The Island of Aegina

Temple of Apollo. Aegina, Greece

Aegina is a triangular island, about a 3 hour sail from the mainland (specifically Piraeus). The main port is the Port of Aegina on the western side of the island, and is very busy with the nearby ferry terminal and visiting yachts. Throughout the day, the musical bells ring from the church down the street (scroll down for the video, and you can hear those bells for yourself).

Our favorite gelato place in Aegina!

Aegina is known mostly for growing pistachios. There are a lot of shops near the port, where you can find just about everything you need. If not, items can be ordered and picked up from one of the ferries.

We stayed here for a couple of weeks while waiting on upholstery work and a few parts via the ferry. The port is a very short walk to the ferry terminal, which made it a convenient home base. A little ways beyond the ferry area is the Temple of Apollo and museum. We highly recommend a visit, if you are in the area. With only 1 euro admission fee, it was a great place for a field trip and to soak up some of the history.

Our little explorers.

The pathway from the museum to the temple winds through a lovely meadow. The wild flowers were in full bloom and we couldn't help but be captivated by their beauty.

We colored eggs for Easter while in the port and learned all about the Greek traditions surrounding the holiday. We celebrated Easter here and then sailed on towards Kythnos to join in on the Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations the following week.

Explore Aegina with us in our latest video:

Adventures in Greece

Visiting the Acropolis

We do take time out for fun here and there, amidst all of the boat projects. Here are some photos of our time spent at the Acropolis in Athens and the Museum.

Exploring the Parthenon and Acropolis

Sitting high on this hill in Athens, is the Acropolis. It is derived from the word "polis" which translates to the 'highest point in the city'. In ancient times, the city would lay just below with markets and an active trading center.
Once you pass through the entrance gateway, also known as the Propylaea, you will see the Parthenon of Athena, the Erechtheum, the Temple of Athena Nike.

If you have time to explore this amazing place, do it!


Another experience you can't miss is the Changing of the Guard at Syntagma Square in Athens. They change about every hour, but there is a parade and ceremony at 11am on Sundays. This is when we went and it was totally worth staying the extra days in port to do so!

We took some time for a quick trip down the island chain to Milos. The waters are a beautiful turquoise and it was fun to explore the village.

Anchored off Milos.

Weather soon chased us back north.

Checking the weather.

On the way back to Piraeus, we stopped at the port of Loutra on the island of Kythnos. This area is known for the hot springs that flow right to the beach! We highly recommend a visit, if you are in the area. The village was empty, as it was off season, with the exception of the harbor master and one cafe who opened a few hours each day. Wifi is free in the port.

Port Loutra. Hots springs are on the beach, left of RoundAbout.

After picking up some parts back in Piraeus, we set off for our haul-out at the Planaco Yacht Yard on the nearby island of Aegina. They have free wifi, bathrooms with showers (lots of hot water!) and a nice taverna next door. Everyone we spoke to goes here because of the professional staff and the unique way they lift out the boats: via tractor lift! Check out the videos of our haul-out on our facebook page.

We spent a little over a week on the hard, getting all sorts of things crossed off the list. In addition to new antifouling (after sanding, they added a primer/epoxy coat before the antifouling), we serviced the saildrives and engines, generator, and propellers (we had fishing line on the port side and a net in the starboard--definitely recommend pulling the propellers to check them, as all sorts of things get sucked up into them), added a speed log, new thru-hull for our water-maker (ours temporarily shared one with the a/c unit), fiberglass/gelcoat repairs, marked our anchor chain, entire boat polished, underwater lights added, seals replaced for leaky hatches, and ordered new window screens, a cover for the BBQ, replacement helm station cushions, recovered the salon cushions, and added cockpit cushions and pillows. We also ordered pieces to enclose the cockpit area on rainy days to keep the area dry. The upholstery order will take a couple of weeks, and so we will island hop while we wait.

The boat yard has been so busy hauling and re-launching boats, it's like a bee-hive here! Work is going on constantly! They are also building a wooden luxury yacht in their building and we were invited to tour it. Wow! It was incredible! This one project guarantees jobs for the yard employees for at least 3 solid years!

The weather has been rainy off and on, but we are seeing signs of spring, which means more sunny weather and great sailing! We are looking forward to being back out on the water and exploring more of this wonderful country. We have applied for and received an extension to stay in Greece until June. While we may not stay that long, it gives us plenty of time to look for good weather windows as we make our way towards Croatia.