Sharing the Good Times

Written: June 11, 2024

As I write, we are at anchor in a bay called Lefti in the Myrtoan (Myrtle) Sea at the island of Elafonisos, which is on the Elafonisos Strait. Where is this? The Elafonisos Strait connects the Ionian Sea on the western side of Greece with the Sea of Crete which is south of Athens. In reality, it is part of the Aegean Sea. We arrived here after spending a windy night in a crowded anchorage where we had to be creative to find room to anchor. The night before that we were tied up at the city quay in a place called Pylos. Tomorrow we are making a 12 hour passage to the island of Mylos where we will begin to share our journey for two weeks with our friends Allan and Pierina when they arrive on Saturday.

The beach, Ormos Sarakiniko, nearby the anchorage in Lefti was absolutely stunning. Apparently we had found “Paradise”. Turquoise water like we have never seen before and beautiful soft sand, stunning scenery. Looked pretty much like one version of paradise. 

There was a good breeze off the water, so we were able to withstand the heat for a short time while we walked in the water. Finnegan insisted on pulling me over towards a man and his wife in their chairs and then immediately plunked down in the sand in the shade behind his chair. The man was charmed and enjoyed every minute that Finnegan was there. He did not speak English, but we managed to communicate just fine. 

On the way back to our boat, we made a stop at the Paradise bar for a couple of very tasty mojitos and a bowl of cold water for Finnegan. Back at the beach were we were anchored we went for a swim, all three of us, and the water was so amazingly clear and warm. A fantastic way to end the afternoon.

We had our route to Mylos already planned out about a week in advance and had decided to look it over again when Neil said, “We will have to stop and get some fuel along the way, so let’s look at where we can do that”. It turns out that finding fuel in Greece is not as easy as it has been everywhere else. Typically, we are used to pulling up to a fuel dock. Easy. With Greece having so many islands, they have to bring the fuel to the dock in a truck, which means you have to call and arrange the delivery ahead of time if you are not going to be in a major port. Well, it turns out that there are no major ports along the route to Mylos, and all of the places that may have had fuel on the dock did not have deep enough water for us to enter. So, we found Pylos and made a call to a guy to ask if he could bring his truck to the dock when we were planning to arrive and fuel us up. He inquired as to how many litres we would need. We told him about 300, and he laughed and said, “No” and then hung up the phone. Needless to say, we were perplexed. “No” because 300 L was too much, or too little to make the trip to the dock? “No” because it was Sunday and he wasn’t working? “No” because he didn’t have the fuel? Or, just “No”? We decided to continue into Pylos anyway and see if we could work something out. Surely there are other fuel delivery trucks, right?

Upon arrival, we were assisted with docking (anchor out front, reverse towards the wall and tie off the stern) by a couple of guys who were on another boat beside us. Four super friendly guys are on a trip from Turkey to Malta, where two of the guys will be continuing on “hopefully to Gibraltar, then the Canary Islands and then the Caribbean”. Our next task was to go to the chandlery store so Neil could buy a few boat supplies. It was a place called Mares and the owner was incredibly friendly, giving us fresh lemonade he had made himself. Also, he gave us a free bottle of olive oil that his family makes on their farm. 

We inquired as to how to get someone to deliver fuel to us. He immediately pulled out his little notebook and began calling around to find someone to deliver fuel to the dock. Then he hung up the phone as he looked out the window of his shop and said that there was a fuel truck on the dock right then and that we should go and speak to him. Neil did just that. A big power boat was filling up beside our boat and the fuel man said that if he had anything left in his truck, he would fill us up, if not, he would call and have his small truck come out. In the end, the power boat finished filling up (at a cost of 6 000 euro!!!), and he was able to give us about 

200 L before his truck was empty. That was enough for us, we were now 95% full.

At some point each day, either Neil or I reflect on how lucky we are to be living this incredible experience. Even though there are some hardships along the way, it does not escape us that we are fortunate to be able to do what we are doing. What makes it even more special is being able to share our experience with others. We are looking forward to seeing Al and MP as it is great to have friends along, just as it was when Roger and Tama were on board.

I have not yet written about our experiences with them from Sardegna on to Amalfi. That part of the journey is still one of our favourites and I have been very negligent by not including it as of yet. Previously, I have written about our experience in the Maddalena Islands at the beginning of May. From there we moved on to an anchorage called Capo Coda Cavallo on the northwest side of Sardegna. 

Much to our delight, there was a beautiful sandy beach that was refreshingly uncrowded and, better still, there was a quaint little beach bar with chairs in the sand. The water was spectacular and the views even more so! Our time there was so peaceful. 

Up on the hilltop, we discovered a bar run by “Anthony” from Maiori on the Amalfi Coast. Neil and I have been to Maiori and nearby Minori on a previous trip to Italy and we truly loved the area, so we were able to have a conversation with Anthony about his home. He was thrilled that we knew about it. Roger was in search of Limoncello, but Anthony refused to give him any, insisting we have the drink from Sardegna called Mirto. It was quite tasty. Lunch there the next day provided probably one of the most stunning views we have ever seen. I had to pinch myself every time I looked out to make sure it was real.

We left our beautiful surroundings, after two amazing days, at 8:15 a.m. to begin our long passage to Ponza, an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, west of Naples. This allowed us to experience a beautiful sunset and the sunrise the following morning.

It was a 24 hour crossing, so we arrived at about 7:30 a.m. to a very peaceful town that was still in the process of preparing for the upcoming tourist season. 

We tied up at a dock and went for cappuccino (many of you know I am not a coffee drinker, but Roger had ordered one for me, and I actually really enjoyed it! Must be the Italian coffee). It would not be my last. The day was spent walking around the town to get a feel for the place and provisioning for another long trip the next day to get to the Amalfi Coast.

Twelve hours later, we sailed past the island of Capri. The four of us had already been there in the past and would have loved to go again, but at 300 Euro a night to stay at a dock and almost as much for a mooring ball, it was too dear for our budget. Instead, we chose to sail by and enjoy the view and then head to Positano, a favourite place for Roger and Tama. 

There is no marina at Positano, so we were required to anchor out in front and then dingy in. It was windy and quite wavy, not just from the regular sea state, but from the endless number of ferries and pleasure boats whipping by. Neil and Roger managed to get us set up at anchor, but we were rocking from rail to rail as boats were going by non-stop. I was miserable, and so was Finnegan. All I could do was sit in the cockpit and try not to move so that I would not get sick. When Neil, Roger and Tama made the decision to leave and stay at the marina in Amalfi instead, I was not disappointed! We were met there by Guilio who provided us with a dinghy escort to the dock. Neil did an amazing job backing the boat into our spot. We were all suitably impressed! And I was very relieved that I would be able to sleep that night.

Our time in Amalfi was very enjoyable. It is a vibrant place, but it is definitely busier with loads of tourists. Built into the cliffs, it has lots of paths to hike up and enjoy the view and we were treated to a thunderstorm while overlooking the water. Tama and I also enjoyed a little shopping along the way! Dinners were delicious, after all it was pasta in Italy! 

All good things must come to an end, and sadly it was time to say goodbye to Roger and Tama. They would spend a night in Positano and two nights in Capri before flying back to Toronto from Naples. We really appreciated having them on board as we learned the boat and made some long passages. More than that, however, it was the times reconnecting with dear friends through many laughs, food and drink, and shared experiences that meant so much to Neil and I. Hopefully we can do it again before too long!

Neil, Finnegan and I were on our way further east as we would make our way to a place called Agropoli (where we met some of the most generous people ever!) so Finnegan could be checked out to receive his EU Pet Passport! (More on this to come!)