A very, very warm welcome to my early August Newsletter
Over the past 10 days we have experienced a heat wave that has been widespread over the Eastern Mediterranean. So, to get some relief I have moved my summer office from my Kamper base to the sea facing terrace of the Hotel Iris, just 200m from my base. Bengy thinks it’s good and cool, the lunches are great and in the shade I can catch up with my emailing and contact with clients.
Our July charters were very successful. Skip and Melanie are now back in Kentucky US, and you can read all about it in his review. Jason and his Swiss family had a great 2 weeks, and although all near-beginners they proved to be a very competent sailing group. Finally last week James and Jen arrived from their recent wedding in Kephalonia to spend their Honeymoon with us, Luggering about in the sun.
Holiday Sailing Club for Kids, Nidri and Vliho 2021
Going back over 10+ years I met up with Debbie Muir and in collaboration with the staff at Vliho Yacht Club we jointly organised kids sailing and days out on the water for local youngsters. This ran its course and like a lot of things people’s commitments changed and things moved on. After a meet up with Debbie at the Hotel Iris one afternoon we made plans to give it another go with new parents, local and Northern European families who have made roots in the area, so it was a fresh start.
A key to this plan was Debbie’s organisational skills. Her two girls are at the local school so she knew everyone. Simon Atkinson, who along with his wife Lucy run ‘Get Active’ threw his hat into the project and would take the second Lugger, leaving myself to accompany in the rescue tender that I use as a work boat.
So it was all planned 11 kids in total, for the last Saturday in July, 9.30 at the Hotel Iris beach.
For the kids it was going to be a Swallows and Amazons adventure. Our destination was a beach on the western coast of Meganissi, just behind Thalia Island, having lunch at the small seasonal Kantina, swim and have great fun mixing and making new friends.
It didn’t take long before the water pistols came out and we had running water battles between the two boat crews.
It was a case of motoring south from Nidri Bay down and keeping more to the Meganissi side to slide through the gap between the 2 islands. Beaching the boats was not a possibility since it was quite turbulent from the wash of other boats, so it was a case of anchoring off and swimming ashore, and that was just great fun in itself.
Just take a quick look at this amazing video. It starts off looking south down towards Ithaca and Kephalonia, picking up Lugger Ellie, pans its way west towards Lefkada and ends facing north and the hills on the mainland of the Epirus region.
Clear crystal waters, slightly shingle beach, no tides to be concerned with, just brilliant for kids to enjoy being on the water.
With swimming over, well just for the moment at least, it was time to get a table at the Kantina for lunch. There were some very impressively big sausage rolls being attempted plus big bowls of chips, not a lot of local cuisine however!
So it’s now time to head back. Mass application of sun cream to be administered, hats and tops to be worn, after all it was still 35 degrees! The breeze had picked up since the morning so it was time to unfurl the jib and set out the Mizen for a steady sail back to Nidri. And off course there was another swimming stop before getting home.
What a great day, thanks to Debbie and Simon; the kids just loved it. The next day out is planned for 14 August, again with 2 Luggers. What other boat is so easy to transform into a great learning and fun experience for kids?
My very best
Phil