Shore Side Adventures No.3

We particularly like inland exploration as it gives us a chance to get away from the tourist areas and discover the real Greece.

We drove into the main town on the small island of Meganisi. It wasn't a town as we know them, in fact we'd hardly class it big enough to be a village, but it was a very bear friendly town in that it was just the right size for us to explore on foot, having parked our buggy.

It was quite nice to experience some peace and quiet again as the buggy engine did give quite a roar and, as there didn't seem to be any young ladies around, the effect was rather lost and we weren't able to attract any admiring glances. We did see a lot of old ladies dressed in black though.

One lady in particular caught our eye and we went over for a chat. She was a very friendly weaving lady.


She'd never had a bear to teach weaving to before, and she later said that we were much faster learners than humans. We spent a lot of time admiring her handiwork. Her speciality seemed to be those table runners that you see a lot on dining tables in property make over programmes such as Property Ladder. Us bears don't really understand them, as they only seem to be partial table cloths, but then we've never been trendy. This made us all the more impressed that the influence of Sarah Beeney had reached this remote corner of Greece. Fancy this old lady being more with it than us!

On our way back down to the harbour we suddenly did an emergency stop, not quite sure if we really had seen what we thought we'd seen. It looked like an enormous bear at the end of an overgrown field.


We called out, but if he was a bear, he was too far away to hear. We did think that we did detect a slight movement of a paw which could have been a wave to us. We consulted our minders who had appeared and they thought it might be a bear. Having had an opportunity to enlarge our picture once we got home we're more convinced than ever that it was a rather shy Greek bear. Click on our picture to enlarge it, have a look at the brown shape and see what you think.

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

Shore Side Adventures No. 2

As Eddie doesn't like to be away from his boat too long, we left him in the playground where we found the oranges and lemons. He seemed very happy playing on one of the pieces of play equipment as you can see.


Yorkie and I were up for a bit of land based exploration. As we had arrived in harbour by boat, we didn't have any other form of transportation other than our legs, and as you know, in our case, we are talking very short legs, not designed for covering distance.

We therefore looked around for some convenient transport and this time we really did hit the jackpot. Not only did we find wheels, we found wheels with style and attitude. Look closely to see us near the steering wheel.


There was a deep throated roar from the exhaust as we set off to explore. It was a hot day and it was great to feel the wind in our fur as we climbed the road into the interior. We called out 'kalimera' to all the Greeks we passed and we always got a friendly, albeit a rather surprised, response. Greece clearly isn't on the tourist trail for the average bear.

We looked in a few of the Orthodox churches and they were amazingly ornate and well cared for.


In the grounds of this church we found a very large Greek pot, which we both really liked and we knew Tommy would love it for the garden. It was very tempting therefore to try and negotiate a deal with the local Priest.


Don't worry though, we did realise it wasn't for sale - in any event it was far too heavy for us to move and we wouldn't have fitted it into our hand luggage!

Keep reading the blog to find out where we went next.

Lots of love, George & Yorkie xxx

Shore Side Adventures No. 1

After all that excitement and adventure of yesterday we thought we'd do a more tranquil post today as we don't want to risk any of our readers having raised blood pressure as a result of reliving our adventures with us.

Going to Greece in May was great as there were lots of lovely flowers around and luscious ripening fruit. It was a real feast for the eyes. How's this for a riot of pink roses?


You can get a feel for the size of this rose by using me as an indicator of scale. There was far more than George could fit in the camera frame. It's a pity they don't grow like that in our garden. Tommy, the Bears Unlimited gardening bear, couldn't believe it when he saw the photo, but wondered if it might be a possibility for him if global warming continues.

As I think I've said before, this was my first trip abroad so I was very excited when I came across oranges and lemons growing on trees.


I couldn't stop myself singing 'Oranges & lemons'. Sadly I didn't know enough Greek to sing it in the native tongue of the locals who didn't appear to have heard a singing bear before and must have wondered what I was singing about!

As the trees were growing in a public playground my minders said it would be o.k. to pick one for my lunch. As it was hand picked by me it was the freshest orange I have ever had.

I wasn't too bothered about picking a lemon, as I wouldn't have wanted to eat one. However, my minders insisted that I pick one, as they thought it would be great to have with their gin and tonics.


I didn't think their climbing skills were quite as good as mine so I happily obliged.

Lots of love Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

Sailing Ellen MacArthur Style

Now we'll bet that all our readers have been imagining us having a sedate sail in tranquil waters, with the sun shining and a mere hint of a breeze to ruffle the waters and most of the movement on the boat being us moving in and out the sun to even up the tan.

