...this follows the other And Turkey... post. I have had a bit of a nightmare with writing this on the iPad, so excuse the mistakes that cropped up in the last one, and will no doubt occur in this one too!
Back to Sogut, or as I liked to call it Sogut Sogut (they named it twice) and we fell in love with the pretty little place. There wasn't much there other than pontoons, a small but well stocked supermarket - which is something of a rarity around here - a couple of cafe/bars and a yacht club with a surprisingly good restaurant. It was a relief to be safely tied on when the wind blew up in the afternoon; we were neatly wedged between a pair of large gullets, which gave us a good opportunity to see them up close. Some are definitely better than others, and although we quite fancy the idea of a holiday on one in the future, we'll definitely do some research before booking.
As we departed the following morning, there were loads and loads of jellyfish in the marina...fascinating creatures but you don't want to get too up close and personal with them. Frank and I had already been stung on the beach at Castle Island and didn't want another encounter. Fortunately, when we reached our destination at English Harbour, we appeared to have left the jellies behind, although I did do a good reconnaissance before swimming with the ropes!
English Harbour is part of a huge, beautiful inlet, divided into several creeks and offering shelter from every direction. You really feel at one with nature there, the trees spread across the hillsides and reach down to the water's edge, the air is full of birdsong and there is little sign of man's existence; it's the sort of place that invigorates your senses and your soul, and with perfect weather and warm water, we just relaxed and absorbed the beauty of our surroundings.
Reluctantly, we untied and departed at around 7 the following morning; we were due back in Bodrum and an early morning run meant watching the sunrise over oil-still water...worth the effort of falling out of bed so early in the day! As we came between mainland Turkey and the large island that lies off the coast, we felt a furnace blast of hot air on us. The temperature had crept up, and when we went into Bodrum marina after a swim stop at The Aquarium, we discovered that it was knocking on 40C!
Adam and Louise left us, and we dashed over to Kos, finally getting a complete new board fitted for the thrusters, which was what Frank had wanted the first time we had problems with them. We were pleased to see that the facilities for the refugees had improved dramatically, with portaloos and tens finally provided. Back to Turkey and we returned to one of the quiet anchorages we'd found for a couple of nights before returning to Bodrum for our next guests, Em and Paul. Their first night we enjoyed a great dinner in town and somehow ended up in an outside club enjoying the live music and a great atmosphere. With only four nights together, we retraced our route to Sogut and English Harbour, so they could share some of the fabulous experiences we'd already enjoyed. The weather was still kind to us, and we packed in a lot of fun and laughter before dropping them back to continue their holiday in Greece.
On our own again, we finally got to pay a visit to the marina we had aimed for on first arriving in Turkey, Turgeitreis, and what a disappointment! The staff were offhand and unhelpful and tying on was difficult as they had a different system and couldn't be bothered to explain how it worked! We eventually made fast and were pleased with the shelter offered, but after Palmarina, we were unimpressed. Frank promised to take me out for a good meal to make up for it, but with a private function at the Yacht Club, there weren't many decent restaurants to chose from...even the MacDonalds was starting to look inviting! We eventually found somewhere and had a better meal than we'd anticipated, but we were happy to leave the following morning, doing our first ever pump out en route (much easier than we'd anticipated) as there are huge penalties for dumping anything at sea in Turkish waters.
Adrian and Luke joined us in Coketime the following day, after a hair drive from the airport with a taxi driver who didn't know the way! We stayed in the anchorage the following day, but with a dodgy few days forecast, knew we'd have to seek shelter. We'd hoped to get into Bodrum Marina but there was no room and ended up back in Pal...thank goodness. On Tuesday it rained - and it mean it really rained - solidly for 12 hours. In Bodrum, cars were washed down the streets and into the harbour, in another marina, a pontoon broke away with boats attached, roads were flooded, drains overflowed, shops were inundated. Pal was definitely the best place to be!
Frank went home on Wednesday (our 9th wedding anniversary...one of these years we'll get to spend one together!) so we've remained in port with the weather gradually improving until now we are back to clear blue skies and 29 degrees sunshine. The boys leave tonight and Frank returns, and so the adventure continues. We only have another couple of weeks left of this season, but with more guests due - and they're an unruly bunch - anything could happen!,
Saturday, 26 September 2015
Friday, 25 September 2015
And Turkey...
Yes,I know I should be ashamed for not having written anything for so long, but the days seem to have gone past in a blur and suddenly the end of September approaches and soon after that, the end of the season. So before we crash into autumn, let's go back over the past few weeks.
We had looked over to Turkey time and again as we cruised South from the Sporads and through the Dodecanese, and finally we set out from Kos to cover the narrow channel that separates the two countries. The first thing you notice about Turkey is that the development is so much neater than in Greece, where the buildings are scattered haphazardly along the coast and over the hills. Here everything is in neat lines, with whole towns and villages set out in a grid structure.
We had intended to go into a marina called Turgeitreis but it was full, so we moved on to one slightly further north, called Palmarina. It didn't have a write up in the pilot book as it had been developed too recently, so we didn't know what to expect, but when we got there, we were amazed. Pal turned out to be the most state of the art, upmarket, modern marina we had ever been in! Once we were checked in, with the assistance of our agent here, Charlie, we set out to explore and it didn't disappoint. The facilities are excellent, the restaurants plentiful and the shops...well...heaven! We remained in port for a couple of days but much as we liked Pal, this wasn't the Turkey we'd come to see and we were keen to get out and explore. As the winds can be fearful in the afternoon, we made sure that we departed in the morning, but we had a shock as we exited the marina - a line of white ahead of us, causing a debate as to whether we continued or turned straight back into the shelter of the port! We decided to chance it, and had a pretty unpleasant twenty minutes or so, with the swell straight on the beam, but once we had turned the corner that would take us towards Bodrum, things improved dramatically...thank goodness!
We nosed along the coast, checking out bays and anchorages, eventually dropping the hook in an anchorage clearly favoured by the day trip boats. The water was gloriously clear and we were happy to stay in situ for the night, enjoying the peace and quiet once the day time visitors had departed. We weren't surprised to discover that this anchorage is known as The Aquarium, for obvious reasons.
In the morning, we moved across the bay to Bodrum and anchored off the town, just behind the castle that dominates the harbour entrance. We went ashore for a brief look around and debated whether to stay for lunch, but it was incredibly hot and, knowing that we would be back in due course, we decided to move on.
To the west of Bodrum is the Gulf of Gokova, and we had been told of the many anchorages in that part of the world, so we set off to explore. As we meandered along the coast, we were blown away by the number of sites in which we would be happy to spend some time, but eventually came to a deep, well sheltered bay, where we decided to stop for the afternoon and overnight. Once the anchor was down, I swam ashore and tied the ropes to a couple of handy rocks, and then we set about seriously relaxing and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. The water was warm clear and full of inquisitive fish and the sky was a dome of clear blue above us...glorious! Later in the afternoon, the wind swivelled around and our calm anchorage wasn't quite as restful as earlier. No worries, we thought, we can sit this out until the wind changes direction again. That would have been fine, had the anchor not started to drag! Dinner was hastily abandoned as I dived in and swam back to the shore to release our ropes, and with darkness falling, we had to find another position for Zaffina. The opposite side of this wide bay was now perfectly calm, and the ideal situation in which to re-anchor which we did without too much fuss, although I must admit that swimming ashore in the fading light is not my favourite task!
Our explorations continued the following day, taking us to the little village of Cokertme, or as we named it, Coketime! Half a dozen bars and cafes straggle along the seafront, each one vying for custom from the many yachts and gullets that frequent the bay. We opted to anchor off rather than using one of the pontoons which oblige you to eat at the corresponding restaurant, and booked a table at Captain Ibrahim's after reading about it in the pilot book. Despite the promise of a fun evening with live entertainment, it was disappointing, with a mediocre meal and no entertainment whatsoever...I think perhaps they pushed the boat out for the author of the pilot book, realising that they'd get some great advertising!
From Coketime, it was back to Palmarina to pick up Adam and Louise, who spent a brilliant week with us. We retraced our footsteps back to Coketime and then on to another inlet a little deeper into the gulf that was so beautiful that we didn't move for two days, other than to go ashore for a surprisingly good meal and to witness Frank toppling into the dinghy at the end of the evening! It was a wrench to leave such a perfect place, but we also wanted to discover what else was on offer, so early in the morning, we made the trip straight across the gulf to some small islands on the opposite coast, Snake and Castle Islands. These are popular with the tripper boats, and by the time we got there, several gullets were already on the scene. Snake island features the famous Cleopatra's Beach; reputedly the Queen of Egypt imported the sand so that she and Mark Anthony could romp happily on the beach together! Frank and I wandered a shore on Castle Island and were amazed to find a beautifully preserved amphitheatre and extensive remains of an ancient settlement. The gullets all departed by late afternoon, but we stayed in this beautiful situation for the night, but when we came to leave the following mornibg, we were amazed to see a number of large jellyfish in the water.
We made a short hop along the coast to our next port of call, Sogut, a creek which is a natural marina, with several pontoons available to tie up on. We called up the yacht club, but were told that they didn't take motorboats on their pontoon, so we tried to call another, but received no reply. We finally called up the smallest of the pontoon operators, but were told to go to the middle one, and although they hadn't replied on the radio, someone would come to take our ropes when we approached the pontoon. Sure enough, they did, which was just as well, as our thrusters had again gone awol, and with a strong wind blowing, berthing was not the easiest operation.
We had looked over to Turkey time and again as we cruised South from the Sporads and through the Dodecanese, and finally we set out from Kos to cover the narrow channel that separates the two countries. The first thing you notice about Turkey is that the development is so much neater than in Greece, where the buildings are scattered haphazardly along the coast and over the hills. Here everything is in neat lines, with whole towns and villages set out in a grid structure.
We had intended to go into a marina called Turgeitreis but it was full, so we moved on to one slightly further north, called Palmarina. It didn't have a write up in the pilot book as it had been developed too recently, so we didn't know what to expect, but when we got there, we were amazed. Pal turned out to be the most state of the art, upmarket, modern marina we had ever been in! Once we were checked in, with the assistance of our agent here, Charlie, we set out to explore and it didn't disappoint. The facilities are excellent, the restaurants plentiful and the shops...well...heaven! We remained in port for a couple of days but much as we liked Pal, this wasn't the Turkey we'd come to see and we were keen to get out and explore. As the winds can be fearful in the afternoon, we made sure that we departed in the morning, but we had a shock as we exited the marina - a line of white ahead of us, causing a debate as to whether we continued or turned straight back into the shelter of the port! We decided to chance it, and had a pretty unpleasant twenty minutes or so, with the swell straight on the beam, but once we had turned the corner that would take us towards Bodrum, things improved dramatically...thank goodness!
