The Fisherman at Vathi

The Marina at Vathi

The Fruit and Veg "Shop" Aegina

Now in Vathi - a delightful small harbour - so small that in dropping our anchor before reversing back to the quay we had to drop it less than 10m from the opposite quay! Even in such a tiny fishing village there is good wifi and of course the Euro football is on tv! Not many places now are out of contact - whether that's good or bad. Tomorrow we go back to Aegina (pronounced Egg in a)'as Simon and Lynn will join us there. Then after a quick visit to the temple of Aephea (apparently the model for the parthenon) and possibly Epidauros again, we plan to head west through the Corinth canal and visit Delphi which we hope will be the historical highlight of our tour this summer. Let you know in next blog.

We stayed in Aegina 2 nights but the noise, heat and anchoring chaos drove us out. Boats came and went frequently from berths arounds us (sometimes 3 or 4 boats coming in and going out each day next to us - only coming in to get water or provisions or for crew changes) and each time we needed to be on the bow to encourage/direct them to avoid dropping their anchor over our chain and then check when they left to see if they had picked up our anchor as well as fending them off as they reversed in alongside - quite often without any fenders out - too much stress!

Epidaurus and Dimitri's, Poros with Geoff and Shirley

there seems to be a never ending maintenance/repair list - this week a generator problem (burnt out capacitor suspected - need to inspect tomorrow), transom remote control unit faulty, solenoid faulty......). Always hoping to read more but so far have made little headway with the summer's book list. Geoff and Shirley arrived Wed 20th on the fast cat from Piraeus - took an hour but think it was quite a fun way to arrive and saved us going in to Piraeus/Athens which would have taken us 4 hours each way (also we were keen to avoid having to negotiate all the commercial shipping that goes in/out of Piraeus). We had some lovely sailing with them, anchored out a couple of nights, visited Epidauros (another ancient Greek theatre but this one is really, really special - would be wonderful to see a performance here - they have a series of plays/operas each July/Aug) and Aegina (very noisy, very busy and very hot!) where Geoff and Shirley caught a ferry back to Piraeus.

Poros Clocktower

17 TO 27 JUNE Had a very relaxing time over past 10 days - not travelling far just exploring Saronic Gulf (between Athens and Peloponnese). Poros was a great place to shelter from strong winds - a well protected natural harbour and with good shops, cafes and wifi (essential for us to keep in touch, get daily UK papers and keep up with our admin!). We even managed to find a yoga class - wish we could go regularly. Too hot to go jogging so we have been going for a few walks.

So now we're tied tightly to the south quay in Poros with all 60m of anchor chain out hoping we'll be secure here as the Meltemi blows through. Hopefully the wind will ameliorate a bit by middle of next week. Let you know in next blog. Meanwhile a chance to catch up on boat jobs, admin and chill out for a few days. Best wishes Helen and Iain

The old city of Monemvasia with the walk up the hill to the church

Wed 13th we left early to round the 2nd cape and weather was fine - in fact we had to motor all morning until we rounded the cape then we had a great sail in 20 to 22 knots across the next bay. We'd thought of stopping just around the cape but the wind was so good we decided to press on and anchor just to the west of the 3rd cape at Elafonisos island ready to round the next morning. As the winds continued to blow strongly from the SW into the evening as we approached Elafonisos Island the bay on the south coast was too exposed so we headed on round to the east coast where a small bay offered reasonable shelter and indeed we had a fairly quiet night disturbed only by wash from a huge tanker which went through the channel around 3am! Thursday 14th - another earlyish start (away by 0645) and we rounded cape Malea and started heading north along the east coast of the peloponnese towards Athens. First stop was Monemvasia (source of Malmsey wine) where we were lucky to find a berth in the very small inner harbour. The old walled town on the rocky peninsula (known as little Gibraltar) is a special treasure (a Byzantine/Venetian version of Mont St Michel or St Paul de Vence). We'd liked to have stayed here a day or two more but strong northerly winds were forecast so to avoid being stormbound here for maybe as much as a week we left early on Friday for Poros in the Saronic Gulf where the winds were forecast to be less strong perhaps F5/6 and there is reasonable shelter (we hope). In fact winds got up to over 20 knots directly on the nose so we were glad we'd come north early.

