Walk/Swim/Sail One Hundred and Twenty-Six – Plaia Epidavros to Aigina

We woke up to strong winds again, so I was allowed five minutes to paint as we left through the channel markers and out. We had wonderful sailing all day, hitting nine knots. We’d been told by the flotilla skipper Keith, that at the entrance to Aegina harbour there is a photographer who earns his living taking photographs of every boat that enters the small harbour and selling prints to whoever wants them. So if you dared to come into the harbour under sail, you’d end up with a great photo. Well, that was a challenge that Robin wasn’t going to miss, so we ended up with a great print – though it was a good thing the photographer didn’t take the photo a few moments later with the sails flapping wildly as none of the crew took the blindest bit of notice of of Robin simultaneously trying to do everything and barking instructions.

Aegina a popular day trip spot for Athenians, was a bustling town with a lot of attractive old buildings. The nearby beach was poor (small and full of cigarette buts) but we needed to cool off. When I arrived at the beach I realised that I had my swimming costume on inside out. As the bottom of the sea was sandy and weedy the water was opaque enough for me to quickly turn it round the right way under the water without anyone noticing the plump, middle-aged, nekkid lady. However you should have seen the speed at which the children zoomed off, as far away as possible, disowning me when they realised what I was up to!

After drinks in a bar with other flotilla members we went to a very traditional family taverna for supper with Jane and Michael. The lady who ran the restaurant was very sweet, telling us where we had ordered too much food, and explaining the vagaries of her menu, such as the fact that the meatball starter did not contain any meat. Lovely evening, Jane had all sorts of tricks to keep Xavier entertained and Michael was able to top my Irish mother stories with even better stories of his own.