We nosed along the coast, checking out bays and anchorages, eventually dropping the hook in an anchorage clearly favoured by the day trip boats. The water was gloriously clear and we were happy to stay in situ for the night, enjoying the peace and quiet once the day time visitors had departed. We weren't surprised to discover that this anchorage is known as The Aquarium, for obvious reasons.
In the morning, we moved across the bay to Bodrum and anchored off the town, just behind the castle that dominates the harbour entrance. We went ashore for a brief look around and debated whether to stay for lunch, but it was incredibly hot and, knowing that we would be back in due course, we decided to move on.
To the west of Bodrum is the Gulf of Gokova, and we had been told of the many anchorages in that part of the world, so we set off to explore. As we meandered along the coast, we were blown away by the number of sites in which we would be happy to spend some time, but eventually came to a deep, well sheltered bay, where we decided to stop for the afternoon and overnight. Once the anchor was down, I swam ashore and tied the ropes to a couple of handy rocks, and then we set about seriously relaxing and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. The water was warm clear and full of inquisitive fish and the sky was a dome of clear blue above us...glorious! Later in the afternoon, the wind swivelled around and our calm anchorage wasn't quite as restful as earlier. No worries, we thought, we can sit this out until the wind changes direction again. That would have been fine, had the anchor not started to drag! Dinner was hastily abandoned as I dived in and swam back to the shore to release our ropes, and with darkness falling, we had to find another position for Zaffina. The opposite side of this wide bay was now perfectly calm, and the ideal situation in which to re-anchor which we did without too much fuss, although I must admit that swimming ashore in the fading light is not my favourite task!
Our explorations continued the following day, taking us to the little village of Cokertme, or as we named it, Coketime! Half a dozen bars and cafes straggle along the seafront, each one vying for custom from the many yachts and gullets that frequent the bay. We opted to anchor off rather than using one of the pontoons which oblige you to eat at the corresponding restaurant, and booked a table at Captain Ibrahim's after reading about it in the pilot book. Despite the promise of a fun evening with live entertainment, it was disappointing, with a mediocre meal and no entertainment whatsoever...I think perhaps they pushed the boat out for the author of the pilot book, realising that they'd get some great advertising!
From Coketime, it was back to Palmarina to pick up Adam and Louise, who spent a brilliant week with us. We retraced our footsteps back to Coketime and then on to another inlet a little deeper into the gulf that was so beautiful that we didn't move for two days, other than to go ashore for a surprisingly good meal and to witness Frank toppling into the dinghy at the end of the evening! It was a wrench to leave such a perfect place, but we also wanted to discover what else was on offer, so early in the morning, we made the trip straight across the gulf to some small islands on the opposite coast, Snake and Castle Islands. These are popular with the tripper boats, and by the time we got there, several gullets were already on the scene. Snake island features the famous Cleopatra's Beach; reputedly the Queen of Egypt imported the sand so that she and Mark Anthony could romp happily on the beach together! Frank and I wandered a shore on Castle Island and were amazed to find a beautifully preserved amphitheatre and extensive remains of an ancient settlement. The gullets all departed by late afternoon, but we stayed in this beautiful situation for the night, but when we came to leave the following mornibg, we were amazed to see a number of large jellyfish in the water.
We made a short hop along the coast to our next port of call, Sogut, a creek which is a natural marina, with several pontoons available to tie up on. We called up the yacht club, but were told that they didn't take motorboats on their pontoon, so we tried to call another, but received no reply. We finally called up the smallest of the pontoon operators, but were told to go to the middle one, and although they hadn't replied on the radio, someone would come to take our ropes when we approached the pontoon. Sure enough, they did, which was just as well, as our thrusters had again gone awol, and with a strong wind blowing, berthing was not the easiest operation.
Friday, 7 August 2015
Sporades to Dodecanese
Lesvos and south...
Well, when we got back to Lesvos, very little seemed to have changed. Yes, there were still queues at the cash machines, but there seemed to be an acceptance of things and there were no problems in the shops, cafes or restaurants. In fact, we were surprised to see that many of those eating out were still Greek people rather than tourists...life goes on!
Our American friends, Dave and Miranda, flew down with us to Greece for a few days on Zaffina. We were stuck in port due to wind for the first couple of days, but explored in our little hire car and found the most gorgeous port on the north of the island, a beautiful, traditional village with a massive castle crowning the hill above.
Back on board, once the wind had died, we took to the high seas, although not without a little disappointment as the thrusters had packed up again which meant manoeuvring would Zaff would be more difficult. We opted to head for a deep inlet about an hour from the marina and found a beautiful anchorage with just a couple of houses in sight, calm turquoise waters and a few goats on the hillside to fill the air with the chiming of their bells. There we stayed for 24 hours, just swimming, chatting, sunbathing and then enjoying a candlelit dinner in the cockpit; it really was idyllic.
We decided to find another anchorage the next day and moved deeper into the inlet (it was almost a small inland sea) and dropped the hook opposite a tiny port we'd seen whilst driving. Frank and Dave went ashore and came back to tell us girls that they'd enjoyed a fabulous fresh orange juice and a coffee, at which point we immediately sent them straight back to get a take away orange for each of us! The cafe had run out of oranges, but not to be put off, the waitress jumped in her car, drove to the next village and bought some more! It was worth it!
The wind came up a little later in the day and we thought we may get more shelter in another spot, so again we moved. Without the thrusters, Frank had to hold Zaffina with the throttles whilst I swam and tied the rope on, but unable to see so clearly what was happening behind the boat (the thruster control is in the cockpit, the throttles on the flybridge) he couldn't see that some coils of rope were still nearby as he altered our position - result: rope around the prop. To make matters worse, the calm water that we had been seeking had suddenly chopped up, so I swam back to release the other rope before we had to cut the one now coiled onto the propellor shaft. We decided to go back to our previous anchorage, as there was a boatyard near the small port and hopefully we'd be able to get help, but when we went to move, there were horrible vibrations from the now taut piece of rope that was still attached and then a sudden release of tension...something had happened under water, but goodness knows what.
Fortunately we found a couple of guys to help us when we reached the port; one dived below Zaffina and came back to tell us the rope was now around both props! We were horrified, but after half a dozen dives with a knife (boy could that guy hold his breath), he'd cleared the whole lot. We stayed in situ for the night, not wanting to go through the whole procedure of re-anchoring, and it turned out to be calm and beautiful - why on earth did we move in the first place?
By now it was Friday, and Dave and Miranda were due to leave on Saturday. We woke to an amazingly calm sea, and longed to stay out until the last possible moment, but we'd also had problems with the invertor on the fridge (as usual, not one but three things sent to try us!) and the engineer was due in at 2pm, so sadly we glided back into the port of Mytilene on the dot of 2, in readiness for his visit. He turned up at 11 o clock the following morning. Grrrr. We had spent the entire afternoon and evening gazing out at the most perfect conditions and quietly boiling on our berth in the port.
Dave and Miranda departed for their long haul back to Texas; it had been so great to spend some real time together, as our previous get togethers have always been brief, a couple of days at the most. This time we had had four days overflowing with laughter and chat, not divided by our common language, but thoroughly amused by the subtle and not so subtle differences. Hopefully it won't be donkeys' years until we meet up again!
After another day in port due to the high wind, we set off towards Samos where we were meeting our next guests. Conditions were okay, not brilliant but not too bad, as we moved south, at times amazingly close to the coast of Turkey. We opted to stop for the night at a tiny island that we'd never previously heard of: Ionoussa. Apparently the biggest shipping magnate in Greece lives there, and we strained our eyes to pick out a mansion of suitable proportions but there was no evidence of such magnitude. After an afternoon at anchor we decided to go into the port, and were lucky to find an easy berth (with no thrusters it had to be) on the quay, and Frank brought Zafffina in beautifully. I was ready to jump ashore to tie on, but fortunately a random passing stranger took the ropes, saving me the need to leap off the side deck whilst we were still manoeuvring into position.
The town - village really - was so sweet without a hint of tourism to the place. We wandered around, climbing steep steps up to the church, which was more of a cathedral and enormous for such a small place, and then ate on board before going ashore for a drink after dinner. When Frank went to the port police the following morning to pay for our berth, the official there chatted with him for a while, looked at our transit log and commented on the number of places we'd visited, and then said he wasn't going to charge us for the night! You have to love the Greeks!
We left Ionoussa early the next day, expecting a calm trip down to Samos, but the further south we went, the windier it got and we ended up having a not so enjoyable journey. To the west of Samos is a channel that we had to negotiate and we were shocked by the size and intensity of the sea as we went through this last stretch of our trip. Ahead we could see a distinct line in the water where the calm sea resumed, but until we got there, it was an uncomfortable ride. Eventually we hit calm water and turned eastwards towards our destination, but before we had time to relax, things chopped up again as we were crossing a wide bay. And so it went on: calm for a short while, then choppy and windy again, on and on. We nosed into various bays in the hope of finding shelter and were about to give up and go into port when we decided to try one last one, Poseidonos - and hit the jackpot! Not only beautiful, but calm...here was the anchorage we'd been looking for.
As we dropped the hook, I looked around at the other boats and to my amazement saw Threshold, the American yacht we had last seen in Sardinia! We waved frantically at Steve and Karen, with whom we'd had drinks and shared stories five years ago, and by that evening, we were sitting in their cockpit, sharing a glass of wine and catching up on the intervening boating!
We moved to port the following day and in the late afternoon, Benjamin, Frank's grandson arrived, with his lovely girlfriend Nancy. Again we were port bound for a couple of days due to the wind, but it didn't matter too much. We hired a car and explored, returning to lovely Poseidonos by road and enjoying it just as much, simply lying on the beach and jumping into the sea when too hot. The little town of Pythagorio, a short walk from our marina, was also a favourite, with a lovely town beach, fun shopping and a choice of restaurants, many of which just put their tables and chairs onto the beach for the evening, so guests can dine with their feet almost in the water...and we did!
Once the forecast was better, we moved on, down to Aganithos, where we were confident of finding good shelter. Wrong! We tried almost every anchorage on the island before returning to one of the first bays we'd seen and again we were lucky - although it seemed less than sheltered as we approached, once we were fairly close in, it proved to be probably the best place to be, with just a small breeze finding us, which was more of a blessing than a nuisance, with the temperatures now soaring.