The underground caves at Diros

Sunday 10th - great sail from Methoni to Koroni with some interesting pilotage between the mainland and the islands where the depth suddenly goes from 80m to 5m - encourages some concentration on our transits to keep us in safe water. Koroni was a reasonably sheltered anchorage but the seabed was a mix of sand, weed and rocks. So for the first time we used a tripping line on the anchor in case it got caught in rocks. Fortunately the water is so clear you can see the bottom where you drop the anchor so with a bit of care can select a nice patch of sand. However, having anchored successfully we didn't have as much success with the dinghy outboard as we discovered a small O ring was missing from the fuel connection so the engine wouldn't run (and more worryingly fuel dripped out into the dinghy!). Of course we were anchored furthest out from the town of all the boats in the bay - so plenty of exercise rowing to town and back - must have looked hard work as another boat offered to tow us! Monday 11th - decided to head to Kalamata at the north end of the large bay as strong winds were forecast and it would be easier rounding the next cape when the wind had died down a bit. Also we wanted to visit the world famous caves at diros (we'd not heard of them before but apparently they are some of the best in the world). Actually the caves turned out to be great - really felt they could be the entrance to the underworld (even the boatman seemed the part) although this is reported to be further south (certainly seems to be in Greece). Also the drive down the Mani peninsula was marvellous - what a rugged, isolated mountainous area and no wonder the Spartans were so tough and even the romans apparently failed to subdue this area. Kalamata however was a disappointment - fat black olives excepted - rebuilt after an earthquake in 1968 in bland square blocks and somehow made me think of McCarthy's "The Road" as we walked through the deserted streets. Here for the first time we got a sense of the economic problems with closed shops, graffiti and empty restaurants. Only highlight was a lovely restaurant on the quayside where we watched the football and chatted to the owner (we were the only customers sadly) about his impending retirement - 105 days to go! Hope the tourists arrive in July/August to give him some business before he retires.

First impressions, this is a lovely, remote, largely unspoilt region with extraordinary history. Great sailing and lovely anchorages/ports. Next leg of our journey is to round the next 2 capes and then head north on the east coast towards Athens. Best wishes Helen and iain

Sat 9th - Rounded the first of the 3 capes of southern Greece and anchored off Methoni so we could visit the Venetian castle on the point. As usual went ashore to find a wifi cafe and asked if there was wifi - yes they said so we ordered coffees and sat down to log in. when we asked for the password they said they didn't know - the wifi was from the cafe across the street! The coffee was awful as well!

Iain's new anchor

We were so relaxed in katakolon we stayed an extra day but on Thursday decided we had better leave and continue our journey south if we were to make it to Athens in time. next stop was Pylos on the SW coast - a lovely town in a beautiful almost land locked bay (famous for the battle of Navarino 1827 in the Greek war of independence when the navies of France, UK, Russia beat Turkey and Egypt - for a story of outrageously bold agression its worth reading about Admiral Codrington's approach to the battle). Also a splendid castle on the headland above the town protecting the bay. But most of all we just enjoyed relaxing here and had one of the best meals ever and managed to see the england v France football match! We managed to moor up in the "marina" but couldn't find anyone around - turns out the company went bankrupt and so now the marina is effectively abandoned. So no electricity, fuel or water but no fees either.

Helmet from the Battle of Marathon 490BC

The Olympic Stadium

Philip of Macedonia memorial

Reports on Katakolon have been mixed but we liked the place - great fish restaurant and wifi cafe on the quay, lovely harbour chap (think he was official) who gave us a cup of wine every time we went to see him, great fruit and veg from local house (we bought lemons, olives, apricots all from trees in the garden) - beautiful flowers too and we had a lovely run one morning down to the point and along the hill behind the town. But the real star was our visit to Olympia - this is a wonderful place. The site itself is great and the museum is one of the best I've been to with a marvellous bronze collection (incl 7th century BC armour with an engraving of Menelaos and Helen, as well as the helmet of Miltiades from the battle of Marathon 490bc), the pediments from the temple of Zeus (?better than the Elgin marbles), the carvings of Herakles 12 labours and the beautiful statue of Nike. The site of the Sanctuary and games are also inspiring. What a feeling to walk through the ancient town past the temples of Hera and Zeus, the monument completed by Alexander the Great and to stand in the games arena (capacity 45,000 spectators) where the games were officially first held nearly 3,000 years ago and unofficially even earlier than that. What a terrific start to our greek history tour.

Katakolon is the nearest port for visiting Olympia and there is a wonderful train from the quay side to within 500m of the Olympia site. After our anchor experience in Zante we were keen to ensure we had plenty of chain down and the anchor well set so we dropped the anchor well out from the quay. So far out in fact we didn't reach the quay! Turns out we have a bit less chain than i'd thought (and as I'd been told by guys who measured/marked it in the UK!). If we're ever anchored in really bad weather we'll need to add a length of rope to the chain if we need more than the 60m we seem to have - not a problem and good to know!

The 'new' game

Most arrivals in Zante head for the beaches, bars and discos in the south of the island but we were berthed in Zante town which is the commercial centre. Our first experience was not a happy one as we were ripped off by the "port official" on the quay side who charged us for berthing on the town quay and for water/electricity - turns out the actual charge is only euro 10 per night. But at least he did the police clearance for us which saved a walk to the police station. Also tried our first Greek coffee - bit too gritty and strong for our tastes. The big pastime in all the bars is playing backgammon - have now got a board and printed the rules off the internet! But amazed at how quickly men (its always men playing in the bars and cafes) play and know all the odds - hope it will keep us mentally active. Another first in zante - our anchor was picked up by another boat - just as we were relaxing before dinner in the evening. so we had to take off our shore lines, leave our berth and pick up our anchor before re-setting it and berthing again - the joys of stern to mooring in the med combined with inconsiderate boats. One positive in Zante was finding a dentist open on a public holiday and Helen was seen within half an hour - fantastic service. However, we were keen to start our cruise and left on Monday afternoon for Katakolon.

the spectacular moon at Katakolon

3rd to 9th June - Zante to Methoni Sunday 3rd June - Helen arrived in Zante to start our cruise around the Peloponnese to Athens. We needed to be in or near Athens by the 20th when Geoff and Shirley would arrive. We could have spent more time in the southern Ionian then gone through the gulfs of Patras and Corinth which would be much shorter but we had wanted to see the more remote/quieter Peloponnese.

