First view of our boat - unpacking was a treat in the heat!

First meal at the taverna next to our mooring.

Day 1 sailing from Sivota to Nidri (8nm).

The lovely Pia joined us to show us the ropes. She managed to showus how to sail and moor up for lunch, which we did at a beautiful spot en route just off the coast of Meganisi.. Pia was brilliant and we would happily have spent all holiday with her on board, but tomorrow we’ll be flying solo. Hope we’ve taken it all in!

In the afternoon the wind got up enough to put the sails out and do a fair bit of sailing.

Charlie had a go at steering - some memorable zigzagging!

Our first group meal at the Iris Hitel in Nidri and the first of many carafes of lady petrol!

Our first day sailing alone was very calm. Some beautiful views en route and crystal clear water.

G&Ts on the quay whilst the children played in the sea, followed by a good meal at George’s taverna and cocktails at a harbour side bar. Spent most of the night debating whether a blonde haired child playing with the cats was a girl or a boy! Can I just point out, I was right! 🤣

View from the harbour wall.

Mimas moored up just before setting off for the next leg of our trip. Don’t know why we bothered hanging the towels up to dry as by now they were already so encrusted with salt and sand they could have probably stood on their own!

Had a long trip to Vathi on Ithaca with not much time to stop.

Lovely views from the taverna after the punch party on the quay.

Dinner was by the beach looking over the bay.

And we had lovely company and lots of laughs. Tortoises featured heavily! Fab evening😊

Sam really did not want his photo taken😖

Amy, Julian, Cameron and Imogen.

Maria, Monty, Lucy, Ed, Zoe, Harvey, Laurie and Julie. A rare picture of Monty without headphones and I-pad!

More zigzagging from CWH.

This was our favourite lunch stop - the water was amazing and we were moored next to Julie, Laurie and Ruth and Karl. We also had plenty of time to play on the SUPs and get the motor in the dinghy to explore the bay.

Izzy, Zoe and Robyn on the SUP.

SUP yoga!

Laurie and Julie.

Some things you wish had never been filmed for perpetuity.....🤦🏼‍♀️epic fail!!

(Tap next two photos to see the videos).

Don’t think even Beyoncé could do this on a SUP! 😆

Mooring was on the quay alongside the shops and cafés and we ate at the taverna next to our boats. Confusion reigned as we tried to book a group meal independently and more and more people joined the group and copious amounts of lady petrol were consumed, followed by ouzo on deck for some!

Ed and Laurie exploring the possibility that ouzo on deck may help with the heat.....

The flotilla (minus Fetula who moored quayside) rafted beautifully by Connor and Paul and Phoebe. !

Looking good.

Looking good by night too!

There are some impressive boats at Fiskardo!

Camped out for two days with our own private playground and floating bar! Holiday heaven.

Happy days with lovely people.

Cheers!

Just floating and chatting with Julie💕

Jim making an escape to the town on the only mode of transport available!

Thai food in Greece.......fab meal again. It was so hot in restaurant. Those cocktails were strong!

The children quickly discovered the \240icecream parlour

Invasion of the Elpida flotilla!

Not far to go for dinner!

Brutal!

No prisoners!

It started well. Got a bit hairy when the bridge didn’t open promptly.......

Elpida

The other side of the canal the wind got up and we all managed a good bit of sailing. We did our best sailing yet! We hit over 6 nm/h and finally felt like we almost knew what we were doing. We even tried a goose wing into port. 😊😆

Elpida motoring past.

Water taxi (with carpet!!!) to Parga where the world exploded into lights and festivities - it was a bank holiday and everyone seemed to be out and about. We had the best meal in a quiet taverns up a side street with Julie and Laurie and the kids, followed be a quick mooch around Parga before getting the water taxi back. Lovely evening with lovely company.

The water taxi.....

Morning briefing on the beach.....

More zigzagging.....

Another self-organised, randomly chaotic group meal with the most enthusiastic restaurant owner!

Pre dinner briefing with cocktails - not sure anyone was listening......we’ll ask Amy where we are going in the morning.

The mooring was beautiful and such a cute little harbour........Megana and Espasia decided to free swing........little did we know there was a storm brewing! ⚡️💨🌦🌊

The morning would look very different......

.....and woke up to thunder and lightening and rain. Not entirely expected and as Trevor said ‘this wasn’t in the brochure!’. \240We delayed our departure until the worst had passed and the kids swam in the rain and experimented as to how many people can sit on one SUP.

Then we set out for Sivota. Interesting sailing! Not for the faint-hearted! But we all survived. \240The kids loved it, comparing it to being on a rollercoaster! The waves were pretty huge and relentless but we got quite good at navigating the biggest drops and (counter-intuitively) putting the main sail up (thanks for the tip Laurie!) helped massively.

The reward was this little gem!

This was one of my favourite stops - had some lovely swims with Ruth and a nice chat on the beach with Julie. Lovely views over dinner and breakfast. The manageress found the kids a bit stressy - I don’t think she realised they hadn’t signed up for the 5* experience and just wanted to run around the beach and giggle!

An impressive re-enactment of one of Sam’s masterpieces! You had to be there......

The girls........what a fab bunch.

Sivota Mourtos was also the venue for the egg drop challenge.......

Rather you than me Phoebe - 50ft up Cassandra’s mast with Connor in control of the ropes whilst juggling 11 eggs........

But first Ed brought Charlie breakfast in bed - chocolate pancake! Bless him😇

Ed taking in the last day’s sailing and scenery.

The sailing was very calm - a bit more wind would have been nice.

More zigzagging!

More zig-zagging! First ever selfies! Photobombed by a small boy.

Charlie and the boys were in heaven bombing around the bay in the dinghys.

Dolphin hunting.

Beach briefing at Iggy Creek

Me and Ruth😆😊

The sunset was stunning.

Final group photo😢

2 videos from Iggy Creek......

And this is probably the cause of all the zigzagging! (Video)

Final photos:

Alethea - Monty, Ed, Harvey, Maria and Nige

Theodora - Robyn, Sam, Ruth and Karl

Cassandra - William, Harry, Charlotte, Nicky and Matt.

Alethea in flight.

The boys

The shirt competition winners!

The police line up at the airport🤣

A wandering minstrel🎻🎹🎼

Thank you everyone - we had a fabulous holiday! ❤️