18 July – lazy start, motor then sail to anchor in bay off lovely fishing village of Petriti

Depart Gouvia 1100

Arrive Petriti 1545 17nm

Sun, wind Sf1, then SW f2 increasing to 3

 

Jane for early run, rendezvous at pool. Ed unloads special supplies – Yorkshire T bags, Uncle Bens b in b  (but we yesterday found loads pretty cheap at sm), basil seedlings (but none of requested left hand lay rope!).More shopping. Motor off. Slight offshore breeze fills in so sail last 9 miles. Quite a few already anchored.  Nifty manoeuvre by Jane after dropping main to prevent French from overtaking and going for gap (next to their friends) we had spotted to drop anchor (in 14ft). All for swims- warmest sea yet, though not crystal clear. Laze about in sun. Duck ashore – discover wonderful place. Off beaten track – one bus arrives vv early, and another leaves in the evening, as no one really comes here. Several squid boats tied up. One has string of garlic hanging from front of fwd.. wheelhouse – for luck? or cooking? Number of shoestring yachties stern to at end of  quay. 4 or 5 taverns, bakery, minimarket. Could stop here some time – so unspoilt. Field with magnificent olive trees (and donkey) for sale. Ed v happy as reed beds and ventifacts. Select taverna for beer – told no code for wifi as “its not Cuba!” Jane practices her Greek conversation to get bag of cherries from truck. See squid fleet depart for nightwork– their workboat acts as tug to pull bows off quay, then gets towed out heading NE into straights between Greece and Albania (14m wide here).Guess it is then used to lay all floats with lamps. Would have eaten here but R has prepared risotto. D`fly will be back! Wet bums returning in duck. Combination of heavier crew (beer inside) and cooler air (sun down, duck less buoyant). What a merry evening! PS – back ashore to do blogs (it’s morning) – tiny fish landed by “squid boats”, so perhaps not squid boats after all.