We’re on the hard. Kincsem stands in an adjustable steel cradle on concrete! The lifting operation this morning was very efficient. The boat was pulled out with a humungous Travel lift and deposited on the steel cradle right away right off the water. The cradle was located on a motorized trailer which then drove to our resting place in the boat yard. There, the trailer lowered the cradle on wooden blocks and a few additional supports were added. Voila - we’re in place for the winter. There must be close to 200 boats here in the yard - this is a big operation. All makes an excellent impression - I’m happy!

The last day of sailing saw us working hard with genoa pole in and out, but moving well. We sailed almost the entire way to Kilada, making good use of a following breeze. Kilada, while in pleasant surroundings, is definitely not a tourist town. We anchored in the well protected bay and went ashore for provision and dinners in the one taverna, which we found out quickly is THE BEST. As it turns out, it belongs to one of the Basimakopoulos brothers, who would have guessed. Here, fish dinners are 8 Euros, ½ liter of wine is 3 Euros! Nice Greek music is playing on the radio and the walls are covered with pictures of the family and various memorabilia. The taverna is open 7 days a week and the same staff is there every day. The food is good and the waitress friendly. The boss himself is seen serving and taking orders from time to time. Yesterday, they were out of red wine. So off goes the boss and comes back with two 2 liter plastic bottles of the red wine - purchased at the market next door. Just like that!

I was very glad to have Christoph help me prepare the boat for the winter. There was quite a list of items to work through and we had fun getting through it together. Lots of boat yoga every day - so we deserved that nightly glass of wine at the taverna and the occasional Metaxa!

I’m now off to Cape Town, where I will join Fred Walters and Chris McNickle on their new Sea Jay for the sail to the Carribean! More adventures to come! But this is the last entry in the Kincsem blog for this year. Stay tuned till next year!