Day 2 of the trip.  We wake up early to find all these colorful local fishing boats in our bay.  They have nets out and are gathering the small fish that they will use to catch the big fish that they will sell at the fish market in Kingstown and to the occasional charter boat.  They are there for minutes and then they are off and we have the bay to ourselves again. 

We have a bite to eat, it's a long sailing day and after last nights feast no one is really that hungry.  Chris and Michael get in the dinghy and paddle out to retrieve the anchor, this goes surprisingly well!  They are back on board and we weigh anchor and head south along the lee side of St Vincent and prepare for the passage to Bequia.  This is known as the Bequia Bash because of the winds that can blow off the high peaks of Bequia.  We are ready for it.  The wind is at about 20 knots and builds to 25.  Our sails are reefed and the boat is sailing fast and balanced.  As we pass Bequia we notice another boat off to our starboard side and not too far away, it's a race!  Whenever there are two boats in close proximity and going in the same direction it's an unofficial race, that’s just part of sailing!  I look over and they are looking at us looking at them.  Michael tweaks the sails, Capt. Mel is at the helm; we pick up an extra bit of speed.     

Two hours later we have the other boat eating our wake as we sail past the top of Canouan.  We head into Charlestown and look for my favorite sandy spot to anchor.  We are approached by an interesting looking vessel.  It has yellow pontoons with purple trim and a piece of plyboard between the pontoons.  Mounted on top is a leather captain’s chair complete with swivel.  The driver asks if we want a mooring ball, I say no we'll anchor.  He directs us to my favorite spot and tells us it's sandy, "thanks" I say!

 

After we anchor we meet Wilbur, the brother of the water guy Marcus.  Wilbur has been fishing and since I recently took up the sport we start talking about lures.  I show him my new lure and he tells me it's no good that I need new hooks and other stuff which I won't go into.  He tells me he will take me into town to buy new hooks and wire.  Before leaving he shows me an old chewed up rubber lure with a rusty hook, "this caught two fish today".  "Really?" I say.  I propose a trade for one of my new lures; he checks it out and agrees.  We do the trade and my crew looks at me lwith a puzzeled expression, I say "it's luckey, it might catch us a fish!" 

Wilbur climbs in the dinghy with me and we head off to shore.  We tie off the dinghy to the pier and walk through the beautifully manicured grounds of the resort, palm trees, bougainvillea, and gardenia are everywhere.  We exit through some trees and now we're in town.  At this point I'm thinking that maybe I should not have gone off with this funny man, but everyone we met on the street knew him and called to him.  So I thought, ok, it’s cool.  "Hey Plupy", "evening Plupy".  "What are they calling you?" I asked.  "Plupy" he said it's his nick name, in the islands everyone has a nickname.  We turn down a side street and find not a store, but a house.  He calls in the window and we interrupt a family having dinner.  He tells them we need some fishing hooks.  We walk around to a porch and enter the living room of the house.  There are shelves and isles and a cooler in the corner. They are selling everything from canned corn to car parts.  I buy the hooks and as we're walking back I ask him if he knows where a good place to find conch is.  Ever since leaving the Bahamas a month earlier I wanted to catch some conchs, not that they are that hard to catch, but you have to know where to find them.  He tells me he will show us tomorrow, great it's a date!

The next morning I pick Plupy up at the dock at 8:00am.  He has snorkel gear and a spear gun with him.  He gets in and takes over.  He drives me back out to my boat and we pull up anchor.  He is taking us around to the windward side of Canouan.  He's on the bow giving hand signals for me to alter course from left to right, slow down, speed up, someone observed that  Plupy likes to be in control!  We approach a narrow shallow cut between the shore line and a small island, I'm a little nervous and slow down to a crawl, Plupy is waving me forward.  After looking at the cart for the umpteenth time I determine that I would not normally choose this path, it’s a little risky, but Plupy seemed to know the waters and so far so good.  We made our way through, now the wind was really blowing and the waves were rocking and rolling, we dropped anchor.  Chris and Melissa decided to go diving for conch with Plupy.  As much as I wanted to go, I decided to stay on board with the yacht, it was just too windy and I didn't want to come back to find our yacht on the beach.   I watch the dinghy head out to the reef, till I can't really spot them anymore.  It seems like hours, but they finally come back with a dinghy full of conch and a few starfish.