The next day we were on the move again, this time to Lipsi, a tiny island and gorgeous (again). We anchored off a pretty beach, intending to dine ashore in the evening, but by the time it go dark the wind was up again so Frank and I opted to stay on board whilst our guests had a romantic dinner a deux ashore. They came back raving about the place, so we returned the following evening, which was Ben's birthday, and had a fabulous meal there. By now, we had moved Zaffina around the corner to an anchorage near the small town, which proved to be extremely pretty. When we got back there after our dinner, there was Greek dancing going on in the town square and we joined the throngs watching the locals in their colourful costumes enjoying their island traditions.
We had one more island to visit before returning Ben and Nancy to Kos, where they would fly home from: Leros. Again, we tried a few anchorages before opting for a place not too far from town where we tied onto some rocks near the shore. In the evening, we took the dinghy across to Leros Town and decided to walk from one side - at the bottom of a steep incline - to the other, ie up, over the hill and down. The two halves of the town were both pretty, and after cocktails in a chic bar, we had dinner under the moonlight at a restaurant on the beach. Not willing to make the same walk again, we got a taxi back to the port! Out of the whole week, that was probably our calmest night - although it had been fun, B and Nancy had had the windiest of weeks on Zaffina, and without the thrusters, we'd spent most nights at anchor with noisy waves slapping the hull, but there were no complaints!
We reached Kos after a good trip down from Leros, the last stretch of which was, finally, calm! The port staff were excellent as we came in, knowing that we had problems, and pretty soon we were tied on, side-to, on the quayside, and there we stayed for two weeks after B and Nancy departed!
The faulty thruster parts had to be returned to Italy for repair and that meant a long and frustrating wait. For the first few days we moved into a hotel and enjoyed being pampered; we would have stayed there longer, but although the hotel was excellent, the food was second rate and disappointing. We hired a car and explored Kos from top to bottom, finding some glorious beaches and hidden coves and generally getting to like the island more and more. It wasn't brash and loud as we'd expected, and parts of it were still beautifully wild and undeveloped, although with plenty of choices of places to go and things to do.
Finally, finally, the thrusters returned and were fixed, the bills (marina, engineer, cleaners, oil change etc etc) paid and we were off. I'd wanted for ages to get to Symi and finally we were on our way down to this utterly charming island. We considered going into the beautiful port - it really is sensational, elegant Italian style architectures, houses rising up the hillside, everything colourful and well maintained, churches and towers dotted throughout - but instead went round to a nearby bay, Pedo, to drop anchor. And that's when the thrusters failed again.
To say we were mad, disappointed, gutted, was an understatement. Numerous phone calls followed, but eventually we decided to stay for a few days and then return to Kos for the work to be done (again) whilst we're back in Jersey next week. So here we are, still in Pedi, and it is just glorious. The weather is cloudless and very very hot, the scenery is beautiful, the sea is calm until 4pm and then it blows up until about 7, and we're loving it.
But our time in Greece is drawing to a close. Next stop...hopefully...Turkey!
Well, when we got back to Lesvos, very little seemed to have changed. Yes, there were still queues at the cash machines, but there seemed to be an acceptance of things and there were no problems in the shops, cafes or restaurants. In fact, we were surprised to see that many of those eating out were still Greek people rather than tourists...life goes on!
Our American friends, Dave and Miranda, flew down with us to Greece for a few days on Zaffina. We were stuck in port due to wind for the first couple of days, but explored in our little hire car and found the most gorgeous port on the north of the island, a beautiful, traditional village with a massive castle crowning the hill above.
Back on board, once the wind had died, we took to the high seas, although not without a little disappointment as the thrusters had packed up again which meant manoeuvring would Zaff would be more difficult. We opted to head for a deep inlet about an hour from the marina and found a beautiful anchorage with just a couple of houses in sight, calm turquoise waters and a few goats on the hillside to fill the air with the chiming of their bells. There we stayed for 24 hours, just swimming, chatting, sunbathing and then enjoying a candlelit dinner in the cockpit; it really was idyllic.
We decided to find another anchorage the next day and moved deeper into the inlet (it was almost a small inland sea) and dropped the hook opposite a tiny port we'd seen whilst driving. Frank and Dave went ashore and came back to tell us girls that they'd enjoyed a fabulous fresh orange juice and a coffee, at which point we immediately sent them straight back to get a take away orange for each of us! The cafe had run out of oranges, but not to be put off, the waitress jumped in her car, drove to the next village and bought some more! It was worth it!
The wind came up a little later in the day and we thought we may get more shelter in another spot, so again we moved. Without the thrusters, Frank had to hold Zaffina with the throttles whilst I swam and tied the rope on, but unable to see so clearly what was happening behind the boat (the thruster control is in the cockpit, the throttles on the flybridge) he couldn't see that some coils of rope were still nearby as he altered our position - result: rope around the prop. To make matters worse, the calm water that we had been seeking had suddenly chopped up, so I swam back to release the other rope before we had to cut the one now coiled onto the propellor shaft. We decided to go back to our previous anchorage, as there was a boatyard near the small port and hopefully we'd be able to get help, but when we went to move, there were horrible vibrations from the now taut piece of rope that was still attached and then a sudden release of tension...something had happened under water, but goodness knows what.
Fortunately we found a couple of guys to help us when we reached the port; one dived below Zaffina and came back to tell us the rope was now around both props! We were horrified, but after half a dozen dives with a knife (boy could that guy hold his breath), he'd cleared the whole lot. We stayed in situ for the night, not wanting to go through the whole procedure of re-anchoring, and it turned out to be calm and beautiful - why on earth did we move in the first place?
By now it was Friday, and Dave and Miranda were due to leave on Saturday. We woke to an amazingly calm sea, and longed to stay out until the last possible moment, but we'd also had problems with the invertor on the fridge (as usual, not one but three things sent to try us!) and the engineer was due in at 2pm, so sadly we glided back into the port of Mytilene on the dot of 2, in readiness for his visit. He turned up at 11 o clock the following morning. Grrrr. We had spent the entire afternoon and evening gazing out at the most perfect conditions and quietly boiling on our berth in the port.
Dave and Miranda departed for their long haul back to Texas; it had been so great to spend some real time together, as our previous get togethers have always been brief, a couple of days at the most. This time we had had four days overflowing with laughter and chat, not divided by our common language, but thoroughly amused by the subtle and not so subtle differences. Hopefully it won't be donkeys' years until we meet up again!
After another day in port due to the high wind, we set off towards Samos where we were meeting our next guests. Conditions were okay, not brilliant but not too bad, as we moved south, at times amazingly close to the coast of Turkey. We opted to stop for the night at a tiny island that we'd never previously heard of: Ionoussa. Apparently the biggest shipping magnate in Greece lives there, and we strained our eyes to pick out a mansion of suitable proportions but there was no evidence of such magnitude. After an afternoon at anchor we decided to go into the port, and were lucky to find an easy berth (with no thrusters it had to be) on the quay, and Frank brought Zafffina in beautifully. I was ready to jump ashore to tie on, but fortunately a random passing stranger took the ropes, saving me the need to leap off the side deck whilst we were still manoeuvring into position.
The town - village really - was so sweet without a hint of tourism to the place. We wandered around, climbing steep steps up to the church, which was more of a cathedral and enormous for such a small place, and then ate on board before going ashore for a drink after dinner. When Frank went to the port police the following morning to pay for our berth, the official there chatted with him for a while, looked at our transit log and commented on the number of places we'd visited, and then said he wasn't going to charge us for the night! You have to love the Greeks!
We left Ionoussa early the next day, expecting a calm trip down to Samos, but the further south we went, the windier it got and we ended up having a not so enjoyable journey. To the west of Samos is a channel that we had to negotiate and we were shocked by the size and intensity of the sea as we went through this last stretch of our trip. Ahead we could see a distinct line in the water where the calm sea resumed, but until we got there, it was an uncomfortable ride. Eventually we hit calm water and turned eastwards towards our destination, but before we had time to relax, things chopped up again as we were crossing a wide bay. And so it went on: calm for a short while, then choppy and windy again, on and on. We nosed into various bays in the hope of finding shelter and were about to give up and go into port when we decided to try one last one, Poseidonos - and hit the jackpot! Not only beautiful, but calm...here was the anchorage we'd been looking for.
As we dropped the hook, I looked around at the other boats and to my amazement saw Threshold, the American yacht we had last seen in Sardinia! We waved frantically at Steve and Karen, with whom we'd had drinks and shared stories five years ago, and by that evening, we were sitting in their cockpit, sharing a glass of wine and catching up on the intervening boating!
We moved to port the following day and in the late afternoon, Benjamin, Frank's grandson arrived, with his lovely girlfriend Nancy. Again we were port bound for a couple of days due to the wind, but it didn't matter too much. We hired a car and explored, returning to lovely Poseidonos by road and enjoying it just as much, simply lying on the beach and jumping into the sea when too hot. The little town of Pythagorio, a short walk from our marina, was also a favourite, with a lovely town beach, fun shopping and a choice of restaurants, many of which just put their tables and chairs onto the beach for the evening, so guests can dine with their feet almost in the water...and we did!
Once the forecast was better, we moved on, down to Aganithos, where we were confident of finding good shelter. Wrong! We tried almost every anchorage on the island before returning to one of the first bays we'd seen and again we were lucky - although it seemed less than sheltered as we approached, once we were fairly close in, it proved to be probably the best place to be, with just a small breeze finding us, which was more of a blessing than a nuisance, with the temperatures now soaring.
The next day we were on the move again, this time to Lipsi, a tiny island and gorgeous (again). We anchored off a pretty beach, intending to dine ashore in the evening, but by the time it go dark the wind was up again so Frank and I opted to stay on board whilst our guests had a romantic dinner a deux ashore. They came back raving about the place, so we returned the following evening, which was Ben's birthday, and had a fabulous meal there. By now, we had moved Zaffina around the corner to an anchorage near the small town, which proved to be extremely pretty. When we got back there after our dinner, there was Greek dancing going on in the town square and we joined the throngs watching the locals in their colourful costumes enjoying their island traditions.
We had one more island to visit before returning Ben and Nancy to Kos, where they would fly home from: Leros. Again, we tried a few anchorages before opting for a place not too far from town where we tied onto some rocks near the shore. In the evening, we took the dinghy across to Leros Town and decided to walk from one side - at the bottom of a steep incline - to the other, ie up, over the hill and down. The two halves of the town were both pretty, and after cocktails in a chic bar, we had dinner under the moonlight at a restaurant on the beach. Not willing to make the same walk again, we got a taxi back to the port! Out of the whole week, that was probably our calmest night - although it had been fun, B and Nancy had had the windiest of weeks on Zaffina, and without the thrusters, we'd spent most nights at anchor with noisy waves slapping the hull, but there were no complaints!
