirmed that the crew of Bobcat was indeed for the States.  My next question was had they been charged to anchor.  "Not yet!" .....but he had also just arrived.  No time to waste, we got the anchor down and, along with the crew of Bobcat, headed to shore to explore the walled city of Korcula....and dinner out!    We departed the next morning after a quick provision run.  Apparently, just before the Harbour Master came to collect anchoring charges.  Bobcat was not so lucky and was charged 200 kuna ($30).

August 25-Sept 31 Ostinato continued her slow track north, hopping from island to island.  Each anchorage finding a free anchorage was an adventure.  One night tucked in next to an abandoned military depot, another in front of holiday homes.....just off from the restaurant mooring balls, where we entertained little boys who wanted to show off that they could say "hello Ostinato" in English....over and over and over again.

We arrived in Split a few days before Margaret was due from the UK so it gave us time to get supplies aboard and figure out how we would get to the airport.  After a quick tour of Split harbor, where we were informed we could tie up for a mere $200 a night on the quay, we decided to see if there was something a little less shocking to our pocketbooks elsewhere.  An anchorage was found on the backside of Split just off the Marina Spinut that provided us great protection (except from the west) for many nights during our time in the area.  While they would not allow non member boats to tie up in the marina, our dinghy was welcome.  This was much appreciated because I had picked up a cold, apparently in Korcula which, would torment me for the next 2 weeks!

The waterfalls on the Krkar River

Sept 1-8  Poor Margaret arrived to find me barely able to talk and, I fear, not the best of company.  Such a good sport.  She and King pitched in during the worst of my coughing and sent me to bed when they just couldn't stand looking at my misery any longer.  In spite of it, we were still able to get a bit of sailing in, including a trip up the Krkar River all the way to Zlarin anchorage.  Here we left Ostinato and boarded a trip boat that took us the final mile up the river to begin our hike to see the Skradin waterfalls.  That was the furthest north we would go before it was time to begin our return back to Split in time for Margaret's return flight to London.

I don't think Margaret is ready to give up monohulls
for catamarans yet but she liked the extra space

Split to Skradin Waterfalls on the Krkar River and return

Just off Trogir.
The crew decided it belonged to James Bond's nemisis

Our final days were spent exploring the ancient towns of Trogir and then on to Split.  We managed to explore each even though my guide book on Croatia had no page numbers making it only a bit above useless.  How does that happen?  We finally bit the bullet and decided to go into the Split ACI Marina.  High winds were forecast and we didn't have the heart to send Margaret home with a wet butt from the dinghy ride in so King called to see if they had space.  Yep....and the charge for Ostinato would be $150 per night (catamaran charge).  Yikes!  We have no idea why and didn't argue but what a wonderful surprise when we were only charged the monohull rate! We arrived at the docks at 1000, giving us plenty of time to explore Split and have a lovely dinner in town (thank you Margaret).  Early the next morning, Margaret caught a taxi to the airport and we began boat chores.  1400 check-out.  First on my list was to attack the mountain of laundry that had piled up.  Into the wash!  hmmmmmm what is that smell?  Why are the clothes still wet after the spin dry.....Oh No!  Not the washing machine!!!!!  King sez it will have to wait until we get to Italy.....we shall see how long he can go without clean clothes!

Radovan's Portal carved in 1240 in Trogir

Split Diocletian's Palace 300 AD

September 9 - Our sail problems have continued.  Neither the main or the jib has "laid down" as both the sailmaker and the cloth manufacturer had assured us they would.  We have had them looked at by 2 other sailmakers who both said they were not repairable but they would not put it in writing to support a claim saying "they did not want to get involved".  King has searched for a surveyor but could find none that knew much about sails so that has been a dead end.  I am over it all but "Mr. Ostinato" continues to make inquires so that it be made right ....this morning, we have an appointment with another sailmaker.  He comes, we actually have wind to sail, he immediately sees all the issues, plus more!  Yes, he will write a letter for us.  YEA!  .........Now, getting the sails back to Turkey and ourselves to Italy is another issue!