Two years ago when we did our first flotilla, it was very like this for much of the time and our engine got quite a lot of use. This holiday, however, was a bit different. Although we thought it was very pleasant, for Greece it was quite extreme weather and we did have some strong winds. This was great for sailing and it was very exhilerating to fly through the water at speeds of 6 knots or more. It did mean we had to be very vigilant in our look out for hazards, such as the handful of dangerous shoals in the area, as we were moving so fast that we could have come on them before we knew it, and a collision at speed would have done quite a lot of damage.


As you know I (Eddie) always wore a safety harness while out on deck, but George & Yorkie were a bit small for a harness. When it got a bit rough, and Spetses was heeling over, for safety, they both took up residence in the cockpit cubby hole. This was a great arrangement as it meant they could look out easily and didn't have to miss anything, yet they remained safe and dry.

There was one particular day when, with 2 other boats, we sailed off in the opposite direction to the port we were heading to that night, as we wanted to do a bit of exploring. It was a lovely day and took little time to cover the 13 miles to the bay we were aiming for. We had lunch and a swim in a sheltered bay, blissfully unaware that the wind had got up some strength. As we emerged into open water, the mainsail was not even raised, and the genoa was reefed to the maximum! It suddenly dawned on us what an adventure getting to Preveza, over 20 miles away, was going to be. It is a good job we are not easily scared and always up for an adventure.

We soon had to give up sailing as the direction we wanted to travel was straight into the wind. Under engine then, we had to drive our brave little boat Spetses, straight into some enormous waves. Every time we hit a wave the spray flew right to the back of the boat and our minders, in particular, got very wet. We imagined we felt a bit of what Ellen MacArthur must feel when sailing in big seas, although, in reality, she'd probably laugh at us calling these waves 'big' and say they were just tiddlers.

After about an hour the wind dropped enough for the voyage to become almost sedate.


As we came into harbour and tied up, the drying off process started. Fortunately it was sunny so I was able to dry my wet bottom quickly by baring it to the sun. It was all quite decent I assure you. We discovered that as the forward hatch had not been properly latched all our bedding has got very wet. The fact that we had to wait for it to dry, provided us with a good excuse to linger at the taverna having an extra glass of wine. Mind you we were all so tired after our adventure that we'd no doubt have slept well even if the bedding hadn't dried.

Lots of love, the intrepid crew of Spetses xxx

Dancing Shoes Should be Worn!

Hello friends, Eddie back with you again after my spell of boat minding. I have to say that although George & Yorkie are very dear friends of mine, on this occasion I don't agree with them. I'm talking about their feeling that Greek dancing should be left to the experts, as reported in their last post.

Well, a few days after George & Yorkie's night on the town, I was out and about on the island of Meganisi and had a meal with our minders and friends at a taverna where there was Greek dancing. Once the owner had finshed waiting on tables, he, and his brother the cook, took to the floor and impressed us all with a very accomplished piece of dancing. They then encouraged us all to join in, and I always say, that if someone is friendly and encouraging to you, then you should be the same back.


I therefore wasted no time in joining in and boy did I have fun. There is certainly a lot of truth in that saying, 'if you can't beat them join them'. My efforts and those of the others who joined in certainly brought a lot of smiles to the faces of the local Greeks. Getting us to dance was also good for their business as we worked up such a thirst by being so energetic that we all put in orders for lots more drinks.

In the meantime, were George & Yorkie converted? When I looked round for them I found them totally absorbed by the local wine.


Mind you I can't say really blame them as it was rather good (and very cheap!)

Lots of love Eddie xxx

A Night on the Town

One evening, while Eddie was on boat watching duties, Yorkie and I decided to go on a taverna crawl in search of some excellent Greek food and drink. We'll tell about some of the culinary delights in a future post, for now we're going to tell you about the entertainment side of the evening.

While we were taverna window shopping, getting a feel for where was best to eat, we kept an eye open for the beatiful sunset and some of the harbour side sights. We found our minders and their friends all having their photo taken with a statue of a green man wielding a green paint brush. We thought it a bit strange but as everyone was taking photos we decided it must be something important, so took our own photo once the crowds had moved on.


We bumped into our minders again a bit later and as the food looked rather good, we joined them. As we were chomping our way through our food some Greek music started playing and some of the Greeks started dancing. We thought this was rather good and were very pleased to be experiencing some local culture. Then our minders and their friends went and ruined what was a very authentic experience, by joining in. It then quickly became the opposite of authentic! We were very embarrassed.


