Our day in Athens was spent getting our Azimut ship shape and bringing more provisions on board, and in the early evening, we met up with Em (Frank's daughter) and four friends of hers on holiday from Australia. Never have so few people travelled with so much luggage, but somehow we managed to get it all on board and still have room for them to get into their cabins - just (although at least one of our guests may well have been sleeping in a suitcase!)
With one nervous passenger on board, it was a relief to see a still sea when we came out of Flisvos Marina under the bright morning sun. Poros, not to be mistaken for Paros or Paxos, is just a chip off mainland Greece, with a narrow channel separating the two. The curve of the land and the island together create what is almost an inland sea, and here we anchored for a while, in Russian Bay. It was the perfect site in which to relax and enjoy our surroundings and to dip in and out of the refreshing water to cool off, before heading into the pretty port of Poros for the evening. The harbourmaster recommended that we ate at Poseidon and it proved to be an excellent choice, with good fresh food, healthy sized portions and copious amounts of wine. The evening rang with laughter and at the end of it, Frank and I were applauded by all the yachts along the quay for our drunken walk/dance back to Zaffina!
Leaving Poros behind, the following morning we set a course towards Angistri, another island I'd never heard of! The anchorage we selected was between there and a tiny islet a stone's throw away called Dhrosa, beautifully sheltered and with clear turquoise waters over a sandy bottom. On shore, there was just one small restaurant and a cove busy with tourists who were brought across the island by bus from the ferry stop - it is clearly a popular destination for day trippers from Athens or Aegina. Our idyll was spoilt only by the volume of wasps sharing the anchorage with us, so after a morning of swimming and swatting, a lunch of fish and swatting and then more swatting in the afternoon, we decided to move on and try to find a less wasp infested site. We ventured into a lovely anchorage just off Aegina but before we'd even dropped the anchor we knew the wasps would defeat us, so we moved to the south of the island and back to a cove we'd previously visited, and here at last was a relatively wasp-free environment.
Em and our Aussie guests were only with us for three nights, but managed to pack in as much as possible during their brief stay, and after a night at anchor, all swam ashore to patronise the beach bar before lunch on their last day with us. We could hear their voices and laughter ringing out and when they came back on board, to our surprise it was Becks, the quietest member of the group who had found her voice with a vengeance! After a few more glasses of wine, she spent a long while explaining in detail to Frank that her son had a blue budgie, also called Frank, which wolf-whistled whenever she walked into the room. I think she maybe had a headache by the evening!
After returning to Flisvos in the late afternoon, we bid goodbye to our guests, packed our own bags and flew back to Jersey for a few days.
Almost before we had got used to sleeping in a room that didn't sway gently throughout the night, we were on our way back down to Greece, this time with Jenna and Chris accompanying us. We seldom return to Zaffina to find that all the work we have requested has been completed, and as usual, we had half a day in port as various tasks were finished off before we could put to sea. Jen, Chris and I went up into town to grab some fresh fruit and veg, and I introduced them to my favourite cafe, where the freshly squeezed orange juice is served in what look like the milk bottles I remember from my childhood, with a straw sticking out of the neck; somehow, it tastes better that way! It was already hot as we walked back through the park to the marina, and the butterflies were out in force, a cloud of colourful confetti fluttering over the pink and white oleander bushes lining the path.
We finally put to sea a little after midday and this time went straight past Aegina and Poros, eventually arriving at Dhokos as the afternoon wind was rising and the calm waters whipping into a muddle of waves. The anchorage we chose was both sheltered and unspoilt and within a few minutes, the anchor was down and we were tied to the shore with two ropes from the stern quarters. Just two or three other yachts shared the cove and on the nearby land there were a couple of ruined buildings alongside a tiny quay. It was the perfect place for us to spend the night, and for Jenna and Chris, who just wanted to relax and unwind and maybe swim a little, the fulfilment of their ideal.
