Pylos - last Greek stop
St Barbara's Web Diary
Peter & Sue Goldsmith
Tue 21 Apr 2009 15:51
36:55.08N 21:41.90E
12.00 21st April
We have had so many early morning starts so it was something of a luxury to
"lay in" after a very peaceful night in this delightful spot and so very
different from our previous stop. More of that later. Our odyssey
continues .......
After two nights outside Spearmint Rhino our next destination seemed
idyllic. The day's sailing had been good, favourable winds meant that for
much of the journey the alluring aroma of diesel was absent and we
contemplated the sound was of the wash of the hull through the sea and the
breeze through the sails. All three of us thoroughly enjoyed the day.
Arriving some twelve hours later, we moored side-on to the harbour wall of a
small village overlooked by a town on the hillside. A short walk along the
prom suggested that this was a place that valued tranquillity and would
welcome its visitors by going to sleep. With one small exception (a group of
youngsters returning to their cars with pride in their music and the
insensitivity of youth) the presence of people was delightfully absence.
Truth be told, we would not have heard voices for they would have been
carried off by the howls of the wind, the fury that descended from the
hilltops and battered StB hard against the wall. At some ridiculous hour
Peter was back on deck replacing the mooring lines and springs with ropes
the thickness of a wrestler's forearm, a strange and partial sense of
security when the real anxiety is that the one you love is bashing their
head on a wall! Morning couldn't come soon enough but was upon us too early.
A tense time as we cast off and hoped to clear the harbour between gusts.
With some good fortune and a share of finesse we set the main sail and left
the harbour to find the wind a mere kitten once away from the effect of the
bay.
Sailing most of the time, the engine off more than on, we had a long but
hard day (nothing a good night's sleep wouldn't overcome). Having said that,
let me talk you through our regime. Most of the time sitting or reclining,
perhaps reading, some thinking, mainly looking, occasionally to see where
we're going. Perhaps once or twice an hour adjust a sail - a minute's work
for one, sometimes two of us. Admire a seagull, discuss a wave, comment that
there have been no seagulls for a while. Sleep (usually not all at once).
Think about food, talk about food, eat food. Forget food, here comes another
seagull. Arrive at another harbour where we have five manic minutes
attaching our moving world to your static one. This is a challenging and
tiring routine, can you wonder we need our sleep!