Land Drunk.
No, she didn’t. Lulu didn’t show up with my morning coffee this morning. To be fair, it was torrentially raining. That began at 4 am, and I reached up from my tiny bed to shut my hatch, which leaked just a little, and dripped steadily on my sternum for the remainder of my rack stay. Of course I thought about Simon, who sleeps outside, and hoped desperately that he made it inside. I wanted to go check, but I didn’t because of the rain. Sorry Simon. So much for taking care of each other. Simon was buried in his super technical mummy bag and totally dry. So he did ok. When I finally did venture out, Lulu met me with that cup of coffee, and that counts!
In spite of the rain, we swim! Getting wet is getting wet and let’s go swim! It was another stunner. Gidaki Bay was ours alone. Mark jumped in with Natalie and I, and Katharine and Simon took off for the point. Natalie, Mark and I played around with synchro swimming - swimming first shoulder to shoulder to shoulder, all the same pace, and then swimming one behind the other. Both formations are a means of connecting, drafting and sharing effort and energy. It was the perfect antidote to a rainy start. Mark headed back and Natalie and I joined Simon and Katharine through some rocks dotting the point. We swam through to find another magnificent amphitheater. Smooth, sloping white and gold walls sliding gently down to the turquoise pool beneath. Simply spectacular. We played a while in there, mused while Natalie climbed a bit, then headed back to the boat.
We motor sailed in a chilled rain to our next swim spot - the bay of Afales Beach. This time Marina jumped in with us, and we swam to the shallows and along the wall to a stunning tower of limestone. Through the boulder field we meandered - many fish and other creatures to see here, including a bunch of Sally Lightfoot crabs (that look a bit too much like spiders for me) and surprise to surprise, a rope of budding pelagic tunicates!! If you’ve been on a trip with me before, you probably know how excited I get when we happen upon pelagic tunicates!! It was especially exciting here in the Med, where we see so many fewer species in general. The rock formations formed caves and crevasses above and below the surface, every one of which Simon investigated. Katharine proved herself to be an excellent spotter of fish and crabs. All of this made for a spectacular swim, but the gray day made us cold, and we scurried back to the boat.
Hot tea, hot lunch, and a motor sail back up to Lefkada, for a night on a village dock at Sivota, where we are now.
It poured rain as the guests ventured out to explore the town - no matter, off they went. They visited a cafe and some shops, and we all made plans to eat at local tavernas. Mark, Katharine and Natalie joined the guides and crew and we had a feast of mezzes, moussaka, assorted lamb dishes and more. We all commented on how wobbly we feel on land - a common occurrence after spending a prolonged time on a boat. You feel like you’re rocking even on solid ground. It’s called “Land drunk” (not to be confused with being Ouzo drunk).
Like so many Mediterranean towns, Sivota has a plethora of stray cats. They are part feral and part sweet and you can’t help but give them some attention. They mingled between our feet all through dinner, and no one seemed to mind. I think Lisa nearly took a few home.
After dinner the taverna gave us each a complementary glass of Tsipouro - an aperitif I simply could not get down. I didn’t feel too bad about it as fewer than half of us could.
We meandered to a cool olive press mill turned bar for one more night cap before returning home. It was nice to spend a little time on land, in a place that’s so connected to the sea, and has so much good food and old culture to share.
We’re all tucked in now, and ready for an early boat move to our first swim spot in the morning. We’ll have some breakfast and a lazy start, and wait for the sun to burn through as I’m told it will.
We could all use a good baking after our soggy day, though the rain never held us back from soaking in the experiences the islands have to share.
Kalinychta, Goodnight.
- Heather
