As taught to us by the great wizards, hobbits, and jedis of lore, all good stories have a stressful bit where I inevitably squeeze a pillow and sometimes start googling the ending to make sure my favorite character makes it. Well, good news, we got that! Though not nearly as dramatic as Mount Doom, our little hiccup felt quite dramatic in the moment. But, we'll get there. First, here is a map of our week long loop-de-loop around the island of Kefalonia. All in all we went about 650 nautical miles, or about 750 miles, which is a lot to do in a week! Our poor captain was pretty much a puddle by the end, but we made sure the beer never ran out so that has to count for something! Best crew ever. Now only if we'd known how to actually help him sail...
Day 1: A Dream Come True
The first day was what you dream of when you think of a sailing trip. The weather was perfect, the water was calm, and the sunburn was real. We sailed for a little while, then stopped to swim in the incredible blue-green sea, which was so clear that you could see straight through to the bottom. The captain set up a wood plank for us to jump of of into the water. Some of us managed backflips and other impressive tricks, others managed several variations of belly flops...I'll let you guess who's who. Nikola (aka Aquaman) is actually part superhero, as he was jumping off the beam of the sail because the wood plank obviously wasn't thrilling enough and looked way cooler than the rest of us. Later on as the sun was setting, we found some caves in the side of the island and decided to setup camp there for the night. As the captain got the boat situated, we all swam over to see the "mermaid caves" as Jovana called them; she watched the same Australian mermaid TV show I used to love as a kid, H2O, and had to make sure we weren't missing an opportunity to potentially sprout tails. That night we got one of the best sunsets of the trip, which was the necessary payment for sleeping on the open sea. Let's just say, there's a level of rocking that might put you to sleep, and then there's a level that might make you question everything you've eaten in the last 24 hours. That next morning, we all agreed that for the rest of the trip, we were going to be harbor sleepers.
Only amateurs use their hands to drive...
Days 2-4:
The next few days were a blur of swimming, sailing, and sea-gazing. The first day was a little cooler with some wind, so we saw our captain's real skills for the first time as he guided us into actual sailing and we hit over 10 knots, which is almost 12 mph! The waves were large and somewhat intimidating but it was very cool. I don't have any pictures from this though because I was terrified my phone (and potentially my whole body) were going to end up in the water. During the day we found more mermaid caves (including a HUGE one), more stray cats, and more surfaces for Aquaman to jump off of. Each night we would stop in a new harbor to get dinner and wonder around the coastal towns. There were some complications with parking at times, but all I can say is thank goodness for the captain's skill and the rest of the guys for jumping in the cold water. The food each night was so good - everything was so fresh, especially the fish (duh). When we first arrived, I was asking at restaurants about whether they cooked with butter, but after a few scoffs of disbelief that I even had to ask when they have the olive oil they do, I stopped asking. The whole group was really nice about my allergies and by the end they were asking for things with no cheese so I could have some too, and we all know food is the way to my heart, so that was awesome! I also found more than one strawberry gelato cone - you have to try them all to know where the best one is, obviously!
Yes, the captain has a red hat to complete the full sailor look.
Day 5: The Fateful Day
The captain had warned us the day before that it might be a little spicy weather-wise, but we started the day optimistically as we got a close-up visit by a family of sea turtles! I think we just looked like the biggest suckers who would feed them (I get the same thing from dogs) but they were so pretty! The sunrise was just gorgeous, too. Top that off with the metric ton of pastries we bought before leaving and you'd think we had it all on track.
The morning was actually quite calm. It wasn't warm, but we were watching the storm cross in front of us and seemed to be in good shape to miss it, so we were taking our time. We stopped at a giant rock/ tiny island that had a church on top, and those who were willing to brave the cold water and wind swam over and climbed to the top. We also stopped for a bit at a beach where the mud makes your skin really soft, which was nice since we could see the semi-permanent grains of salt on our arms. I don't actually remember exactly when it got a little suspicious, but I do remember when the captain had us put the life vests on and clip ourselves to the boat. And then I do remember the waves coming up over the side of the boat and completely drenching me. And then I remember watching the crank we needed to control the sails slip out of our hands, fumble around, and drop straight into the angry water...yeah. A+ crew.