 

The deal was that Plupy would clean the conch and I would make the conch salad for our lunch.  He quizzed me to see if I really knew what I was doing, I guessed he approved my recipe!  Rather than go on about it I will just show you the photos.  It was an amazing day!  The Conch sushi was awesome.  By now it was 4:00pm and we have to get to the next island because a friend was planning grilled lobsters on the beach for dinner and we certainly couldn’t miss that!  We drop our new friend off on the beach and I tell him I’ll see him next week.  He assures me he has more secrete places he will show me when I come back with my new crew.  We sail south, still laughing and grinning about our day so far, but wait…there’s more!

Custom Sailing, Ltd.

        

Day 1:  Our guests arrive.  Rejoining us are some sailors who sailed in Greece this past September.  I told them tales of the famed Christmas winds in the Grenadines and of the Mustique Blues Fest, we are looking forward to a fun week of great wind, music and sailing! 

 

We decide to check out the lee side of St. Vincent.  It’s a pretty windy day and this short sail will be fairly calm and give everyone a chance to get their sea legs.  We have our valet escort out of Blue Lagoon and start up the coast with the wind behind us.   I’m at the helm and Chris, Melissa and Michael are all over it, raising the main, trimming the jib.  With this experienced crew I will be “on vacation” for the week!   Our destination is a short 6 sea miles to Petit Byahaut.  This small and delightful “Gilligan’s Island" bay is only approachable by sea.  In the past there was a resort here, but now it seems mostly deserted.  Everyone is in awe of the beauty and can’t believe we are the only ones here.  We drop the first anchor and then Chris and I row out to set a second stern anchor, we accomplish this without poking a hole in the dinghy!  Once back at the boat we all go for a swim and snorkel.  There are coral, sponges, seafans, large schools of fish.  I even saw an eel and some soles by the anchor chain.  Around the corner is a bat cave, but we choose not to go in.  Once back on the yacht we have a visit from two guys in a small boat.  They are selling fish and anything else we might need, we end up buying a tuna, it was absolutely amazing!  We cooked it on the grill that night and served it with rice cooked in coconut milk and a green salad and lots of wine.  Great first day!  Tomorrow is a long sail to Canoaun...great stuff happens here!

 

                                Petit Byahat ahead!

 

     Fresh tuna right off the boat, or rather still on the boat!

        

It's great to back in the Grenadines!  Just arrived in St. Vincent and took a taxi to Blue Lagoon where I boarded our 45' yacht which was to be my home for the next few weeks.  It's late and the wind is howling and the boat bouncing, but I was able to get on board with out any of my bags going into the drink.  It's going to be a good night! 

As the sun rises I look out of my hatch and see the blue water, waves crashing on the reef, palm, papaya and mango trees line the shore.  I love this place.  I have time to provision before my first guests arrive.  I call for Kashaun the taxi driver and he takes me into Kingstown for provisioning.  What should take 30 minutes takes almost 2 hours, the streets are blocked for a concert later that day which will raise money for Haiti.  Island traffic, think one lane, makes Atlanta traffic seem mild!  Kashaun runs us through the back streets and gets us to the market.  On every other street corner there are guys with carts of yellow coconuts.  They sell the coconut water- a refreshing drink straight from the coconut.  I watch as the vendor holds the coconut in his left hand and large machete in his right hand without even really paying attention he whacks off the top of the coconut.  (Don't try this at home!)  He puts a straw in the perfect round hole and hands it to me, I take a sip.  Yes, back in the Caribbean!  There is a group of school girls in line waiting for their drink.

                                         


Back to the yacht and the afternoon is free to visit the fish market where I got fresh red snapper right off the boat.  Since I recently took up fishing I buy some fishing gear to try my hand at catching my own.  And meet some old friends for happy hour!  Tomorrow morning the guests arrive and we are off!

        

Syros to Kea Day 7

We got ready to set sail for Kea, packed up our loose items, did the dishes and hauled up the anchor.  Today was really the first day where the winds looked good enough to sail.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and very breezy!  We were off the hook by 10:30 AM with south winds at 20 knots that lasted for one hour.  The wind dropped and we motored for a while and ate while we motored.  Demitri from Kythnos had caught a calamari and cleaned it for us.  The girls all threw out ideas as to how to prepare it then Tracy and Valerie marinated it in lemon juice, wine, olive oil, garlic, onions and fresh herbs just to name a few things.  The calamari had been marinating since yesterday so we were certain that it was ready.  The lemon juice had “cooked” the calamari and it was served up with a couscous salad, fresh bread and cheese, tzatziki (made from cucumber and yogurt) and of course, olives from Demitri’s olive trees.  It was a feast fit for a king!