We edged forward for a closer look but we really couldn't understand why they couldn't leave it to the experts. I guess bear psychology is a quite a bit different to human psychology and we still have a lot to understand.

We were about to leave when we spotted Jono and Stu of the lead crew doing something far more sensible than Greek dancing. They were at the bar watching the European football match that was on. We hurried over to join them and were quickly in our element being macho bears and doing a bit of male bonding.


Far more to our taste than Greek dancing.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

From Paw Power to Horse Power

With all the rowing practice I had, I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that I won the rowing regatta. I got a great treat as my prize. The lead crew let me have a go in their rib, which had an outboard with some serious horse power - or so it seemed to me. It certainly seemed very fast compared to rowing speed. Here I am waiting to ferry the lead crew back to their boat before taking a spin round the bay.


I had to be careful not to create too much wash when I was in the area where George & Yorkie were Croc sailing as I wouldn't have wanted to knock them out of their Croc.

But of course, we were really on holiday to sail, so we wasted no time in getting back to some sailing. As always there were a lot of jobs for me to do. I particularly like working the winches as they make sailing quite a big boat possible even for a bear of my size. Here I am preparing to loose the tension from the anchor rope as we were about to depart.


Hauling up the anchor from the seabed wasn't quite so much fun though. It was very heavy and my fur got very wet and muddy, so I had to have some help from my minders. While I was wet and muddy I thought it would be a good time to practice the bear overboard drill. I would leap overboard and get clean, and my crew could practice rescuing me. As I'm currently writing this entry you can tell that they did pretty well and I was quickly rescued. In fact I could have done with a bit more time in the water as the Ionian sea is so clean and warm. Sadly everyone was too busy doing their part in the drill for any photos to be taken.

Lots of love, Eddie & the crew of Spetses xxx

What does a Bear do with a Pair of Crocs?

And yes, we really did have some fun after the barbie when the rain stopped.

Eddie took to the inflatable dinghy and got some rowing practice in before challenging some fellow boaters to a rowing regatta.



George and myself hitched a lift with Eddie to some nearby caves where we disembarked to do some cave exploration. You'll have to look hard for us in our picture as we blend in rather well with the rocks.


We really fancied joining in the rowing regatta but unfortunately we were a bit small to manage the oars. We did quite enjoy playing at being coxswain sitting on the edge of the boat and shouting at Eddie to put a bit more effort in, that was until we thought up a new watersport of our own, Croc sailing.

Now I'm sure all our readers are contemporary enough to be familiar with those trendy and colourful shoes which are the latest fashion. Yes, we're talking Crocs. George and I had seen the advertising which says that Crocs are great boating shoes and that they do in fact float.

We decided to give this claim a bit of a test. We climbed aboard and pushed off from the dinghy. We quickly established that Crocs certainly do float, even with a couple of bears who have enjoyed a big meal aboard. However, we also discovered that water comes in the side holes so you quickly get a wet bottom.


We quickly thought of the perfect solution, we climbed inside a sandwich bag and that kept us nice and dry. Don't be deceived by the fact that the sea is so clear in our picture that it looks as if the sandy bottom is just below us. It wasn't: we were in the same depth of water as our boat Spetses, so about 3.5 metres. That was the reason for the safety line, so we didn't sail off into the sunset, never to be seen again.

Why don't you give croc sailing a go sometime?

Lots of love, Yorkie, George & Eddie xxx

A Well Drowned Steak!

Not only do the lead crew do a great punch party they also lay on a fantastic barbecue.

We invite you to imagine the scene. All the boats in the flotilla are rafted up in the most idyllic bay miles from anywhere. The sea is calm and turquiose blue in the sunshine and a stone's throw from us is a lovely sandy beach. In our picture George & Yorkie survey the scene from the land where they had gone exploring to work up an appetite for the barbie.


Jono and Stu are on the beach tending the barbie while Holly prepares the salads, and we all have our inflatable dinghies pumped up and ready to row ashore once we have have finished our apperitifs on board. What could possibly be more heavenly?

Then, all of a sudden, the heavens open and down comes the rain with a tropical storm intensity. The lead crew do not shirk from their task and the barbie continues to be tended. We all put our big awnings up on our boats and shelter in the cockpit below them, feeling a bit guilty about being in the dry while Jono and Stu are getting so wet on shore in just shorts and t-shirts. The only compensation is that it's not cold rain.

We wait patiently thinking this is just a storm and it will end soon.


However, it doesn't stop and our enterprising crew take all the cooked food back to their boat, Loutraki. We then all switch on our VHF radios and tune to the flotilla channel. Orders are then placed and plates of food are passed from boat to boat. It was amazing that nothing was lost overboard! What could have been a damp squib turned out to be a lot of fun and a great success.

