Today we woke up to a beautiful morning with plans to sail around the southern part of the Peloponnesus from the Ionian Sea into the Aegean and towards Piraeus. Forecasts called for moderate northwesterly winds, but there was not a breath of wind until about 9:30, when the captain finally sent the crew up into the rigging to set sails. We then enjoyed a lecture by Dr. Grace Fielder on Balkan Languages and Identity, using food and cuisine as a metaphor.
As we sailed toward the easternmost Ionian island of Kythera, we enjoyed a signature Sea Cloud lunch featuring the huge parmesan cheese wheel with cooked pasta tossed inside. It was hard to decide between the pasta and the fresh seared yellow-fin tuna, so most of us tried both! After lunch we met with our Greek cultural specialists for a Q&A session on “All Things Greek.” It was a very interesting session with lots of questions about the current economic situation, answered and discussed in a friendly open forum.
Captain Pushkarev set the inner jib in the afternoon so that we could go on the fo’c’sle (forecastle) to take some final photos of Sea Cloud under sail, and the day had a wonderful ending with our Captain’s Farewell Cocktail Party and dinner. Everyone was on the Lido Deck after dinner to see the group slide presentation of the photographs that our guests contributed to the composite slideshow of the voyage. There were so many interesting photos and perspectives of this diverse voyage, including a few from the drone launch of the other day. It was all a great final touch to a superb cruise.