Frank and I were up early for a swim and then sat in the cockpit, savouring the warmth and marvelling at the glassy stillness of the sea as we watched entire shoals of fish jump from the water. As peaceful anchorages go, it was one of the best we've experienced this year, and we could happily have stayed for a few nights, but we wanted to show our guests some of the beauty the Saronic Islands have to offer. We'd heard that Hydra was especially worth a visit, and arranged a berth in the little port. When we got there, however, we were first told that no berth was available after all, but after intervention from our friends in Flisvos, we were allowed to tie up alongside a rusty old merchant ship in the port.
Hydra port is simply gorgeous. No cars are allowed, so the local transport is either by donkey, pony, boat or wooden cart, giving it a sense of timelessness. With little or no breeze in the port, as soon as we were tied up we headed straight for a nearby swimming area where youngsters were jumping, diving and pushing one another off rocks and into the water. Although the sea was calm, dozens of boats were going in and out of the harbour so the wake was almost constant, and in the water we bobbed up and down along with all the other swimmers. We ate that evening at a restaurant rated with the 2nd best restaurant view in the world according to some survey or other! It was certainly a beautiful place to watch the sun melt into the violet evening haze of the mainland hills, and the food was pretty good too!
We had been told that we had to move at 9 the following morning, as the merchant ship would be leaving port, but when we got back from dinner, replete and happy, our bubble of complacency was burst when we were told that they'd changed their schedule and would instead be leaving at 6am! By now we had four yachts rafted alongside us, so we all had to be up and ready to leave by 6...although when we did emerge, bleary eyed and yawning, there was no sign of life from the merchant vessel! They eventually appeared about 20 minutes later and so, by 6.45am, we were back out to sea, watching the deep shadows of early morning make the undulating hills of the opposite coast appear as a massive sand-dune.
Breakfast time saw us easing through a narrow channel between Poros and the mainland, approaching Poros Town from the opposite direction to previously. We knew the wind was due up the following day, but being back in Russian Bay so early in the morning meant we had the pick of places in which to tie up, and we reversed close to a small beach, tying ropes on either side of the bay and ensuring we were well placed to weather a northerly blow.
In the end, we stayed there for four glorious nights, and loved just about every moment of it! The first day was still and peaceful, and when we swam in the evening, we were delighted to discover that the water was full of phosphorescence, a phenomenon we'd only encountered once before - when we were in Meganissi last year. The four of us spent an age in the water, creating trails of stars around us, and then Jen and Chris went and sat on the bow until they saw a couple of shooting stars to round off their evening. The following day the wind rose, but it wasn't until around 3am that it really blasted, up to a force 7 or 8, with frequent stronger gusts trying to push us around. Fortunately we were securely tied on and although it was noisy, we felt safe throughout (especially as Frank sat on watch in the saloon through the windiest part of the night.)
Although we debated whether to move nearer to Poros Town, our guests were very happy with the anchorage, so we remained in place and used the dinghy to go across to the port a few times. Frank and I spent quite a lot of time at the Vodafone store, trying and failing to top up our account which had run out of credit. After multiple phone calls and much discussion with their staff, we finally gave up, annoyed that what should be a simple operation was turning out to be so complicated. I gave it one more try when we were back on Zaffina, and with minimal effort, managed very easily to do what the Vodafone people had failed at so miserably! It was a relief to be back on line.
The anchorage filled up over the weekend, and where we'd started in isolation, by Saturday evening we were surrounded by big motorboats, presumably owned by Athenians wanting to get away from the city for a night or two. Before we went back to Poseidon for anther excellent meal, I was showering on the bathing platform when a determined wasp flew up and, without provocation, stung me on my thigh. The warm air turned slightly blue.
On Sunday morning we finally untied from our anchorage and turned back towards Athens, stopping en route back at Angistri, although this time we dropped the hook away from the main wasp thoroughfare and spent the afternoon swimming and topping up tans. Then it was back into port, and for Jenna and Chris, the long trek back to Jersey.
And that brings us to yesterday, another housekeeping day - I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say, Zaffina is now sparkling both inside and out. Engineers came on board to check out the generator which had been spitting a few spots of oil, and we discovered it was a miracle that it hadn't blown up on us! That too is now sorted, and we're getting ready to embark on our next trip, hopefully down to Aegina, Spetses and Hydra.
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