Preveza - Greece. April 2009

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Fri 17 Apr 2009 20:20
Well here we are back in Greece and the weather is beautiful.

The trip out went very well with an easy drive down to Gatwick in the middle
of the night and an easy check in and an on-time flight to Athens.

On the plane we found ourselves sitting next to a chap (John) who we soon
engaged in conversation and it turned out that he also was returning to his
boat and by chance it was in the boatyard right next door to where Serafina
was laid up. This meant that we were able to share a taxi in Athens to the
bus station and had someone to chat to on the 7 hour bus trip! The taxi
driver did us pround in Athens, rushing us across the city and ingnoring a
'No Entry' sign to the bus station (he did have to pause to let a police car
out first!!) and delivering us right to the back of the bus we were hoping
to catch. We popped over to the office to buy tickets and got the very last
three for this trip and were delighted to find ourselves on our way a good 4
hours ahead of the original plan.

John turned out to be a very seasoned yachtsman and has owned his boat for
just over 30 years during which he has covered an astonishing amount of
miles including 4 Atlantic crossings, almost all of which he has done single
handed. This summer he is sailing the boat alone, back to his home on the
Isle of Wight, which is no mean feat for a 70+ year old.

The bus trip was a long 7 hours but not at all unpleasant, with a 20 minute
stop near the spectacular Rion bridge, spanning the gulf of Patras/Corinth.
Not too sure how they interpret the EU rulings on driver's hours, but this
was all done with just the one cheerful driver, who as we approached our
final destination also seemed very happy to drop passengers off at all sorts
of remote places, frequently off the main road!

A taxi from the bus station in Preveza meant that we arrived at the boatyard
just as the light was fading but had enough time to take a look over
Serafina and see that all was well with her before checking into a room in
the marina building for the night.

Thursday dawned bright and sunny and we got straight down to the chores
involved in recommissioning a boat at the start of a new season. The weather
seems set fair for the next few days which is a real bonus and should allow
us to get everything done (including 2 coats of antifouling paint on the
bottom) before we are craned back into the water on 21st April.

This weekend is the Greek Easter and so were braced for everything being
closed, but fortunately they seem more relaxed about such things than back
in 1980 when we were working out here. The little taverna next to the
boatyard is staying open apart from Sunday and even the chandlery is open on
Saturday.

At night we are treated to the most amazing 'frog chorus' with litterly
thousands of very loud frogs bellowing out their mating calls. (Pips Curtis
would be delighted I'm sure!)