夫の友人がヨットに招待してくれたので、ギリシャのコルフ島（ケルキラ島）に飛びました。コルフ島はイオニア海（ギリシャ西部とイタリア南の間）に浮かぶ島です。９月半ばにして連日３０度前後。うだるような暑さの中、１日コルフ市街を見学し、翌日友人のヨットに合流しました。My husband's friends invited us to a sailing trip in Greece on their yacht. We flew to the island of Corfu (Kerkyra) in the Ionian Sea, which is between western Greece and southern Italy. In the middle of September, the temperature was 30 degrees or so, day after day. We went sightseeing in Corfu town in the intensive heat and the next day joined the yacht.
合計５人で乗ったのですが、ヨットは約１５ｍもの大きさで、広くて快適。トイレ＆シャワーも各キャビンについていました。十分な広さのベットと夜通し活躍してくれた小さな扇風機のおかげで夜もぐっすり眠ることができました。暑いので（？）昼からビール。ヨットを走らせ目的地についたらそこで泳いでデッキで昼食を食べ、また移動してさらに泳いで夜ごはん。まさに夢のような１週間でした。イルカも発見！はじめ海に慣れず船酔いにやられていて、ずーっと海を眺めていたおかげでしょうか。
The yacht was 50 feet long and had plenty of space for five of us. Each cabin had a toilet(heads) and shower. The reasonably big bed and one small fan, which was working all night, gave us agreeable sleep.
It was so hot in the daytime that we couldn't refuse a beer. We sailed to one place, we jumped into the sea and had lunch on the deck. Then we sailed to another spot, we swam and had dinner. The whole week we enjoyed the sunshine and this dreamlike life on the yacht. Moreover, I was lucky to see a dolphin, which was actually because I'd got seasick and was focusing on the horizon.
～１週間の船上生活で思い出に残るベスト３～
-The three most memorable things on the yacht for a week-
１、青い洞窟にゴムボートで入ったこと内部が青色に輝いている秘密の小さな洞窟に連れて行ってもらいました。壁の岩に穴が空いていて光がもれてきているんだそう。幻想的な青い光。言葉にならない美しさでした。
1. Exploring an blue cave by rubber boat
Our friends took us to a small secret cave which shone blue inside. According to them, there were holes in the rock which allowed the sunshine in. The blue light gleaming dreamily was beautiful beyond words.
２、ターコイズブルーの海を泳いだこと断崖絶壁で陸からはアクセスできないようなビーチに連れて行ってもらいました。水がなんとターコイズブルー！岩からでる成分のためらしいですが、暖かい青い海に白い砂。まさに楽園でした。
2. Swimming in the turquoise blue sea
We reached a deserted beach which may be inaccessible from the land because of the sheer cliff. Surprisingly, the water was amazing turquoise blue!! That is said to be caused by the small particles in the water. The warm blue water and glistening white sand made me feel as if I were in paradise.
３、ヨットレースに参加したことレフカス島で毎年開催される「南イオニア海レガッタ（ヨットレース）」に参加しました。初心者の私は他のヨットにぶつからないように見ているだけでしたが、ヨットが風でかなり傾くのでスリルがありました。他のベテラン達は真剣でちょっとぴりぴりしていましたが、結果は例年にない好成績だったようでよかったです。
3. Joining a regatta.
We entered the South Ionian Regatta, which takes place every year starting from Lefkas island. I was a novice sailor, so what I could do was to be a look-out to help avoid crashing into other boats. It was thrilling that our boat was leaning over so far in the wind. The others, -experienced sailors- were a bit serious and tense. Anyway they seemed to be pleased to get a better result than they had previously.
番外、ウニ採集
泳いでいて浅瀬の岩場にウニを発見。早速夫を呼んで採集。喜んで（何しろウニは日本の珍味ですから。）１０個程採集しましたが、割ってみるとおなじみの黄色い部分がない・・・。日本で食べるウニとは違った種類だったのでしょうか。残念。
An extra; Collecting sea urchins
On swimming, I found sea urchins on the seabed in the shallows. So I asked my husband to pick them up with me with gloves. We were willing to pick them, for sea urchin eggs are a Japanese delicacy, and we got more than ten in a short time. However, when I split them, there were no familiar yellowy edible parts inside. They might be a different kind from Japanese edible sea urchins. What a pity!
