Walking in the rain Methoni has a magnificent old harbour, flanked by a fortress and a Venetian tower. Even though it rained and the fortress was closed on the day we were there – we did try to get in, but hey, it’s a fortress – we had fun exploring outside. We also caught up […]
Author: Bianca Kindler
Flying soup and the door to the underworld – Diros caves
Saying Hiya! to Hades Ancient Greek legend has it that the caves at Diros were the entrance to Hades – the underworld, the realm of the dead… We dropped our anchor in the bay just outside this entrance, and made our way to the visitors’ centre to buy ourselves some tickets. Because you don’t just […]
Exploring Monemvasia
Early morning arrival After an overnight sail from the island of Milos, which covered about 80 sea miles, we arrived at Monemvasia on the Greek mainland early in the morning. The sun was just rising. The tiny peninsula of Monemvasia looks like a massive lump of rock from a distance. As you get closer, you […]
Stunning Santorini
Santorini is such a stunning, strange place, that I do not even know how to start to describe it. Wikipedia has this to say: Santorini is essentially what remains after an enormous volcanic eruption that destroyed the earliest settlements on a formerly single island, and created the current geological caldera. […] It is the most […]
Birthdays and buccaneers – Astipalia
Let them eat cake We had a birthday coming up on Spacegrazer and the kids were very excited about it. Granddad would turn 68 while staying with us. We had already shopped for cake ingredients a while back, so we could be sure that wherever we would be, we would be able to celebrate properly. […]
Welcoming guests in Kos
Friends reunion We arrived in Kos a couple of days before Max’s mum and dad were set to fly in from New Zealand. We would use that time to tidy up and clean the boat, sort out cabins, stock up on supplies, etcetera. But first, we wanted to catch up with Jack & Julia and […]
Walking the path without snakes – Patmos
Making friends On our way south to Kos to meet up with Max’s mum and dad, we stayed in Patmos a few days. A couple hours after anchoring up, a boat with a Dutch flag came sailing into the bay, with kids on board! So we waved ecstatically and invited them on board. Wouter, […]
The Kids This Month – August 2017
Things the kids were into in August 2017 Swimming (duh) Board games and puzzles Playmobil Zoë likes to sit high up in the cockpit when we are sailing and yell into the wind: “Woohoo, this is amazing!” Beau loves doing yoga. Funny stuff they said this month Zoë: Max: “Zoë, you will be 5 next […]
Millionaire’s Island – Oinoussa
Millionaires’ idyllic island We are making our way south through the Eastern Aegean Sea, more or less in a straight line down from Lesbos, via Chios, Patmos, and some smaller islands in between, to Kos. At the end of one sailing day, the anchorage we planned to stay at on Chios was not as sheltered […]
Near the border of Europe – Lesbos
Island under pressure After Jean left us in Mitilini on Lesbos, we stayed there for a few days to load up on provisions and fill the tanks with diesel. The kids enjoyed the local playground. We enjoyed the bustling old streets lined with shops and restaurants. But there was something in the air that made […]
Sailing with Aunties – Limnos to Lesbos
Can I invite myself? A couple of weeks ago Max received a message from his auntie Jean. She had been following our journey and was wondering whether she could tag along with us for a few days, or a week, or whatever. She would be flexible and would meet us wherever was convenient. We thought […]
Sailing with friends – Alonissos to Limnos
Reunion We had been on Alonissos island for a while, waiting for Max’s hand to heal and then waiting for some packages to be delivered – with parts for boat repairs. Then on one glorious day, the packages arrived, and our friends Oliver, Sinem and their son Henry on sailing vessel High Flight dropped by […]
Recovery in Alonissos
Accidents do happen We have been on the beautiful island Alonissos in the northern Sporades just over a week now. Although it is a lovely place, we were not planning on staying here this long. Unfortunately Max had an accident and hurt his hand. While we were taking up the anchor to leave the town […]
The Kids This Month – June 2017
Things the kids were into in June 2017 Swimming. I guess that this is going to be a thing each month until winter. Beau has been obsessed with the Faraway Tree book series by Enid Blyton – a birthday present from Grandma and Granddad from New Zealand. It was a big hit so we finished […]
To the Sporades
Heading for the Sporades islands from the Corinth Canal, we made a couple of short stops. We enjoyed being anchored in the bay under Cape Sounion for a couple of nights. It is a beautiful place, with an ancient temple to Poseidon on the top of the cape. Temple raiders We met up with Stella […]
Going Through the Corinth Canal
We have gone through the Corinth Canal; and are now sailing the Aegean! Going through the canal was very exciting. It is a very impressive structure, with high walls on either side and a couple of bridges going over it. Some facts Wikipedia says about the canal: “The Corinth Canal is a canal that connects […]
On the way to Corinth Canal – part 2
Our journey towards Corinth continues. We stayed in the bay just outside Galaxidi for a couple of days to relax and celebrate my birthday! Birthday celebrations I always miss my family and friends on special occasions, but I have to admit that this year I had so much fun on my birthday it made up […]
On the way to Corinth Canal – part 1
We are heading east through the Gulf of Patras and then the Gulf of Corinth, to cross from the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea by way of the Corinth Canal. Messalongion We stayed in Messalongion for one night, “famous” because Lord Byron died there. It’s a funny little place at the end of a […]
Ithaca – Bards and Birthdays
Visiting another beautiful island We arrived in Ithaca, famed home of Odysseus, two days before Beau’s sixth birthday. The grammar school geek in me was quite excited about being on the island that Homer’s hero was from (although there are convincing theories supporting that Odysseus was not from present-day Ithaca, but one of the neighbouring […]
The Kids this Month – May 2017
Things the kids were into in May 2017 Swimming. They are in the water all day! Lego – especially Beau Home-made play dough. We don’t really like having play dough around as it gets into everything and we worry about it blocking the bilge… which would prevent water from being pumped out of the boat. […]