We reached Kos after a good trip down from Leros, the last stretch of which was, finally, calm! The port staff were excellent as we came in, knowing that we had problems, and pretty soon we were tied on, side-to, on the quayside, and there we stayed for two weeks after B and Nancy departed!
The faulty thruster parts had to be returned to Italy for repair and that meant a long and frustrating wait. For the first few days we moved into a hotel and enjoyed being pampered; we would have stayed there longer, but although the hotel was excellent, the food was second rate and disappointing. We hired a car and explored Kos from top to bottom, finding some glorious beaches and hidden coves and generally getting to like the island more and more. It wasn't brash and loud as we'd expected, and parts of it were still beautifully wild and undeveloped, although with plenty of choices of places to go and things to do.
Finally, finally, the thrusters returned and were fixed, the bills (marina, engineer, cleaners, oil change etc etc) paid and we were off. I'd wanted for ages to get to Symi and finally we were on our way down to this utterly charming island. We considered going into the beautiful port - it really is sensational, elegant Italian style architectures, houses rising up the hillside, everything colourful and well maintained, churches and towers dotted throughout - but instead went round to a nearby bay, Pedo, to drop anchor. And that's when the thrusters failed again.
To say we were mad, disappointed, gutted, was an understatement. Numerous phone calls followed, but eventually we decided to stay for a few days and then return to Kos for the work to be done (again) whilst we're back in Jersey next week. So here we are, still in Pedi, and it is just glorious. The weather is cloudless and very very hot, the scenery is beautiful, the sea is calm until 4pm and then it blows up until about 7, and we're loving it.
But our time in Greece is drawing to a close. Next stop...hopefully...Turkey!
Friday, 3 July 2015
Skopelos and onwards
Skopelos...what can I say? Wow, wow and wow again. We've loved the Greek Islands and almost each one we've seen we've fallen in love with, but Skopelos tops them all. It hasn't been spoilt by the filming here of Mama Mia - you'd have expected hordes and hordes of visitors to be descending on these shores, but it's still sleepy and unspoilt. Yes, you do see signs to "The Mama Mia Church" and a few of the posters refer to the movie but that's about it. Oh, and loads of the locals met the cast and crew and have photos up in their cafes and shops to prove it, but that's about it in terms of cashing in.
We had a glorious trip across from Skiathos and nosed into a few pretty white coves before finding our anchorage at Panormos, which was as beautiful as any anchorage we've been in over the past six summers. This early in the season, there were few other boats around when we got there, and I had my first swim to take lines to shore (not my first swim of the season, but the first one to do my chore, and somehow the water always feels colder when you have to go in, rather than want to!)
As dusk fell, a few other yachts joined us in the anchorage, but clearly everyone else was enjoying the peace and tranquility of this special place and it was a quiet night in every respect - no noise from other boats, no wave noise on the hull. I think we could happily have just stayed there, tied to shore and sheltered from the wind, for the rest of the season and still come home with big smiles on our faces in the autumn, but the forecast suggested we may need a day or two in port.
Skopelos Town didn't disappoint. As we get nearer to Turkey, the Greek style changes a little, and this was a mixture of the white houses expected in a Greek island, with plenty of wooden balconies in the Turkish style, plus of course a beautiful church in a prominent position over the sea. The harbourmaster welcomed us and gave us a great berth, side-to on the quay in front of the restaurants.
We hired another quad and off we went on our land explorations. It's hard to adequately describe the views; breath-taking is so over-used, but as we came around the corner of a narrow, windy road, with a warm breeze in our faces, to see a great swathe of the coastline laid out before us, bright white half moon bays and tiny inaccessible coves, the sea sparkling with a million fragments of sunlight and the distant islands bathed in a violet haze, well, it WAS simply breath-taking.
We headed for the Mama Mia church but had to laugh when we got there. Most of it is exactly as you'd expect: that towering hill with the steep, curving staircase up the side, the sensational view, the rocky outcrop where Meryl Streep belts out "The Winner Takes it All" and the church on top...but hang on, it's a different church! Some artistic licence and cinematic trickery has removed the church that is actually there (a rather simple edifice by Greek standards) with a prettier and slightly larger version! Having climbed all of those 200 steps leading from bottom to top, you rather expect to find Amanda Seigfreid on her donkey and Piers Brosnan about to get down on one knee. Instead we found a handful of tourists taking selfies or sitting in the shade to get their breath back before the climb back down.
We stayed for three nights in Skopelos and just loved it, but with deadlines approaching for a flight home, we wanted to see more of the Sporades and everyone told us that Alonissos was gorgeous so off we want for the short hop between the two islands. We spent a couple of nights at anchor in different islands off Alonissos, the first in a quiet bay with just a couple of goats for company, the second in an almost perfectly sheltered pool with a narrow entrance channel widening out into a substantial piece of water, where we shared the anchorage with a dozen or so yachts (we seem to be the only motorboat around at this time of year, which is a shame for all the others, as you get some of the best cruising before the height of the season.) With a westerly wind due, we returned to Alonissos and found a tiny inlet with room for just one boat and promptly took the only parking space available, tying a rope to each side of the bay and claiming it for ourselves. The only signs of human life we saw for 24 hours were the occasional boats going past the entrance to the bay...heaven!
The main port of Alonissos is pretty small, but we opted to go in for a night or two, partly because we wanted to visit the chora, or old town, perched on the hill above. We had been told to go on the main quay, but as Frank tried to manoeuvre Zaffina into the space indicated, it was clear that we were bigger than the gap, so we ended up tied on near the ferry port - not the nicest place to be. The weather was changing and after a night in the port, we made the trip by taxi up to the town, but whilst we were exploring this pretty little place, black clouds suddenly gathered and a strong wind blew up from nowhere. We wanted to go back to the shelter of Skopelos harbour, as we knew we were in for a blast, so we abandoned our explorations and belted back down to the port to ready Zaffina for the short trip back, but the fates were against us. As we tried to lift the anchor, we discovered that the yacht next to us had laid their anchor across ours, and so the two came up together off the sea bed. I tried for a while - unsuccessfully - to disentangle the two chains, but eventually a fishing boat came over and with a lot of shouting and gesticulations, managed to release the rogue anchor and we could finally depart (we had notified the port authorities of the problem, so they could advise the yacht owners who were away from their boat).
Things weren't too bad when we came out of port and were in the shelter of the island but once we turned into the channel separating Skopelos from Alonissos...urgh! The best thing I can say about that trip is that it was short, no more than 40 minutes once we hit the rough seas, but everything else about it was pretty ghastly. Cutlery and crockery shrieked and tried to break out from cupboards and drawers, pots and pans rattled and the wine cupboard door flew up and half a dozen bottles shot across the floor of the saloon. The computer leapt from table to floor and it was only by a miracle that my beautiful fruit bowl from Hvar wasn't smashed into a thousand pieces. Zaffina was, as ever, brilliant, (and the skipper was pretty good...) but it is a trip we'd rather forget and an enormous relief to finally reach the shelter of the harbour. We were guided to the same berth that we'd left a few days previously and tied on in the now pouring rain with a multitude of ropes. Although the wind dropped shortly after we arrived (yeah, I was annoyed about that!) it blew up again in the night and blew and blew and blew, so despite the horrible crossing, we knew we'd made the right decision in seeking the best shelter to sit it out.
We were back to sea three days later, with probably our longest open sea trip of the season ahead of us. We had to get to Lesvos in the eastern Sporades, as we'd made arrangements to leave our Azimut there whilst we flew home, so on Saturday we eased out of port and were relieved to be on a completely different sort of sea from the last one we'd crossed! This was a beautiful millpond, and our trip to Skyros (not to be confused with Siros, the capital of the Aegean...) was pretty good. There's not much to see on Skyros, it's very much off the beaten track, rather barren and not the most picturesque island but we anchored in a pleasant bay for the day and found a sheltered cove for the night before continuing out journey. Conditions were even better the following morning, and apart from a blip half way, the trip was stunning. The only the we lacked was dolphins. The blip? Well, as we were gently cruising along, the starboard engine suddenly and briefly lost power. Frank and I looked at one another in horror: we had this problem two years ago and it led to one of our most unpleasant journeys, from Montenegro to Corfu, with frequent losses of power as the wind and sea rose around us. Back then, it also took two weeks to fix the problem, but my brilliant husband had learnt from last time. He looked at me and just said "well, if it's the same thing, I think I know how they fixed it", and off he went down to the engine room. Five minutes later, we put Zaffina back up to full speed and continued our trip to Lesvos without another hitch! If only we'd had that same knowledge two years ago.
We anchored off the southeast corner of the island for the afternoon, and then eased up to the port of Mitilene. The marina is excellent, but our first impressions of the island and the town were less so, and these were only compounded when we hired a car the following day (wind was up again) and went off to explore. It wasn't pretty. However...some more excursions over the following two days proved to us that the first area we'd visited was the least attractive part of Lesvos, and when we found the heart of the town, we discovered it was far more appealing than the first impression had suggested. Lesvos has grown on us!
And it was from Lesvos that we returned home on Saturday, just as the financial storm was breaking over Greece. That morning, for the very first time, there were queues at the cash machine, as the reality of the situation really started to sink in, and with the banks having been closed for a week, it will be interesting to see how much things have changed when we return to Lesvos on Monday, and continue this fabulous summer of cruising.
We had a glorious trip across from Skiathos and nosed into a few pretty white coves before finding our anchorage at Panormos, which was as beautiful as any anchorage we've been in over the past six summers. This early in the season, there were few other boats around when we got there, and I had my first swim to take lines to shore (not my first swim of the season, but the first one to do my chore, and somehow the water always feels colder when you have to go in, rather than want to!)
As dusk fell, a few other yachts joined us in the anchorage, but clearly everyone else was enjoying the peace and tranquility of this special place and it was a quiet night in every respect - no noise from other boats, no wave noise on the hull. I think we could happily have just stayed there, tied to shore and sheltered from the wind, for the rest of the season and still come home with big smiles on our faces in the autumn, but the forecast suggested we may need a day or two in port.
Skopelos Town didn't disappoint. As we get nearer to Turkey, the Greek style changes a little, and this was a mixture of the white houses expected in a Greek island, with plenty of wooden balconies in the Turkish style, plus of course a beautiful church in a prominent position over the sea. The harbourmaster welcomed us and gave us a great berth, side-to on the quay in front of the restaurants.
We hired another quad and off we went on our land explorations. It's hard to adequately describe the views; breath-taking is so over-used, but as we came around the corner of a narrow, windy road, with a warm breeze in our faces, to see a great swathe of the coastline laid out before us, bright white half moon bays and tiny inaccessible coves, the sea sparkling with a million fragments of sunlight and the distant islands bathed in a violet haze, well, it WAS simply breath-taking.
