We didn’t know it yet, but we were in for a surprise. 19-June-2022. Adventures are adventures for a reason, you never know what’s around the corner, in this case around the point. Sailing provides the ability to go where you want, on the water of course, and those decisions are made by a bit of research, some word of mouth, which way the wind is blowing and in this case, on our path.
We were very lucky it was on our path and we found this bay. We rocked and rolled in the cockpit having a fun easy day sail down the coast. These 3 kids always seemed to be laughing and having fun. This just goes to prove my point!
We got in just before dusk and anchored farther out as we normally did. Easier that way. Don’t need to worry about depth and other boats. Sticking to our mandate of looking for beaches, we found a doozy and before the anchor was down, India and Nina were changed and ready to go. But girls…the sun is setting, its going to be dark soon. “We don’t mind dad. Lets goto the beach!”. Well how am I going to deny that. The water is warm, the air is warm, we are in a new place so lets get the beach toy bag and off we go.
I had learned by now that heading into the beach was about finding the right landing spot. The priority for the girls…other kids. I scanned the shoreline looking for sign of other munchins. SPOTTED! Found em. Elafonisos is where we first met Mia and Mason. Daughter and son of Marco and Michelle from Australia. I say “first” met them, because we later crossed paths a couple times. There was also a German family on the beach and all the kids had a blast.
With the anchor lights coming on, it was time to head back to INDININI for some dinner and sleep. Afterall, need to get rested for another full day on the beach tomorrow!
We stayed here a few days so we found our routine. Breakfast, beach, wander up to the local restaurant, more beach, INDININI, beach, bed;) The next morning while kids were playing, I was walking along enjoying the sand until…..OUCH. It felt like a needle going into my toe. These leaves were just under the sand. I warned the girls of the hidden prickles. Didn’t seem to bother them, and their little toes didn’t find them. A while later we were playing hide and seek. It was my turn to find the kids. Not many places to hide except over the sand bank so towards and up the sand I went. OH MY. I found where the sand needles had come from. There were plants all over the place. The kids have been running up and down these hills for hours. They had been going around and over these plants so skillfully the didn’t get stuck.
That’s our little dinghy. It gets us back and forth from INDININI. It maybe small but it gets the job done. We never need to worry about finding a parking space because its small…especially on a beach we have almost all to ourselves.
We might be on the other side of the world but we always think of family. We sang a birthday song and sent it to Lenny!
Isn’t interesting how kids can spend hours on the beach and no matter how hot, tired, thirsty or hungry they are, they never want to leave!
The third day was filled with much of the same but as with all good things, they must come to an end. The forecast for the following day was to bring in an onshore wind so we got a good sleep that night in preparation for a move the next day.
The wind was blowing whitecaps the next morning. We all picked up anchor and motored out of the bay. It was hard work and the shorter boats were pitching and rolling to the point of entertainment…well maybe not for them;) We went out and around the point to a lee shore and spent the night. It was sheltered by a hill and was a nice calm and relaxing night.