Tradewinds of Emsworth II Ship’s Log: June 2018 (Page 1) Friday 1st June 2018: A new month and a new crew - Monica joined me yesterday from her home near Toronto, via a few days in Sicily. Tradewinds has been berthed in the ancient Greek capital Nafplio for a week whilst awaiting her arrival. Readers of my 31st May Ship's Log will be aware that, because of striking airport bus drivers, I rented a car and drove to meet her at the train station in Corinth. It was a painless operation both for her and me, and by 1800 we were back in Nafplio, ready for drinks aboard Praslin my buddy's boat berthed alongside Tradewinds. After Bruce's hospitality we all went ashore for an excellent evening over dinner at one of my favourite Nafplio restaurants. And so moving on to today - a busy first day for my new crew - I took her to the Palamidi Fortress, which overlooks Nafplio and dominates the skyline over both the new and old parts of the town. But we didn't climb the 820 steps up the cliff face to the entrance as usual, rather taking advantage of still having the rental car and driving to the back entrance instead. But she didn't escape the physical activity associated with a visit to this remarkable historical edifice, as there were plenty of steps and climbing to do once inside the fortress's grounds - there were 8 individual bastions to be visited, and we achieved 6 of them, plus the church and hidden prison cell. Nestled on the crest of a 216-metre high hill, the fortress was built by the Venetians during their second occupation of the area. The fortress was a very large and ambitious project, but was finished within a relatively short period from 1711 until 1714. It was a typical baroque fortress, apparently based on the plans of the Venetian engineers Giaxich and Lasalle. In 1715 it was captured by the Turks and remained under their control until 1822, when it was captured by the Greeks during the War of Independence. After our visit to the fortress life returned to the more mundane, with an excursion to the Lidl Supermarket. Again, having the rental car was very beneficial and helped us get our purchases easily back to the boat. After everything had been stowed we returned the car to the rental company and walked to the old Railway Station Café for frappes (By which time Monica was gasping for her first coffee of the day). After a light lunch on board we walked to the Nafplio Swimming Club seawater pool for a swim - the water was gorgeous and therapeutic after the rigours of the morning's activities. Monica admitted that she had had more exercise today than she had had for a long time! In the evening at 1900 sharp the crew of Tradewinds repaired to the sailing yacht Praslin for pre dinner drinks. The conversation with Bruce varied considerably, mainly focusing on Canadian, US and European politics. We tried to sort out the woes of the world with each additional gin & tonic, although inevitably failing miserably. But we also discussed the different brands of gin and decided that, although we were drinking Lidl special gin, and some people in other places were drinking Beefeater gin, the very best (according to the resident Royal Navy representative) was Plymouth gin. We returned to the boat via the main quayside, where there was a vintage car exhibition taking place. It was great to see, apart from others, a perfectly restored Fiat 500 (so very small), an iconic Citroën 2CV, a beautiful MGB and a clutch of Ferrari Spiders. These cars brought back memories from my childhood and early motoring life, and of my father who was an early garage owner in the City of Plymouth in the UK. Saturday 2nd June 2018: Originally I had thought that we might leave Nafplio today, but last night I decided that another day would be appropriate to give Monica further opportunity to see Nafplio, and longer to settle in to life on board. And so we remained in town - Monica spent some time in the Saturday Farmers' Market in the morning, leaving me to enjoy my daily frappe in the old Railway Station Café, where she later joined me. After returning the shopping on board, we went sightseeing to the Acronafplio Fortress, which is the smaller of the two Nafplio forts, made almost unnoticeable by the much more dramatic Palamidi which towers above it. But Acronafplio is an important place to visit, and the views from its ramparts are second only to the vast panoramas that we saw yesterday from Palamidi. There have been archiological excavations in parts of Acronafplio over the past 3-4 years, but little is known as to the historical discoveries. Unfortunately the Acronafplio Fortress is marred by two eyesores - two big Xenia hotels built