We headed for the Mama Mia church but had to laugh when we got there. Most of it is exactly as you'd expect: that towering hill with the steep, curving staircase up the side, the sensational view, the rocky outcrop where Meryl Streep belts out "The Winner Takes it All" and the church on top...but hang on, it's a different church! Some artistic licence and cinematic trickery has removed the church that is actually there (a rather simple edifice by Greek standards) with a prettier and slightly larger version! Having climbed all of those 200 steps leading from bottom to top, you rather expect to find Amanda Seigfreid on her donkey and Piers Brosnan about to get down on one knee. Instead we found a handful of tourists taking selfies or sitting in the shade to get their breath back before the climb back down.
We stayed for three nights in Skopelos and just loved it, but with deadlines approaching for a flight home, we wanted to see more of the Sporades and everyone told us that Alonissos was gorgeous so off we want for the short hop between the two islands. We spent a couple of nights at anchor in different islands off Alonissos, the first in a quiet bay with just a couple of goats for company, the second in an almost perfectly sheltered pool with a narrow entrance channel widening out into a substantial piece of water, where we shared the anchorage with a dozen or so yachts (we seem to be the only motorboat around at this time of year, which is a shame for all the others, as you get some of the best cruising before the height of the season.) With a westerly wind due, we returned to Alonissos and found a tiny inlet with room for just one boat and promptly took the only parking space available, tying a rope to each side of the bay and claiming it for ourselves. The only signs of human life we saw for 24 hours were the occasional boats going past the entrance to the bay...heaven!
The main port of Alonissos is pretty small, but we opted to go in for a night or two, partly because we wanted to visit the chora, or old town, perched on the hill above. We had been told to go on the main quay, but as Frank tried to manoeuvre Zaffina into the space indicated, it was clear that we were bigger than the gap, so we ended up tied on near the ferry port - not the nicest place to be. The weather was changing and after a night in the port, we made the trip by taxi up to the town, but whilst we were exploring this pretty little place, black clouds suddenly gathered and a strong wind blew up from nowhere. We wanted to go back to the shelter of Skopelos harbour, as we knew we were in for a blast, so we abandoned our explorations and belted back down to the port to ready Zaffina for the short trip back, but the fates were against us. As we tried to lift the anchor, we discovered that the yacht next to us had laid their anchor across ours, and so the two came up together off the sea bed. I tried for a while - unsuccessfully - to disentangle the two chains, but eventually a fishing boat came over and with a lot of shouting and gesticulations, managed to release the rogue anchor and we could finally depart (we had notified the port authorities of the problem, so they could advise the yacht owners who were away from their boat).
Things weren't too bad when we came out of port and were in the shelter of the island but once we turned into the channel separating Skopelos from Alonissos...urgh! The best thing I can say about that trip is that it was short, no more than 40 minutes once we hit the rough seas, but everything else about it was pretty ghastly. Cutlery and crockery shrieked and tried to break out from cupboards and drawers, pots and pans rattled and the wine cupboard door flew up and half a dozen bottles shot across the floor of the saloon. The computer leapt from table to floor and it was only by a miracle that my beautiful fruit bowl from Hvar wasn't smashed into a thousand pieces. Zaffina was, as ever, brilliant, (and the skipper was pretty good...) but it is a trip we'd rather forget and an enormous relief to finally reach the shelter of the harbour. We were guided to the same berth that we'd left a few days previously and tied on in the now pouring rain with a multitude of ropes. Although the wind dropped shortly after we arrived (yeah, I was annoyed about that!) it blew up again in the night and blew and blew and blew, so despite the horrible crossing, we knew we'd made the right decision in seeking the best shelter to sit it out.
We were back to sea three days later, with probably our longest open sea trip of the season ahead of us. We had to get to Lesvos in the eastern Sporades, as we'd made arrangements to leave our Azimut there whilst we flew home, so on Saturday we eased out of port and were relieved to be on a completely different sort of sea from the last one we'd crossed! This was a beautiful millpond, and our trip to Skyros (not to be confused with Siros, the capital of the Aegean...) was pretty good. There's not much to see on Skyros, it's very much off the beaten track, rather barren and not the most picturesque island but we anchored in a pleasant bay for the day and found a sheltered cove for the night before continuing out journey. Conditions were even better the following morning, and apart from a blip half way, the trip was stunning. The only the we lacked was dolphins. The blip? Well, as we were gently cruising along, the starboard engine suddenly and briefly lost power. Frank and I looked at one another in horror: we had this problem two years ago and it led to one of our most unpleasant journeys, from Montenegro to Corfu, with frequent losses of power as the wind and sea rose around us. Back then, it also took two weeks to fix the problem, but my brilliant husband had learnt from last time. He looked at me and just said "well, if it's the same thing, I think I know how they fixed it", and off he went down to the engine room. Five minutes later, we put Zaffina back up to full speed and continued our trip to Lesvos without another hitch! If only we'd had that same knowledge two years ago.
We anchored off the southeast corner of the island for the afternoon, and then eased up to the port of Mitilene. The marina is excellent, but our first impressions of the island and the town were less so, and these were only compounded when we hired a car the following day (wind was up again) and went off to explore. It wasn't pretty. However...some more excursions over the following two days proved to us that the first area we'd visited was the least attractive part of Lesvos, and when we found the heart of the town, we discovered it was far more appealing than the first impression had suggested. Lesvos has grown on us!
And it was from Lesvos that we returned home on Saturday, just as the financial storm was breaking over Greece. That morning, for the very first time, there were queues at the cash machine, as the reality of the situation really started to sink in, and with the banks having been closed for a week, it will be interesting to see how much things have changed when we return to Lesvos on Monday, and continue this fabulous summer of cruising.
Sunday, 7 June 2015
Postcard from Zaffina
Welcome to 2015!
Okay, so we're a little past the new year, but our season on Zaffina has only recently started, so I thought it was time to share what we have seen and done so far.
Our lovely Azimut was in good shape when we got back down to Athens, and initially we had just one night on her, out at anchor near Aegina in the Peloponnese. Conditions were perfect, we had a lovely trip down, spent a while anchored off a small island and then went and nestled into a sheltered bay in the late afternoon, intending to go into port for the night. Our situation and the state of the sea were just too good to leave, so instead of moving on, we just stayed in situ and had the most gorgeous overnight stop, a brisk reminder of everything we love about boating. We even swam!
After a brief return to Jersey, we started the next stage of our adventure; a hike south from Athens and then north, between the mainland and the island of Evia, towards the Sporades. The first day was pretty uneventful, but thoroughly enjoyable. It was great to be on the sea again, and exciting to be moving into uncharted (for us) waters. When we saw a delightful anchorage in the mid afternoon, we were happy to stop, our only company a fishing boat on a nearby mooring. Even they departed in the early evening to go fishing, and when they returned some hours later, I beckoned the fishermen across and threw them a bag of doughnuts, (some of those given to us by the lovely Georgette when we left Athens...we couldn't eat all nine, sorry!) In return, the fishermen immediately found a carrier bag, filled it with a gift for us, and threw it back across to Zaffina...two freshly caught octopus! Guess what I had for supper the following evening? After being marinaded in olive oil and lemon juice, then grilled on the barbeque, they were pretty good...but I get ahead of myself!
Day two involved a relatively short hop up to a bay called Boufalo that we'd seen in the pilot book and fancied visiting. The approach was up a channel and then around a spit of sand, with a sheltered anchorage behind it, and having anchored up we spent a while debating whether we were too close to a nearby yacht and whether we should reposition ourselves; by the time we'd made our minds up, the yacht had upped anchor and left, leaving us in pole position for the rest of the day and night. Several other yachts came in during the course of the afternoon, but as usual at this time of year, we appeared to be the only motorboat around.
We knew that the next leg of our trip involved negotiating a low bridge which is opened for boat access at Chalkis. The pilot book advised that it was open at night, but what it didn't make clear was that it was only open at night! We arrived late morning, and had to tie up to the nearby wall for the rest of the day. It wouldn't have been our first choice of mooring, as it was particularly hot and a calm anchorage and pleasant breeze would have been more welcome, but we had lunch in the small town and then jumped through several hoops to get all the paperwork completed that would allow us to go through the bridge when finally it opened. Suffice to say, it was typically Greek...in every sense! Apparently the bridge can only be opened very briefly every evening, and the time changes according to the sped of the current - it can be any time between 10pm and 3am, and you are given a ten minute warning on the radio before being called to go through. We were lucky: the call came at 10.50pm to prepare our boats, and along with those now tied up or moored nearby, we hastily loosened the ropes and, when told to, proceeded through the now open bridge. Rather than tying against the wall on the waterfront, we opted to continue for a while up the channel and find an anchorage away from all the yachts that had come through with us. Big mistake! We did find that anchorage and it was pretty peaceful when we turned in at about 12.30am, but by 4am an uncomfortable swell was hitting us straight on the beam and at 4.30 we finally gave up, pulled up the anchor and set sail in the dark! It's not often that we get to watch the dawn break, but we did that morning, as the sun rose over Evia. At around 7, we again the dropped the anchor, this time in the shelter of a small island, returned to our cabin and slept deeply and sweetly for a few hours.
After a late breakfast we were on the move again, and by now the channel was as calm as cream, the sky a clear blue and we thoroughly enjoyed the remainder of our journey, especially when a school of dolphins provided some spectacular entertainment before we finally left the channel and crossed the small straits separating mainland Greece from our destination: Skiathos.
And here we've been here in Skiathos ever since. It's a gorgeous island, and we were welcomed by Jean, who used to live in Jersey and cut Frank's hair! In fact, after one look at him, she whipped out the scissors and gave him a quick trim and tidy up! Last Sunday we took her, her friend Stephen and Bella the dog out on Zaffina for the day, circumnavigating the entire island with a great commentary from Jean, as she worked on the tour boats for a while. The weather has been mixed - mainly hot and sunny, but occasionally - as today - overcast, drizzly and windy. We've walked, taken a boat to the beach, eaten rather too indulgently and got to know the little town of Skiathos quite well, and now we're ready to move on again. Skopelos, where most of Mama Mia was filmed, is our next stop, and with the forecast looking good from tomorrow afternoon for the forseeable future, we're eager to continue our explorations of the Sporades and then further afield. Our plan is to head east this summer, moving on from the Sporades to the Dodecanese and then hopefully the Turkish coast...watch this space!
Okay, so we're a little past the new year, but our season on Zaffina has only recently started, so I thought it was time to share what we have seen and done so far.
