On 17th September we woke to a flat calm and slightly misty day and motored our way from Xero Island across to Voukari Bay on the north west corner of Kea. Most of the bay is very deep [20-25m], the 5-10m area is full of moorings leaving the 10-20m area where there is room for maybe four or five boats, so we were lucky to find what was probably the last available anchoring space in just under 15m.
Kea is very popular with small motorboat owners who come the shortish distance from the marinas on the East side of the Athens peninsular. Between those and the huge charter catamarans, which are becoming increasingly popular, the quayside soon fills up.
The wind got up for a while in the afternoon, blowing from the west but we were surprised that even though open to the west, there was very little fetch in the bay. We still waited for it to go calm again before going ashore for a meal as reports written by other cruisers suggested that dragging was quite a common occurrence here. But at least we caught the sunset.
The following day, with the wind due to blow quite strongly from the west, we moved to an anchorage on the north of Kea which promised good shelter. The cruising guide describes Otzias as a small cove with a reef running out from the hamlet for about 100m and a line of swim buoys cordoning off more of the space. Thus, on arrival we were really surprised to find a lovely bay with room for maybe 15 or so yachts.
There are a couple of restaurants and a small kiosk, a lovely stretch of beach and a few old fishermen’s houses clustered together to form the hamlet around the small church.
It was very picturesque and, having been joined once more by “Coriander”, we all took advantage of the beach for a game of Boules and one of the restaurants for what we do best!
On the 20th we decided to move again to the NE corner of the island. Mistake. This anchorage was a small cove! Unfortunately, a catamaran moved just as we had decided there wasn’t space for us. I say unfortunately because the anchorage was rather rolly and we would have been better off returning to Otzias. You can’t win them all!
In my last post I wrote about the anchorages at the top of Kythnos and described them as some of the most photographed. They are probably beaten by our next anchorage at Cape Sounion. Well, it isn’t the anchorage itself which is the focus, but the temple of Poseidon.
Made entirely of white marble, it lies within what was once a fort protecting Attica and was erected in the middle of the 5th century BC to honour the god of the sea. Lord Byron was one of many who fell under its spell, composing poetry in its honour and his name is carved on one of its iconic marble pillars [although it isn’t known who did this]. It is particularly dramatic at night.
Our plan was to go ashore in the late afternoon, wander up to the temple and then have a drink in one of the two tavernas. However, the taverna owners, or maybe the local “council” had other ideas. On arriving at the beach in the dinghy there was a big sign saying “No dinghy landing”. We tried other parts of the bay but these, too, were fenced off and/or private property or so far away that it would have taken far too long to get to the temple so we gave up, returned to the boats and Steve and Gill then joined us on “Owl and Pussycat” for sundowners.
In some ways I can understand that they don’t want hordes of dinghies taking up the beach space and, given the number of boats that anchor there I am sure that would be the case. Still, we ticked another box.
We left early the following morning as we had nearly 50 miles to cover to get to our next chosen destination. Initially we had great wind – almost too great. We shot through a narrow gap between the mainland and a small island as we struggled to wrap our big genoa and change to the smaller jib. For 2.5 hours we had a good sail along the coast and then reached the point where we needed to cross the Athens Traffic Separation Zone. The ships going to and from Pireaus seemed to be spaced just too close to each other to allow us to pass between them so we just had to pick a time a time and go for it. Once safely across the zone the wind dropped out completely so, unfortunately, the rest of the passage was under motor.
Our destination was Korfos, a village on the mainland that we had visited, and enjoyed, twice in 2018. “Coriander” decided to take a space at “Papa George’s “dock.
On our arrival there were a couple of spaces left but we had already decided we would anchor and did. This time we did “win”. It was a good decision because that night the wind caused far more movement on the dock than we would have expected. I was up in the cockpit from 5am watching all the boats jostling around with crews out on the decks checking anchors and moving fenders and generally not having a very pleasant time.
By morning the wind had dropped and we were able to go ashore. This was particularly good because it was Steve’s birthday – and these things need celebrating which we did in the morning with coffees and later with something a little stronger.
Following a much quieter night we moved just 10 miles down the gulf to Paleo Epidavros – again one of our 2018 anchorages.
The town is quite popular with holidaymakers and, although we had eaten perfectly adequately on our previous two visits, we decided we would try to find a more “local” restaurant away from the harbourside. So, Mike and I went on a recce and found a little gem. If you happen to be in the neighbourhood “Perivoli tis Gogos” [Gogos’s Orchard] is well worth a visit. Think leafy courtyard, subtle lighting, decorative features and great food.
When we were last at Paleo Epidavros we walked over to the next bay to snorkel the sunken city. This time we decided to take the boat round for another look. I didn’t take the camera snorkelling, because I had taken photos the last time, which is rather a shame as on this visit the water was clearer and there were more fish. Ah well. It was still a lovely peaceful place to anchor for the night.
Once again, the weather was going to change for the worse – with strong northerlies forecast. However, for the next 24-hour period the wind was due to be quite strong from the south so we decided to head for an anchorage on the south west side of Aegina which we hadn’t been to before. Profitis Ilias turned out to be a great place to stop.
Unfortunately, the taverna on the beach – which gets great reviews – had closed for the season so we walked round the headland to the very popular small seaside town of Perdika which has lots of drinking and dining options lining the harbour.
Wanting a safe haven for the next few nights we opted to try to get a berth on Aegina Town quay. This isn’t as easy as it sounds as it is full every night. We hoped that by leaving the anchorage at around 0900 we would get to the town about an hour later when maybe boats would be leaving. We were lucky. On our approach two boats left so we had a choice and slotted into the slightly larger of the two gaps. The other was taken about 20 minutes later and no other boats left.
