Is this the Caribbean?

24 August 2015

We had just dropped the hook in Varkos Bay, a large anchorage off the mainland of Greece with water as blue as the Caribbean Islands, when the Captain said “that looks just like Gattopardo,” a boat we had encountered several times in the Caribbean. A bit later, a dinghy approached Berkeley East and the driver said, “I think I know this boat” followed by “It is you!”

We met Pete and Sari on Gattopardo in English Harbor, Antigua when we stuffed up our first Med mooring (dropping the anchor and backing into a dock) in a cross wind, catching the anchor line of another boat and Pete helped rescue us with his dinghy. We got to know them at the Shirley Heights “Jump Up,” spent time with them later in an anchorage on Union Island, and they witnessed a close encounter we had with a Spanish yacht in Bequia. That was eight years ago and we haven’t seen or heard of them since. But there they were, right behind Berkeley East in Varkos Bay, Greece, shocked and impressed that we had crossed the Atlantic.

We spent several days in Varkos catching up with Pete and Sari, relaxing and enjoying the Caribbean-like atmosphere with its crystal-clear water, white sand beach and open-air beach bar.

We often spend time looking for boats that we have met while cruising, but they seem to show up when you least expect them. It truly is a small world.