Honestly, it was a little dicey, but the captain had it well under control. That was until he decided it was time to put the sails away as the wind was really strong, and as Djordje rolled it up and got it nearly all the way done, we heard a "clink" - and then a moment of silence - and then the entire front sail (called the genoa) unrolled. Now, for those of you who know nothing about boats like me, the main sail is the big one in the middle you're thinking about that just goes up and down. This one is the little one in the front, which only rolls up, and is incredibly difficult to get down. It also controls your direction. So, if it's flapping in the 50+ mph wind with no way to put it away thanks to the broken bit, you have a major problem. Djordje took over steering as Ryan and the captain went up to the front of the boat to start pulling it down off the front rod. At one point, the captain was airborne, swinging around on the material as he tried to use his whole body to get it down, while all we could see were Ryan's arms trying to hold it down as much as he could. Eventually, thank goodness, they were able to get it down and below deck with no sailors lost, but it wasn't the best and Ryan had the seasickness to prove it. At that point we were all quite done, but our bad luck continued as we got to the harbor a few hours later and couldn't find a place to park. So, we carried on in the dark, Ryan and I flat tires on the top of the boat listening to our friends tell each other stories to stay awake. We finally reached another harbor with enough space for us around 11PM I think, and we immediately went to get food and the captain as much rum as he wished. All in all we did 165 nautical miles that day, about 190 miles, which was a new record for the captain and certainly one for the rest of us, too. We agreed that night that the next morning would be a late one.
The End
The following day we woke up to practically still water and a cloudless blue sky - no signs of the abuse from just a mere 12 hours before. Well, that is except for our one-sail boat. Though our time sailing was done, we were still able to use the boat engine to get where we needed to go and had some really lovely, relaxing days. My big triumph was standing up on the paddle board getting pulled by the boat, though it took several splashes for me to get there. After I thought I was cool, Nikola and Djordje proceeded to do acroyoga on the board while being pulled, which was both impressive and hilarious. At one of the harbors, Jovana gave Ryan a bucket hat with sailboats on it, which was even better than what he'd been searching for since we arrived in Greece. It only flew off his head and into the water once, but after a successful rescue mission it was fun to watch him track his bucket hat even more closely than his passport. Oh! And I actually successfully backflipped for the first time ever, so that was fun! The front flip will continue to elude me after a few attempts left me looking like I had a second degree sunburn.
We ended the last day in the same place we started, though I think we were all a little surprised we actually made it. I think the guys on the dock were even more surprised when we returned poor Captain John with one sail stuffed below deck, a few new battle scars on the hull, and the engine groaning like it ate a bad fish. But, the captain did a great job talking us out of trouble and ultimately got my credit card off the hook before they had time to find the rest 😁 That night we went into town for one last phenomenal meal and enjoyed our last night on board Old Faithful.
I mentioned I brought a meat thermometer with me on this trip, and that was real. I had to bring some refrigerated shots with me to Australia, but after investigating all the options, it turned out I had to bring them with me on the sail boat. I was worried about it because they couldn't reach room temperature or they would go bad. So, I kept them in 2 Yeti water bottles with ice and water at 35-40 degrees thanks to my handy meat thermometer and the incredible engineers at Yeti. Though I was nervous at first, it turned out to be easier than expected thanks to the ice box. That does mean that at each stop I would empty the grocery stores of all their ice, but it also meant our boat always had cold beer!
Greece was amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better first sailing trip, and I feel like we actually "experienced" sailing in its many forms. Leaving the group was tough, and leaving Ryan was tougher, but I'm so grateful for the amazing time we had and was excited to get past my 20 hour journey to Australia and begin my next experience. More on that to come!
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