You could order seconds and then thirds over the VHF and we, on board Spetses, timed our order rather well and manged to get the last souvlaki of the barbecue. It came to us, passed from boat to boat, on a paper plate which Holly had written on to say 'hands off this is for Spetses'. We knew then that Holly did rather like us!


George & Yorkie tucked in and declared it the finest souvlaki they had ever had. Then the rain stopped and we got in the dinghies for some fun.

More to come.

Lots of love George, Yorkie & Eddie xxx

It Packs a Punch!

One of the things our lead crew do particularly well is that they arrange a mean punch party.

There are several ingredients for a successful punch party:

a) plenty of punch made to a secret recipe, but not so secret that you can’t identify appreciate some of the component ingredients, especially the Malibu and fruit, which are especially to a bear's taste.
b) some nibbles to absorb the punch, so enabling you to drink more – Stu’s cheese and caramelised onion dip was a big hit here!
c) a fine Mediterranean beach
d) an appreciative audience

We bears certainly provided the latter. While the humans were drinking their punch from little plastic cups, we got stuck in and downed a measuring jug full at a time –with a little encouragement from our lovely hostie, Holly of course.


Please don’t think for a moment that we were greedy and deprived anyone else of their fair share. The truth was that as the punch was provided in barrels, there was more than enough for everyone.

George & Yorkie note: that may be true, but it is also true to say that Eddie was the only one who stuck his whole head in. Strangley enough he can’t remember much that happened after that moment!


Anyway, great fun was had by all, to such an extent that a few days later we did it all again when we met up with another flotilla. After all it's good to be hospitable isn't it?

Lots of love, George, Yorkie & Eddie

Loutraki's Crew

I closed last time by saying what a great job the lead crew do. They sailed with us on board the lead boat Loutraki. George, Yorkie & I thought they were terrific people and we were pleased to find, very early on, that they were all bear friendly and very happy to have a trio of bears sailing with them. We were a bit surprised when they told us that we were the first bear crew they'd had. We just can't imagine why they haven't had more as flotilla sailing is so well suited to a bear's somnolent character (not quite sure where I plucked that word from, but I'm quite pleased with it - E).

As sailing is one of my favourite conversation topics I spent a lot of time talking with Jono, our Kiwi skipper, and we quickly bonded as you can see from my next picture.


George & Yorkie, being northern bears of a technical persuasion, bonded well with Stu our Scottish engineer - the blond one in yesterday's picture.

We all thought Holly, our Aussie hostie, was adorable and all developed a bit of a bear crush on her. I think she secretly rather liked me too as she was very happy to dance with me at one of the tavernas, and while I don't like to brag, I can't refrain from mentioning that she did dance with me when Sex Bomb by Tom Jones was playing. Surely significant?!


Not only did these guys ensure we had great sailing they also organised some really fun social events. Keep reading the blog to find out more.

Lots of love Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

Under Sail at Last!

Eventually the long awaited moment came round, I took up my position at the tiller leaving my minders to do the heavy work of weighing anchor) and off we went.


It's quite a serious moment, guiding your craft from its mooring for the first time, and you can see from my expression that I was concentrating hard. You'll also notice that due to my concentration I had failed to notice that I was dipping my paw into my mug of tea! Not a problem when sailing though, as there's no shortage of water for a clean up.

Doesn't a Jaguar look great sailing! I popped my head up through the forward hatch to take this picture of us and some of my very good friends under sail.


At the end of a day's wonderful sailing, with some sunbathing and swimming mixed in, there is always a new harbour to arrive at and a new town to explore. As you come into harbour it is great to see the welcoming faces of our lead crew and to have them guide you into place and tie you up. Here they are in a picture I took of them seeing in the boat next to us.


I'll introduce them properly tomorrow as they play such an important role in ensuring a great flotilla experience.

Lots of love, Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

A Properly Dressed Boat

Well done Fred's Mum, you were spot on with your guess that my first task was to raise the Bears Unlimited flag, so that it could fly proudly in the breeze and make our boat easily identifiable.

As we all take boat safety seriously, George & Yorkie clipped me on to a safety rope and I shimmied across to attach the flag. In my picture you can see me on my return journey (the blue is the top of our sun awning, in case you're wondering, so I was quite high up).


I then set about other essential pre-voyage checks. These included checking all the ropes (halyards to the professionals like me) were securely attached and coiled neatly


and then checking that all our vital electronic instruments were working. As we were in harbour I couldn't check the boat speed indicator, but I was able to satisfy myself that the depth reading was accurate. I even put on my snorkel and mask and dived down with a tape measure to check the reading for accuracy.


