Greece has a ridiculous amount of shoreline and islands, and it combines the Mediterranean climate, the Mediterranean diet, and many wonders of the ancient world.  It's all affordable and accessible, with many charter firms and locations to choose from.  Best of all, as a sailing vacation, its hard to beat.  That makes instruction easy, too, and our trips can lead to Basic Crusing, Bareboat Charter, or Coastal Navigation certification.

As with our BVI trips, its appropriate for a wide range of experience levels.  Some people are almost beginners; others have taken all the courses already and still want to go.

Our inaugral trip was out of Athens.  We chose that for travel logistics, touring possibilities, and the widest range of sailing options based on whatever the weather threw us.  It worked out brilliantly.

Here's a trip log with photos.  More photos, and some short videos, will follow.  Check back in from time to time, or contact us to be notified.

The folks at this taverna tried to entice us in, and it looked nice enough, but we didn't think we should stop at the first one we saw out of general principle.  Besides, they were smoking up a storm.  Greece isn't exactly a smoke free environment.

Meet up at base, get acquainted with the boat and each other, and take care of provisioning.  We find our two yachts, Azul and Escapar, to be in fine shape and very well appointed.  There was a choice to be made when we saw that Escapar had teak decks and a bow thruster.  Teak feels nice on the foot, but can get pretty hot in the sun.  Bow thrusters are considered a luxury on charter boats, so becoming reliant on one sets you up for failure on the next trip when you don't have one.  It was a toss up, and as The Dockmaster was going to do most of the photos and video, he opted for teak decks for better lighting.
 
 

Above: part of The Moorings' fleet.  Note the boarding planks: this is typical for Mediterranean mooring, or Med Moor, for short.  One anchors out away from a wharf or breakwater, then backs down to it and drops the boarding plank. Right: Some of the Azul gang going through the equipment checklist.

We get a proper chart briefing from Thrassos, one of The Moorings' charter captains.

Stole (short for Apostole), the technical guy, did a comprehensive briefing on each vessel.

Early birds had a nice lunch at a shoreside restaurant outside the marina.  Dimitris recommended that we go with the waiter's recommendation on what to eat.  That was steak, and it didn't disappoint.  We also had a sampler of appetizers.  A typical leisurely, relaxing Greek dining experience.

Also, at the marina's restaurant/bar, we had our introduction to that Greek specialty beverage, the Frappe - which is a Nescafe-based coffee drink similar to cappucino.  Don't scoff until you try it- Greeks know coffee, and brew some strong and excellent cappucinos in the Italian style, complete with a little biscotti or chocolate wafer, as well as 'Greek' (Turkish) coffee.  The Frappe comes with a thick, creamy top that just won't stir completely into the coffee, no matter how hard you try.

"Always the bold head.  Always."

Later, the men went off to the supermarket for provisioning while the women did - whatever the women did, we still don't know.

The base manager, Kostas, called the supermarket and they picked us up.  When we were done, they drove us back in two cars.  Provisioning was an experience.  Not intuitively laid out by NY standards, and with much of the packaging in Greek, it took longer than expected and was not cheap.  However, it went down well during the course of the trip and due to the excellent refrigeration systems (best we've ever seen), very little food went bad during the trip.  In fact, everything that went bad was either poorly picked (a few of Steve's tomotoes, for example) or accidentally frozen by the better than expected fridge (which was adjusted subsequently).

Dimitris, one of our students, is from Greece and of course helped out on the package reading front, as well as going above and beyond both before the trip as Athens tour guide and during the trip in picking restaurants.

Many people dined out that night, and the hit was pig on the spit. (For some, anyway.)  We ate aboard on Escapar to shake down the 'cooker'- a multi burner range with oven, propane fueled, and just like home except smaller.  It's also gimballed and has pot holder arms for cooking while underway.

We all stayed on the boat that night, the usual way to begin a charter, and tried to sleep through the anticipation of a fantastic trip.

Some of us make breakfast on the boat and others go out for a frappe.  We tidy up some loose ends and get off to a somewhat late start, but hey - we're on vacation!

-Set sail for Aegina.  Light wind, but sailed almost the whole way upwind.  Wind improved as we got alongside the west coast of the island.

-Azul puts in first, scouts out spots, and finds a little room in the 'New' (outer) marina.  Berthing is first come, first served in Greece...

-Tour Aegina town, get some dinner recommendations, view blessing of mayoral candidate, have cappucino and snack alongside the priest who later did the ceremony and his secular friends, waterside dining.