Our lovely Azimut was in good shape when we got back down to Athens, and initially we had just one night on her, out at anchor near Aegina in the Peloponnese. Conditions were perfect, we had a lovely trip down, spent a while anchored off a small island and then went and nestled into a sheltered bay in the late afternoon, intending to go into port for the night. Our situation and the state of the sea were just too good to leave, so instead of moving on, we just stayed in situ and had the most gorgeous overnight stop, a brisk reminder of everything we love about boating. We even swam!
After a brief return to Jersey, we started the next stage of our adventure; a hike south from Athens and then north, between the mainland and the island of Evia, towards the Sporades. The first day was pretty uneventful, but thoroughly enjoyable. It was great to be on the sea again, and exciting to be moving into uncharted (for us) waters. When we saw a delightful anchorage in the mid afternoon, we were happy to stop, our only company a fishing boat on a nearby mooring. Even they departed in the early evening to go fishing, and when they returned some hours later, I beckoned the fishermen across and threw them a bag of doughnuts, (some of those given to us by the lovely Georgette when we left Athens...we couldn't eat all nine, sorry!) In return, the fishermen immediately found a carrier bag, filled it with a gift for us, and threw it back across to Zaffina...two freshly caught octopus! Guess what I had for supper the following evening? After being marinaded in olive oil and lemon juice, then grilled on the barbeque, they were pretty good...but I get ahead of myself!
Day two involved a relatively short hop up to a bay called Boufalo that we'd seen in the pilot book and fancied visiting. The approach was up a channel and then around a spit of sand, with a sheltered anchorage behind it, and having anchored up we spent a while debating whether we were too close to a nearby yacht and whether we should reposition ourselves; by the time we'd made our minds up, the yacht had upped anchor and left, leaving us in pole position for the rest of the day and night. Several other yachts came in during the course of the afternoon, but as usual at this time of year, we appeared to be the only motorboat around.
We knew that the next leg of our trip involved negotiating a low bridge which is opened for boat access at Chalkis. The pilot book advised that it was open at night, but what it didn't make clear was that it was only open at night! We arrived late morning, and had to tie up to the nearby wall for the rest of the day. It wouldn't have been our first choice of mooring, as it was particularly hot and a calm anchorage and pleasant breeze would have been more welcome, but we had lunch in the small town and then jumped through several hoops to get all the paperwork completed that would allow us to go through the bridge when finally it opened. Suffice to say, it was typically Greek...in every sense! Apparently the bridge can only be opened very briefly every evening, and the time changes according to the sped of the current - it can be any time between 10pm and 3am, and you are given a ten minute warning on the radio before being called to go through. We were lucky: the call came at 10.50pm to prepare our boats, and along with those now tied up or moored nearby, we hastily loosened the ropes and, when told to, proceeded through the now open bridge. Rather than tying against the wall on the waterfront, we opted to continue for a while up the channel and find an anchorage away from all the yachts that had come through with us. Big mistake! We did find that anchorage and it was pretty peaceful when we turned in at about 12.30am, but by 4am an uncomfortable swell was hitting us straight on the beam and at 4.30 we finally gave up, pulled up the anchor and set sail in the dark! It's not often that we get to watch the dawn break, but we did that morning, as the sun rose over Evia. At around 7, we again the dropped the anchor, this time in the shelter of a small island, returned to our cabin and slept deeply and sweetly for a few hours.
After a late breakfast we were on the move again, and by now the channel was as calm as cream, the sky a clear blue and we thoroughly enjoyed the remainder of our journey, especially when a school of dolphins provided some spectacular entertainment before we finally left the channel and crossed the small straits separating mainland Greece from our destination: Skiathos.
And here we've been here in Skiathos ever since. It's a gorgeous island, and we were welcomed by Jean, who used to live in Jersey and cut Frank's hair! In fact, after one look at him, she whipped out the scissors and gave him a quick trim and tidy up! Last Sunday we took her, her friend Stephen and Bella the dog out on Zaffina for the day, circumnavigating the entire island with a great commentary from Jean, as she worked on the tour boats for a while. The weather has been mixed - mainly hot and sunny, but occasionally - as today - overcast, drizzly and windy. We've walked, taken a boat to the beach, eaten rather too indulgently and got to know the little town of Skiathos quite well, and now we're ready to move on again. Skopelos, where most of Mama Mia was filmed, is our next stop, and with the forecast looking good from tomorrow afternoon for the forseeable future, we're eager to continue our explorations of the Sporades and then further afield. Our plan is to head east this summer, moving on from the Sporades to the Dodecanese and then hopefully the Turkish coast...watch this space!
Sunday, 5 October 2014
And so the season draws to a close...
Today we're packing up Zaffina, in readiness for our flight home, and I've just realised that (again) I have lagged horribly behind with my blog, so here is the final instalment for 2014.
We did go to Sifnos, just a short hope from our anchorage of the night before, and nosed into the tiny port of Vathi. When I say tiny, the breakwater had space for four yachts..fortunately, and surprisingly, there was room for us so we quickly tied on. The bay had fabulous shelter, so even if we hadn't been able to get onto the wall, we would have been happy to be at anchor, but this was even better.
Vathi is utterly quaint. To get anywhere, you have to walk along the beach or straight through restaurants - not that there's really anywhere to get to! There's a line of buildings along the seafront and a really lovely hotel that has opened quite recently, a couple of "supermarkets" (I use inverted commas because there really wasn't much that was super about them) and a few restaurants. The beach is soft sand, and that's where we headed for the afternoon, watching with interest as a superyacht came into port and tied up alongside us, half on and half off the pier.
We'd read in the Times Travel Magazine about a restaurant in Sifnos that was reputed to be exceptionally good, so made an interesting bus trip (having to change half way and not sure whether the connecting bus was actually going to turn up or not) to find it. It was very pleasant, but not quite the culinary experience we'd been hoping for! Having seen a bit of the island by bus, we thought we'd hire a car for a day to explore further but to our surprise, all the hire car companies were sold out. We resigned ourselves to staying in Vathi, but then Frank got talking to a tourist who was in the island on his own and he lent us his hire car for a day! We called the hire company and they were quite happy with this arrangement, so thanks to Iri, we had a great day zipping around Sifnos, ending up on a tree lined beach at Faros and then visiting the little church at Christopigi, near where we'd anchored several months ago.
After three nights in Sifnos, Frank plotted a route back to Paros, but before we reached the island, we anchored off Antiparos, just to the south, and liked it so much that we didn't move for two more days! Antiparos has the prettiest little town, consisting of a waterfront and one long street of restaurants, gift shops, cafes and boutiques, but it has a lovely feel to it and we felt really at home. Even this late in the season, the bougainvillaea provided a burst of colour, and the shade of the trees was welcome. The home made ice cream shop was pretty good too (it was the ice cream that was home made, not the shop, in case you're confused.) At a taverna one evening, we got chatting to a multi-national group celebrating a birthday on the next table. It transpired that they'd all fallen in love with Antiparos some years ago and now they meet up, Dutch, English, French, Australian, every year. Obviously we weren't the only ones who felt the magnetic pull of this little island.
Our anchorage wasn't especially sheltered, but the weather was being kind to us, so the only disturbance we got was from the local tripper boat; every day it sped past us, as close as possible in order to give the guests a good view, and kicked up a wake that sent everything clattering around Zaffina. The day we departed, the same boat had just passed us and we were more than tempted to give them a taste of their own medicine, but sadly they'd gone into one of the ports on the south coast of Paros before we had a chance to catch them up and shake them about!
The forecast suggested we'd need shelter for a day or two so we moved to Paroikia, the main port on Poros and after anchoring nearby, we noticed a yacht leaving so decided to nip into the harbour and take its place. We'd been here earlier in the year and had no problems, but this time we were told in no uncertain terms that we couldn't go on the inside wall. Frank ignored the two guys yelling at us to move on out, (we've encountered similar situations before, where someone already in port simply doesn't want you alongside, so they tell you that the berth is reserved when it isn't), but when one of the port officials waved us to the outside wall we knew we had to move. It was not a bad position, but a lot more exposed than inside the little harbour. Fortunately we ended up alongside a large gulet, which gave us ample protection from the elements.
We both love Paros and we were more than happy to spend another couple of days in the town before moving to our favourite anchorage of the summer, at the north of the island. The bay at Naoussa offers fantastic shelter and the town is a delight. It didn't disappoint this time either, and we were so glad that we'd managed to get back again after our first visits earlier in the year.
With guests due into Mykonos, we upped sticks (or upped anchor) and moved again, enjoying a leisurely trip between the islands...until the wind came up! We had thought of having lunch in a pretty bay we'd been to once before, but as we approached so the sea got rougher and rougher, until we decided to forget any idea of a stop off and head straight to Mykonos port.
Amanda and Ian were due to arrive the following day, and our plan was to pick them up and head straight back down to Paros so they could enjoy this little island that we loved so much. One look at the forecast told us that we would have to move quickly, as there was a real blast in prospect, but if we made it back down to Naoussa, we should be okay. The best laid plans...
Once our guests were on board, we prepared to leave, but there was no sign of the marina guy and we needed to pay him before we could go. When eventually he appeared, we did all the relevant paperwork, dropped the ropes and moved forward. That was when we discovered that the anchor was jammed on the seabed, and worse still, the lazy line that we'd just dropped had tangled with the prop. We weren't going anywhere. By the time the diver appeared (an hour and a half later) to disentangle everything, the wind had risen to such an extent that we weren't prepared to put to sea.
Two days later, we took a ferry down to Santorini and spent two nights there, staying at the amazingly situated Suites of the Gods. The hotel is perched on the cliff above the ferry harbour, and has a view all the way up the sweep of the caldera, to Fira and Oia - it really is the most spectacular outlook, and most of our time was just spent gazing in wonder at the view.
We hired a car and took Amanda and Ian to see all the best parts of Santorini, but our favourite is still undoubtedly Oia, the picture perfect town that features in so many advertising features for Greece. I don't think I could ever get bored with it. We even managed to find an exceptionally good restaurant, a real gem in a resort crowded with tourist traps.
On our final morning, I was lying in bed and Frank was in the bathroom, when to my surprise, a Japanese tourist came down the steps onto our private terrace, (and it was clearly private) and stood there taking photos of the view! I was so shocked I just watched in amazement - I'm not sure whether he saw me when he turned around to retrace his footsteps, but my jaw was on the floor!
The ferry trip back to Mykonos was a lot more pleasant than the one we'd experienced two days earlier!
