Let’s go east!

After our sabbatical “Around Europe” in 2016 and three wonderful years in the Thyrennian Sea, we now know the beautiful islands of Elba, Corsica and Sardinia like the back of our hand. In 2020 we wanted to cast off the lines for something bigger: We were drawn to the east, more precisely to the Middle East: We wanted to spend Advent 2020 in Israel. To be honest, Europe doesn’t stop at Elba either. Seen in this way, we wanted to complete our “Around Europe” of 2016. In April 2020 we wanted to start south from Elba.

But then the Covid pandemic came. We could only start from Elba at the end of June. We sailed quickly to Calabria and from there through the Ionian Sea to Northern Greece to the Sithonia Peninsula. There we spent peaceful weeks with the family in the small island paradise. Because of the saber rattling of Turkey and the military presence as well as the second Corona wave in Israel, we decided to sail back to Italy for the winter instead of Cyprus and Israel.

So we strolled slowly southwards through the beautiful northern Greek islands over the summer. We were often the only German yacht in a generally less touristy area that had great surprises in store. E.g. the pools and waterfalls on Thassos and Samothrace. Because the Meltemi often blew through the Cyclades with stormy gusts in September, we preferred the Argolic Gulf and the Peloponnese. Here too, we found the original Greece and actually wanted to stay longer.

But then the Medicane came, a tropical cyclone with wind speeds of up to 180 km/h and we fled as quickly as possible to Corfu, in the north of the Ionian Sea. So we were ready to jump to Italy sooner than planned. But Italy made it difficult for us to enter the country by ship due to the Covid requirements. In addition, the weather was so unstable after the Medicane that the decision to stay in Greece was not difficult. So we were able to enjoy the wonderful Ionian Islands and the Ambracian Gulf for a few more weeks in October. We then put “Amazing Grace” ashore in Preveza, from where we can hopefully start again in spring 2021. The Cyclades still have to be caught up …
and maybe the Atlantic will beckon us again in autumn.

Looking back, we are very grateful for the four months in one of the most beautiful sailing areas in the world, where there was almost no sign of Corona. The old controller adage applies: „And if the plan has succeeded, it can certainly take changes“.