For sale: one lovely yacht with lots of happy Greek memories
For eleven years, this was my holiday.
Not bad for a confirmed landlubber.
It all began in 2004 when Mr Grigg and I were looking for a holiday home on the beautiful island of Corfu.
The place we wanted, on the edge of a village called Kavalouri, fell through. So on the last day of our fact-finding holiday, we called in at Gouvia Marina where my husband had an appointment with a man selling yachts.
I'd sooner sit by the sea than sit on it. And then I saw an advertisement for a partnership scheme with the aptly-named Odysseus Yachting Holidays. We'd pay half the price for a boat and the company would pay the rest and charter it out. At the end of five years, it would be ours and, in the meantime, we could use it for up to five weeks a year.
Mr Grigg is crazy about the water. I am not so. I prefer rolling hills, cows and agriculture. However, I am pretty passionate about Greece, its islands, its people, ancient history and culture. And those azure waters are pretty inviting.
So when we got home to windswept Blighty, we talked about it. Mr Grigg got very excited and I overcame my aversion to being a tiny speck in a vast ocean and reasoned it was a great way of seeing Greece. It would be like a sea-borne caravan.
In any case, the partnership scheme was much cheaper than buying a house and it meant the Ionian would be our oyster.
Of course, it wasn't quite that simple. I had to learn to sail first. But I did it, passing my competent crew course at Weymouth to qualify for a life on the ocean wave.
Over the years, we've visited some wonderful places, had great holidays and had family and friends join us. I genned up on ancient Greece by studying for an MA at Exeter University.
We've sailed, like Odysseus, into Ithaca, we've been caught in thunderstorms fierce enough to shipwreck an ancient hero, we've found ancient ruins, met some wonderful people and put our feet under the Greek table.
But all good things must come to an end. And now Nestor, our 36ft Bavaria, is up for sale.
Our adventures in Greece and connection with the good people at Odysseus will continue as will our love for the village where we lived for twelve months in 2012 and 2013.
I'll be back in Corfu at Easter to launch my book about our grown-up gap year.
That's about it.
Love Maddie x
It all began in 2004 when Mr Grigg and I were looking for a holiday home on the beautiful island of Corfu.
The place we wanted, on the edge of a village called Kavalouri, fell through. So on the last day of our fact-finding holiday, we called in at Gouvia Marina where my husband had an appointment with a man selling yachts.
I'd sooner sit by the sea than sit on it. And then I saw an advertisement for a partnership scheme with the aptly-named Odysseus Yachting Holidays. We'd pay half the price for a boat and the company would pay the rest and charter it out. At the end of five years, it would be ours and, in the meantime, we could use it for up to five weeks a year.
Mr Grigg is crazy about the water. I am not so. I prefer rolling hills, cows and agriculture. However, I am pretty passionate about Greece, its islands, its people, ancient history and culture. And those azure waters are pretty inviting.
So when we got home to windswept Blighty, we talked about it. Mr Grigg got very excited and I overcame my aversion to being a tiny speck in a vast ocean and reasoned it was a great way of seeing Greece. It would be like a sea-borne caravan.
In any case, the partnership scheme was much cheaper than buying a house and it meant the Ionian would be our oyster.
Of course, it wasn't quite that simple. I had to learn to sail first. But I did it, passing my competent crew course at Weymouth to qualify for a life on the ocean wave.
Over the years, we've visited some wonderful places, had great holidays and had family and friends join us. I genned up on ancient Greece by studying for an MA at Exeter University.
We've sailed, like Odysseus, into Ithaca, we've been caught in thunderstorms fierce enough to shipwreck an ancient hero, we've found ancient ruins, met some wonderful people and put our feet under the Greek table.
But all good things must come to an end. And now Nestor, our 36ft Bavaria, is up for sale.
I'll be back in Corfu at Easter to launch my book about our grown-up gap year.
That's about it.
Love Maddie x
I wish.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing as tempting as those blues. Good luck with the sale.