The high winds continued right through the weekend and into last week so we had plenty of time to get all our jobs done and have a couple of days playing before the lift out. Monday afternoon we took a taxi across the peninsula to Palaia Fokaia, where friends of ours were anchored in the bay. Unfortunately, whilst we were sheltered on the beach, Kath and T weren’t able to leave their boat, Caladh, due to the winds so we had a lovely lunch and made our way back to Lavrion.

Archaic Lion on Kea

On the Tuesday, we took a ferry from Lavrion town to the island of Kea, the island we were making our way towards when we had our accident! We were very pleasantly surprised. The main port of Korissia was quite sweet with bars and restaurants along the front. We caught the bus up to the capital, Ioulida, which is in the middle of the island. It was similar to Lefkes on Paros with white houses and winding alleyways. From there we walked to the famous Archaic Lion made of slate from the 6th Century BC. A lovely walk and an impressive sculpture, even if it does look a bit like a Cheshire Cat! We had lunch in the lovely bay of Vourkari where all the rich Athenians sail to on a weekend. You can tell by the prices being charged in the boutique shops!

At least the lunch was a reasonable price!

Back to Lavrion on the last ferry at 1830 to prepare for being lifted out Wednesday morning. The morning was still a bit breezy with winds around 20 knots in the marina so we had one of the marina staff on hand in case we needed them. In the event, all went well and Nimmie behaved perfectly. Once lifted, she was moved to the back of the yard where she is safely ensconced until next Spring. Once again, she has looked after us superbly in all weathers. It was sad to fly back that evening, especially to a fairly wet U.K.!

Hauled out for the last time in 2019