Because space here is so tight it often leads to crossed chains and anchors being lifted when other boats leave. That has happened to us before in Aegina but on this occasion our neighbours on both sides were also “liveaboards” and, like us, had no desire to move out and therefore we had no problems at all.
The same cannot be said for others who came believing it to be the best place for stronger winds and resultant waves. As on the day of our arrival, hardly any of the boats docked on the town quay left on succeeding days so, from mid-afternoon every day, there were lots of boats circling the inner harbour…..
hoping that they could see something others couldn’t.
In the end they either went to the anchorage immediately south of the town…
…. or thought that they would go stern too on the outer harbour wall.
The anchorage was rolling and probably not the most pleasant but it was much, much better than the wall. On two successive nights we saw boats being bashed against the quay and, on the second of those nights two boats that had gone alongside were almost being lifted onto the quay itself. I doubt they got their damage deposits back!
In the end we stayed six nights, which is no hardship at all because the town is interesting, one of our favourite restaurants is in the narrow alleyway behind the market….
…. and there are other places to walk to both north and south. On two days we walked down to “O Faros” – a small harbour with a recommended taverna.
The first time was to check out the taverna when we passed this scene……
….. and the second to go for lunch. Very pleasant it was too.
Another afternoon was spent wandering north along the coast. Looking on Google Map we had seen a bay a couple of miles away – again with a taverna – so decided to make that our destination for a refreshing mid walk drink.
Approaching the bay we could see a statue and went to take a look. I thought it was a statue commemorating fishermen’s wives awaiting the return of the fleet but, on reading the plaque, found it was actually dedicated to “all mothers”.
Turning back toward the taverna I spotted a small, almost unnoticeable, sign next to a gate. It was for a museum or, rather, an exhibition of sculpture and pottery – the work of Christos Capralos.
Photographs weren’t allowed inside but it was OK to take pictures in the garden……
….. and we were given some postcards which are shown below.
These do not show his most impressive work. He collected huge tree trunks and subtly remodelled them into people, usually having sex!
On a couple of evenings we walked along the two outer harbour walls to watch the sunset…
…. and the comings and goings of fishing boats and ferries.
The two hydrofoils which ply the Pireaus/Aegina route are the last remaining “Flying Dolphins”. Others have been replaced by small fast ferries which is probably a good thing because these older “smoky” models are not at all environmentally friendly.
On 4th October it was time to leave and the wind was favourable for a nice sail down to what we, and “Coriander”, call “Water-ski Bay” and it was there that we met up again with Steve and Gill who had spent five nights there whilst we were in Aegina. It is a deserted but very secure anchorage far too far from the nearest taverna. We know, we have previously tried to find one.
From there it was another half decent sail to Ermioni. I say “half” because the first stretch through Poros and down through the small islets at Skillaion Point was very rolly. One wave hit us so hard on the side that two large jars of home cured and bottled olives flew out of a cupboard, one of which smashed leaving a glass filled oily mess on the floor! It cleaned up easily enough but we lost a good kilo of olives. We now put the jars on a lower shelf in the cupboard which has a much higher lip!
We had been looking forward to Ermioni – not least because of the excellent small backstreet Gyros restaurant which, even though we planned a two-night stay in Ermioni, we decided to visit on the first night. A serendipitous decision because it was such a rolly night that we got up early the following morning and left for Porto Cheli.
Our intention had been to stay at Porto Cheli for just a couple of nights, then bob out to some nearby anchorages until returning for the next weather episode forecast for 14/15 October. On and off rainy weather on 8/9/10 resulted in us staying put so in the end our only moves were to the harbour wall for fuel and to a different anchoring spot on 13th to accommodate the change in wind direction for the “blow”. Once again, Porto Cheli and its lovely sticky mud held us firm for the two days of wind.
On the finer days we went ashore for provisions, coffees and/or brunch and walks. This time our walks were to the south of the bay. Although our start/finish and turn around places were different, on two walks we passed another ancient city archaeological site – the “Acropolis of Halieis”.
There is also, apparently a sunken part and we could vaguely make out what might have been walls but they could equally have been a jetty foundation.
On the 17th we were glad to be on the move having decided we would make our way down the peninsular to Ierika. We loved this place on our previous visit and, once again decided to go alongside the quay. However, the captain of a boat already there decided to assist but he stopped us short and tight which meant our bow scraped along the wall. Cosmetic damage only but annoying. Even more annoying was the swell we hadn’t previously experienced which resulted in a bumpy night and therefore another early start!
As it happened the timing of that passage from Ierika to Elafonisos was rather good because we managed to dodge completely a couple of heavy rain storms….
…… and, by the time we reached the anchorage it was mostly sunny again.
Realising that this was probably our last opportunity of 2021 for shared beach sundowners we all went ashore for a swim [actually, only Steve swam] and drinks.
So, now on the home straight Mike and I headed next for Koroni
where we stayed for two nights and then to our final anchorage of the season – Petalidhion, just under 10 miles west of Kalamata.
Very much a working town….
…. it is still pleasant to wander round the square taking in the evening atmosphere. The following morning, as chance would have it, there was a Friday street market complete with several notably competitive loud stall holders!
On our arrival back in Kalamata we were initially put into a berth at the outer end of the dock which is hit by surge and waves in southerly winds which can occur regularly during the winter. We were very unhappy. Fortunately, the management saw our point of view and we moved to where we are now much happier.
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And soon it starts all over again ?
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No clear thoughts yet. Still hoping for a Caribbean opening but, if not, it can’t get better than Greece