S/V Aphrodite

We made landfall in the Peloponnese at sunrise Tuesday May 6th. It was the realization of a long-time dream for Michael, that he would sail his own boat to Greece. To picture the Peloponnese, imagine a large island resembling an extracted tooth with its roots pointing south.

The 387 NM sail from Syracuse Italy to the south-western shore of the Peloponnese took us just a little over 48 hours. That, when added to the 225 miles since Tunisia, makes the total sea miles which Brisa has completed. The first two legs were harder on her than the last one, mainly because we are getting smarter and more accurate with motion sickness medication dosage and eliminating food. Up until today’s crossing, she has tossed her cookies every time, including short dinghy rides and rental car outings. Who would have expected a water dog, originally bred for days at sea helping the fisherman coral wayward fish back into the nets, would suffer seasickness.

Another funny Brisa story…..Birds often hitch a ride with us while on ocean passages. I guess they enjoy the rest. Sometimes the birds even join us on the inside of the boat, which I hate because they scare me, or at least the idea of throwing a towel over them to get them out scares me. We had several birds join us as we sailed from Italy to Greece, and true to form, one join us inside. Interesting enough, birds really seem to pique Brisa’s interest and she started getting very excited about our little travelers. After Michael got the inside bird out, we let Brisa out to scare the birds off, but instead of scaring them off she pounced, caught 3, killing them and started to manga them! Now you tell me, is she a water dog or a bird dog????

Alas, we absolutely love her in spite of her idiosyncrasies. She is becoming a terrific boat dog. The boat is her domain, knowing every surface inch of it and always under foot in an effort to help. She is comfortable on her leash in crowds and sits quietly under tables in restaurants. She provides fun, entertainment, and lots of love and comfort for us.

Our plans, as usual, were loose as we approached the southern Peloponnese, with no specific destination in mind. We approached the town of Kalamata, of Kalamata olive fame, but thought it looked too large and rambling, lacking charm and interest, so we carried on to Kardamyli, a castellated hamlet on the edge of the sea. I fell in love with it immediately. The houses resemble small castles built of golden stone with gardens and wild flowers exploding out of every possible surface, and simple wood trellises draped in vines of grape leaves.

We met Maria, the proprietor of a small seaside hotel and restaurant where we secured the dinghy and were welcomed with open arms to her restaurant and her country. I wonder if this kind of welcome is typical of the Greeks. So far I love this little village. The narrow stone paved streets wind in, around and up hills giving visual surprises at every turn. We stumbled upon the ruins of the old city, a medieval fortress and church on the hillside, just this way. Having never been to the Peloponnese I had no idea they were so rugged and beautiful. We rented a car to see Mistra, a medieval Byzantine hillside fortress. On the map the distance looked quite reasonable, only100 km, but in reality it took much longer than expected and we arrived 2 hours after closing time. Imagine our disappointment as we came upon the locked entrance gate. Undeterred, I looked for someone, anyone who could help us get inside. Around the back of a work space I found Kosta, a groundskeeper who was willing to hear my pleas. He didn’t speak much English so our actual communication was limited but after going back and forth with him telling me “closed, come back tomorrow”, and me saying” but I can’t, isn’t there anyway we can just pop inside for a few minutes” he started climbing his fingers up a nearby tree indicating that we could climb the ancient stone wall and gain entry. He joined us, and with his limited English showed us some of the immense walled city. He made our day, and I guess we made his because he gave me two Greek kisses as we left.