Ian and Frank flew back to Jersey for a few days, whilst Amanda and I had a lazy time on Zaffina and in Mykonos Town, which we got to know pretty well! It's a real maze of tiny streets - designed that way, apparently, to give the pirate population the edge if they were chased through their home town! Despite it being late in the season, the island was still humming, with a number of cruise ships arriving and departing every day and passengers mixing with other tourists enjoying an autumn break in the Cyclades.
Frank and I again celebrated our wedding anniversary by being in two different countries! He was at home, I was in Greece, but Amanda and I had a very pleasant anniversary dinner, and better still, the restaurant did exceptionally good cocktails (think alcoholic lemon meringue pie in a glass!)
Amanda departed, Frank arrived, Frank and I departed! The wind, which had been practically non-existent for our last two days as an all-girl boat, was due back with a vengeance when Frank returned, and had we stayed in Mykonos for another night, we would have been stuck there for at least a week, with no chance at all of putting to sea. So...as soon as Frank was back on board, we were off. I'd completed all the formalities with the harbour and the police, and got the diver back to help bring the anchor up, so we had no delays to worry about and, with the wind already rising, we headed out to sea.
Over the next few hours, we had one of our longest and roughest journeys of the season, but compared to what we'd expected, it was a breeze! The first part was a bit bumpy as we headed towards Nisos, but we were seriously worried it would get a lot worse now once were in open sea. It actually wasn't bad at all, and then, as we reached the Greek mainland where Neptune's Temple at Sounia dominates the headland, the sea smoothed out beautifully, and we enjoyed reminiscing about other trips along that stretch of coast. It wasn't until we were in sight of Athens that conditions deteriorated again and with dramatic effect, but we were almost home and dry...almost. The home bit materialised, but the dry bit went by the wayside, as the clouds gathered, the wind rose, thunder rumbled, lightning flashed across the sky and, just as we were coming into Flisvos Marina, the heavens opened!
Miraculously, Frank effortlessly brought Zaffina into her winter berth, next to the Sunseeker, Extravagance, where we were when first we came into Flisvos back in May, and with cold rain now pelting down, we tied on as quickly as possible and made her fast.
After such a dramatic finale, we decided not to go to sea again; the forecast was now variable for this area of the Aegean, and although we could possibly have made it down to Aegina or Poros for a day or two, (the weather conditions there, in the Peloponnese, can be completely different to the Mykonos, which is in the Cyclades) we felt we'd be tempting fate, so for the last week we've been using Zaffina as a base and enjoying Athens - both the coast and the city. We found an exceptionally amazing restaurant at which we belated celebrated our wedding anniversary (together this time...), and on another evening, after wandering through the Plaka (old town), ate at one with a sensational view of the floodlit Acropolis. Last night we went up to the peak that overlooks the whole of Athens and got a real sense of how large the city really is. We've lazed on the beach and enjoyed some pretty good temperatures for October, and now we've reached that point at which we know the season is at a close and we're as ready as we ever will be to go home.
Apart from a few hiccups with the generator and the thrusters, Zaffina has been amazing (again) this year, Greece has been exceptional, and we've enjoyed our best season so far on the water.
So this is where I sign off for another year....hopefully we'll chat again in the early summer 2015!
We did go to Sifnos, just a short hope from our anchorage of the night before, and nosed into the tiny port of Vathi. When I say tiny, the breakwater had space for four yachts..fortunately, and surprisingly, there was room for us so we quickly tied on. The bay had fabulous shelter, so even if we hadn't been able to get onto the wall, we would have been happy to be at anchor, but this was even better.
Vathi is utterly quaint. To get anywhere, you have to walk along the beach or straight through restaurants - not that there's really anywhere to get to! There's a line of buildings along the seafront and a really lovely hotel that has opened quite recently, a couple of "supermarkets" (I use inverted commas because there really wasn't much that was super about them) and a few restaurants. The beach is soft sand, and that's where we headed for the afternoon, watching with interest as a superyacht came into port and tied up alongside us, half on and half off the pier.
We'd read in the Times Travel Magazine about a restaurant in Sifnos that was reputed to be exceptionally good, so made an interesting bus trip (having to change half way and not sure whether the connecting bus was actually going to turn up or not) to find it. It was very pleasant, but not quite the culinary experience we'd been hoping for! Having seen a bit of the island by bus, we thought we'd hire a car for a day to explore further but to our surprise, all the hire car companies were sold out. We resigned ourselves to staying in Vathi, but then Frank got talking to a tourist who was in the island on his own and he lent us his hire car for a day! We called the hire company and they were quite happy with this arrangement, so thanks to Iri, we had a great day zipping around Sifnos, ending up on a tree lined beach at Faros and then visiting the little church at Christopigi, near where we'd anchored several months ago.
After three nights in Sifnos, Frank plotted a route back to Paros, but before we reached the island, we anchored off Antiparos, just to the south, and liked it so much that we didn't move for two more days! Antiparos has the prettiest little town, consisting of a waterfront and one long street of restaurants, gift shops, cafes and boutiques, but it has a lovely feel to it and we felt really at home. Even this late in the season, the bougainvillaea provided a burst of colour, and the shade of the trees was welcome. The home made ice cream shop was pretty good too (it was the ice cream that was home made, not the shop, in case you're confused.) At a taverna one evening, we got chatting to a multi-national group celebrating a birthday on the next table. It transpired that they'd all fallen in love with Antiparos some years ago and now they meet up, Dutch, English, French, Australian, every year. Obviously we weren't the only ones who felt the magnetic pull of this little island.
Our anchorage wasn't especially sheltered, but the weather was being kind to us, so the only disturbance we got was from the local tripper boat; every day it sped past us, as close as possible in order to give the guests a good view, and kicked up a wake that sent everything clattering around Zaffina. The day we departed, the same boat had just passed us and we were more than tempted to give them a taste of their own medicine, but sadly they'd gone into one of the ports on the south coast of Paros before we had a chance to catch them up and shake them about!
The forecast suggested we'd need shelter for a day or two so we moved to Paroikia, the main port on Poros and after anchoring nearby, we noticed a yacht leaving so decided to nip into the harbour and take its place. We'd been here earlier in the year and had no problems, but this time we were told in no uncertain terms that we couldn't go on the inside wall. Frank ignored the two guys yelling at us to move on out, (we've encountered similar situations before, where someone already in port simply doesn't want you alongside, so they tell you that the berth is reserved when it isn't), but when one of the port officials waved us to the outside wall we knew we had to move. It was not a bad position, but a lot more exposed than inside the little harbour. Fortunately we ended up alongside a large gulet, which gave us ample protection from the elements.
We both love Paros and we were more than happy to spend another couple of days in the town before moving to our favourite anchorage of the summer, at the north of the island. The bay at Naoussa offers fantastic shelter and the town is a delight. It didn't disappoint this time either, and we were so glad that we'd managed to get back again after our first visits earlier in the year.
With guests due into Mykonos, we upped sticks (or upped anchor) and moved again, enjoying a leisurely trip between the islands...until the wind came up! We had thought of having lunch in a pretty bay we'd been to once before, but as we approached so the sea got rougher and rougher, until we decided to forget any idea of a stop off and head straight to Mykonos port.
Amanda and Ian were due to arrive the following day, and our plan was to pick them up and head straight back down to Paros so they could enjoy this little island that we loved so much. One look at the forecast told us that we would have to move quickly, as there was a real blast in prospect, but if we made it back down to Naoussa, we should be okay. The best laid plans...
Once our guests were on board, we prepared to leave, but there was no sign of the marina guy and we needed to pay him before we could go. When eventually he appeared, we did all the relevant paperwork, dropped the ropes and moved forward. That was when we discovered that the anchor was jammed on the seabed, and worse still, the lazy line that we'd just dropped had tangled with the prop. We weren't going anywhere. By the time the diver appeared (an hour and a half later) to disentangle everything, the wind had risen to such an extent that we weren't prepared to put to sea.
Two days later, we took a ferry down to Santorini and spent two nights there, staying at the amazingly situated Suites of the Gods. The hotel is perched on the cliff above the ferry harbour, and has a view all the way up the sweep of the caldera, to Fira and Oia - it really is the most spectacular outlook, and most of our time was just spent gazing in wonder at the view.
We hired a car and took Amanda and Ian to see all the best parts of Santorini, but our favourite is still undoubtedly Oia, the picture perfect town that features in so many advertising features for Greece. I don't think I could ever get bored with it. We even managed to find an exceptionally good restaurant, a real gem in a resort crowded with tourist traps.
On our final morning, I was lying in bed and Frank was in the bathroom, when to my surprise, a Japanese tourist came down the steps onto our private terrace, (and it was clearly private) and stood there taking photos of the view! I was so shocked I just watched in amazement - I'm not sure whether he saw me when he turned around to retrace his footsteps, but my jaw was on the floor!
The ferry trip back to Mykonos was a lot more pleasant than the one we'd experienced two days earlier!
Ian and Frank flew back to Jersey for a few days, whilst Amanda and I had a lazy time on Zaffina and in Mykonos Town, which we got to know pretty well! It's a real maze of tiny streets - designed that way, apparently, to give the pirate population the edge if they were chased through their home town! Despite it being late in the season, the island was still humming, with a number of cruise ships arriving and departing every day and passengers mixing with other tourists enjoying an autumn break in the Cyclades.
Frank and I again celebrated our wedding anniversary by being in two different countries! He was at home, I was in Greece, but Amanda and I had a very pleasant anniversary dinner, and better still, the restaurant did exceptionally good cocktails (think alcoholic lemon meringue pie in a glass!)
Amanda departed, Frank arrived, Frank and I departed! The wind, which had been practically non-existent for our last two days as an all-girl boat, was due back with a vengeance when Frank returned, and had we stayed in Mykonos for another night, we would have been stuck there for at least a week, with no chance at all of putting to sea. So...as soon as Frank was back on board, we were off. I'd completed all the formalities with the harbour and the police, and got the diver back to help bring the anchor up, so we had no delays to worry about and, with the wind already rising, we headed out to sea.
Over the next few hours, we had one of our longest and roughest journeys of the season, but compared to what we'd expected, it was a breeze! The first part was a bit bumpy as we headed towards Nisos, but we were seriously worried it would get a lot worse now once were in open sea. It actually wasn't bad at all, and then, as we reached the Greek mainland where Neptune's Temple at Sounia dominates the headland, the sea smoothed out beautifully, and we enjoyed reminiscing about other trips along that stretch of coast. It wasn't until we were in sight of Athens that conditions deteriorated again and with dramatic effect, but we were almost home and dry...almost. The home bit materialised, but the dry bit went by the wayside, as the clouds gathered, the wind rose, thunder rumbled, lightning flashed across the sky and, just as we were coming into Flisvos Marina, the heavens opened!