-We spent a quiet night on board.

Eventually, it took off when we approached the town again.
 
 

View from the monastery on top of Idhra, looking down over the Kolpo Idhra (Gulf of Idhra) and the mainland Peloponnisos.

Several of the others had a great time speaking and drinking with Greeks and other Europeans at a bar on a bluff looking out over the Kolpa Idhra (Gulf of Idhra).  It's truly a spectacular little island.  Swimming, snorkeling, lounging on natural rocks by the waterside, dining, hiking, and just relaxing without the sounds of cars or mopeds.

Then, something unexpected happened.  The gang on Azul was hell bent on getting out to the Cyclades.  However, back on Escapar, the consensus was to sail and due to light winds, that would eliminate the long trip to and from the Cyclades.  The Azuls were prepared to motor the whole way there and back if need be.  Also, there was a contingent that really liked the idea of maintaining the flotilla, small as it was.

The Dockmaster had a slightly difficult decision to make, but after due consultation with Captain Schorrr and crew on Azul, and Dockmaster's Escapars, he decided that to make most people as happy as possible, splitting up was in order.  It worked out very nicely.  (BTW: this is what often happens in large flotillas.  They scatter more and more as the week progresses.)

Azul cranked up the diesel for the long day trip out to the Cyclades, where they made landfall at Kea, the closest of the islands.
Escapar set sail for the island of Spetses, along the mainland Peloponnisos.

Azul reported having a blast motoring out to Kea, with cockpit cameraderie in 4th gear and plenty of epicurian delights to fuel it.  They even sailed a bit toward the end.

The Escapars sailed almost immediately after clearing the jetty at Idhra.  We had one of the best sails of the entire trip, upwind with 14 to 16 knots apparent wind typical.  The Sun Odyssey 49 was brilliant in these conditions; wish we could have seen it in 25 just to compare it to the smaller Sun Odysseys we've had out in more wind.

Escapars arrived at Spetses to find the crowded wharf that it's known for.  A smaller Bavaria with a British charterer in charge got in just ahead of us, and allowed us to squeeze in between them and the next yacht.  The Bavaria was pleasant company.  Soon afterward, however, we met Cranky Captain.  Cranky Captain operates a local fixer-upper commercial vessel, and was coming back into port, only to find his spot taken by charter yachts, one of them being the Bavaria's.  He hollored for everyone to get out of the spots, explaining that it was his, and didn't we read the signs, etc.  They were in Greek, but there was this striped paint job that should have tipped us all off...

Anyway, after one or two boats started clearing out, he decided he couldn't wait any longer, and backed down between the wharf and the next boat.  Of course, he didn't fit, but a few blasts of his twin diesels took care of that.  He literally jammed himself in, pushing the entire charter fleet out of the way.  Steve told the Bavarias to inspect carefully for damage, and if there was any, he'd supply a letter documenting Cranky Captain's impatience and lack of seamanship as the cause.  Amazingly, there was no damage, but all the boats were squeezed pretty tightly together now.

Mark handled the Med mooring brilliantly, and it was becoming clear that he and Jen would be ready for their own trip next week, which they booked to be immediately after their vacation/training cruise with us.  They got right off the boat and onto mopeds for a tour of the Island, including the Bouboulina museum.  She was a well-heralded sea captain who actually commanded a warship in the struggle for independence from Turkey.  Rumour has it she was so ugly, the only way she could keep a lover in bed (and she had many) was at gun point.  Or was it rum point?

Spetses is ideal for a moped tour.  No cars, or very few - can't remember now.  The promenade along the harbor is very well laid out for this.

John, Lydia, Heather and Steve went swimming and snorkeling in a nice swim hole a short walk from the wharf, and Steve took pictures.  Heather and Steve ate aboard and everyone else went off in search of dinner spots after stopping back at the boat.  Later, the swim bunch went out for an evening stroll ending in coffees and desserts.
 

Azul actually did a day sail in the afternoon/evening after relaxing and doing some dinghy practice and other instructional diversions.  Don't know if they had dinner ashore or on board; help me out, guys!  I know they were happy.

Escapar headed out after topping off provisions and having breakfast.  We tracked back past Idhra, up the Peloponnisos, and turned in to Poros, an amazing island that is almost a peninsula appending the Peloponnisos.  We dodged an afternoon thunderstorm and motored in.

