The voyage I chose to go on with The Alexandros is unique and they only do it once in the summer and it has two very long sailing days in it. The Alexandros mainly sails in the Ionian Sea, which appealed to me because it seemed less known than the Aegean and the Cyclades, but this cruise was ideal because I could catch it from Athens and with my limited R & R time that was important.

The second day of my cruise, the other crew members were on their fourth day, was a long sailing day because we were going from Korfus, through the canal and then most of the Gulf of Corinth to overnight is Galaxidi, pronounced Galax CD.

We had breakfast in port and then I went back to bed, until a knock on my door and soft voice informed me we were headed into the canel.  The bridges that allow the cars to pass over the canel don’t go up to allow ships to pass, rather they submerge.  The canel which was constructed between 1881 and 1893 is 3.9 miles long (6.3 km) 82 feet high (25 m) and has a depth of 26.2 feet (8 m).  The size of the canel does not allow really large vessels to pass through e.g. the Carnival Cruise ships.  It connects the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea with the Gulf of Cornith and cuts 400 km off the trip for the ships that can use it.  It’s construction also effectly made the  Peloponnesian peninsula an island.

We were the last ones through the canel and as we were sailing over the submerged bridge a woman who had been

waiting for the bridge to resurface started yelling at us and then a man joined in.  I think they were angry that they had to wait because the yelling didn’t sound very nice, but Thanos yelled back and I just smiled and waved.  Some of the other people waiting for the bridge waved back.  Unforturnately, for the yellers, they must have institgated some bad Karma because they had to wait 20 more minutes for a large catamaran and another boat coming from the other direction.

After clearing the canel we stopped in Gulf of Corin right near the mainland and the entrance of the canel for a short swim.  There wasn’t a lot of sea life, mainly urchins, but it was nice to cool off.  Right before Alicja got on the boat she shampooed her hair and then rinsed once she was on the boat, very practical, I have photos, but was forbidden to post them, so you’ll only be able to see them in the scrapbook.  She made a nice shark fin with her lathered hair.

Once we were under way again Nicole, Juliette and I headed up for the bow, but I ended up spending most of the day in the rear of the boat under the awning because the bow had no shade and was incredibly hot.

Lunch took place underway and we dined on spaghetti with tuna, greek salad, yummy green olives and for dessert, which is not normally provided after lunch we had apples with honey and cinnamon.

It was a long sailing day and we didn’t dock in Galaxidi until almost 6:00 p.m. The highlight of the sail was a school of

stiped dolphins that joined us playing off our bow wake.  They stayed with us a good 20 minutes before they got bored and went off in search of more exciting entertainment.

After docking, Nicole, Juliette and I went to explore the small town of Galaxidi.  I checked out the bus square for my excursion the next day to the ancient site of Delphi, then we went to the other side of the harbor and to check out the old church.  As we were walking away from the church  I found a small lapel pin on the ground, it had a pink ribbon, a pink glass bead, the figure of a girl and a cross.  Nicole said it was my sign from God, we had been talking about religion earlier in the day, but my sign for what from God?  He’s so cryptic, I really specific instructions.

After visiting the chruch and perusing the town, we headed out to find something to eat.  We walked by every single restaurant in town and finally ended up eating Gyros from a take out place by the dock.

The Alexandros is captained by Thanos he has 20 years sailing experience and can captain vessels up to 200 tons. He was born in Greece, but spent 10 years in England and his English is excellent. He will let you sail, and help with the sailing as much or as little as you like.

Alicja is originally from Poland and she met Thanos when

he advertised for a hostess for the Yachting business he was starting. She is an excellent cook, a lovely hostess and a ton of fun. She loves to swim and whenever we stopped for swim she was in the water before you heard the splash. She also swims at night after docking and in the morning before leaving. A bundle of energy, I would often wake up to find her doing “housework” cleaning the bow, cooking, reading and writing long newsy letters to her parents. Her English is also excellent. But her food is fabulous.

One of the best things about sailing with The Alexandros was that not only was breakfast and lunch provided, but it was always excellent. On a lot of other skippered charters you just get the captain and no hostess so you are responsible for meals and let me tell you that tiny kitchen not easy. In addition on the Alexandros, you can learn to sail from Thanos and during our voyage Alicja even taught the girls how to make tzatziki. In the end in seemed like we were family. If your interested visit their web page at http://www.anko-yachting.com/.

Nicole and Juliette were two college students from Australia on holiday. Nicole had just finished six months study abroad in Ireland and Juliette was just starting six months study abroad in Germany. Both are very level-headed and extremely smart. Nicole is studying aviation and is going to be a pilot, Juliette is looking for something in International Relations as she speaks German, French and Australian. They spent most of their time on the bow, loved snorkling and always slept late, as later posted photos will attest too. They were a ton of fun and I was lucky to have ended up on a cruise with them. They traded turns sleeping on the shelf or top bunk in their cabin. And together we were always on the hunt for baclava.

Malcom and Deborah live in Libiya where for the past three years he has worked for Conoco. He is currently looking at a position in Baghdad or Kazakhstan, his wife Deborah is hoping for the latter. They have two grown children their son is serving in Afghanistan and their daughter works for the State Department.

