Abingdonian 2018

68 The Abingdonian Sailing Trip In the first week after the end of the Summer Term, 32 Abingdon boys went to Athens to enjoy a week of sailing on two 50ft yachts around some Greek islands. Our journey took us to six islands as well as Athens and past the north-eastern tip of the Peloponnese. Our first day of travelling included a delayed flight from London before a traffic jam on the bus journey from Athens to the marina in the rain. When we finally arrived at the marina, we quickly unloaded our luggage onto the boats and went for a tapas dinner at a nearby restaurant. The next day we had a relaxed morning, with breakfast at nearby Dia Noche’s and a trip to the shops to stock up the boats. Later that morning we motored out of the harbour and raised the sails to cross the shipping lanes westwards towards Aegina. On the way out, we had a distant view of the Acropolis and the Parthenon. Rounding the north side of the island, we stopped in the sun for a swim. In the late afternoon, we anchored the yachts against the cliffs of Agcistri, an island west of Aegina. More swimming there was followed by dinner at a small taverna round the corner, which we reached in our slow 2.5 horsepower tenders. The second day of sailing was a trip past the island of Poros on the Peloponnese where we stopped for lunch in town. We then sailed further south and finished in the large bay of Dhokos. Across the bay, a superyacht which might have belonged to Zuckerburg was anchored for the evening. The evening football was followed by sleeping on deck for the night. The next day, we had a short morning sail to the marina at Idhra – famous for being crowded. We had some free time on Idhra to get some lunch and later to watch the football. Our fourth day was the longest day of