September 10 - Ostinato officially began her trek south.  We departed Split early morning arriving late afternoon at Uval Luka on the NW tip of the Peljesadc Peninsula.  Its large protected anchorage provided us, along with 7 other boats, a quiet night. From here, we returned to the National Park on Mljet in the Polace anchorage.  A little wind and rain was forecast so what better place to lay about for a few days and to plan our route to Sicily.  But, the next morning the forecast of little wind had changed to three days of steady 20k winds with gust of 25-30.  The direction, of course, was the worst of options.   We moved on to the island of Lopud where,  should the anchor alarm be a bit slow to decide we were no longer merrily swinging around in one spot, we had a huge bay behind us that we could fly across before hitting anything solid.  Fortunately, we enjoyed two quiet nights with the anchor alarm quite as a mouse.  It was so quiet, in fact, that we began to doubt the weather forecast so we ventured down the coast a bit further to Zoton, just north of Dubrovnik, where we had spent a night on our way north.  The quay was available so King went ashore to find the Harbour Master.  Yep, a space was available for a whopping 50 cuna a night ($8) and that included the "cat factor".....or, at least, that's what he heard!  Not a second was wasted getting Ostinato tied up....did I mention it was a side-tie!  .....and included power and water!  Welllll, at least the side-tie was true.

In any case, it did allow a good spot for King to drag everything surrounding the washing machine out into the cockpit and begin the detective work to determine if it had permanently given up the ghost or was simply on a vacation.  We were lucky.  It appears that it had simply eaten a piece of my underwear which had somehow slipped over the drum in an effort to make their escape.  I'm thinking we have just discovered the answer to one of life's great mysteries.......what happens to all of the socks that go into the washing machine but never come out.

September 18 - We arrived back in Cavtac yesterday afternoon, in time to determine how much checking out would cost and then spend all of the remaining cuna in the local grocery store.  You can certainly tell its getting toward the end of season.  The quay that had been jammed packed with mega yachts on our first visit had a few small sailboats now.  The anchorage was close to empty.

The anchor was up at 0830 and we motored around to the check-out quay to complete the Harbor Master, Port Police routine.  I had hoped that since our entrance had been a bit of a mess that we would complete the exit with style and grace.  It was not to be.  As we backed into the quay, the crew of the cat tied up to our starboard side decided they just couldn't wait another second and untied their lines.  This, of course, began the circus with lots of yelling and pushing off that resulted in one of their fenders snagging King's newly constructed passarelle thingamagig and bending it.  When he complained, the response was "It's not my boat".  I'll let you use your imagination for King's response.  Seems like our entrance and exit to Croatia will both be memorable occasions.

We are off to Montenegro!

Restaurants entice yachts to tie-up "free" if you eat with them

The washing machine gets a quick repair....
I knew King couldn't last until Italy

A sphinx in Split's old city

Waiting for the water taxi

The old city of Korkula is a maze of narrow streets with tiny shops

Narrow lanes with lots of ice cream shops for King in Korkula

back street of Trogir

Finished dinner on the island of Lopud and ready for a big nap

It's All Greek To Me

July 8 - Ostinato slipped out of Turkey just as the sun was beginning to peep up along the horizon.  Destination, the Greek island of Patmos.  While still part of the Dodecanese chain that borders Turkey, only just.  It was a motor all the way, arriving just after 1300.  With all the news concerning the recent bank closures in Greece and the extended negotiations with the EU, we entered with some caution, not quite sure what to expect but with jerry cans filled with extra fuel and plenty of euros just in case the ATMs were no longer spitting out cash.

Patmos restaurants must of been
warned we were coming!

While the town quay had plenty of space, we decided to join the one other boat in the harbor at anchor.  It was going to be hot and we prefer to swing from an anchor than be tied up to the hot concrete.  After a quick lunch, we dropped the dinghy off its davits, attached the outboard and headed in to find the Port Police (PP) to officially check-in to Greece.  After some searching about, we located the PP snuggled in behind the restaurant at the ferry dock.  The paperwork was very efficient and the young female officer that handled our paperwork had excellent English.  The routine moved on from there to Immigration to have our passports stamped, followed by Customs and then with a final stop back at the PP for them to review and stamp everything once again and we would pay.  We were doing great until it was time for Customs.  The doors were locked tight.  Maybe the wrong door....maybe the wrong location.  All

It's all Greek to me

possibilities were explored.  We rounded the building searching for a hidden entrance.  None found.  We finally admitted defeat and returned to PP to seek help.  "No problem....its their siesta time.  Go back at 1730, you can finish then."  We spent the ensuing hours wandering the waterfront shops, checking out the tiny grocery, eating ice cream and drinking coffee frappes, finally giving up due to the heat to return to Ostinato for a siesta of our own.  At 1745 we were back at Customs (everyone looked well rested) where we quickly finished the last step in our paperwork and headed back to the PP.  Here, King attempted to pay our entry fees with a 50 € bill but they could not give change.  This was the first indication of the impact of the bank closures in Greece.

