Down with the Old, Up with the New

This holiday was a great one for combining the old and the new. From the new, Kioni, it was off to Cephalonia, and an old favourite of ours, the port of Poros.

Actually I hadn't been there before, it was George and Yorkie who had the fond memories, and they were very enthusiastic guides. They showed me the big rocks on the way into town that they'd been photogrpahed with before. They looked even better when lit up at night.  

The boys also took me to their favourite pizza restaurant and it was every bit as good as they remembered. We ended up with a complete mountain of pizza and were fit only for a lie down and sleeping by the time we'd finished. 

The next morning we had a delayed departure as we had to have a new mainsail fitted. I'd reported a tear in our old one to the lead crew a day or two earlier and Ben, our skipper, decided that now was the time to change it.  

Both my minder and I made ourselves available to help. It was quite a lengthy and involved job getting the old sail off and then it was the same for getting the new one on.

I learnt an awful lot as I observed Ben in action from the cockpit.  It was all good experience and fascinating stuff.

There was a very good reason why this was the right day to have our sail replaced. We were due to sail over to Zakynthos, our longest sail of the holiday, and one that took us out of the shelter of land (Cephalonia) and into an open stretch of sea between the 2 islands. Ben had warned us that some strong winds could get up as we left the protection of land, and for this, we would need our boat Milia to be sailing well and problem free.

A couple of hours later we were very glad of our new sail. Find out more next time.

Lots of love Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

Meeting a Friend of Aesop

George & Yorkie love swimming, so even though they'd just swum off the ferry slides, they were keen to come with me to the official swimming beach. As it was the other side of the 'town' to the harbour, it gave us a chance to have a decent stretch of the paws, and size up the tavernas, before selecting one for our evening meal.

Just before the swimming beach we had a real treat. We came up to a small white washed church which was rather sweet in its own right. But our attention quickly shifted to the grounds of the church when we saw who was out for a post siesta stroll.

What a simply gorgeous tortoise, and what a shame it is that you don't see them very often nowadays. A veteran bear such as Ungi, can remember going over to his minder's grandma's house when his minder was a small girl and seeing a tortoise wandering in the garden. That was many years ago though, and George, Yorkie and I had never seen one before, so we were completely enthralled by the sight. 

Eventually we tore ourselves away to walk the final few yards to the swimming beach , and what a fine beach it was.

We blend in rather well with the rock but hopefully you've spotted us. It was great for drying of our fur. The water was so clear and quite warm so we didn't need our snorkels to see what was underneath us.

What with sailing, swimming and walking, we were getting quite hungry. We saw a pig being spit roasted on our return journey and decided that was the place for us to eat - but first things first, it was beer o'clock! 

Lots of love, Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx 

Feeling Like Sardines

Ithaca is a lovely and unspoilt island so, at the next day's briefing, we were pleased to discover that we would be heading for another port on Ithaca, that of Kioni. We hadn't been there before so we were all eager to see what it would be like. We didn't want to arrive there too soon though, as that would be to waste a good day's sailing, and that would never do.

When we did come into harbour, we were pleased to have our lead crew to park us, as it was very busy. Lots of flotillas had chosen the same harbour and we couldn't blame them, as it was rather lovely.

We managed to get a spot sideways onto the edge of a pier, so that's Milia you can see nearest the camera with me supervising operations from the top of the bimini awning. Then 2 more Sailing Holidays boats came in and were rafted against us, so their crews had to come across the front of our boat to get ashore.

Boats still kept coming after that, and were ingeniously inserted into places you'd never have thought a boat would go.

We were moored right beside a ferry mooring and had a bit of excitement, and a few heart stopping moments, when the ferry arrived and started reversing in. It finished up little more than a whisker away from us, but, such is the skill of these Greek Captains, Milia was never in any real danger. You can hardly see us in our next picture as we're the inside boat right next to the ferry.

There was something we really liked about the ferry. It ran excursions for tourists and clearly stopped now again for its passengers to take a dip. There were some great water slides for entering the water. Of course George & Yorkie simply had to have a go while I kept a careful watch to check they didn't bang their heads on the harbour wall.

I'd heard about a much better swimming place though and was keen to go exploring to find it. You'll hear how we got on next time.

Lots of love Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

Was Odysseus Here?

The great sailing that we had confidently predicted, got under way with a lovely sail over to Ithaca. At the briefing prior to departure, we were pleased to discover that we were going to an old friend, the port of Big Vathi.

We had such a good sail over, and Milia handled so well, that we actually sailed past the entrance to Vathi - it had come upon us so quickly. We had to do a quick turnaround when our GPS told us we had gone too far. I never like to rely too much on the GPS though, and think there is nothing like a visual recce of the land ahead.

