Breakfast!

After waking up and doing a little work and putzing around the boat, we got around to making our much anticipated breakfast! While cooking French toast and bacon and mixing up some Bloody Marys, we were listening to KEXPs streaming archive of ‘Positive Vibrations’. It felt like we were trying to recreate a Saturday morning at home and we came pretty close. If only Sunny was lying at our feet. But the day ended up flying by, I guess that is what happens when you don’t eat ‘breakfast’ until 1pm and then take a nap. In the evening, I finally left the boat for the first time and as we were walking around, discovered I had some restless energy and just taking a stroll along the docks wasn’t satisfying enough. Luckily, we stumbled across a cricket field and I suddenly had an urge to throw a Frisbee. So while Mike went to the store to buy a couple of beers, I ran back to the boat and grabbed the Frisbee and boomerang. We took off our flip flops and ran around in the wet grass trying to get as much play time in as we could before the sky grew dark. It was the perfect summer evening.

Fire in the Sky

Another day in the marina… The temperatures continue to be cooler with the wind. The thermometer read 26 degrees in the shade and 30 degrees in the sun! Loving it! Mike attempted to raise the main sail but only to the first track due to the wind. But the first track didn’t stick! As Mike continued on projects, I continued my research on Italy. There aren’t a whole lot of places to stop along the heel and the toe. And the places are about 60 miles apart. So we are trying to come up with a plan, do we do several really long days or do we push on and do a couple of overnight crossings so we can make it to Siracusa, Sicily? Even though it is a bit out of the way to the south, it would be a shame to bypass Sicily all together and I just don’t think I can swallow that. And on our walk to the grocery store, Mike asked if we should just head straight to Sardinia from the Straights of Messina and pass the west coast of Italy all together. WHAT?! I have to say that at that moment I thought what the hell are we doing all of this for. Why are we spending all of our money (and time away from home) just to make miles and not see at least a few of the amazing places along the way? But Mike quickly came to his senses and was totally agreeable with Italy. But sadly, that may mean that we don’t have too much time in Sardinia. But at this point, my dream is to spend a little bit of our "vacation" on the Amalfi Coast with Mike. And I will play the ‘honeymoon’ card if I have to:)
But all was made even better when we stumbled across maple syrup in the grocery! It is the one thing that, for some reason, I always crave when traveling. And it is always hard to find and always really expensive. Except for today. So with that in our basket, we added breakfast items and makings for Bloody Marys to our shopping list!
The rest of the day entailed Mike trying to get a sail cover made for our staysail since his attempt was foiled by our ancient sewing machine deciding to call it quits. We then spent a lot of time looking at charts and weather so we could plan our departure. For some reason this is really difficult. In part due to the distance, not many options on the heel and the toe of Italy and the really variable weather in between Corfu and the south coast of Italy. But at this point it looks like we will be here at least until tomorrow or Saturday. In the evening we took a walk around the docks to stretch our legs. And there was a huge fire across the bay evident by the huge plume of smoke that was quickly growing and blowing over the marina. And I am sure the strong winds weren’t helping the fight. But luckily, the smoke gradually dissipated and it seemed like the fire was under control. But it made from some really interesting skies and photos.

Limbo

It feels like we are limbo. We need to be here to get some projects done but are also itching to leave and make miles. And this marina isn’t the most exciting place to be. Too bad we couldn’t have Levkas town right behind us. Instead Corfu Town is about a 20 minute bus ride away but we haven’t seemed to be able to make it back there. Mike is filling his days by crossing projects off the list such as wiring our second VHF radio in the cockpit and mounting clip-in hooks for our harnesses in the cockpit. And it felt like another day of being held captive on the boat waiting for the sail rigger to come. But of course he doesn’t come until we give up and start walking into town where we run into him. But the good news is that he came to the boat and put a screw in the track gate which will keep it closed so the track slides don’t get stuck in it. Mike isn’t convinced this will be a sure fix and is asking the rigger to look into the possibility and cost of having a different track mounted to the mast. I spent the day on the boat doing a whole lot of nothing. I did start to research Italy and Morocco which was good and gives me a better idea of where we can and cannot go. In the afternoon we both needed to get off the boat so we walked out of the marina to a different chandlery and to the grocery store. Exciting, I know. But it was fun to be in a real and stocked grocery store again. There was also a good breeze blowing today which made the temperatures a lot cooler, and that combined with the smell of wood smoke gave me a feeling that fall is in the air. I just hope that I am not setting myself up too much for disappoint! But as the evening came the temperatures just got cooler and cooler and we found ourselves digging out our layers from the hanging locker. It felt so good to put on a jacket! And the skies have been amazing here today. The craziest cloud formations I have ever seen. And the sunset only made them even more spectacular.

