This evening we boarded the Galileo, our home for the next week. It is a small cruise ship - very small, compared to the ones we see around us in these ports. This means it can go into smaller ports and avoid the busiest most touristy places, and also stops for "swim stops" at nice bays normally only accessible if you have your own boat.
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| The Galileo at our first stop, the island of Poros. |
The Galileo has masts and sails, but it seems they are purely for appearances. They sometimes put them up as long as the wind is not too strong! The boat has a bit of a "piratey" look to it, in contrast to most of the modern super-yachts in the marina. It is an older boat which they have kept because of its looks, and they have completely refurbished to keep it modern inside.
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| Aboard the Galileo, leaving Athens. |
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| Our cabin portholes are just above sea level! |
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| On board in the salon. Endless tea and coffee, and sometimes TV reception for the soccer world cup! |
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| The top sundeck, where you can cook as long as you like, if you can stand the heat! |
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| In most places we can moor at the dock, and just walk on and off the boat. |
The Galileo left Athens relatively late in the day, about 6 pm, for a three hour trip to our first stop of Poros. When we arrived in this picturesque little port it was late in the day, and the sun was setting over the water. Here we had an hour or two to wander the old town, and climb up the hill to the clock tower if we so desired. That's what we did, and were rewarded with a view over the town and harbour and across the narrow channel to mainland Greece just a couple of hundred metres away.
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| Sunset over Poros. |
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| A shopping street in Poros. |
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| Mainland Greece across the water from Poros; the Galileo below. |
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| The way back down from the clock tower to the waterfront. |
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| Poros waterfront, clock tower on the hill and the Galileo's masts in the distance. |
From Poros we set off for an all-night sail to Poliegos. When we retired to our cabin we learned that the twin 500 horsepower diesel engines were louder than the brochure suggested! It was a bit difficult getting to sleep, although the engine sound was very constant which helped. They did explain that this would be the only night this would happen, as we will normally be docked in ports overnight.
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| The dining area in the salon. There are 47 customers on our cruise. |
Our fellow travelers are mostly Australian, with a few other New Zealanders, about 8 Americans, and a couple from the Channel Islands (Guernsey). There are a few teenagers with their families, but most are middle aged or older couples. There are 19 crew, although most of them are out of sight a lot of the time.