 
After cleaning up, the wind kicked in again but this time from a northerly direction at about 22 knots.  So we turned off the motor and hauled out the jib.  Mark and Bill both took turns at the helm while John and Tracy worked the jib and trimmed the main under Valerie’s direction.  It was a great sail!  This was our reason for being on Maya…thank you Poseidon! 

The islands of Kythnos, Syros and Kea are part of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea.  Kythnos and Kea in particular are very small islands and are not the type of islands that the cruise ships or tour boats frequent.  Kea, has a population of around 3,000 and it’s capital is Loulis which is situated inland at a high altitude (due to fear of pirates in the early days) and we decide to take a cab there to see the Lion of Kea.   

The town is beautiful, dotted with white buildings and red tiled roofs, gardens and archways with grape vines, and flowers everywhere.  It is simply breathtaking, when you see the architecture, flora and the view of the Aegean Sea in one panoramic glance.  I believe this is my favorite island after Hydra.  Once again, we have timed it perfectly for siesta time and all of the shops are closed.  But we are really here to hike up the mountain to see the Lion.  So we hike.

We finally arrived at the site of the Lion of Kea!  Wow!  He is the oldest stone sculpture on the island and it had been dated at 600 BC.  No one knows who sculpted it or why he is here but he is beautiful and the mystery about him captivates all of us.  We can’t get enough of him and actually overdo the tourist thing with the number of pictures we take of the lion. 

We returned to the boat, showered up, played catch up with Valerie and John and then headed out to the restaurant, which was practically at the end of the passarella.  The restaurant is “Aristos Greek Taverna”.  The waiter was very sweet when I asked if he could get permission for me to watch the chef make saganaki.  He consented and I followed him, camera in hand.  The cooks were all laughing because they couldn’t believe that anyone would want to watch them cook.  I took pictures and they explained, get your oil hot; cut a slab of Gruyere cheese and coat with flour, then cook.  Wow!  Whodda thunk it!  No more than that!  You don’t even turn it over!  You just put it on the plate with lemon wedges.  They cooked it in about two minutes!  No wonder they were laughing!  But it was yummy!!!!

        

Day 5 Hydra to Kythnos or “Hand Me the Pliers and Don’t Crush that Dwarf”

Everyone was up and Valerie had gone to the bakery and picked up some spanikopita and pastries for everyone.  She had two kinds of spanikopita, spinach and cheese or ham and cheese, made fresh this morning.  They looked yummy.  The “furry guy” (the harbor master) was scooting around in his little red rowboat making certain that the boats that were pulling up anchor, pulled only their own and left without any incidents.  The water was so clear, we had no problem seeing our anchor line and we cast off the lines and pulled up the anchor without a problem. 

Oddly, there was still little wind and no dolphin sightings.  The closer we got to Kythnos, however, the wave action picked up...  We motored into a small inlet and the waters calmed and we could see the harbor.  It was very picturesque, quaint and serene, quite different from the other harbors we had visited.  We were able to back into the dock and hook up to shore power and water!   

We hopped off the boat to explore the island.  Kythnos is famous for its mineral baths.  It has natural springs of steaming hot mineral water that flow down from the island to the sea.  There are bathhouses up on the hill, providing private marble baths with little Greek women that assist you.  It was after 3 PM so it was too late to go to the mineral baths at the bathhouse, but there was a place where the mineral springs meet the sea naturally and Valerie and I opt to go there.  The remaining crew voted to rent scooters and explore the island via motor. 

As Valerie and I walked around to the “natural spa” area, we checked out the small restaurants and tavernas.  This is the island where her friend Dimitri has a farm and provides everything his family eats except for bread

and raikie (his moonshine).  He is a fisherman too!  Valerie had almonds and olives on the boat from Dimitri and they are wonderful!  We stopped at the Poco Loco Café and Valerie and I visited with Antonis, the owner.  He helped our crew make arrangements for their scooters and said they all seemed fine. ..  We drank frappes with him and shared a snack of grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches that his mother prepared.  It was really good!  While we visited with Antonis, Dimitri drove up on his three- wheeler and visited too. 

The beach was just around the bend but we could still see Maya across the tiny harbor.  The sand had beautiful snow-white marble rocks that looked like seashells on the shore and I collected a few to take home.  The stones were polished and worn smooth by the sea. 

