Greece by Powercat

Our crew had never experienced the pleasures of cruising aboard a boat - let alone a multihull. My wife Nancy, my son Isaac, my nephew Noé and his girlfriend Rainou were discovering everything for the first time: the catamaran, a week-long cruise and even Greece, a country none of us had ever visited. The only exception on board (apart from me) was our skipper Ludo. A former instructor at France’s famous Les Glénans sailing school, as well as a boat tester, delivery skipper and marine journalist, he is an experienced sailor who immediately looks at home whenever he steps aboard. Yet this cruise was also a first for him: he had never been cruising on a powercat.

Odyssey or Voyage?

All the ingredients were in place for an experience that would take us well outside our comfort zone.
With Christopher Nolan’s latest movie, The Odyssey, being released around the same time, it was indeed a voyage we were about to embark on. But it was more than a voyage, it was a “periplus” – a word which comes from the Greek periplous, combining peri (“around”) and plous (“sailing”). In French, we have the word “périple”, and this best sums up our voyage around Athens! OK, that’s the etymology lesson over - it’s time to share our adventures!

Day 1

Having arrived in Athens the previous evening, we enjoyed a stroll beneath the Acropolis before cooling off with a dip in our hotel’s rooftop pool. Early in the afternoon, we headed over to the charter base in Piraeus, the historic port of this ancient city, to take delivery of our 464 PC, No Worries. The base staff welcomed us, and technical manager Elia gave us an initial briefing aboard. The family immediately appreciated just how much space a powercat offers, both in the cabins and throughout the living areas - the open galley, saloon, flybridge and more.
Provisioning quickly became the next priority: the nearest supermarket is just a three-minute walk from the dock and even offers delivery. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the lively urban beaches and the many restaurants surrounding the base. Ludovic came aboard in the evening. Departure was scheduled for the following morning, once the skipper briefing was complete.

Day 2

The skipper briefing began at 9:30 am aboard the powercat. With a fairly strong northeasterly blowing, we decided to begin our cruise southeastward, sheltered by the coast. We left the harbor at around 11 am for a two-hour run to the chic seaside resort of Vouliagmeni. First stop, first Greek salad with feta and olives aboard - an essential part of the experience. The break also gave us the chance to watch an entertaining display of foiling windsurfers around the boat.
We then continued for another 20 nautical miles before anchoring beneath the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, built between 444 and 440 BC. After several unsuccessful attempts to get around the hotel occupying almost the entire beach from the left, we eventually tied up the dinghy just to the right of the ...