Sunrise as the delivery crew finish the trip

Wed we visited Gaios on Paxos for a few provisions, and Emerald bay on Anti Paxos (with the most stunning clear blue water and white sand) for a quick swim (rather spoilt by an invasion of German tourists who seemed to think they owned the country) then Levkas (after very careful pilotage by Nav (Phil) into the channel leading to the opening bridge and the canal - several boats have reported hitting rocks IN the channel inside the marker buoys!). There is a temporary bridge which has very little clearance either side and the depth meter showed only 0.5m of water under the keel - tense moments as we passed through. Thursday - on leaving Levkas we found our anchor was entangled with old chain but managed to clear it without difficulty. Had a wonderful sail down to one of the few unspoilt and undeveloped islands in the Ionian and anchored in "One house bay". Had the place to ourselves overnight - beautiful surroundings and wonderful isolation. Quite a windy anchorage as the gusts funnelled down the mountain into the bay but the new anchor seems to hold well. Friday - motored to Fiskardo on Cefalonia for coffee - stayed for lunch! Lovely little town and harbour but very busy with charter yachts and inevitably when we came to leave we had another boat's anchor chain laid over ours - again untangled without problems although the lady on the yacht whose anchor chain was entangled with ours seemed to suggest that it was our fault as we shouldn't have laid our anchor where we had! Had intended to sail only for an hour or two further down the coast but conditions were so good we pressed on for the small port of Poros on the southern end of Cefalonia. Unfortunately it really is small and we went aground as we edged in towards the quay to see if there was enough water there for us. Next we asked a tripper boat if we could berth alongside them but they very very discouraging. So we moored stern to the breakwater even although there were large boulders along side of the breakwater. We kept well off the breakwater with long lines ashore - then thought that Andy would have to swim out to the boat (we'd put him ashore earlier at the fishing boat quay so he could take our shore lines) but luckily with the transom down and a long plank he could get back on board. Saturday - another lovely day and our final destination for this leg of the journey - Zakinthos town. Great evening ashore as there was a festival on. Great trip. Now we're in the southern Ionian and ready to explore the Peloponese.

Andy

The crew - Andy, David, Phil and Young David

ALMA BLOG - 26 MAY TO 3 JUNE Hi This is our first blog of the new season. We sailed out of Grand Harbour, Malta on 26th May after a very busy 4 weeks of boat preparation and admin. May is a great time to be in Malta as the weather is lovely without being too warm. The sea is just beginning to warm up and I had my first swim of the season in the Blue Lagoon at Comino island between Malta and Gozo. Water temp was around 20 degrees so it was quite refreshing! I'd sailed there with Ian G for a test sail - Ian had come out to help me prepare ALMA for the season. We got most of our jobs done including getting the new main on (with new batten cars with ball bearings so should be a lot easier to hoist and drop), fixing the cockpit VHF (wonderful work by Ian as yard in UK had said not able to repair!!!), antifouling done, engine, generator and outboard serviced, lifejackets checked (2 failures!!!!) and lights and auto inflation units changed, all lines back on (new spinnaker halyard which is a huge improvement and runs much more freely), lights, flares etc checked, boat polished etc etc. Andy, David T, Young David and Phil arrived 25th and after fitting the new anchor which Andy had brought out as "sports equipment"! Malta Air were happy to allow it as sports equipment but asked if it was fragile? "Its an anchor" "Is it fragile?" They insisted it had to be bubble wrapped! After assembling and fitting on Sat am we set off in very light winds and motored about half way to Sicily. We'd decided to go northwards to Sicily and then follow the southern coast of mainland Italy in the hope of catching sea/land breezes. And this worked well. We picked up the breeze as we approached Sicily mid afternoon and sailed until around 2130 about an hour south of Siracusa. We motored then for about an hour and entered the magnificent bay south of the town where (as the ancient Greeks had done) we anchored for a quiet night. Sunday morning we explored the wonderful historic sights of Siracusa as well as visiting the terrific food market, picking up emails and the sunday papers in a cafe with wifi. I'd hoped to get away again just after midday but the boys by now were starting to relax and had decided on lunch ashore. We got away early(ish) afternoon with a good breeze which built into the Messina Straits Mistral and we made great progress across to the south coast until the wind dropped in the evening and we had to motor overnight. Monday the breeze kicked in again in the morning and we had a wonderful days sailing - broad reaching with main and gennaker all day in perfect conditions and again the next day after another night's motoring. By late afternoon Tuesday we anchored in Lakka bay in Paxos in time for a swim, a beer and dinner.