Dazed kipper in Greece - 10:14 AM, Sep. 24, 2008

Friday April 18: Arrived Athens early evening, caught Metro into town, found hotel, lugged bags up to room on 4^th floor. See kids, Mum can travel on her own!

Saturday April 19: Got hold of street map, and walked my legs off – hotel-parliament-Acropolis (aka Greek Atomium) – Plaka etc

Sunday April 20: Metro out to Piraeus, ferry to Aegina. Lunch on a terrace by the beach, then off to the appointed bar for the sailing school meet-up. Fellow students are Roar, Norwegian and fairly Viking, and Dmitri, an atypical Russian. Instructor is Mark, ex Navy, catamaran racing champion. Dinner in town, and first night on the good ship Valentine. All three cabins have en-suite heads, but the gentlemen let me have the forecabin, which even has its own desk. Cabin bigger then the bedroom I had as a kid.

Monday April 21: long briefing in the morning, lunch on board, then off to Epidavros. Roar “need for speed” had first go at the helm, and was so pleased when we exceeded 9 knots, well heeled. Dinner in the village, followed by a bad night, barking dogs, weird dreams. Want to go home.

Tuesday April 22: I got to do our passage plan to Poros – first time I’ve done one for real, with chart and plotter, and no GPS (There was one on board, but we managed to knacker it).Got it checked over by Dmitri, who used to be navigator in the Russian merchant navy. I was at the helm to leave Epidavros. Apparently should have gone faster to get more steerage. Neighbours looked nervous, but were helpful. I continued to drive out of the channel, then on the planned course, which I found quite difficult. Helm passed first to Dmitri, then to George the AP, then back to me for arrival and anchorage for lunch at Russian Bay. After lunch, I helmed under sail, not easy, and was still driving for my first Med moor in Poros. Not the most brilliant manoeuvre, but have seen a lot worse.

Wednesday April 23: Instructor and crew presented me with a surprise birthday cake, complete with question mark candle! Had thought to let the day go past unnoticed, but forgot the sailing school had details on file. MOB practice on way to Ermioni.

Thursday April 23: Was volunteered to helm us out of Ermioni, and was still there when Mark decided to spring a surprise MOB. OK, the fender didn’t drown, but how would I have reacted if it had been Popeye? Continued to helm under sail with 14 knots of breeze. 3 hours at the helm – an absolute record! Back to  Poros for a quick pit stop before setting off for our round-the island-night sail at 20:00. Or trying to set off – Mark and the boys struggled for over an hour with a crossed anchor (me helming calmly), before giving up, night sail abandoned. Secretly relieved – both entrances to Poros are hairy enough in daylight!

Friday April 24: Long upwind sail back to Aegina, where we were awarded our certificates (DS for Roar and me, Comp crew for Dmitri, who’s doing his DS the week after).Ferry back to Athens to meet up with Popeye, flying in that evening.

Very pleased I decided to do it, and very pleased with the sailing school. A great boost to my confidence, although I still can’t imagine myself in charge of a boat and crew