In the end of October 2013, just before accepting an assignment as interim department manager and starting up a company in Norway, I went off to a short "vacation".
I rented a Nautitech 44 catamaran together with a large crew of 9-10 persons (or something like that, depends on whether you count the two kids as crew or passengers). A couple of them had sailed before, but only two of the crew had some kind of major sailing experience or certificates. I took on the role of the skipper, navigator, and (slightly Varg Larsen-like) coach when needed.
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| View of the boat from the mast |
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| We left Alimos Marina (close to Athens), and headed off to Cyclades. |
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| Skipper at the wheel |
Most of the photos below were taken by
http://kuznetsova.se/ who also was crew on the boat - many creds for the beautiful photo work!
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| The Med: either too much or too little wind. Here, at a gale that lasted all day |
Some of the days, the sea was calm and there was the perfect wind. Some of the days, the sea was choppy and shrewd, throwing white foam into our faces so hard it hurt - Beaufort 8-9.
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| The sea waves curling below the temple of Poseidon |
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| Crew and skipper, as waves become sharper and the wind throws foam into our faces. |
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| It was not always windy - here, a calm sunset in the Cyclades. |
Sometimes, the wind would rage on at the open sea - but it would be dead calm by the lee shores. We sought and found such lee in
the bay in South Aegina. A few other boats arrived, for the same purpose. The morning was spent reconing the turf and climbing the nearest mountains, as well as swimming to the beach and back.
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| On anchor in South Aegina |
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| Bathing in the thermal source at the island that "thermal" sources were named after. |
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| The skipper entertains with a few shanties |
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| Hanging out with the locals in a Greek taverna |
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| Preparing for the coming day's passage. |
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| The skipper, enjoying the almost-scorching October sun |
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| Back to Alimos Marina, where we started. |