Trying to document myself wearing a jacket!

And to continue the honesty, Mike and I came to a small blow tonight. For me it started with being frustrated over the continued stress that Mike seems to carry. And along with that, the preoccupation with the boat and really, just missing my husband. During our walk today, ‘Mikey’ was with me but as soon as we returned to the boat it felt like ‘Michael’ was back. Mike’s view is that he is trying to work on this boat which is incredibly frustrating at times. And it’s not going to get done unless he does it, because he feels that sometimes I have taken a back seat to helping with those projects. A few more frustrations got aired and after a walk to take a breather, we made peace for the night. And slept in the aft cabin (with a blanket!) which is whole lot nicer than the v-berth where only our toes touch.

Another gyro...

This morning we left the walls of the fortress to motor a few miles up the coat to Gouvia Marina. We can’t say that a marina is where we want to spend our time but we’ll have the best chance of getting work done, hopefully quickly. And it wasn’t long before the sail rigger came by and had an idea for a simple fix that he will get to tomorrow. But not so much luck with the steel worker. We were hoping to get a new bow roller installed so it would be easier for me to get the anchor up. It sounds like the job is involved and he is booked with work this week. And again, we don’t have time to wait. Meanwhile, I had an epic day posting blogs and it felt good to get caught up while we finally have a decent internet connection. It wasn’t until late in the day when we both ventured off the boat together to go check out the sleepy town. And wouldn’t you know it, they have an Indian restaurant! Even with Thai curries on the menu! It’s funny because I was just talking about how I am getting a little tired of always having the same menu everywhere we go…tszatziki, moussaka, eggplant, calamari... (I know, it is all very delicious but if that is your only option after several months then it gets a bit boring). And wouldn’t Indian or Thai food be delicious! But also with that conversation came our decision to restrict our meals out and try to eat cheaply. So we bypassed the Indian and Thai food and opted for ANOTHER gyro which we enjoyed on the church steps across the street. And I have a feeling that very soon pizza will be the new gyro which sounds pretty good to me!

A Fortress as Our Backyard

So happy this place is quiet and we are protected from the bars and cafes in town by a fortress! While I was feeling under the weather and writing the blog, Mike worked on odds and ends from our project list. In the afternoon, we escaped the heat on the boat and sat in the shaded courtyard just across from us. It’s amazing to think about the history of this place and the events that have occurred in the exact spot where we are relaxing and sipping on more retsina. After a very late afternoon nap (doing our best to get on local time) we discovered an outdoor movie theatre. When we were in Greece a few years ago this was one of my favorite things to do, sit under the starry sky in the cooler night air and watch a movie. And guess what they were showing? Inception. We got our wish of seeing it again, just sooner than we imagined. We then got to take another incredible walk through the old fort at night so we could make our way back down into the harbor. Unforgettable.

Corfu!

