Everything was organised. We had booked our flight out to Greece for May 10th and would spend the next six weeks sailing around the Aegean. A few weeks ahead of this, we contacted the marina to confirm the launch date only to find out that they are extending the launch bay to accommodate super yachts and would not be able to launch any boats during May at all! How could they do this to us?! Simple, we missed an email in March informing us of the work!!! We’d booked the flights in February and, as they were with RyanAir, not exactly easy to change.

So, we decided we would come out for a few days anyway to see how Nimmie had fared over the winter. We rented a car from the airport as well as an AirBnB in Lavrion itself. It was a cute little stone cottage with a mezzanine floor for the bedroom. It even had a stairlift for the very steep stairs. No, we didn’t use it, before you ask!

Having got up before dawn to catch the 0640 flight from Luton, we were a bit knackered by the time we got to Lavrion nearly 12 hours later. However, after a bit of lunch we went over to the boatyard to have a look at Nimmie. Apart from being incredibly dirty from three years of being in a dusty, windy boatyard, she didn’t seem to be looking too bad. We spent the next few hours checking things still worked. We were pleased to see the batteries at full charge with the new solar panels working wonderfully and the instruments also appeared to be working fine (see previous blog) although the test will be when she’s in the water.

Over the next two days we were at the boat well into the evening sorting things so that there would be less to do when we go back at the end of May. We even got the outboard motor to start which, for those of you who have them will know, after three years can be very fickle! On the Thursday, the wind dropped a little so Jo was able to wash the boat (took a good couple of hours) so she was at least cleaner if not clean! Thanks to Sam and Mags for their donation of an extra long hose. Later on, Liz went up the mast to try and sort out the tricolour masthead light. This is the light we use when night sailing so it wasn’t urgent and the anchor light seemed fine but it’s good to try and ensure all is working. In the end we couldn’t get it to work so it might well need to be replaced.

As we were finishing late every evening, we decided to sample new, local hostelries. The first evening was at The Captain’s (recommended by our AirBnB hosts). It was okay but we should’ve known it was never going to be great when it wasn’t in Trip Advisor and had no customers! The next night we went to one of our favourites, Artemis, and were not disappointed. Fabulous Mediterranean food with a twist. Such a shame it is in the middle of nowhere as you need a car or taxi to get there. The last night was another new one called Pezodromos. It’s the number one restaurant in Lavrion and you can see why. It was busy but the service was excellent and the food was very good and inexpensive. They threw in ice cream for dessert and an ouzo. Even the house white at 4€ for half a litre was very quaffable. We will definitely be back there. Topped off with a walk along the harbour and the semi final of Eurovision back at the house. What a wonderful evening to finish on.

All in all, whilst we were a little nervous as to what we would find, we were very pleasantly surprised that Nimmie hadn’t broken any more of her toys. However, she does seem to be sharing her boom with some feathered friends again, although this time it’s in the actual mainsail. We got a lot done in a very short period of time so feel it was well spent. Can’t wait for the end of the month when we are back out again. This time for a bit longer!