Sailing Epilogue
Returning to Preveza after 5 days at home, we were
happy with our decision to finish our passage there rather than continue the
last 80 miles or so to Corfu. The weather was now very hot and the bays and
harbours we passed when bringing the car and trailer down from Thessonaliki
were extremely busy. We had had seen Greece without the influx of summer boats and holiday tourists and
we were happy to remember it that way.
However our adventure and Tra Bhui’s voyages
were not over as we still had to make our way home at journey of well over 2000
miles, which I will shortly upload here. Although it is really another adventure
in itself it is also the concluding part to our time with Tra Bhui in Greece.
During our time in Greece (and
enroute to Greece) we had met some really great people who could not have been
more helpful or kind to us. In particular we would like to thank the following people:-
George Billis at Angelbay Bungalows – George showed us
fantastic hospitality when we stayed at Angelbay Bungalows (Thessonaliki),
found and arranged cheap car and trailer storage for us and ran us back to Tra
Bhui after we had left our car and trailer there. If anyone reading this post
ever needs a place to stay we could not recommend AngelBay Bungalows high
enough – they were fantastic!
Haroula at Vasilliadis Marine – We left the car and
trailer at Vasilliadis Marine for nearly 4 months. Haroula was really helpful,
especially when it came to arranging to have new suspension units shipped to
Greece and fitted to the trailer while we were away.
Loukas – who stored Tra Bhui on Skiathos for 4
weeks when I had to return to work in May. Not only did he look after her well
but he serviced our Honda outboard when we were away. Loukas although confined
to a wheel chair has a larger than life personality and was very entertaining
Athan Velouzos, a fellow Drascombe owner who arranged for
us to stay at the Artemedia Yacht Club from Kathleen from to go to Athens
Airport left for a 2 day visit home. Unfortunately we did not meet Nathan when
we were in Greece, but his help and local knowledge was greatly appreciated.
Vassillis Dimas who is the Commodore of the Artemedia Yacht
Club – Vassillis met us with cold beers when we arrived in Artemedia and made
sure we had everything we needed during our stay. . The pennant that he gave us
on behalf of the yacht club is a great souvenir and we will find a place for it
in our study at home.
Phil Osborne from Dragon Drascombes in Nidri – Phil offered
us boat storage and use of his shore side facilities when we were in Nidri, but
unfortunately we were unable to make use of them as we decided to head on to
Preveza. Phil has a good set up in Nidri with a number of Drascombes for hire
there.
Gijis van Kemenade, a fellow Drascombe owner from Holland who
spends part of the summer in Greece. Gijis generously offered us hospitality,
but unfortunately we were unable to take him up on his offer as our passage
around the outside of the Peloponnese meant we were too far from his summer
home to visit.
Of course our adventure would not
have been possible without the willing participation of Kathleen, my long suffering wife! I appreciate
how fortunate enough I am to be married to someone who yet again willing agreed to spend weeks living on board Tra Bhui, which after all
is a relatively small open boat with no on board facilities.
Thank you everyone!
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