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Published: July 11th 2006
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The ferry over to Greece was delayed so we missed a day of sailing. It was a massive ferry over and a fairly smooth journey even though some of our group got sea sick - we suspect it wasn't the sea that caused it more to do with the on-board bar. Once we arrived in Greece the bus drove us further a few more hours down the coast where we saw our sail boats!
Well to tell you all the truth, we didn't think WE would be the sailors! We thought we would have experienced sailors doing it all for us, and that all we had to do was soak up the sun... he he he. Well that wasn't the case, because there was only one guy (Fraser) to teach us all how to sail! The Captains and Skippers were selected on 'experience' (although for some that only included being a passenger on a boat in the past), and went off for a more detailed lesson, while they did that we went shopping for supplies.
There were 5 boats, and about 5-7people per boat. Our boat was called 'Sacha'. All the captains and skippers gave us a quick overview
before we set sail.
Well, none of us really knew what we were doing on our boat, so we were given our positions and instructions and just hoping that we left the dock safely.
Being the first boat off, we didn't do too bad (at least we didn't crash or tip it), so we were very impressed with ourselves!
Out of the bay we put up one sail at a time and caught a bit of wind - before knew it we were hooting along with the boat on a real lean and having fun! Even scooping up some water with the sail, loved it! That was the easy bit - just cruising along.
Coming into our next port on the island of Corfu the wind picked up even more and it was getting quite rough, we were last to dock which was smooth but stressful because we had to avoid crashing into all of the other boats and it was a tricky area to maneuver in.
After an exhausting day we were ready for dinner which was in a little traditional sea side Greek restaurant (a few other fishermen were there too) and we all had a feast
and a few drinks before there was dancing in fire and holding tables in mouths, quite amazing, everyone tried joining in.
That night we slept on boats in Corfu and winds were 80-90kph - a few boats needed to be retied in middle of night (one was ours) which caused a little commotion with people running around but the local fishermen gave Fraser a hand and then it was fine, and we woke up to a smooth sea the next day.
Early morning rise and we were off back to the main land to dock for the next night, engines running most of the day because the wind had died down quite a bit (plus I don't think they trusted us too much!). We arrived at Sivota and had a walk around the village. Angie bought a beautiful pair of hand made earrings from one of the shops (purple, seashell and silver dangly earrings - new favourites). Then the whole group met back up at a bar called Bamboo Place where we had a few cocktails, lots of laughs and dancing. The owners were so lovely and there were plenty of free shots floating around, Jude made the
Dancing
Teaching everyone how to do it - so much fun! most of them (Angie and most of the group didn't like ouzo) whilst we were all enjoying the cocktails.
Up in the morning to cook our bacon and eggs and setting sail back to port. The sun broke through the clouds and the views were gorgeous, a few of the crew decided it was time for a swim but it wasn't warm at all and we couldn't bring ourselves to do it. A few of the others braved the icy water, although the looks on their faces were priceless!
Sailing was so much fun and a fantastic experience along with learning how everything worked on the boat as we went along, definitely something we'll never forget! Back at port we had lunch and thanked Fraser for getting us back safely and prepared for a long drive ahead of us to Athens.
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