Greece Lightning

Corfu is a beautiful verdant green island with inviting bays and crystal clear azure water lapping at all sides. We sailed around the east end of the island to the main port area of Corfu. Down at the end of the bay is the large port of Gouvia, one of the largest marinas in Europe. It is very popular for people planning to live on their boats while staying in Greece. It didn’t take long to figure out why this island was so green. While most of the islands rarely have rain in the summer, Corfu is like a sponge, grabbing every cloud that sails by and wrings it out to rob it of all the moisture. Sometimes the clouds put up quite a fight. The first week I was there I was caught in a horrific electrical storm. I have never seen anything like it in my life. The sky was ablaze with lightning. Strikes all around and within seconds of each other. Thunder beats out a drama that anywhere else would be considers a little over the top. But this accompaniment to the light show seems like the expected piece of crackling noise that the show deserves. Not only was the lightning bolts coming down from the heavens but they were also traveling horizontal, circling the sky above. I have never seen lightning do that before. And the winds were just incredible. The storm came up instantly and the winds were gale force. Even in the safety of the marina things were rocking and rolling. I can just imagine what it would have been like out in the open sea. The brunt of the wind was at the first part of the storm and the sea was so unsettled. It was just an amazing site to see. The rain came down in sheets. My tender on the back of the boat filled up with gallons of water in just a short period of time. I have been told that it is not uncommon for storms like this to occur during the winter. You can tell it is getting later in the season. This island gets as much rain as Seattle area where the exception is seeing the sun at all. It was very exciting but also a bit unnerving. I just hope one of these storms don't come up when we are out to sea. The interesting thing is that right across from Corfu, less than a mile away lays Albania. Its hills are dry barren rolling grasslands that look like they have not had a drop of water since last April. How could this island have so much water and be so close to such a dry landmass.

I ended up staying on Corfu for about 3 weeks while Steve flew home to take care of some personal business and to make his annual pilgrimage to Burning Man. I stayed and took care of some boat maintenance items that we have been putting off. Robert, Steve’s friend from Munich joined us when Steve came back and we hung out for a couple more days on Corfu. I took them to one of the three nude gay beaches that are near by. The beaches are more rocky but the guys there are friendly and love meeting Americans.