Tue 14 May to Thu 16 May – Gaios, Paxos

Tuesday

Having rather run out of things to do on Syvota, we headed across to Paxos. Paxos, together with its smaller sister Antipaxos are the smallest of the seven principal Ionian Islands in Greece and known for having managed to preserve the local Greek culture. Our passage was rather unspectacular with no wind and a calm sea.

Everything you read about mooring in Gaios tells stories of crossed anchors and tangled chains. The “anchor chain knitting competition” is how one described it! Apparently it’s well worth the effort so we pootled through the narrow channel and prepared for our second “med mooring” on Bini. It involves dropping your anchor about 40m from the harbour wall, and then heading backwards towards the quay where you attach your two stern lines. The trick is not to let out too much chain out, and not too little either. You also want to at least make the appearance of trying not to put your chain on top of other people’s chain, as this creates a mess when boats are trying to leave at different times the next day. However, given the rather curved shape of the town key in Gaios this is nearly impossible. On our second attempt we managed to lay most of our chain across the bay, probably a bit more than strictly necessary, but hey – better safe than sorry. Taking advantage of their being shore power and internet, we first got a few chores out of the way. We managed to pay the new greek cruising tax, which required wrestling with a number of awkwardly translated online forms and consulting more than one “how to” guide on the internet.

Having had enough of the paperwork we decided to check out Gaios town and go for dinner. We didn’t make it very far, the restaurant a few doors down from where we moored Bini looked very inviting. 

Wednesday

The main attraction on Pasox is the main port of Gaios. It’s a lovely little Greek town situated on the east coast and apparently named after Paul the Apostle who brought Christianity to the island. It’s a small maze of narrow lanes with (what feel like) traditional restaurants, cafes and quality clothes and gift shops. What’s struck us the most is when compared to some of the Italian and Spanish places we’ve visited is how, in Greece, the locals continue to mingle in amongst the tourists and there doesn’t seem to be the obvious “them and us” separation. We’ve felt instantly at home at each place we’ve visited which is making everywhere so hard to leave!

We wanted to go and explore a bit around the island, and a quick Google search led us to the Tripitos arch. It’s a rock formation with a big “window” in some steep cliffs, looking out over a turquoise see. The pictures on the internet looked amazing, so we packed our bags and went for a hike. 

Finding the thing was not too easy, as sign posts are few and far between, and one has to climb a rather rugged and stoney path along a steep cliff to make it to this natural wonder. After walking and climbing around for about an hour we were rewarded with the impressive sight of the Tripitos arch, it definitely did not disappoint! It was also a great opportunity to get the drone out and take some cool shots of the landscape there. It turns out that flying a drone and taking cool shots is not as easy as it sounds, especially when your view through the app is restricted by a massive error message that even after spending a combined 40 years in the IT industry neither of us was able to make go away. Oh well, we still managed to fly the drone around a bit and take some videos, and it inspired us to practise a bit more and get better at it. We’ll post the results here soon!

After another little drone flying session back in Gaios we saw a guy walking with a gyros in his hand. We instantly knew what we wanted for dinner 😀 We found a place that made delicious Gyros, took it back to the boat and devoured it in no time. This stuff is sooo good! We spent the evening watching the world go by and playing a few rounds of backgammon, all of which were won by … me! \o/

Thursday

You know it’s probably time to move on when the Port Authorities ask whether you’re planning on moving in. Each day a smartly dressed woman, with her hair authoritatively pulled back into a tight pony tail, sporting an attitude that you would expect from a parking attendant, comes to collect the charge for boats moored on the quay. “Ah, you’re still here” she said, “Yes, but we are leaving tomorrow” we replied. “You sure about that?” she asked, managing to crack a small smile. This is one thing that seems to have changed from last year. When all the boats around us were heading off, we often got a sense that we should be moving on too. This year, we’re thoroughly enjoying the luxury of having the time to stay. 

Yesterday started as every other day. Whoever gets up first gets the coffee on. I started boiling the water and whilst staring at it I realised we hadn’t done any real exercise for some time. It was still early so I suggested to Tom we go for a run. Not overly enamoured about being dragged out for a jog he agreed, so off we went along the coast road, running like two stiff oldies from not having been for a month or so.

Back on the boat we were drinking our coffee in the cockpit and realised we had no electricity. The familiar heart-monitor style beeping of the nearby junction box had also stopped. Tom went to investigate, and was told that the electricity was out on the whole island. They’ll probably fix it he was told. 

We’ve been moored opposite a busy taverna and every so often we’d see people walking in with washbags and towels. We enquired and surely enough, for 4 EUR you can take a shower. What a great business idea! The water was bloody freezing cold, probably due to the lack of electricity across the island but it was still totally worth it.

Today was also to be haircut day for Tom. Last year we cut it in the cockpit, which afterwards resembled the aftermath of a sheep shearing competition so this year it would happen on dry land. With clippers charged we walked off to a remote part of the village and found a bench. Let the sheering begin! After about two minutes, with one side of Tom’s head neatly sheered and the other side still looking like a jungle, the clippers decided to give up. Oh joy! We walked back to the boat and finished the job, with Tom sitting on the bow and me buzzing away, trying to perfect every last hair. 

The evening was spent relaxing in the cockpit watching the world go by. Tomorrow is going to be a day full of (hopefully) all day sailing, as we are heading to Preveza. Early night for us!