Saturday, June 13 – Poros – I arrived in Athens at 6:05 a.m. and was trying to catch up with the Alexandros on Poros the Peloponesse  penisula about 61 km from Athens.  I made it through customs in record time, got my luggage and grabbed a cab.  The driver spoke zero English.  I kept repeating that I wanted to go to Piraeus port.  I would say Piraeus and then the cabbie would say Piraeus, we went back and forth several times.  The ride took about 45 minutes and cost 35 Euro including toll fare and airport pick-up cost.  I arrived at Gate 8 which serves the Saronic Islands, but I had to walk  around a bit to find the fast boat to Poros a flying Dolphin, luckily I made it and when I arrived at Poros, Thanos the captain of the Yacht was waiting for me.  We walked down the sidewalk a bit and there was the boat.  They had held breakfast for me and once breakfast was over we set sail.  I was traveling with two college students from Australia, Nicole had just finished six months of study in Ireland and Juliette was just starting six months of study in Germany.  There was also a couple Malcom and Deborah who live in Libiya because he works in oil for Conoco and then there was the captain Thanos from Greece and his wife and our hostess Alicja from Poland.  The girls had a tendency to hang out on the bow and I decided to join them, I took out my towel and a book; however, the sea turned out to be a bit rough and the bow was cresting up and down, my towel got completely soaked, as did my book, “The Fountainhead,”  I sent both back to the cabin and then proceeded to hold on for dear life as we the bow hit the water hard and we were continually showered with spray.  At one point, the bow went up and we almost lost Juliette, but Nicole grabbed her waist and I managed to catch a leg, we looked like fish flopping on the deck. But it was fun. And salty.

Alicja, who is the hostess and also Thanos’ wife made a delicious lunch that we ate underway; baked tuna, Greek salad, roasted potatoes, and tzatziki.  We stopped after lunch in a small bay of the Island Angistri for a swim.  We snorkled in the bay and saw purple sea slugs, black spiny sea urchins, fish with yellow and blue horizontal strips, which I think was a wrasse (the only fish book was in Polish, Alicja’s native tongue),  a frog like fish that may have been a gobby and then Nicole thought she saw an octopus, but she was wrong.  The water was crystal clear and although not as colorful as other places, nor with as many colorful creatures it was fun to snorkel.

After the swim we headed for Epidavos Island to see the ancient ruins – an amphitheatre that was almost intact.  Malcom and the girls climbed up to the top and I was down at the bottom taking photos.  The girls were posing as if they were gladiators and a woman came up to me and said “No boys.”  “What?” I said.  “Do you speak English?” she asked.  “Yes,”  I replied.  “No boys?” she said again.  I said “I don’t understand.”  I think she was telling me that the girls shouldn’t pose. So she was trying to say “No posing.”  But then when the Greeks did it she didn’t say anything.  I stood in the very center and spoke so that Malcolm and the girls could hear me.  When you stand directly in the middle your voice is amplified and people can hear it from all over the theatre.  A lot of people stood in the middle and sang.  I spent some time in the amplified spot, taking photos with everyone’s camera and talking so Malcolm and the girls could hear me.   Finally a Greek man threw his hands up in the air and started complaining in Greek, I think he wanted a photo of the amplified spot, but in reality I wasn’t  in the center that long, but I was being a bit of a Japanese tourist.  I threw my hands up in the air and moved off the spot.  It was surprising how many of the tourists were Greek.

After visiting the ruins, I took a long afternoon nap and didn’t get up until we had almost arrived in Korfos.  I showered

and dressed.  The cabin is mainly a bed, it has a small entry way and then a door to the bathroom that is the toilet and the shower,  the shower head is the sink tap that pulls out.  There were two cupboards in the bathroom to store stuff in, one “closet, the size of a small kitchen cupboard and a shelf above the bed.  There was not a lot of room to manuever, but the cabins were comfortable.  One of the things they tell you in the cruise instructions is not to bring too much luggage and they are right, soft suitcases are easy to store, but I don’t know where I would have put my hard suitcase.  In addition you mainly spend your time in your swimsuit, I brought two pairs of pants and about five shirts and it was plenty.  Oh and don’t bother with a blow dryer, curling iron etc.  sometimes at night the boat had electricity, but there was really no room to b e fixing your hair and no need.

We ate dinner as a group right at the taverna where we had docked.  I had Greek salad and shrimp saganaki, which was shrimp in cheese and red sauce.  After dinner I took a brief tour of the town with Nicole and Juliette, looking for dessert, but we were unsuccessful.

That night as I lay on my bed with my hand out the window to try and get some cool air someone came by and grabbed my hand.  I quit sleeping with my hand out the cabin window.

For my R & R I decided to book a sailing trip through the Greek Islands. I have always wanted to go to Greece, but the last Iraq stint was difficult so I didn’t want to have to do a lot of planning. The cruise starts on June 11, departing from Athens, but I won’t be catching up with the boat until the June 14 on Poros. From there we will do to Korfos, Galaxidi, Trizonia, Oxia, Ithaca, Atokos, Kastos, Meganisi, Scorpios and Lefkas. I’m sailing with Thanos, the captain and Alicia the hostess on the 50ft, Alesandros, there will be at most 7 other people on board. I decided to go with a smaller ship so I could visit more out of the way places and small coves. Internet access will be limited so I may not post during my trip, but I will post about trip. So stay tuned.