An eventful dinghy trip

We had arrived in Elafanisos, on the southern tip of the Pelopponese, a delightful little harbour that became one of our favourites. The main aim at this location was to dive and discover the sunken city of Pavlopetri. Scott had seen a BBC show about it and knew it was just a few metres off the beach across the harbour from where we were.

He tied up the dinghy on the beach and headed off with snorkel gear to see what treasures he could discover. The sunken city was interesting, although it was hard to make much out beyond a few foundations – you needed a vivid imagination to picture the city it once was. When Scott went back to the dingy he found it full of water from the swell on the beach, and just managed to save the battery from becoming waterlogged.

He was lucky – another few minutes and he would have been stranded as it would have been impossible to row against the wind.  After he told me the story, I wondered what I would have done if he had not come back. I guess I would have asked a local fisherman to take me over there to investigate whether he had sunk along with the city.

Scott took it as a lesson that the conditions you leave you boat in are not necessarily the same ones that you will find when you return. So always best to secure the dinghy well up the beach. At least there are no tides here to contend with.