The water was refreshing and had both warm and cool spots.  We swam around and then applied a hair mask to our wet heads and tied our hair up to sun-dry with the moisturizing cream on our heads.  We walked over to the mineral spring that flowed down from the hillside in a cement gutter and meets the sea.  At the “meeting” point, rocks have been placed in a semi-circle extending out from a rock wall forming a “natural” pool.  On one side, the mineral water empties into the pool area next to the rock wall and from the other side the waves spill over the semi-circle of rocks into the pool area, making a nice, hot, relaxing bath.  People come from all over to soak in these healing waters.  The steam rises from the mineral water and it is very hot, but the cool waters of the sea make it comfortable.  We soaked for a while, swam again and then started back to the boat with the conditioner “baking” on our heads. 

The others had been gone for quite some time and after our showers, they showed up “Easy Rider” style.  “Like a true nature’s child, we were born, born to be wild”…move over Steppenwolf the kids are back!  They were all comfortable with their scooter expertise and ready for a dip in the “spa”.  

Ordering dinner at the Taverna D’oro proved to be an experience that provided entertainment, creativity, and a lot of laughs.  We of course, ordered Greek food, as there was no other choice.  The waitress/cook/owner did not speak very much English so we improvised.  When the menu described a platter of “local meats”, we tried to distinguish exactly which meats were included on this platter…”moo”?  “Oh, yes it had moo”.  “Oink”?  “Yes, yes.  It had oink as well”.  “Baa baa”?  “Of course, we have baa baa”.  The waitress is getting into the rhythm and laughing with us because, hey, she understood baby talk, we are communicating!  “Does it have Eey aaw”?  This is when the waitress lost it!  She could not stop laughing and the other workers came over to join the fun.  “No!!!  We do not serve Eey aaw!”  With a sigh of relief, “survey says”…”order the local meats platter”!  We order and our waitress is giggling all the back to the kitchen.  The dinner was really tasty, local meats included.

        

The following are partial entries from the log of Mary, one of the guests who joined us for a week in Greece this past July.  This was a great week with 4 sailors on board I had a break!
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...The three of us take a taxi to Alimos Marina and waited at the Skipper’s Bar for everyone.  Valerie is the first to meet us and she brings us up to date with what is happening in her busy life.  She has had several charters back to back and is ready for a break.

Soon, Tracy and the two “extra guys” join us and we head to the boat.  They have already been there and put their gear on board.  We pass our bags up and have to clear the passarella in order to get on board.  I quickly determine that this device and I will not become friends.  A passarella is basically an eight foot (?) long and foot wide board that balances (precariously, I might add) from the stern (the back of the boat) to the shore or dock.  Now picture it tied to the stern of the boat, but delicately balanced on the dock, on a small fender (rubber bumper thingy) and now picture the end of the passarella, with that rubber bumper thingy, rocking and rolling with the ocean.  In my mind’s eye, I can envision disaster in my immediate future.  There is nothing to hold on to and my goat like dexterity left me somewhere in the seventh grade.  I dreaded this maneuver each and every time I embark and disembark from this boat.  Capt. Valerie assures me that I will “be one” with the passarella by the end of the week.  NOT! 

 The boat, “Maya” is a Bavaria 49 and shows beautiful German craftsmanship.  She has an aft cockpit with dual steering.  The cockpit is cushioned, roomy, has both a bimini and dodger.  She boasts a forward V-berth, two side crew quarters, two aft double berths and three heads.  The main salon is roomy and the galley is open and easy to manage.  The floors and walls are teak and in beautiful condition.  The boat is clean, well cared for and still looks brand new.  Her decks are clean, her lines are neat and she looks ready and able.  We stow our gear and prepare to get underway.  By 10:30 AM we are out of the marina and headed for the island of Poros.    

 The color of the island growth varies in shades of a dusty gray-green to lush greens.  The flowers we see are oleander and bougainvillea.  The reds, pinks and whites are everywhere, both cultivated and wild.  The land mass varies too from farmlands, to mountainsides, rocky crags and caves.  It is amazing that all these different characteristics can appear on the same island.  You can see small villages clustered together then wide expanse before the next village.  Monasteries and churches appear on the top of mountains and in the center of a village.  It is predominantly Greek Orthodox Christianity that is practiced here.  We can spot domed churches with crosses on top throughout the area. 

We arrive at Poros and Valerie executes a perfect “Mediterranean mooring” which means she dropped her anchor in the harbor and backed the boat toward the dock where lines were looped onto huge dock cleats then secured on cleats aboard Maya.  Maya’s anchor has an electric windless and Tracy and Debbie opted for anchor duty.  One fed the anchor rode (chain) out and kept an eye to make certain it was secure.  The other communicated with Valerie with hand signals to let her know where the rode was and how much was out.  Once she knew it had taken hold, she threw docks lines out to waiting hands and John secured the stern of the boat to the dock cleats.  It really was amazing to watch a crew that had never sailed together before work smoothly in sync.  Kudos to the captain and crew, they made it look so easy!  We are “in” for the night.  