John of Patmos wrote
the Book of Revelations

July 9 - We monitored Greece "Poseidon Weather" daily watching for an opening into the Cyclades across "Meltemi Alley".  The Cyclades is known for its Meltemi winds during July and August.  Typical wind strength runs between 25-45 knots and it can blow anywhere from a few days to weeks without letting up.  This year, the forecast for the area between Patmos and Naxos Islands stayed at 30+ knots the entire time we were in the Cyclades and the further west we traveled the further west it seemed to spread.  This was not what my vision of sailing through the Greek Isles had been so we decided it would have to be a "drive by" with the goal of getting to the mainland as quickly as possible.  After today, the winds would increase so if we didn't depart we might be here for another week.  Friends, Bill and Clair from Shell Point were planning to join us in 5 days so it was now or they would be traveling further than they had planned.  It was another early morning anchor haul to get a head start on the wind.  We pointed Ostinato for Naxos but we were just not able to point north enough and the winds began to build much earlier than forecast making for slow progress. By 1500 we were both exhausted and decided to take refuge in the tiny island of Dhenoussa just to the east of Naxos.  The anchorage at Ormos Dhendro is a small protected bay on its south side with a wide sandy beach encircling its head.  Only one other sailboat was there so we had plenty of space to anchor.  After getting ourselves put back together again, I settled in on deck to take stock of our surroundings.  While I had noticed people on the beach on our arrival, I hadn't paid them much attention.  It was only after I pulled out the binoculars that I noticed no one had on a stitch.  This is basically a barren island and somehow we had found a nudist camp.

SORRY, NO PICTURES!

Mykonos

July 10 - Off to Mykonos this morning to prepare for Claire and Bill's arrival.  The winds were still brisk from the WNW but Mykonos was north of us making for a great sail.  The docks in the "new" marina are all Mediterranean-style, stern or bows-to the dock using your own anchor.  We did our best to try to slip onto the end of a dock as a side-tie but we were quickly shooed away and pointed toward a (thankfully) wide open space on the first row.  I let the anchor out while King backed Ostinato to the concrete quay.  The harbor master was there to catch our lines and within minutes we were in snug with no drama.  It was amazing!  That could not be said about all those that came in later so we were feeling especially smug.  That was until 0400 the following morning when the Meltemi began to howl and, ever so slowly, the anchor began to slip....blowing us back into the concrete quay.   Fenders were in position this time but we would need to reset the anchor.....suddenly that smug feeling seeped away.  The winds continued throughout the morning and the forecast predicted even higher winds for several more days.  Lucky for us, a slip on the opposite quay became available.  It was time to relocate.  For some unknown reason, King thought it was a good idea for me to be on the wheel while he took up the anchor.....this still remains one of those unknown mysteries as the anchor does not require strength you simply push a button.....As soon as the lines were untied, the wind and I immediately drove Ostinato into the yacht to port where we became hopelessly entangled in lines, anchor chain and fenders.  Lots of yelling ....so we could be heard over the engine and the wind......at least that's the excuse.  King was finally convinced that yes, he would likely do a better job of getting us off the dock and, of course, he did.  Within minutes, we were turned around and backing into the new slip.  This time, the wind was blowing us off the dock.  Much, much better!

Mykonos famous whitewashed architecture

July 13 -  Bill and Claire arrived from the States toting one of our "extra" suitcases that we had packed and stowed away last spring with overflow "boat stuff".  They were good sports when we informed them that we only had a small weather window and needed to make preparations to depart early morning.  This meant there would be no nap after their transatlantic flight if they wanted to see the island.  No hesitation, they were ready so we quickly stowed the their bags aboard and after a quick provisioning trip, toured the town of Mykonos along with a gazillion other people off of 3 cruise ships that had anchored that morning in the harbour. They both slept very hard that night.