After mooring, with the welcome assistance of our very capable lead crew, we still had plenty of time to wander round to the swimming beach and enjoy a beautiful swim in the clear warm waters of the Ionian, before heading into town to do some shopping.

That evening we had a lovely group meal in the local taverna and enjoyed looking at the lights of the town, over at the other end of the harbour.

 

We all felt very relaxed and at peace with the world. We couldn't think of anywhere we would rather be, and with the prospect of more good days of sailing to come, I was in bear heaven.

Lots of love, Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

Getting Shipshape

It was very exciting for us all, getting to know a new boat. Now, I wouldn't like you to think that the Jaguars we'd sailed on the previous 2 flotillas, were out of favour with us - not at all! We still love them, and would have had another if we'd had the choice, but we didn't. There weren't any on the route we were taking this time. As a result, we'd chosen the rather bigger Beneteau 32 and it was certainly an impressive boat as you will soon see.   

As we tried out all the equipment on the boat, prior to setting out into the big blue sea, we gathered at the stern for the important ceremony of raising the bear flag.

It immediately began to flutter well and, seeing it flying, brought a lump to our throats. It is becoming a very well travelled flag and still looks good, despite having been out in all weathers.

Another important task, was to kit ourselves out with safety harnesses and lines. It is important to get the fit right and we are of course 3 very different sized bears. They must have known we were coming, as we all quickly found a perfect fit, and tested clipping on to a solid part of the boat. We were safe and secure and ready for anything.

I was very excited, but a little apprehensive about sailing a boat with a wheel, as I am very much a tiller bear, and this was the first time I had sailed a boat with a wheel. I made sure to get some practise in ...

It was very different to a tiller and took some getting used to. For the first couple of days, I steered what must have looked like quite a drunken course, as I instinctively turned the wheel the opposite way to the course I wanted to take, only to have to quickly spin it to the other side as I remembered boat wheels work like car steering wheels.

While I was getting used to the wheel, George & Yorkie got some practice on the VHF radio. 

They were pleased to find that our lead boat was the very same one that had been with us on our last flotilla, Loutraki. This made it easy for them to remember how to call up the lead boat with "Loutraki, Loutraki, this is Milia, Milia".

By this stage we were ready for the off and feeling full of confidence.  We were going to enjoy some great sailing.

Lots of love Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

All Aboard .... Milia

We embarked from our plane into lovely sunshine, and it wasn't long before we were admiring the beatifully clear Ionian Sea.

The sea wasn't the only thing we were admiring, we were also very interested in what was floating on the sea - lots of boats - and one was of particular interest, as it was to be our home for the 2 weeks of our holiday.

This was the good ship, Milia, and she was to me, Eddie, 32 ft of very beautiful yacht. I felt both proud and excited to step aboard.

Now, as you know, we try not to repeat our adventures too often, but some are so good that they simply have to repeated. If you're getting a sense of deja vu, it is because we've been on a Greek Islands sailing adventure before, and it was even with the same company, since, as far as we're concerned there is only one company to sail with, and it is, as our next picture shows ...

... Sailing Holidays. They really know how to give their customers a fantastic holiday, which is why their customers keep coming back for more.

For us,  this was our third flotilla: the first pre-dated our blog, and the second,was three years ago, so we're sure our most loyal readers, who have been with us that long, will have forgotten most of the previous posts.

This trip involved a bigger boat and a new route, so our posts will be different anyway.

We look forward to taking you with us on our wonderful adventure over the next few weeks.

Lots of love, Eddie, George & Yorkie xxx

A Great Ambassdor for a Posh Store

It's time for us - George & Yorkie - to leap in with all 8 paws, before any other bears beat us to the next post.

We're sure you're all eager to hear about our travels of last month. It was our big trip of the year, and saw us heading overseas.

It all started very early on a Sunday morning: 5.00 a.m. at Gatwick to be precise. Normally we find the wait between check-in and take off a bit tedious, especially when we've a touch of 'bear with a sore head', having been forced to get up early.

However, on this occasion, the airport experience was a lot more fun than normal. We had a new bear friend to thank for this. Here he is ...

He was Rodney, the Harrods bear, and what a smart bear he was. We tried not to get his crisp white shirt dirty from our dusty paws, and we loved the feel of his plush green jacket. He had lots of interesting stories to tell  as he sees a lot of life from his vantage point outside the store. He told us that although he is for sale, his price tag of £1,652.15 puts a lot of people off buying him, so he has been standing outside the store for quite a long time. We think for a bear as fine and smart, not least to say, as large as him, he is worth every penny. He certainly made our large friend Blue Bear look small, which is usually quite hard to do.

We'd have loved to take Rodney with us, but we would definitely have needed an extra seat and sadly the plane was full. We did remember to send him a postcard though.

Find out, where our postcard was from, next time.

Lots of love, George, Yorkie and Eddie (a clue!) xxx