Poros has residences lining the shore, with a wharfs fringing the length of the developed area.  "Developed" isn't the right word, really - not in the sense we use here.  Inhabited is probably better.  The channel runs right alongside the wharf, so its' like driving through the neighborhood.  Video clip of this is coming!

Jen takes us in for a Med moor.  We opt for an area off to the side, a little more removed from the bulk of the fleet.  Our reward is to be near Thrassos, our chart briefing buddy, who is captaining a charter on a fancy Sun Odyssey deck saloon job. Dockmaster got a restaurant recommendation, which proved to be Heather and Steve's favorite meal of the trip.  (Thrassos was there, too, confirming it.)

Dockmaster began searching for the water man.  That's the local fellow in charge of the precious water supply, often in short supply late in the summer or early fall.  There was also a harbormaster, who was cranky when asked the whereabouts of the water man.  No matter.  Steve got a description from other boaters, and his last known position.  Etc.

Jen, Mark, Heather and Steve shared a taxi to a hilltop with ancient ruins, and a great panoramic view.  Taxi man waited (part of the package deal), and then took us to the local monastery.  This was amazing: there was a service in progress with only one or two locals, and our group. Everyone else was from the monastery, plus an organist and a cantor.  Only the organist was in civilian attire.  This was a special treat; it was moving to see and hear their devotion to the service.  Plus, the musicality stood on its own merits.

Poros is fun to explore, with a multitude of shops, cafes, and restaurants.  It boasts a very scenic harbor too.  In fact, John and Steve took a night time dinghy run to explore the mainland side of the channel, where it became obvious how different things were from the "tourist coast" of Poros' south side to the Peloponnisos north shore.  It was very similar, but in the details, very different.  No tourists (except us, wandering along in trepidation, until we found a place to grab some sodas and be on our way).  Not that we were scared of being robbed or beaten.  We just felt a little out of our element.  The Dockmaster, for one, has rarely felt so safe as a traveller as when in Greece.
 

Azul had to start on its way back to the mainland, and chose "Cape" Sounion, the end of the Attic Peninsula.  This is a nice day trip by taxi from Athens, too.  One of Poseidon's many temples is here, with spectacular columns.  It's an anchorage with few or no moorings, and no good if it's blowing from the south.  One has to be careful when committing to this anchorage as there isn't much in the way of Plan B's.

Azul reported loving this spot.

Escapar, meanwhile, tried a mainland spot on the Peloponnisos called Epidavros.  This tiny little port is a hole in a wall of mountains.  This was the view as we approached in a light shower:
 

"Shadows of Epidavros."  Steve Card, photo.

Epidavros has a lot going for it. It doesn't appear to be as heavily trafficked as the islands, is very "local" (restaurants catering to them versus "us"), and is a very doable taxi ride away from an amazing ancient ampitheater and ruins site. The Port Police delighted the Dockmaster by asking us to bring the ship's papers in to the station.  No, really: he was hoping someone would ask to see the papers and his license!  Wanted to experience the process.  Got that out of the way, proudly carrying the papers and his USCG Master's license in a plastic bag due to light rain.  Went up, and met with the guy, whose English was some of the weakest we'd heard that week.  Not a complaint: his English was far better than our Greek, and also, we could converse.  Most Greeks in Athens and anywhere there is tourism speak English, so it's easy to communicate. Anyway, when the Dockmaster offered up his license, the guy said, "I don't need to see this, Captain," and set it aside without looking at it.  Dockmaster was disappointed.  But, after paying a few Euros in port fees, we were on our way.  The rain stopped, so we could go and explore a bit.

Day 7
Azul: heads back to Athens
Escapar: Ampitheater/ruins tour, then back to Athens
 
 

Steve Card, photo.

Here's the ampitheater, with Heather and Jen in the foreground.  Notice the curvature of the seating as you look at the top: this curves around to largely encircle the stage.  The name of the place eludes us right now, but it's a must-see. If you stand right in the center of the stage area, at ground level (marked with a circular stone), and speak, the sound resonsates equally through the ampitheater and back toward you.  This was quite a culture that bothered to figure this out. It was easy to arrange for a taxi, which can take up to four people.  The drivers wait for you as part of the package, and if you're running a little late, picking him up a coffee at the snack bar is much appreciated.  Hell, get one for yourself while you're at it!  We did this whole tour in the morning, after a delightful waterside breakfast ashore, and still had plenty of time to make the run back ot Athens.