We are in collision in Gaios on Paxos

Tuesday 8th. June

We stirred at 8am, raised the anchor( by hand) and headed west towards Gaios on Paxos. We’ve not been there before although we have visited Lakka in the north and loved the island. There’s no wind and so the donkey provided the power which at least topped up batteries and kept the fridge cold.

We arrived at 11am and it’s a picture postcard place. Narrow streets, sheltered harbour, tavernas lining the quayside – if it didn’t exist you’d have to invent it. Hollywood could not construct a better, more typical Greek island village.

News from Colin is that a Greek electrician will visit at 5pm to look at the dodgy windlass. We tour the town, indulge in an ice cream and beer, top up with provisions from the supermarket and become tourists.

Several ice creams and beers later

The electrician has visited and found the fault – a corroded terminal. He shows me –there’s nothing left, eaten away by the corrosive effects of salt water and electricity. It’s a simple fault to cure but in a pig of a position. He will return tomorrow morning at 9.30ish to replace.

It’s surprisingly quiet here. We expected to have problems finding a slot on the town quay but there’s lots of space. It gradually starts to fill up. A German boat comes along our port side. A British crewed Sailing Holidays flotilla boat comes along our starboard side. I’m on the phone to Colin as it approaches when I hear Jo yell. I hang up on Colin and rush on deck. The boat, a 34 foot Bavaria, has just demolished our horseshoe lifebuoy and fitting. Bits of debris are all over the deck. The Australian who was talking them in says he’ll replace it. We inspect the damage. No damage to the hull or topsides but the buoy mounting is bust. Luckily it was held on with plastic cable ties which gave way when clouted and probably prevented any further damage.

An hour after the collision the Australian appears bearing a new lifebuoy mounting kit. Looks as if this may happen a lot.

We make friends with the Bavaria crew and he says he was grateful we were English and not Greek - the boat flies a Greek flag. He was expecting some animated histronics - we were very British and made sure the upper lip was very stiff.

We take a wander around the town - it is a grockle magnet - a sort of Padstow with sun. We were tempted by the Cats of Greece T-shirt but ended up simply taking a pic.

Tonight we are going to hit the town and treat ourselves to a slap-up meal as a consolation for a crappy time we’ve had with the anchorage and anchor.