within the walls of Acronafplia have not done it any favours. Xenias were hotels built by the Greek government under the military dictatorship of the 1960’s, and are ugly blocks of buildings plonked in the middle of extremely scenic spots. One of the two Xenia hotels within the walls of Acronafplio, the one strategically located in a very conspicuous position perched on the hill between the two sides of Nafplio is now derelict having been Page 1 of 1 abandoned before I ever visited Nafplio in 2009. Like many other abandoned Xenia Hotels in Greece, the derelict and graffiti laden specimen in Nafplio is probably the subject of an ownership dispute, which is preventing its obliteration from the richly historicall landscape of the town. After lunch it was time for the crew of Tradewinds to go swimming! It was 34°C this afternoon in Nafplio and a dip in the ocean was essential to our survival - actually our timing at the pool was perfect because all the locals had disappeared for their siesta, leaving the water free for we two sailors! And not only was it great to have the water to ourselves, but we were able to have unhindered and unobserved use of the fresh water showers using our shower gel! We were clean again! A red letter day indeed! In the late afternoon after returning from our swim pI gave Monica a safety briefing for her time on board, followed by a familiarisation of the boat and its parts. I also taught her how to tie a clove hitch, arguably the most important and frequently used knot that she will be expected to use during her time aboard. Monica is an intelligent and attentive student and learns quickly - I'm sure after we start our sailing she'll continue to strive to be a very competent crew and eventually in the future, a qualified Captain. There were no 1900 G&Ts aboard Praslin this evening, because Bruce was preparing to drive to Athens International Airport to meet his Czech girlfriend Eva, who will sail with him for the next week or so. The crew of Tradewinds therefore headed off ashore for dinner without Bruce - we were fine Bruce - nothing for you to have worried about! But dinner wasn't a fantastic experience - we chose a restaurant that I had not previously used and were disappointed. The food was only luke warm, the WiFi was mostly not working, the service was slow and they didn't take credit cards! Anyone reading this intending to visit Nafplio, take my advice and don't eat at the Liatero Restaurant - it's in a good location close to Constitution Square, is tastefully decorated and looks good, but isn't! Sunday 3rd June 2018: We made a leisurely start from Nafplio at 0845 this morning - it was a calm and windless morning as it had been overnight, and the Argolic Gulf was equally as placid. No wind meant no sails for Tradewinds - we motored the 10 miles to the Port of Astros taking just 2 hours, berthing on the floating pontoon close to the beach and town. The pontoon was free from other boats on our arrival, making me think that the rules had changed since last year and perhaps the Port Police or local authority would come to require us to move onto the main quayside as soon as they noticed we were there. We therefore made a hasty departure from the boat to the Wet Seaside Bar for frappes. Astros was busy with Greek holidaymakers, but we had no problem finding a table at the cafe. The weather forecast for the afternoon made grim reading, with rain and thunder and lightning predicted from 1400 onwards. We therefore decided on a quick lunch ashore, and to bring forward our sightseeing. We both enjoyed a pork gyros for lunch and shared a bottle of Fix, before heading off to the high ground. And so, after lunch, we climbed Nissi Hill to visit the medieval Frankish fortress that dominates and overlooks both the old and new parts of town - The "Castle of Paralio Astros" was built in 1256 by Gillaume de Villardhuin who originally called it "Castello della estella". In its naturally dominant position, it not unsurprisingly slowly developed into a powerful defensive complex, with a significant role in various armed conflicts, not an uncommon phenomenon during those times. Although most of the fortress was in ruins, the outer wall was almost completely intact, as were a couple of the inner buildings. The views from the fortress were quite spectacular in all directions, to the west towards the Peloponnese high ground were orchards of olive and other fruit trees, to the north the Argolic Gulf stretched out towards the mainland and Nafplio, and to the east and south there were seemingly vast expanses of ocean towards the island of Spetses, south along the Peloponnese coastline and beyond.