July 14 - The weather charts for the next week show nothing but 30+ knot winds 24 hrs a day beginning tomorrow.  Today the forcasted break looked good so off we go.  The goal is now to simply get across the Cyclades as quickly as possible.  We left early hoping to keep as far north as possible but not quite sure where we would end the day.  The winds were a bit more exciting than we had planned so we considered stopping at Siros but as luck would have it, the winds quieted a bit just as we closed-in on its northern shore.  Surely too early to stop...... so it was on to Kea.  Of course, once past the west coast of Siros, the winds piped up again and while we continued to sail the confused sea resulted in things crashing about the cabin.  King worked hard to stay north for us to reach Kea and just barley rounded her northern tip without a need to tack.  We had apparently used up our successful med moor allocation and had to anchor in Ayios Nikolaou after dragging the anchor again when we attempted to tie up on their town quay.

Claire gets her sea legs and instructions on using the chart plotter

July 15-21 - Our sail to the Greece mainland was a well deserved beam reach.  Landfall was Sounion

The Temple of Poseiden made a great lunch stop

on the NE corner of the Attic coast.  We stopped for lunch and lots of pictures of the Temple to Poseidon sitting atop the hillside just above the anchorage before moving on to the anchorage just off the island of Aigina.   Aigina's small town quay is crammed with yachts and finding a spot for Ostinato was no easy job but when King's mind is set on something, it's going to happen.  We moved from the anchorage in early morning after King had notice several yachts leave.  Just as we entered a perfect spot was opening but we soon learned that the boat that was trying to leave had hopelessly fouled her anchor.  Ostinato paced back and forth waiting like an expectant father.  Divers were finally bought in to assist.  Much to our dismay, as we sat patiently waiting, watching the drama, a ferry swooped in behind us and took the spot.  Nooooooo.  We were now back to the slip that everyone aboard thought was too small....except King.    It was only after King was ready to pull up fenders to make more room (to the horror of the owner of the yacht we were squeezing in beside) that we were we able to convince him that it just wasn't going to work.  Once we abandoned that, a Greek captain on a power boat nearby motioned for us to pull in beside him.  We took a look.  "Taxi" was sprayed painted in large green letters on the quay where he was pointing and a tight row of dinghies lined the quay to starboard.  King decided it was perfect...... he was not going back to the anchorage.  We lined ourselves up and King, along with the big Greek from his bow who had decided to also take charge (just what I need, 2 men trying to tell me what to do!), motioned for me to start letting down the anchor.  Bill pushed dinghies and anchor buoys away while Claire, along with the Greek power boat's crew, did her best to push us off their yacht...... and I kept letting out chain as King backed Ostinato into the corner of the quay just like we knew what we were doing.   Getting out of the slip was another story and not nearly as much fun.  In Aigina we would spend 6 days visiting the Parthenon and museums in Athens by ferry, exploring the island's ruins, eating bags of locally grown pistachios, and watching the parade of tourist stroll the town quay each night behind Ostinato, while King caught up on a few boat chores.

Ostinato on the Aigina Town quay

The Greek EU debt crisis didn't impact us but had a major impact on its citizens
A line formed every morning at the ATM across from Ostinato

refreshments on the beach after a hard day of sight seeing on Aigina

July 22 - After much drama getting out of our snug arrangements on the quay, King decided it was a lazy sail day so we unfurled the jib only and with a sweet wind on our beam made our way to Korfos to the west of Aigina on the northern coast of the Peloponnisos.  The local travernas offered free tie up with water if you eat a meal with them but the port side air conditioner decided to conk out and we had made water all day so our tanks are full.  It was to be a swim off the back of the boat with showers all around.

July 24 - Today we would cross from the east to the west coast of Greece through the Corinth Canal so we rose with some anticipation.   During the 3 hour trip to the canal from our anchorage in Korfos, the landscape became less interesting and industrial.  The pilot book warns that yachts might need to wait as much as 3 hours to gain permission to enter the canal so we were in no hurry.  Ostinato tied up to the quay and King took the boat papers along with 189 Euros to pay the charges to transit the canal.   Fifteen minutes later he returned to the boat and we prepared to join the other yachts circling just off the quay.  Ostinato barely had her lines untied before canal authorities called her name to enter and lead the parade of 7 yachts and 1 sightseeing vessel through the canal.  The canal, which is about 3 miles long and only 25 m wide was a real treat with its clear blue water against the towering carved limestone walls.  While the water looked really inviting, there is no place to stop once you enter .

