Some trips are more challenging than others, and we wouldn’t be honest if we said everything was smooth sailing all the time! Our new girl Christiana VIII had her fair share of issues on this departure. The crew led by Marjorie and George had owned yachts so were accommodating of Christiana’s water pump breaking for 36 hours, her brand new engine not starting for a few hours and other mechanical issues that we encountered for the first few days! With the very hot weather still with us, in Poros a cold hose shower on shore turned into great fun – Marjorie and gang, we can’t thank you all enough for bearing with us while repairs were completed. Unfortunately, when guests aboard Margarita also started experiencing problems, we began to wonder if we had upset the Greek gods in some way with issues that were not so easy to resolve immediately as much as we tried. By the end of the two-weeks it turned into the most memorable of the season, not just because of the problems but more so because of the people sailing with us. A group of nearly 40 people came together from all over the world and had fun regardless. The effort put into pirate night by all the yacht crews will be remembered for a long time; Mary from Kentucky, your shining personality truly made us smile every day; Stan and Glenda from Oregon you are very special people and last but not least the Stolls from Australia, your third trip with us, you guys are like wine…you get better every year!!
With the trip ending, we took time to reflect on this departure. Accommodation aboard yachts is less luxurious than hotels and sailing yachts can have issues from time to time – they are not luxury crewed liners. We found on this trip, that nothing is insurmountable but the important thing is to have the right attitude for adventure and to enjoy the unknown. Even if there are problems, look around and remember when the sun is shining you are in one of the most beautiful countries in the world – Greece.