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Mark Warner waterfront = a really, really good day windsurfing

A really really good day on the water

I love the ski lift service here at Lakitira but I have been getting very frustrated at not being able to get back in to shore on my windsurfer. I bit the bullet and booked a one to one with the lovely Dave who I was assured was a hunk.

The alarm went off at 8am, a ridiculous time in the morning on holiday, even worse the bars that serve decent coffee don’t open until 10am. So caffeine-less I arrived on the waterfront at 8.50am thinking this was a really bad idea, I was still asleep and maybe I should forget this. I was soon buoyed up by the lovely Dave, yep as promised he’s a hunk. Hmm maybe a Dave every morning could be a good alternative to coffee? No, behave woman! Control yourself. You’re old enough to be his Mum……hmm that’s wrong why? *rushes off to find a cold shower*

We started off on the dummy rig on land, went over the basics then got the rig out. Bit of a panic as Dave had booked a Beach, which is the widest and most buoyant board but they all got nabbed despite the protestations of the lovely Harriet who was in charge at the desk. So it was a large Rio and 2.5m sail……..and a tether.

Dave was lovely, he shouted lots of good things about my technique and we then moved on to jibing and tacking……and…….I got it. Couldn’t believe it, I actually managed to jibe, turn, tack, turn, fell off a couple of times but I did it, whoopee, wahoo, oh boy it felt good. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to carry on without Dave but I managed it without him telling me what to do. Came ashore, left my rig ready, had a coffee and 20 minutes later was back on the water.

This time completely on my own. Zig zagged perfectly, steered, avoided other windsurfers and ended up way out to sea. I went over to one of the orange buoys then over to the other one and back into shore. Yes, I did it. I got back into shore. I felt so good I went out again, this time the wind picked up and I signalled for the attention of my knight in shining armour, the lovely Terry, to come and give me a lift back into shore. Terry is fabulous, he rescued me yesterday, in fact I think of him as my own personal knight, some people are fortunate enough to have a butler or a valet, I have a knight Sir Terry the Brave.

Sir Terry rides the waves rescuing damsels in distress from fire breathing dragons and great sea serpents who capture windsurfers and try to drag their prey under the sea (this is why we fall off, nothing to do with poor technique). Sir Terry is a true hero. Sir Dave is also a valiant knight, teaching us ways to combat these pesky sea serpents using wind and water technology i.e. windsurfers that help us ride over the waves to distant lands…..ok I did feel that I was heading to Turkey at one point.

Today I not only mastered steering, tacking, jibing and turning but also going fast and not being afraid of the wind but also……this is the ultimate accolade……got invited to go into town with the waterfront guys for a party. That’s it, I’ve made it, I’ve reached the pinnacle, there is nowhere higher to go. I won’t go, it was lovely to be invited but I think it’s probably best for all that I don’t, could be very, very bad.

I checked out town today. Town is Kardamena, I was warned by the Head of childcare not to let big girl, or any teenagers, go into town as it was a big 18-30 party town. I checked out a mountain bike and decided that I really ought to see a bit of the island and get a culture fix so off I went. Hmmm, definitely an ‘un-culture’ fix. Kardamena makes a night out in Aylesbury look sophisticated. It is awful, full of tattoo shops, booze shops, fast food and kebab shops, bars and signs for ‘rooms to rent’.

On the upside the beach is lovely and so is the harbour with some high price tag yachts moored. I don’t think that any of the people on them actually ventured off the yachts though. The sea is crystal clear and turquoise and you can get naff boat trips from a number of sources. You can also hire quad bikes and book banana boat and doughnut rides. Thankfully there is nothing of this at Mark Warner; even though its only 15 mins cycle away it’s sheltered from this completely. Thank goodness. There are a lot of boarded up shops which open up in the evening and turn into the clubs.

Apparently Kardamena changes at night and the town you see in daytime is transformed by 4am to a club or rave heaven. Kardamena is fab for teenagers who want a cheap, party town, I’d have been up for that when I was 18 and I’d have been shinning down the drainpipe at night to go the clubs if i’d been here with my parents. I actually feel rather sad admitting it, but not now, I’ve grown out of that and I’m glad I’m in Lakitira.

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