Traffic is one-way on the Corinth Canal 

We headed to Kiato based on a recommendation from a yacht in Korfos but found it to be hot and unattractive so as quickly as we had tied up we were off again heading north towards a group of 3 tiny islands where we anchored in perfect solitude. Just as we sat down for dinner an Italian appeared in his dinghy from the next anchorage.  He was looking for oil as he feared he was losing the oil in his engine.  We had none to spar but King offered to return with him to his boat to take a look.  Bill decided he needed to go with King ....."for protection" he said .....thus leaving Claire and me on the boat.....alone, after dark, without protection.  Claire and I finished off the wine and enjoyed the quiet.

A beautiful hidden anchorage off the tiny deserted islands
of Nisoi Alkonidhes in the Gulf of Corinth

Relaxing after a swim

The winding streets of Preveza

July 25 - the Western coast of Greece includes sandy beaches with stilt houses and quickly transitions to steep sided mountains that cascade into the sea. There is no lack of quiet anchorages or, if your ready to tie up and plug in, inexpensive marinas. Town quays are many times free and, the nicest surprise is we had no problems finding space for the "wide girl".   We made our way up the coast from Galaxidhi, where we visited beautiful Delphi to Trizonia's abandoned Marina or "ghost docks", as Greeks in Aigina had referred to it, where dockage was FREE so the price was right!  In Mesolongion, the stilt houses lining the long approach into the harbour made us feel at home.  Bill and Claire celebrated their anniversary here.  Then on to a quiet anchorage in Kato Elia where the heat finally got to us and some of us started sleeping on the trampolines only to wake finding ourselves covered in dew.  On July 30,
we transited the Lefkas Canal to the picturesque town of Preveza with its winding narrow streets.  The temperature gauge read 104°.  After tying up to the town quay and learning that not only was the power broken but we were directly behind the disco, we made our way to the end of the bay to a partially completed "marina" where the wide girl could tie up, with power and water for 12€ a night. Heaven!  Did I mention it was a side tie?  I wondered if we might never leave.  I'm sure Bill and Claire decided that also and took the opportunity to jump ship, moving on to Frankfort to visit son and daughter-in-law before heading home to Shell Point.

While in Preveza, we visited Nikopolis where Octavian built his monument to celebrate his victory over Anthony and Cleopatra in the waters around Preveza.  Parts of the "Old City" still stand and we hired a taxi for the morning to help us transit the site which is spread out over several miles.  While much was in poor repair, destroyed in later battles including WWII or by earthquakes, the tile floors were some of the more beautiful we have seen.

Exquisite tile floors in the old city 

August 4  - Ostinato is back to two again and it was time to move further north to Corfu to catch up with St. Kats friends, David and Liz on Lazy Tern.  There was champagne, lots of good food and as usual, not enough time to catch up on everything.  The good news is we will be spending the winter together in Ragusa!  Hard as we tried, we could not entice Lazy Tern to go north so we waved goodbye as they headed south for Preveza and Ostinato moved from the anchorage outside Gouvia Marina to the Mandraki Marina, just outside the fort in Corfu, to prepare for our next visit....David and Wendy from Amusant. The Amusant crew had made it down to southern Albania and hopped the

Last year's traveling companions from 
Amusant came to visit by ferry in Corfu

 ferry to Corfu for a quick visit.  We made a day of eating, sharing adventures and gathering information on anchorages and formalities for Albania, Montenegro and Croatia which David and Wendy had just cruised.  David convinced us that it was 20 degrees cooler going north so later that night the decision was made to continue our trek north vs returning to the inexpensive marina, with the side-tie, in Preveza and turning on the air conditioner for a couple of weeks to just veg out .....Hopefully, the weather Gods will smile on us.

Is it a catamaran or a piece of art gone bad? our neighbor in the Gouvia anchorage

Goodbye Lazy Tern....see you in October!

Hot! Inside and out

Bill and Claire exploring the ruins on Aigina

Our favorite piece in the Athens museum

The Parthenon is always a spectacular sight

So we didn't need to walk through the fort to reach the city
from the marina, we used the dinghy to access a "short cut"