Wind and boat guests (Paros)

 

14th Sept 2020 (Paros)

After a windy week awaiting the arrival of Martin and Debbie, yesterday the day finally arrived. Met them at the ferry quay with smiles and hugs all round - masks on, but social distancing be damned. 

Strolled the short walk back to the tender, with me delayed a little by a diving cormorant chasing fish in the clear water of the quayside - fascinating to see... but apparently this is not the ideal time for this delightful display to occur as the others walked on disinterested. We hopped into the tender, Debbie, a larger lady, and unused to the floor shifting under he feet, found herself bridged between the dock and the boat. She was rapidly stretched as the tender pushed away from land, but happily with some frantic grabbing, some tenacious holding on and random shouting all round (“Don’t do that Debs!” was my contribution) she was soon safe, without having taken her first swim. Once secure we all giggled it away.  Onto the boat, we gave the 2 minute tour, then popped corks and tucked into some bubbly while the honoured guests gradually found their sea legs, staggering and banging into various surfaces along the way. This was strange to us, as the boat's only gentle roll didn't seem to be moving at all. Headed to shore in the afternoon for a wander around the town, strolling through the lovely whitewashed and bourgonvilia ladened laneways and marvelling once more at the church of 100 doors and the Frankish castle. Thirsty work all this strolling, so stopped for a few beers, or Cider if you’re Chez, or a fruity (mainly banana) smoothie if you’re Debs. Then back to the boat via the supermarket for a lazy evening , Greek salad dinner and fairly early nights all round. 

Woke this morning to some, not quite howling, wind blowing through the hatches. All bar Chez seems to have slept well - surprising as it was a fairly rolly night. In moderate wind we headed to the quay to pick up water, not our most graceful manoeuvre, but after a few frantic minutes we were tied back at a bit of an angle and topping up the close to empty water tanks with ‘Eau de Paros’. Martin headed off to secure some teabags for Tasos (currently Debbie) and we were soon dropping the lines and heading away from the quay... We kept a keen eye out for ferries after being severely horn blasted by one on the way into this anchorage last week. Our first destination for the day is only an hour or so away, the little shallow bay on AntiParos where we’d stayed previously. For Deb’s first sail, it was probably not the easiest of passages, with a large rolly swell making the short journey quite an exhilarating one. Made it safely across, with Chez negotiating high seas, while dodging shallows, rocks and marker buoys along the way. Dropped anchor in the slightly more sheltered waters, checked it was set, and relaxed. I took Martin and Debbie for a short jaunt to shore, Debs opting for sunbathing while Martin and I walked the rocky and sea battered shoreline. Nice stroll, followed by those two having a dip in the shallows, with Martin sadly losing his swimming mask (having lost the snorkel the day before). He then borrowed my snorkel and mask to look for it, and lost part of that in the process... he later advised that his 11 plus score was borderline... yeah right, sure it was mate. 

Now dossing before our next outing, with Martin and Deb spooned up in the aft cabin - nice :)

After all round siestas, and another quick trip ashore to take some snaps we upped anchor and headed back through the shallow channel that separates Paros and AntiParos - through without incident, then as the lovebirds sat on the bow, we motored through a packed field of kite surfers. All seemed very proficient, and it was great to see the rainbow of coloured kites and occasional jumps as the surfers changed direction. As I write this, I’m warmed by the glow from Debs sunburnt shoulders, who’s still enjoying the day, with that bald bloke and a cold beer, on the bow. We are now headed back to the town of Alaki where we had enjoyed a nice dinner with George and Barb on our last visit.

Edit: She did it again! Minor tender exiting issue before dinner!