Dear friends,

For the last two weeks I've been sailing the Ionian islands of Greece and they've been all I've dreamed of. Mind you, it hasn't been all without some worry. When the wind gets up to force 5, I've been wondering when it will go up to 6 or 7. Sailing in strange waters is quite an adventure and the weather forecasts are not at all to be believed!

After landing on the west coast of Corsica and mooring in the bay of Palaokastritsa, I had to stay there for 4 nights because of bad forecasts: a low pressure crossed into the western Ionian and got stuck there. After the first night moored in the bay where my friends on Seathrift had their cottage, a friendly dive-boat warned me to go into the harbour because the swell that was increasing was dangerous. I had to park outside a row of fishing boats (my first experience of double-parking on a boat!) and it wasn't too comfortable in the next few days. But by Monday the winds decreased and I sailed round the north of Corfu to the principal marina, Gouvia, tho it rained most of the time. I think the British like Corfu because it rains so much. It's certainly the greenest island I've visited.

After a few days there fixing things, I went south to Paxos, a delightful island where I met my first Cruising Association (the sailing club I belong to which caters for long-distance sailors) local representative. She was very nice and offered to drive me round the island, but I opted instead for a power boat which went into many of the natural caves on the west of the island before depositing us on a beach on neighbouring Antipaxos which had all the blues you see on Greek paintings and photos of the islands: quite magical.

Then I headed south to Cephallonia, site of "Captain Correlli's Mandolin", which I gather they have just finished filming there. The northerly town of Fiskardho is one of the few to have escaped earthquakes and the resultant concretization of the landscape and the sailing boats line the shore in front of the many tavernas and bars. From there I sailed south to the port of Sami where I picked up two friends, Donna and Laura, who have been part of my life-training support group for the last year or so. They had come via Athens and Patras by coach and jetfoil so the next day or two we took easy and did a lot of sunbathing and swimming on the coast of Cephallonia.

It's nice to have arrived and not worry about getting from A to B and ad-hoc rules like "if the speed drops below 4 knots put the engine on", tho it's hard to forget them entirely. Cruising in a sailing boat is an odd compromise. If you are becalmed you will naturally put the engine on, but the design of the boat is such that you can't go more than about 6 knots with the best wind and therefore take a long time to cover any distance.  My engine won't do more than about 4.5 to 5.5 knots depending on conditions.

These fine calculations have a big effect on the number of miles one can cover in a day so it's nice not to have to take them too seriously. After a few days we got to Ithaca: a friend (Liz) had sent me this divine poem by Cavafy about sailing to Ithaca [I'll send you a copy if you want it] and so it had become something of a goal for me. Ithaca was the home of Odysseus, hero of Homer's Odyssey from which the poem draws many images, but's theme is that it's the travel not the arrival that is crucial. For me it has prompted the question: "now you've arrived in Greece, what's next?" At the moment I don't have an answer to that question.

But my crew had to get back to London: Laura last Friday and Donna today, Tuesday. So we motored down across a glassy sea to the gulf of Patras where Laura caught a bus back to Athens, and then had some great sails through the gulf of Corinth tho the wind was such as I'd never experienced. In one straight 30 mile leg, the wind changed direction four times and as far as I could see it was because of the surrounding mountains, nothing else.  Finally we reached the Corinthian canal which leads to Athens. The canal is about three miles long cut through the rock which joins Greece to the Peloponnese, to a depth of 76 metres (250 feet). We went through following a Turkish ferry which was about a metre narrower than the canal's 25m width, halving the 2 knot current against us. It was a spectacular experience.

By the time we reached Athens I was feeling I'd been in a boat for a long time: three months without a night ashore is a long time for someone who's been a landlubber all his life. So last night we had a night in an Athens hotel and enjoyed the Greek National Museum with all the treasures of Mycenae before Donna went home.

The only friend I know is coming out now during October is Guy, my disabled friend, who is coming in a couple of weeks. Where are the rest of you? I can only assume you don't think that October is a time for holidays. But I'm told the weather is still generally fine in Greece, so if you want to come out for a week or so, here's an invitation. Get in touch and arrange some dates!!

love
Chris