Thursday 18th March – Aktio. To Hell and back – we’re working on the boat!

We aren’t sorry to leave the coldest winter in UK for many years for spring in Greece. However it’s always hard to say goodbye to the family and to our many friends who’ve given us hospitality and support (especially Laura) while we’ve been back home. We enjoyed our three month stay in Devon, but we’re keen to get back to living on the boat.

Towards the end of February we flew from Bristol to Bergamo, then took the train to Venice, where we met up with our Dutch friends Frank and Anneke, who drove down from Holland in a 30 year old Volvo. Their boat is also at Aktio in the next door boatyard.

Although Venice is in the grip of freezing fog, we spend a magical two days taking in the sights and smells of the city, muffled up against the cold. The sun comes out as the Anek ferry bound for Igoumenitsa sails out of the Venice lagoon, and we have a last glimpse of St Mark’s from the deck before the ship sets out down the Adriatic. It’s a comfortable overnight passage and in the morning we can observe close up some of the coastline of Albania that we may explore later in Makarma.

The usual round of boatwork in the yard begins. We start to put some of the Greek we’ve learned over the winter to good use getting around and sourcing materials. We’ve installed our new DSC VHF radio and Nutlink fanbelt; insulated the fridge with aerogel; the kitchen’s had a makeover; the hatches have new mozzie boards, and the usual servicing, painting, antifouling etc. gets done. Sometimes it seems like we’re pushing a river uphill because anything new invariably has teething problems. But overall we’re pleased with progress.

Cathy has joined a group of writers contributing to a new English language magazine, The Ionian – www.theionian.com. Her first article is an interview with Tiger, a 9 year girl who has only ever lived afloat.
Here's editor Babara Molin with the first issue!













Every Sunday we down tools to have a day off with Frank and Anneke and we drive somewhere inland in their elderly car. Highlights are a visit to the hilltop town of Kassiopi (abandoned when its inhabitants were forcibly relocated to Nicopolis by the emperor Octavian) and the gorge in the Acheron river (reputed to be where Charon ferried souls to the underworld) that is known as the Gates of Hell!
































Dressed overall to celebrate Greek Independence Day on March 25th














Independence Day parade in Vonitsa