Been a funny few days. We decided not to go down through the Cyclades to Crete as we will be coming back that way towards the end of June. We planned a route around a bit of mainland Greece down to Monemvasia.  We had a night in Russian Bay on Poros and then stopped for 3 nights in Porto Kheli.

From the sea, this looks like a thriving little town but when you go ashore, it’s really just a street of cafes and bars, a bakery and a supermarket. High spot for me was finding a laundry!  We wash our clothes in a bucket on deck but sheets and towels are far too dull to do this way. Low spot was losing/having my purse stolen in the supermarket. This has now become a tradition for me. I did it in Antigua and then again in Fiji. I am so slick at cancelling my cards, I have the bank phone number on speed dial. We got the ferry to Spetses from Porto Kheli and spent a day wandering round over there looking at the expensive shops and spending our last few euros on lunch. There are no private cars on the island but there are many, many scooters and motor bikes. A constant drone of engine noise as hundreds drive past us while we sit in a waterside cafe sipping Mythos.  Some have families of four on them, some with granny on the back sitting side-saddle, most on their mobile phones. Not a helmet to be seen.

Our next stop was Koiladhia. We had wanted to come here because it has a shipyard which holds 300 boats and it may be somewhere that we could winter Matilda when we go back to Australia in October.  It’s very much a working town with lots of fishing boats on the dock.  While we were there, I saw an advert on the notice board for two collapsible bikes for sale. A quick phone call and an English couple on a yacht now in Poros rang us back and brought  the bikes over for us to see. They had bought them in Turkey but never really used them. So we now have them stored away in the starboard aft cabin.  Hopefully, we will be able to get out and about a bit more now.

Our next stop is going to be Vivari, a huge trip of 12 Nm. Unfortunately we’ve been trapped in the bay at Koiladhia with 20-25 knot winds and gusts up to 34 knots. Even had to do anchor watch last night in case the anchor gave way and we dragged back onto one of the boats behind us. Don’t remember this being in the brochure. Gentle day sails with lunch stops in beautiful bays, that what I was told.  Nothing too arduous until we do the Atlantic crossing.  Perhaps I should have read the fine print.