Poros is a busy, happening place.  There are motor scooters everywhere, zipping this way and that.  The engines are so quiet, you need to keep an eye out or you are likely to get run down as they pop out of nowhere.  Helmets are not required and from what I can gather, neither is common sense.  We saw three on one scooter pass by us.  I’m just glad my kids didn’t see that! 

There are shops and tavernas galore and we walk the length of the dock area passing by sailboats, motorboats and cruise ships from ports all over the world.  There are street vendors and street beggars here too.  It is hard to tell if they are homeless people or someone running a scam.  We walk down the street dockside and there are octopus hanging on racks out in the sun next to grills, ready for dinner.  We check out a few tavernas, find the local super market and load up on water and Mythos beer and a few other essentials, before returning to the boat.  Some of us napped and some us did some more exploring before heading out to dinner at “George’s”.  Again, our group chose a wide variety of appetizers for the group rather than entrees. 

It is Sunday morning and I am up early to get ready for the church service.  I tiptoe around my cabin and try hard not to disturb anyone.  They will probably sleep in until I return.  I poke my head up the companionway to catch a glimpse of the morning and the village is still asleep.  I can spot a few early risers on other boats, drinking their coffee and reading their books.  I still try desperately not to waken anyone and I move stealthily across the cockpit toward my “friend” the passarella.  I was getting ready to untie the line that secures it to the boat at night, when all of a sudden these loud bells began to ring non-stop!  Clang, clang, clang!!!  Apparently, they were announcing that the church service would begin in fifteen minutes.  Everyone on the boat shot up out of a dead sleep.  Debbie and I cracked up because there I was pussyfooting around when these bells woke up the entire village!  Well, so much for good intentions....

....Most of my boat mates were up and getting ready to set sail for Hydra.  Poros and Hydra are in the Argo-Saronic Islands group in the Aegean Sea.  We pretty much have no wind, so for the most part we are motoring to Hydra.  The sun is hot and we buttered up with sunscreen.  Valerie told us that we were lucky because the weather was so nice.  She said the previous week the temperatures were in the forties.  We are all shocked thinking that in two weeks the weather could change from cool to hot so drastically and we comment on the temperature spread.  Val straightens us out in explaining she was talking Celsius rather than Fahrenheit.  That changes things considerably!

We arrived at the harbor and it is more crowded than Poros!  Again, Debbie and Tracy were on anchor duty, Mark and Bill secured fenders to the side of the boat and John and I are at the stern ready to toss lines to waiting hands.  Valerie is backing the boat to the dock with a dazzling smile on her face.  There is a man on shore calling “Valeria!  Valeria” and giving her hand motions as to which way to back up to the harbor wall.. ..

Debbie and I walked to the end of the point where there was a maritime museum that was quite interesting.  

After the museum, we walked to the old fort and climbed to the top.  We counted 105 steps up and 79 down…go figure.  The view from the top was outstanding.  Hydra is famous for its white buildings with contrasting red tiles roofs and this vantage point offers the best view.  It is beautiful!  There are no motor vehicles on Hydra with the exception of the garbage truck.  No cars are allowed and it certainly adds to the ambience of this island.  If one does not walk, the option of a donkey is available.  Donkeys are seen carrying people, luggage, building supplies, groceries and anything else that may need to be transported.  

We checked out some shops as we walked back toward the boat.  The streets are emptying of its activity and several shops are closing as they participate in a siesta from 3 PM to 6 PM.  Seems like a good idea so we returned to the boat to re-group and nap and then the fun began…

We plan to watch the sunset at the top of the mountain at the Hydroneta, sunset bar.  We walked the marble and stone sidewalks up around the shops and to a tree where a local artist has his easel set up and he sketches beautiful pen and ink drawings of the harbor below.  We stop to browse only for a moment and continue up to the taverna.  We find seats at tables situated beside the stoned wall, order drinks and wait for the show.  Mother Nature does not fail us!  The view is spectacular and the sunset reflects shades of rose, orange and gold that would take your breath away.  No one is talking, no one looks away and only the cameras are busy.  As the last bit of sun dips below the island mountaintop and the reflection in the water disappears, Mark in his infinitive wisdom declares, “This doesn’t suck”.  We all concur. 

        

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