Once satisfied, I was able to settle down with the Sailing Holidays harbour guide and the nautical charts and learn about some of the great harbours we'd be visiting.


Lots of love Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

Taking to the Air

The very beginning seems like a good place to start the story of our latest adventures. Being a boating bear, I had been looking forward to a sailing holiday so much that I hadn't been able to sleep for several days before we left.

There was an added excitement for me (Eddie) as I was going on a plane for the first time. I was lucky to be in the company of such seasoned fliers as George & Yorkie and to have them show me the ropes. We were all at the airport early for our 5.30 a.m. check in and once we were processed, my minders suggested I might like to get some sleep as I had a long day ahead.

However, there was simply too much going on around me for me to sleep so, as you can see, I kept popping out my sleeping bag to see what was happening and to enjoy a cup of coffee.


I need to thank my friend 'Naughty Bear' who appeared in his blog travelling in the aircraft cabin, for setting the precedent that bears travel in hand luggage, rather than in the hold.

No only did I get to travel in the cabin, I even got a row of extra leg room seats to myself - a little daft really as my legs don't even reach to the edge of the seat, but I wasn't complaining. My minders later explained that they were only free because no-one had been prepared to pay the extra charge for them! And I thought it was all because I was a V.I.P. bear.

Anyway I got a great view out the window. My favourite sights were the snow covered Alps below me and, as we descended into Preveza airport, the view of the sea I'd shortly be sailing on.


At the end of my first flight I decided that I quite liked flying but it is nowhere near as good as boating. I was pleased to discover on landing that there was only a 1 hour 10 minute transfer to my boat.

When I was shown our boat Spetses, she was every bit as wonderful as I had anticipated. I was first on board and wasted no time checking out every nook and cranny and piece of equipment.


Can you guess what my first task was? Logon on tomorrow to find out if you're right?

Lots of love Eddie & the crew of Spetses xxx

The Boys are Back in Town (again)

Dear friends,

George, Yorkie and I (Eddie) are safely back from a most fantastic adventure. We really didn't want to come home, although now we are home, we have to admit it is good to see all our bear friends again and to down a pint (or two) of Wherry while regaling stories of our travels.

So where have we been and what have we been doing? George & Yorkie provide the clue to location with our first picture.


If the Mediterranean sunshine doesn't give it away, the Greek flag should. We have spent the last fortnight roaming the islands of the Ionian sea.

The bear flag departure photo and the fact that I, the chief Bears Unlimited boating bear, was going, should have provided the clue to our mode of transport. In case it didn't, here's a picture of me with my latest pride and joy and our home for the last fortnight,'Spetses'.


Spetses, as you can see if a very fine craft which is hardly surprising as she is a member of the Sailing Holidays, Whole Ionian, Jaguar flotilla and there is no finer flotilla afloat. So it's three cheers from us for Sailing Holidays and our lead crew of Jono, Holly & Stu (they'll be properly introduced soon).

Join me again tomorrow as I've so much to tell you.

Lots of love, Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

The First Bear In Space (nearly!)

Being the bears of minders from farming stock, we have been busy bears these last few days during the Suffolk Show, where we rushed round as fast as our paws would take us to visit all the animals, watch Cyril the terrier and his racing squirrels and sample all the goodies in the Food Hall, including some very nice new Adnams Spindrift, which I think Norfolk Branch may like nearly as much as their beloved Wherry. However, we are now able to regale you with the story of our big adventure - or how Tiny nearly went into orbit! While in France we visited La Coupole, the site of an intended V2 rocket launch pad. You can see us in the big maze of tunnels reading about how the Nazis tried to design and launch the first liquid fuelled rockets against London. Fortunately this never came to fruition.



However, Tiny, not being very good at French, didn't quite grasp what it was all about and on coming across a scaled down working model, he hopped on board one of the carriages which transported a miniature V2 rocket round on a track, and he promptly disappeared into the quarry from where he was about to be launched sky high - but luckily Kiwi found the emergency stop button just in the nick of time and all was well. We then learnt how, after the war, the technology of the liquid fuelled rocket was then used to develop rockets for space exploration. We investigated the bear sized rocket and wondered whether any bears had yet made it into space.



After all this history, we decided we needed a breath of fresh air so we hired a sand yacht for the rest of the day and raced up and down the beach enjoying the feeling of the wind in our fur. C'est la vie!



Welcome back Norfolk Branch and Midlands Branch - look forward to hearing your exploits soon