SAILING IN GREECE Matt's Trip Fellow Travellers The Boat The Islands The Cost

Sailing in Greece: Matt's Trip A month later I got my opportunity. GPSC gave us a 70 foot sailboat called the Grigoris with not one but two captains for the price of one: BJ who we had requested and Antonis Kondaxis who was the usual skipper for that particular boat. To be honest I was a reluctant sailor. My brother has a 44 foot sailboat and I sailed with him in the Long Island Sound and actually made it as far as Staten Island one summer on a trip from LI to the Bahamas (I made them let me off when I realized I would never survive the trip). I thought of sailing as alternating periods of boredom and sea-sickness. But it was hot in Athens and Amarandi wanted to go and so did Andrea so I swallowed my anxiety and agreed to take the trip. It turned out to be the best thing I have ever done in Greece so much in fact that I want to buy a sailboat with BJ and charter it out myself as soon as I become a millionaire. We brought my friend Ana Kamais from Villas of Greece and my friend Stephen Papadopoulos, an up and coming Greek-American poet and we sailed off for the islands of the Saronic Gulf. Sailing has to be the best way to unwind. I drink enough coffee to be pretty high-strung and I truthfully did not think I would be able to relax. But I did. It was like meditation. And having friends aboard is a wonderful experience because you become like a family. Even Captain Adonis who only BJ knew, was like our big Uncle Zorba who would take us to tavernas and dance with the guitarist, eating, drinking and toasting us all for one reason or another. We visited Aegina, Poros and Hydra and then sailed down to the Peloponessos, each day better than the last and before we knew it the trip was over. We had only five days but I wish I could have gone for 10 or more, sailed the Cyclades and maybe as far as the Turkish coast and the Dodekanese islands. Some people sail through the Corinth Canal and do the Ionian islands. Why was the trip great? I don't know where to start. First of all the companionship was something new to me. Skippers are always in this situation, with new passengers, so they know how to relate and to communicate. The discussions we had while sailing or sitting in the harbor drinking wine or coffee contained subjects that I had not thought about in years. The conversations were like you imagine a very interesting and communicative family having at the dinner table at thanksgiving. BJ was like a camp councilor or a den mother. He knew enough about a variety of subjects so that there was always an interesting conversation going. And he knew a lot about Greece. Twenty years in the country will do that to you. Adonis was great because you would get the feeling that he was this big strong silent type of skipper and suddenly out would come this lesson of ancient Greek history or archaeology (Did you know money was invented on the island of Aegina?) Another thing is that I had enough time to reflect. I think I get caught up in my holidays going at the same pace that I go at during my work days only doing different stuff. You know like on a cruise on one of those floating mall ships where they have one activity after another and you come home more tired than when you left. But sailing puts you in a time warp and in a way you get to know yourself again. I felt like I was falling in love with my wife again. Not that I was falling in love but I was slowing down enough to be aware of that love. It was an unexpected extra. Of course one of the best reasons to take a boat around the islands is that you can go to places where you can't get to by car or on foot. Places that are completely unspoiled and the sea is crystal clear. When you get to a port you line up with your neighbors who all seem to arrive at the same time in the late afternoon, and it is like this club. There is a comrardarie among sailors, even first timer's. I guess we all want to belong to something and it is fun exchanging stories with the people in the next boat about the experiences of the day, especially if the next boat is full of beautiful Scandinavian women. When we pulled into the harbor in Poros my first reaction was that being on a sailboat was like living in an apartment in the city with your neighbors so close you can hear them flush the toilet. But what I thought would be an irritant turned out to be something quite fun and I found that I felt a certain pride in being one of the boat people rather than one of the hotel people or camping on the beach people. What was even better was seeing the same boats on other islands. After awhile you become friends in a way. I know it was great for the skippers because they would see all their other skipper friends and go to play backgammon in the cafes like a wandering tournament. Want to find out more about chartering a yacht in the Mediterranean?