2021: The Bits We Want To Remember
This year has been a bit of a strange one on board Hot Chocolate. We’ve had some truly awesome times, and some things have happened that we’d probably rather forget.
It’s so easy to feel that life should stand still for us while we’re on this ‘adventure of a lifetime’. That we should only be experiencing the highs. But this is still just our lives, and we can’t press the pause button on time!
So instead of focusing on some of the more challenging times (which I’d like to publish one day but I’m not quite ready yet), I’ll recap some of the amazing experiences we want to remember forever.
For the ones we added some happy Instagram caption about the beauty of the ocean, or some poignant sailing quote!
It’s safe to say, we have never felt happier than we do living this life of adventure, so without further rambling from me here are our 2021 sailing season highlights!
Hot Chocolate Got A Face Lift
It was a low time that ended in a high! We had hoped to spend Christmas and new years at home with family and friends, but lockdown had other ideas, so we changed tack and prepared for a winter of boat work.
It was pretty horrific to be honest, but we worked our little bottoms off and were so proud of everything we achieved over the long, hard winter.
Hot Chocolate splashed just a week or two after sailing was allowed again in Greece, with a bit of a face lift! In fact, we pretty much refitted the whole boat!
Some of the main improvements I’ll list below for anyone who enjoys boat talk. If it’s all Greek to you then skip to the more interesting highlights below!
- Full rig inspection with some replacements
- Touched up paint on the deck
- Removed old varnish on the teak and treated
- Fixed leaking mast boot
- Replaced all engine hoses
- Tidied up engine room
- Installed dripless shaft seal
- Engine service
- Replaced all thru hulls and stop cocks
- Redid the centre board bushing
- Sealed leaky inspection hatches
- Replaced starboard water tank
- Installed water maker
- Replaced old batteries with lithium
- New depth sounder
- New wind instrument
- Replaced lights up the mast
- Painted bilges
- Painted the whole exterior!
And we did a whole lot more on top of that! There’s still work to do, as always on a boat, but over the last few winters she’s had the love she really needed and we’re so proud of the shape she’s in.
Delos
This is a top ten moment of the whole three seasons so far.
The small island of Delos is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The whole island is covered in the ruins of temples and statues from throughout Greek history, some in incredible condition.
Most people only have the chance to see Delos by taking a day trip from the nearby island of Mykonos, but if you arrive by sailboat you can anchor your boat just off the island and take a dinghy to the ticket office before anyone else has arrived.
This is such an awesome experience, and if you’re sailing in the area then we would thoroughly recommend you visit.
For a few hours we pretty much had the whole island to ourselves, and by the time the throngs of crowds arrived and the midday sun was getting unbearable, we just hopped back over to the boat and were on our merry way!
Anchoring In The Middle Of The Sea
Our passage from Kithnos over to Monemvasia would have been pretty unremarkable, if we hadn’t decided to anchor overnight on a teeny tiny island in the middle of the sea.
We had super calm conditions, which were the best we were going to get for another few weeks, so we sucked up the fact we’d probably have to motor a lot of the way and headed off on the two day passage to reach the mainland.
Because we really did have absolutely no wind at all we decided to stop at one of the tiniest islands – basically a rock sticking out in the middle of the sea! We got lucky with the calm conditions and spent the few hours left of daylight freediving with the most incredible underwater life we’ve seen in Greece so far.
It was teeming with fish, crustaceans and huge rock structures. It really was paradise for anyone who loves the sea!
That night at anchor in the middle of the sea was so calm and quiet, and the stars were out in their millions. It was a moment to remember forever.
Monemvasia
We’d missed out on the legendary Monemvasia on our first time in the Peloponnese as the weather conditions weren’t favourable, and we’ve both been looking forward to heading back that way ever since.
It’s hard to explain just how impressive this town on a rock really is. On the approach to the anchorage you sail right past the old town and you can see all the buildings tumbling down the rock side.
It’s no less stunning from the ground, with winding alleyways and an incredible view from the ruins at the top.
We also lucked out, and were joined in the anchorage by an awesome crowd of cruisers. We ended up staying longer than planned, had some great nights out with good company, and bagged ourselves some cruising buddies for the next few anchorages.
A Sporty Upwind Sail Or Two
With our centreboard finally fixed it was time to put some true upwind sailing to the test!
For anyone interested in sailing technicalities, Hot Chocolate is a bit of a strange sailboat. She has a teeny tiny keel that’s heavily ballasted to keep her upright. The only problem with this is that we don’t sail very well to wind, unless we use the centreboard.
Without going into the physics of it all, this centreboard helps us get a closer angle to the wind, but unfortunately has been out of use since we first started sailing.
This season we put our new to us centreboard to the test and had some incredible upwind sails. We were even sailing upwind at over 6 knots in 15 knots of wind at one point, which is super speedy for us (especially because I won’t let Adam put up the sail area the boat probably needs!)
So although upwind sailing isn’t a favourite still, it was pretty exhilarating to feel Hot Chocolate working as she should.
A Private Anchorage
With two sailing seasons under our belts we got a little more confident about our abilities and a little more confident in Hot Chocolate’s abilities too.
We made full use of Hot Chocolate’s little keel this season and crept through some standing height channels and into some shallow anchorages. It feels great being able to go where no other sailboats can!
One of our favourite anchorages was on the island of Koufonisia, where we reversed into our own private bay between some incredible rock pillars.
We watched the sun going down and all the rocks around us turn golden, and it was one of the most magical moments we’ve had on board.
It was made even more special knowing that two years ago we wouldn’t even have attempted such a close manoeuvre in shallow waters. Things like this highlight just how much we’ve grown.
Family And Friends Aboard
This is always a highlight of every year and we feel so blessed to be able to share our slightly strange lives with those we love most.
This year our friends who were already travelling in Greece managed to get to us and spend a few days onboard.
I’d like to say it was the perfect way for them to celebrate their recent engagement, but honestly, several days with limited water in a boiling hot sailboat with absolutely no personal space is probably not what they’d hoped for!
We got the chance to show off some places in the Peloponnese we’d already explored, and visited some anchorages we hadn’t had the chance to see yet.
We also had a visit from my sister and her family. It was the first time we’d had kids on board Hot Chocolate (3 and 1.5) so we were pretty nervous.
We thought we’d planned everything, but of course we couldn’t plan for the weather, and unfortunately we got hit by a few storms while they were out. Luckily Hot Chocolate’s spacious saloon area was the perfect place to entertain little ones!
It’s sad to think they won’t remember the treasure hunts for pirate chocolate in the caves, the sand castles, the dramatic main sheet shackle breaking or the crab rave on the beach!
But we’ll remember it for them, and feel very blessed to have that time with them all.
Making It Home For Christmas
We were desperate to make it home for Christmas this year, for the same reason everyone is – the food and presents. But seriously, we’ve been away from UK supermarkets for two years now and it was a priority to finally eat kale, roast dinners and Indian take-aways again.
Two years away from family and friends had felt like a lifetime, and after spending last Christmas away from those we loved we booked a long trip back to England to fit in as much quality time as we could.
This time has been precious, and we haven’t taken a single second for granted.
There you have it – our 2021 sailing season highlights. We hope it gives you a little insight into this slightly strange life of ours on the water! We’ve got some crazy plans for 2022 that we can’t wait to share with you. It might just be our most exciting year yet!
