The skipper was jogging towards the boat across the expanse of concrete beside the quay, close behind him was a group of Greek fisherman also striding purposefully towards our boat. They looked like they meant business. Either he’d stolen some fish and they were onto him or something else was afoot…

We’ve been sailing around the Saronic islands, off Athens, for just over a week now. And although someone said, “Never look back,” I don’t care, because we’ve been taking a bit of journey into the past – retracing parts of a voyage we made 21 years ago.

This is our fourth catamaran trip and the second this year. I do miss the thrill of sailing a monohull, but the comfort onboard is a very big bonus!

But 21 years ago we set sail in a monohull from Athens with three teenagers on board on our very first yacht charter in the Mediterranean. It was a very exciting journey, and I was a very freshly qualified Day Skipper, anxious to get the navigation right for us all. 

There are many stories from that trip we’ve been recalling as we have sailed past old anchorages on these beautiful islands. One that I won’t go into detail about involves a carving knife and the ropes of a superyacht!

A particularly memorable passage on that trip, took us to a hidden anchorage on the Peloponnese peninsula, when we enjoyed travelling with a pod of dolphins for part of the journey. After five or six hours of sailing we found our way between the rock-lined hills and cliffs into the most beautiful little inlet where taverna chairs and tables lined the jetty. 

This greek gem has as special place in our hearts because it was where we all celebrated our eldest son’s successful GCSE results. All those years ago we’d wandered up a path in the village to the little church and taken a photo through the wrought iron gate looking down the inlet. 

Twenty years on it wasn’t quite as sunny and we all set off to explore further along the village. Spotting a brown sign to an acropolis, we climbed up a path high above the harbour and were delighted to discover some substantial and very ancient ruins, with a beautiful view out to sea. 

We hadn’t known it was there, so second time around it was a bonus to discover something new. After more scrambling down we eventually emerged beside the little church and I suddenly recognised the gate from the photo. Not much had changed from the view here even 20 years later!

The next day we set sail for Monemvasia, where on the original voyage we had tied up beside the jetty, simply to get a phone signal so that I could take down exam results from Tom’s teacher back in the UK. (He was too nervous to make the call!) This time we sailed around the massive rocky “island” which is attached to the mainland by a strip of road and we saw the ancient city clinging to the rock for the first time.

It was quite beautiful and an hour or so later while we sat sipping cold beers looking out from one of its cafes perched on the hillside over the sea, we couldn’t quite work out why we hadn’t even seen this place on our previous visit! I vaguely remember that there was a lot of dancing on the quayside celebrating the miracle that all exams had been passed, it was also very hot and it seemed all the crew had in mind was a swim, rather than an uphill walk to a walled city! That trip we had set sail back to our hidden harbour where the celebrations had continued with no idea what we had missed.

Back to the jetty and the fishermen… A week into the trip the October sun was now in hiding and we were currently being tossed around beside a concrete jetty in the wind and waves. The day before I had made an ill judged jump onto the concrete jetty from the boat with a rope to get us secure. It was higher than I’d realised and my ankle crunched a bit, so I was really hoping coming off the quay would be less painful.

“They’re going to help us,” shouted the skipper as he climbed onboard. So, they weren’t after our money! There was frantic activity onboard as we changed the lines (ropes) and four burley fishermen helped protect the boat from the wall and freed our lines as we headed off into a darkening sky. We’d handed over some “thank you” beers and we waved them goodbye before the boat turned into the wind and the waves. It was quite a change in the weather from the day before when we’d been swimming off the boat beside a sandy beach in the autumn sun.

With almost a week left, I’m wondering what else we will discover as we retrace our steps from the past. Looking back isn’t always a bad thing.