A sailing day can never be a typical day, there are many thinks to choose from, and the schedule depends on where you are waking up to. For those who have never sailed, or never sailed the Greek waters, here is how one of my sailing days is.
It is Monday morning and we woke up at Spetses Island. We are moored at the port. It is nice a sunny, but we can’t have breakfast outside as it is still early, the sun is very low, and so we will have breakfast inside. A quick walk to the nearest bakery to buy fresh bread, another stop to buy fruits and then we are heading back to the yacht for our breakfast. The most important meal of the day, especially when you are sailing (the wind always makes people hungry). We have a little bit of everything on board, fruits, eggs and bacon, yogurt and cereal, fresh baked bread and croissants, butter, honey and marmalade, tomatoes, cheese and ham, coffee, tea and milk for the children. What else can you ask for?
After a great breakfast off we go to the next destination. Today we are visiting Leonidio and we plan to go swimming first to one of the beaches of the area, have lunch on board and head to the village in the afternoon. Lunch preparations have been organized. We have everything that we need on board, so we are ready to set sails. There is a light wind that will help us sail until the cost of Peloponnesus but when we reach close to the land, it will be calm and we will need to motor.
On our way we are reading the maps to find the beach that we want to stop to. There are many isolated small gulfs; we are visiting one of them. There isn’t even a name on the map. This will make it even more interesting. It is only 17 nautical miles away, it will take us around 3 hours to get there (the wind is light so we will have a calm easy sailing but won’t be speeding) it will just give us enough time to digest our breakfast before swimming. During sailing there a lot of things to do, the businessmen are checking their e-mails, or read financial news. The rest who are really enjoying their holiday read a book under the bimini (tent). The children are sitting in the cockpit and are playing with their toys. Our cook for the day is in the kitchen making preparations for our lunch. The captain is sitting in front, watching out for any other vessels that might be around us. The wind is so light that we have the autopilot working most of the times. Sometimes we take the wheel, but just for fun. It is strange how quick time goes by when you are having fun.
I just managed to write a few words and reply to only two e-mails and we are almost there. We can now see the beaches. And we are looking through the binoculars to find one isolated and beautiful. We have seen then on the map, but being there closer gives you the opportunity to choose between the small gulfs that you see. We can now see the big beach of ‘Plaka’ with the water sports and the beach bars. But today we have chosen a quit day, and want to enjoy some privacy. And so here we are at clear blue waters, a small sandy beach and nice scenery.
Simple and nice. The anchor is down, the SUP and the dinghy are into the water now, we may want to use the dinghy to go out to the beach and carry things with us. Snorkeling equipment comes out of the lockers. Everyone is now ready to swim. The kids and us ‘older kids’ are playing around on the SUP. We use it as a canoe sometimes. We swim to the beach, search for shells and small rocks, and then back to the yacht. We snorkel exploring the area. We will only gather again on board when we will feel hungry or tired as the sun is burning hot now.
After a quick shower and some time to dry, we are ready for lunch. Light meal and a lot of salad to give us energy and refresh us. After lunch we will stay for a while before going to Leonidio. We will dock at Plaka port which is 30 minutes walk from Leonidio. Some of us have never visited the area. The captain wants to stay on board and rest, or have a coffee or a bear at the bar right across where we are moored. We will all meet again before dinner time. We will have fish to one of the tavernas at Plaka. Some tips and ideas from the people who have been here before and off we go to explore the area. There is not much to see here, but we have all agreed that this would be a relaxing day, mostly to enjoy swimming. For some the walk to the village was very quick, and now they are heading to Plaka beach for a late afternoon swim. You can see the beach from the yacht it is only a few minutes away.
After the sun was down we met at the tavern to enjoy a nice dinner. And then a quick visit to a nearby bar for some of us will give a nice end to a relaxing day. Next morning we will have an early morning swim at Plaka beach and then after breakfast we will head to Nafplio, our next sailing destination.
Written by MS
(Based on my personal experience)
