Stalking peacocks (Spetses)

 

13th June 2020 (Spetses)

We briefly visited the town quay at Spetses, but even at this time (early season, no tourists or charters and everyone in Covid lockdown) we were unable to squeeze in anywhere. Having come to that conclusion, Cheryl was forced to make the tightest of prop walk turns for us to exit - beautifully executed.  Leaving there, we anchored up the coast in a nearly deserted bay on the Northen tip of the island with only one other boat in sight. The water is a postcardesque turquoise, and is fringed by a lip of sandy rock and an occasional pebbly beach.  The gentlest of breezes blows over the low surrounding hills, with it bringing wafts of pine and oregano. There’s some of the usual quiet anchorage sounds: cicadas buzzing, water gently lapping, goat bells tinkling, but added to this usual ensemble is an occasional incongruous cry/squark from a peacock (having been here for a few days now, the best description I can come up with is that it sounds like a cross between a startled cat meowing, and a baby being pinched). That said, It is a peaceful and calming anchorage, just what the doctor ordered after the tribulations of the last few months. 

This morning we strolled the shore, baked earth, interspersed with dappled shade from the mixture of pines that dot the shoreline. Heading for the sound of peacocks we came across a disused and tumbledown farm, and found a few of the birds strutting around, keeping a wary distance from us - having, I suspect, been unfortunate in the past with tail feather hunters not content with what they could find on the ground. 

Whilst carefully stalking one such wary peacock, I nearly trod on an old Blue Peter favourite - a large old tortoise - size of a soldiers helmet.  He was shocked to see us, and paused mid chew, keeping one beady eye on us while we marveled at his gnarly exterior. Rowed back to the boat, and thats when the peaceful bay slowly started disappearing - one mega yacht at a time. At the peak, our previously deserted haven was home to 16 other boats, the shoreline buzzed with quad bikes, jetskis whizzed left right and centre, and a mixture of poorly selected tunes wafted over the water to us. Coast guard turned up mid afternoon to hand out a few random fines, then they too were whizzing away. I know we can’t have everywhere to ourselves, but the contrast between yesterday and today was truely stark. 

Edit: by nightfall, we were back to just us and one other occupant in the bay.