We are obviously on a completely different time frame than the locals. At 1:30am the thumping house music at the bar across the street begins. Only to peak at about 3:30 or 4am. On first awakening at 1:30 or so due to the assault of bad music and a sore throat, I went in search of the ear plugs that Heather and Shan had left for us. Luckily, I found them and they worked amazingly well. But I did awake again and noticed Mike stirring around 4am when he was putting toilet paper in his ears. I was able to go back to sleep and then awoken with a cup of tea at 6am from Mike who never really managed to sleep again. We were both so tired that we had the thought of staying another day and work on little projects, but neither of us wanted to spend another night (especially Saturday night) here again! Especially with the possibility of not having fans to help drown out the noise. After Mike discovered that the Italian had unplugged us last night and our splitter having disappeared(!), we sucked our anchor out of the sticky and messy mud (so much for clean clothes) and went to wait for the floating bridge to open at 7am. After that it was smooth sailing to Corfu. The 7 ½ hour day went by really fast with us taking our turns with watches and napping. We were both really happy to find room (and electricity and water!although it's 44 euro/night) at Mandraki Harbour, which is located just below the old fortress on the head of the peninsula. It is a spectacular setting! So after a cold shower we took the really hot walk up to the top of the fort. Even at 6:30pm the sun was feeling a bit unbearable, so we headed towards the old town in hopes of some shade. This place is incredible! Without having looked at map or even read about the town, we found ourselves stumbling out of the fortress and upon museums housed in Venetian mansions, botanical gardens, 16th century churches, and then the maze of alleys and narrow streets which make up the old town. We avoided the ones full of trinket shops and chose the empty, quiet ones winding our way around on smooth-as-glass cobbled stone, not knowing where we were going. The multi-story, Venetian styled old buildings, painted in creamy pastel colors with brightly colored shutters, some with crumbling walls, others recently renovated. Most with laundry strung out to dry from balcony to balcony. We can tell that we are getting closer and closer to Italy! After a cold coffee, we started our walk again and once we got our bearings on how to get back to the boat, we started to look for the perfect place for dinner. Which was a bit dangerous since we were both finding ourselves a bit tired and with low blood sugar. We had to make sure that we didn’t downward spiral into a state of where neither person knows where to go, what to eat or what to do! But we made it just in time back to a café that had caught our eye earlier in the evening and had a really nice meal while perched on a set of stairs watching the night unwind. Despite not feeling very well, I was tempted to stay out longer just to enjoy the cooler night air and soak up more of this amazing town. But after a short stop on a park bench, and a walk back through the old fort, I gave up the fight to sleep and returned to the boat only to fall asleep hard.

Where's Indy?

Strike Out

Thank goodness for the fan and its help with drowning out the disco music last night! Now, if only I had some Nyquil to help me sleep with this cold. One of the little pieces of comfort back home that’s hard to come by when traveling. But the electrician was here bright and early and put in a new windlass switch! And the sail rigger came by but we didn’t have as much luck with him. He took a look at the main sail and recommended a new gate on the mast and new tracks. But those parts have to be ordered from Athens, or even Sweden, which means they wouldn’t be here until next week at the earliest. And we just don’t have that time to wait. So after taking a look at the weather and seeing that the winds are calm and even favorable tomorrow, we made the decision to push on to Corfu (skipping a planned layover on one of the islands in between) in hopes that it is a bigger town and will have more resources for us. After some grocery shopping, a quick lunch on the waterfront where there was a breeze, albeit a very sticky breeze, we headed back to our swimming pool to escape the heat on the boat. We seemed to have a respite with cooler temperatures for a few days but they only seemed to have crept back up, although nothing close to when the Pereras were here! In the evening, we headed back to Mike’s favorite chandlery shop and then found a really sweet, quiet restaurant in one of the back alleys. We had a nice dinner and then decided to follow the sound of music we had been hearing. The music was echoing off all of the stone walls but we finally found the source after winding our way through the streets, but only to find it coming from a big tourist venue with RVs parked outside. We then enjoyed a more leisurely walk back through the narrow side streets, coming across old women gossiping in the cool, night air while watching their grandchildren play. And the town square was crazy this Friday night! It was packed with locals and tourists, street performers, people selling every kind of flashing toy you could imagine, people selling enormous balloons from bouquets which could possibly lift them off the ground. It actually felt weird to go back to the boat and think we were headed to sleep while everyone else just appeared to be waking up and starting their day. But upon returning back to the boat we discovered that we didn’t have any power. Mike investigated and it looks like everyone plugged in is out of luck. After a quick return it was only off again. So hoping for the best we headed to bed.