Wendy receives Masters Award from ONBH

Wendy was honored to receive the Masters Award stock pin at the annual meeting yesterday. The award was presented by joint master Hum.

Motor Sailer Cruise Greek Cycladies May 4 - 11 2007

I and 18 others took the Motor sailor HB II (all wood made in Turkey) on a tour of the Greek Cycladies islands as shown on the map below. The boat usually holds 40 so we had plenty of room. After the cruise I rented a car and drove to various sites in Greece before my return on the 15th. The blogs below are a partial chronicle of the trip. Comments are welcome.

Greece Arkitsa Thermopylae Galaxidi Loutsa

After Delphi and a night in the small port of Galaxidi I headed over the mountains to Thermopylae. It was another beautiful drive with it's share of switchbacks but nothing like the days before. I stopped at the small exhibit at Thermopylae where a small band of Greeks failed to halt a large army of Persians due to a traitor. I then headed back toward Athens on the Autobahn A1. They are improving the roads in Greece but have as yet not gotten to putting route signs along the road. I stopped at the small port of Arkitsa as the highway headed off through the mountains and that was the last water before Athens. After much searching and many small streets a very nice hotel was located. The room was 25 Euros with a balcony looking over the water. It later turned out that I was the only guest at this 40 room hotel. I was also the only guest at the previous hotel. It must be that this is pre-season.

After going to the room I put on my swim trunks and headed for the water which was cool but nothing like Maine. Looking back at the shore everything was green with many flowers and palm trees. Back in the room I looked at myself and saw many small red spots that itched. Then it cam back to me. The previous hotel had many mosquitoes and something similar to no-seeums. I had been attacked in the night and must have provided many a good meal for the little devils. After two weeks my clothes needed a wash. I asked the manager if they could do a wash for me. He said no but he would let me use their stuff to do a was. Their stuff turned out to be a plastic tub with some soap powder. Placed in the shower it worked well and the balcony provided an excellent drying location.

Sitting on the veranda I talked to the hotel manager. He turned out to have spent three years at BU and was back in Greece working for the Government and helping his parents with the hotel and olive groves. His sister -in-law came by pushing her 6 month old boy in a perambulator. Mother, father and other brother came by and we had a great conversation. You get a lot of attention when you are the only customer.

In the morning I headed for Athens to get a hotel as I must be at the airport at 5:00 am to turn in my car and catch the plane. There are no inexpensive hotels anywhere near the airport. The Sofetel at the airport starts at $400 and a Holiday Inn 7 miles towards Athens has rooms at $180 but those were gone and the only others were $250. I drove all over the place through industrial areas and small towns but not hotels. The only solution was to go to the beach. The shore village of Loutsa had a very nice hotel on the beach for 60 Euros so I had a great lunch looking at the sea, another cool swim and here I am at an internet cafe writing to you.

If I can get up a little after 4:00 am and the rental car guy shows up I should see you soon.

The good news about Greece is that it is beautiful, clean and has all the amenities. The bad news is that it is no longer inexpensive.

Greece Pellopenese Athens Mycenae Olympia

Last night we ended up in a hotel near one of the many harbors. It had a roof-top restaurant and pool. Diving into that pool was a real delight late in the afternoon. In the evening I and a view from our boat went to another restaurant that was also rooftop and gave a truly beautiful view of the harbor with the surround hills aglow from the many homes. In the morning my car arrived as planed. A picture of the car guy and car is attached. To drop it off at the airport Tue morning he will meet me at 5:00 am at the departure area. Thus the picture so I can remember what he looks like. I hope this works.

After a challenging ride through downtown Athens I went to the autobahn and proceeded to the Pellopenese. My first stop was Mycenae and evidenced by the picture of me under the lions gate. Standing under this gate has been one of my goals for many years. After a viewing of Artimis's tomb which is a very large beehive shaped structure I started off for Olympia. What looked like a major route turned out to be a mountain road with incredible views of the mountains and lush green valleys. There was a lot of white knuckle driving over many switchbacks with nothing in the way of guard rails. A little over 100 km took me all afternoon but landed me in Olympia for the night. It is big enough for an internet cafe. The view from my rented computer is attached.

Greece Poseidon Kythnos Delos Mykonos

I am actually back in Athens after a line broke on the cooling system of one of the diesel engines on the HB II. We limped into the closest port which was near the tip of Attica. We disembarked and took a bus to the temple of Poseidon on a high promontory overlooking an azure sea. It is difficult to describe how beautiful the land and sea are. Then we motored to a restaurant at a beach and had and excellent fish lunch. The only problem is that it was the whole fish and I hate to have it look back at me when I am eating it. I assume it had minimal mental function after being fried. I wasn't able to Email yesterday as the small port of Kythnos didn't have a functioning internet cafe. I went for a swim and we had the captain's dinner for which I wore the sport I have been carrying around the whole trip. The evening was great except for the Adiddas sales people who partied until 3:30 am next door. The previous day we were at the island of Delos which has very large ruins there were impressive. The only people who live on the island are the caretakers. We then went to nearby Mykonos which has an airport and is filled with resorts and homes for the rich and famous.

Greece islands Paros Delos

We docked at the Island of Paros and rented ATV's for a run around the lisland. It was a lot of fun and similar to driving a snowmobile as one needed speed to get up some of the hills. The thing was stable but not too powerful. On our adventure we explored an ancient cave that was a marble mine, had refreshments at a restaurant in an old village overlooking the sea and visited a horse farm that seemed to have about 10 head and a round pen. In the evening we went to a greek restaurant, what else, for great food, music and dancing.

Tomorrow we go the the island of Delos to view some very extensive ruins.

Greece Santorini, Sinfos and Paros islands

We have just docked in Paros after a day and a night in Sifnos. Santorini is still my favorite and worth the trip by itself. Everything has been wonderful with great weather, a great room, nice fellow passengers (18) and views better than I expected. I got to try out some of the local transportation and was able to take the wheel as I let the captain use my GPS. There was none on the boat and they seem to steer by lights on the island they are passing. I don't know what they would do in a fog. Also, moored near me was a Russian family with a Russian captain who were cruising the Med. Valintine is ex-KGB but he said that he never saw my file and that we should bury the hatchet. The conversation was a lot of fun. He now runs a marina somewhere in Russia and plans to take his family to sea for a couple of years.

Touring Athens and Piraeus Greece

I am spending two weeks in Greece part on a motor sailer and part just driving around.

Today I levave for the sailing craft and the Islands. Yesterday I did the Acropolis and several marinas near the port of Piraeus. During my adventures there was an attack by birds at a cafe, an encounter with pirates and a near miss on the street as a local motorist hit a fellow on a motorcycle that came flying towards me on the sidewalk but missed. Crossing the streets here is dangerous but I always thougth that I would be safe on the sidewalk. No more! Fortunately the cyclist was able to right his cycle and walk off the road upset but unhurt.