All is well with us after the nine hour plus flight from JFK to Athens. Now we are getting adjusted to the time difference. Julie and I met up with Dave and Jean at the the hotel in Athens, had a late lunch and then went to bed. I was up most of the night since I still was not adjusted the Greece time. No matter since we planned on getting up at 0230 in order to get back to the airport at 0400 for our 0500 flight to Kefalonia. The early flight proved to be a good choice with no traffic issues or airport crowds. We got to the hotel in Kefalonia around 0800 to find Marco and Davide waiting for us. This is also what was waiting for us. 
We are staying at the Aura Boutique Hotel in the small town of Lixouri. This is a fantastic place and as you see above, it is right on the water with great views. Our hosts are fantastic people and the breakfast is outstanding. Since Dave and Jean were going to get here a little after noon, Marco, Julie and I went out for a morning paddle. The water temperature is perfect and the overall temperature is quite warm. Rolling practice proved to be a good method for cooling off ?.
Just after noon, Dave and Jean got in and we all went down the beach a short bit for lunch. 
And here is the view from our lunch table. 
With everyone satisfied and feeling good, we gathered up the kayaks and gear and headed up to the end of the bay for a short afternoon paddle back to the hotel. We had a nice following breeze and very calm seas so it proved to be a good warmup for us.
On a side note, Davide will be handling logistics for us and he is also an excellent photographer. Here are a few shots he took as we were getting ready to launch. 
and here is Davide taking pics. 
And here is our group ready to head out. 
That’s Marco, Julie, Davide, Jean and Dave. As usual, Marco only has the finest kayaks and equipment so we are set for the next ten days.
We all decided to settle into the Greek time schedule and also take advantage of the late setting sun so here is our planned routine. We will start paddling around mid afternoon and go to around 2130. This will give us plenty of time to cover our desired daily distance and explore the coast as we work our way around the island. Following our paddle we’ll have dinner and then hit the sack around midnight. Everyone will get up whenever they feel like it and relax for the morning. I’ve already had breakfast and Julie is still sound asleep ?. This will prove to be a great routine so I’ll create the daily paddle posts in the morning as we are all “kicking back”.
I did not start the Paddle Tracks since we were only doing a seven mile warmup paddle. The “official” start of our Kefalonia adventure is tomorrow so you’ll see the tracks start up then. We’ll watch the weather closely and pick our paddle locations based on the forecast. Tomorrow is looking great so we’ll do a section of the exposed west coast. We plan on doing most of the island’s coastline but not in sequence so you’ll see that in the Paddle Tracks.
That’s it for our warmup day and getting settled in Kefalonia.
Happy Paddling
Scott
Beautiful!! Have sooooo much fun!!!
Happy paddling.
A life well earned. Sorry we were unable to meet up this year but there is always next time. As an FYI we will be inn the NC/TN area the first week of August; attending a week long Salvation Army Bible Conference then sticking around several days to get in some longer riding; on the agenda is The Tail of the Dragon and the Cherohola Skyway as well as a longer ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway over to Asheville as well as Biltmore.
Looking forward to following your adventure. We sometimes live vicariously through the adveentures of close friends. Take care and be blessed!
Glad you made it there and have beautiful weather, I love the color of the water it is just awesome. Glad you are having a great time Fred and Reisa