Ashore in Vathi on island of Meganisi

July 1 - The trip had been planned since the spring of 2008 and after months of anticipation, it was upon us. Teresa drove up from Raleigh a day early and pleasantly surprised me at 2 am aboard Lastdance. The next day we drove into Brooklyn so Teresa could me my mom and then after driving through the confusing maze that surrounds Newark airport, we settled into a sliver of a hotel along routes 1&9. The next morning we departed for London and there we spent 3 really enjoyable days with our friends Jim and Claudie before flying off to Greece.

In Pelairos, along with Billy and Karen, we boarded Nauti Girl, a 39’ Sunsail Oceanis and after settling in, we strolled into town to the New Mill Inn, a small taverna at the top of a hill, far from the tourist haunts that line the waterfront below. There, after many toast of “yamas,” I dropped to one knee and gave a ring to Teresa, formalizing our engagement.

After a captains meeting the next morning, we got underway, bound for Vathi on the island of Meganisi.  We med-moored to the quay and did what sailors have been doing for thousands of years, we went to a taverna where we drank way too much Mythos beer and sampled a plate of excellent calamari. Later that night we joined our flotilla-mates for a punch party and then dinner. Everyone went back to their boats but Teresa and I remained behind with the flotilla crew and drank chipino and ate baklava.

We departed Vathi the next morning in a brisk 17-knot SW breeze under a reefed main and jib and tacked our way through the Straights of Meganisi. Then, after a fun hour of tacking along with a “fleet” of other boats, the “incident” occurred. Capt Dave (now aka Capt Dangerous), tacked directly in front of our boat without warning, and if not for us maintaining an alert lookout, we would have T-boned his boat. A tragedy was averted but the incident still rattles me as we missed a serious collision by mere seconds. Later that night, we recounted the incident over a lot of wine and ouzo at a taverna right on the quay.

A brief sail the next day brought us to Sivota on Lefkada, and after drinks at a small taverna a few short steps from the stern of Nauti Girl, Billy renamed our trusty boat “Nauti Girls.” Afterwards, we dressed and strolled off to a group dinner at Taverna Stavros where the host looked remarkably like my Uncle Carlo. As before, Teresa and I remained behind to sip wine long after everyone went back to their boats.

The highlight of the voyage was Kalymos town, a tiny port on the island of Kalymos. We "raced" Capt Dangerous Dave to the harbor entrance but they did a "Dennis Conner" and opted to drop their sails a mile south of the harbor and motored in, thereby robbing us of a hard fought victory  Once inside the breakwater, George, the self-appointed harbormaster did a masterful job of cramming in more than 60 boats into a harbor that was clearly designed for just half that number of craft.  George also owned the only taverna in town so he had a vested interest in giving “everyone” shelter for the night.

Ionian Greece proved to exceed all expectations and simple words cannot describe the beauty and antiquity of this timeless area of Greece so feel free to peruse the photos posted in the Photo Album section. There you will see what all the fuss is about. Yamas!