Aegina

"A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor" FD Roosevelt

Yesterday we were neither skilled nor sailors. Today we became so.

Our journey began with hiring a 4.8m boat from Adonis. His company is Sea Dog and has been operating for a month. All the others asked for boat licenses, but this is not legally required for boats with a motor less than 30hp. Adonis includes a printout of the law saying so in the boat's bow.

The boat included all legally required safety equipment: life jackets, flares, oars, spare fuel tank etc (see contract with inventory). Adonis tracks all travel by app. We can't go more than 6 nautical miles (11km from shore). Adonis says it's impossible for us to use all the fuel - more on that later.

We have a tutorial. The whole thing is meant to be 30 min but Adonis begins going on other points. Did you know: if all the bees die in 200 years time, all other life will die in 250?

Adonis and his wife are very friendly and keen about their new venture.

We're then allowed off on our own. See map of our course.

First stop Agistri island (20 min sailing, we're slow). There is a northerly wind and choppy water (ie wind blowing to the south). We halt 50m from beach. Louis and I take turns swimming to shore and back.

Second, we go around the south of the small Moni Aeginas island, for calmer seas. I pilot while Louis acts as ballast at the bow.

Third, we stop at 3 bays on Aegina south side.
1) Κήποι. Incident: anchor did not anchor. I swim to shore. Our boat begins to drift towards some oligarch's catamaran. Louis reverse-thrusts with a metre to spare.
2) Bay of Holy Trinity Church: Εκκλησία Αγία Τριάδα. Properly deployed anchor, wrapped around rock, had lunch. We lay a fishing line too. Then, anchor gets loose and we almost drift into other boat. I urgently thrust forwards, Louis hoists anchor and we get out.
3) Παραλία Μουριώτη: sand bottom, which is best-suited for our anchor (Adonis only shares this later). We rest here for 2hrs, no issues.

One issue when we get back. The fuel tank has an air valve which Andonis told us has to stay open for the fuel to pump. It had been left closed, the pressure in the tank had decreased as fuel was burnt over 10 hrs and the plastic tank had deformed.

But - Adonis told us this when he filled the tank in front of us. We then drive the boat around for the tutorial with him. The valve should have been open from the start.

Anyway - the lower pressure meant the engine had to burn more fuel. To Adonis' astonishment, we had burnt almost the whole tank. "Don't worry about it", he said. And he lit another cigarette, took the (still oily) tank and proceeded to beat out the dent with a crowbar.

All in all, a great day.

Adonis was incredibly (perhaps overly) trusting. Whole cost €210. €150 for boat, €60 for fuel.Read more