Miraculously, Frank effortlessly brought Zaffina into her winter berth, next to the Sunseeker, Extravagance, where we were when first we came into Flisvos back in May, and with cold rain now pelting down, we tied on as quickly as possible and made her fast.
After such a dramatic finale, we decided not to go to sea again; the forecast was now variable for this area of the Aegean, and although we could possibly have made it down to Aegina or Poros for a day or two, (the weather conditions there, in the Peloponnese, can be completely different to the Mykonos, which is in the Cyclades) we felt we'd be tempting fate, so for the last week we've been using Zaffina as a base and enjoying Athens - both the coast and the city. We found an exceptionally amazing restaurant at which we belated celebrated our wedding anniversary (together this time...), and on another evening, after wandering through the Plaka (old town), ate at one with a sensational view of the floodlit Acropolis. Last night we went up to the peak that overlooks the whole of Athens and got a real sense of how large the city really is. We've lazed on the beach and enjoyed some pretty good temperatures for October, and now we've reached that point at which we know the season is at a close and we're as ready as we ever will be to go home.
Apart from a few hiccups with the generator and the thrusters, Zaffina has been amazing (again) this year, Greece has been exceptional, and we've enjoyed our best season so far on the water.
So this is where I sign off for another year....hopefully we'll chat again in the early summer 2015!
Monday, 8 September 2014
September update
After a few days in Jersey (sadly for the funeral of a dear
friend), we were on a flight back to Greece and the sunshine. With just a few
days before the arrival of family members, we knew it wasn’t really worth going
down to the islands and instead set sail for a cove we’d seen when we’d hired a
car and explored the area near Athens. The hotel Astir Palace takes over most
of a picturesque headland, and has a private marina, and this is where we
headed. We’d already enquired about the marina, and decided that instead of
paying the fees, we’d anchor off. Even better, when we got there, we discovered
a single buoy ready and waiting, so we tied on and waited for someone to tell
us we shouldn’t be there. No one did!
Conditions were pretty good for the first day and night, and
we just did what we do so well – relaxed and enjoyed our surroundings, read and
swam, ate and drank! We’d promised ourselves dinner at the restaurant on the
marina where we’d had lunch a week earlier, and intended to leave Zaffina at
anchor and take the dinghy ashore, but when we went to the marina to enquire
about leaving our tiny tender in the port, we were told that we would be
charged 100 euros! We checked on the price of taking our Azimut into port, and
that would be 110 euros, and after a quick look at the forecast, we decided
that not only was this better value, it was also the sensible option as the
wind was due up that evening.
As we came into port, the marineros directed us to the first
berth by the entrance – the worse place to be in terms of wake and sea
movement, - so, seeing there were dozens of empty spaces, we asked if we could
go elsewhere. No was the answer. Frank manoeuvred Zaffina into our allocated
space and I took the lines on the bow. “This is the port line,” said the marinero,
so I obediently tied it to the port cleat. Two minutes later, he told me it was
on the wrong side and instructed that it be moved to starboard – not an easy
feat as it was now tight. We eventually got tied on, and were surprised that
the marinero hung around for a while, obviously expecting a tip despite his
surly attitude. He was more surprised when he didn’t get one.
Dinner made up for the experience in the port, as we sat at
a table overlooking the water and the twinkling lights of the Greek coast,
enjoying an excellent meal.
Adrian, Chantelle and Lucy arrived two days later and we
picked them up in Flisvos before heading straight down to Poros on a calm sea. Our
first night en famille was in Russian Bay, an anchorage that has become a firm
favourite of ours, as it offers great shelter regardless of wind direction. It
was lovely to be back in the islands, and to show off some of the places that
we’ve fallen in love with this summer, and the girls and Adie loved not only
that anchorage, but others we chose during their week.
In the evening, we had a barbeque on the flybridge, washed
down with rather a lot of wine and followed by a long and laughter filled
session of charades. I wimped out early – too much red wine I’m afraid – whilst
the others went for a late night swim in the still warm water.
From Poros, we headed south and west, back to the mainland
area opposite Spetses, where we dropped the hook in the clearest, bluest water
imaginable. We’d seen a restaurant on a previous visit that looked worth closer
inspection, so booked it for that evening. The situation was beautiful, right
on the beach with the tables set just above the water. When we arrived, the
staff seemed under pressure and sent us to the bar for a drink before we took
our table, which looked as though it may be at the back of the terrace. A
little persuasion put us on a better table and we relaxed and ordered our meal.
At that point, things went a little haywire! Adie and I were sharing a main
course, which was the first dish to arrive on the table. As it was hot, we
tucked in, and eventually a couple of other starters arrived, but nothing was
co-ordinated and although we’re used to Greek service, and pretty relaxed about
it, this was the most extraordinary we’ve ever experienced. In fact, it was the
only restaurant I can ever remember at which I’d finished my main course before
my starter arrived! I’d like to say that the quality of the food made up for
the erratic service, but sadly that wasn’t the case and we rapidly crossed the
restaurant off our list of places to eat in Greece!
That evening the girls slept up on the flybridge, and to our
surprise managed a whole night under the stars. Lucy counted eleven shooting
stars, Chantelle only two or three, and the two of them chatted and giggled
until the small hours of the morning.
We moved for a night into the channel leading up to Porto
Kheli, which has a number of sheltered inlets running off it, where we tied up near
a tiny beach and spent almost as much time in the water cooling off as out of
it. With five of us on board, water and provisions run low very quickly, so we popped
into Porto Kheli to fill our water tank from one of the tankers that ply along
the quay. It cost a full 15 euros, not bad value considering Frank had been debating
whether to buy bottled water for the task!
Our next port was Hydra, and to our delight this time we got
a great berth right on the quayside. Our guests were as taken with the port as
we were, but instead of going to the rocks to swim, this time we took a water
taxi down to a gorgeous beach, fringed with shady fir trees, and there we
whiled away the hot hours of the day. The following morning, the girls took the
opportunity to have a quick (and it was quick, hardly the 15 minutes promised)
donkey ride, before we set sail back to Poros, where we picked up another guest
– Adam – who had already been there for a couple of nights. With six now on
board, we had all the cabins occupied, with Adam in the seldom-used crew cabin,
although we did clear it out for his arrival!
Another night and day in Russian Bay was followed by the
trek back up to Flisvos and a last night in port before Adrian and the girls
departed for the airport in a 5.30am taxi.
Just a few hours later, our next guests were boarding.
Christian and Leonie had had two nights in Athens and were eager to continue
their holiday on board Zaffina. After a
night anchored off Poros, we retraced our route down to Hydra and although
there was space on the quay when we arrived, an arrogant Feretti skipper nipped
around us and took the place as we were waiting for the harbourmaster to guide
us in. This meant we had to tie to the merchant ship again, although
fortunately our position was a little further back this time, making the jump
between the two side decks a lot easier.
Once safely tied on, we had a snack lunch on the quayside
and then took one of the tripper boats down to a beach in the south of the
island. It wasn’t quite as pretty as the beach we’d been to previously, but it
had great skimming stones, so I spent a happy hour or so sitting in the water,
indulging in my favourite sport! Back in Hydra Town for the evening, we tried a
new restaurant, further up the hillside from Sunset – a bit of a trek for Adam,
who had just got off crutches after yet another ankle injury – but worth the
walk for a lovely meal in pretty courtyard surroundings.
Having two sets of guests for a week at a time meant that we
were pretty much doing the same route as the previous week, although in
slightly different order. We returned to the anchorage where we’d had to cut
our ropes a few weeks previously, and tied on in almost exactly the same place,
although this time keeping a firm eye on the sea conditions at all times! After
dinner on board – we weren’t going to try the “main course first, starters
later” restaurant again – we all dropped into the water and were astounded by
the phosphorescence. Although we’ve come across this phenomena a few times, and
in fact seen it almost every evening for the past month when we’ve been in the
water in the dark, this was exceptional. As we swam in the warm sea, we each
left an asteroid trail of sparkling stars in our path, a Disney-esque
interpretation of Tinkerbell’s twinkling wake. The further we went from the
lights of other boats, the more our wake sparkled and we spent a happy hour in
the water, splashing and kicking to create a myriad of shooting stars beneath
the waves. It was a special evening.
The following day we moved into the channel up to Porto
Kheli and in the evening took a taxi boat over to Spetses. We’d tried to take
Zaffina over there earlier in the season, but marina spaces are difficult and
tying on is strange, requiring exceptionally long lines from boat to shore and
impossible to do by swimming, which is our chosen technique.
Spetses Town turned out to be gorgeous and after a cocktail
in a fun bar overlooking the new port, we walked around to the old port for an
exceptionally good dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was Frank who decided
the next day that we should go back to Spetses for another evening, and nobody
disagreed so we again took the taxi across the channel. Cocktails were on the
terrace of an elegant hotel on the seafront, and dinner was again in the old
port – this time we took a couple of horse-drawn carriages, the only transport
apart from two-wheeled or taxis on the island – but a different restaurant. The
evening shot past, and all too soon we were on the taxi back to Zaffina. When
we got back, there was loud music coming from one of the boats anchored near us
in the bay by Porto Kheli, and deciding that if you can’t beat ‘em, you join
‘em, we all piled into the dinghy and went across to ask for admittance to the
party! Despite some persuasive talk from Christian and Leonie, we were denied
access (not surprising really) and so instead we went across to the newly
opened Niki Beach Hotel, where we managed to blag our way into their rooftop
bar. Not sure how that happened! The view was beautiful, the cocktails were
excellent and the giant, colour-changing eggs were a wow, particularly when we
managed to get hold of the controls to change all the colours! The sight of
Adam walking to the gents with every decorative egg changing colour as he
passed, will stay with us for a long time, as will the image of Frank
apparently given birth to one! Amazingly no-one threw us out!
Adam was due to fly home the next evening and Christian and
Leonie wanted a couple of days on their own, so we dropped the young couple in
Spetses, their chosen island, and pressed on up to Athens with Adam, ready for
his departure.
With a couple of items needing attention on the boat, we
decided to jump ship and we returned to the Astir Palace, this time by road,
and had a couple of nights on terra firma and another lovely meal on the marina
(though without paying marina fees or facing the grumpy marineros!)
On Wednesday afternoon, we met Christian and Leonie on their
return from Spetses, for a quick drink in Syntagma Square before they too
high-tailed it to the airport. Now our high summer visitors had all gone home,
hopefully with a stack of happy memories of Greece to look back on.
Alone again, we checked the forecast and were delighted to
see that things finally looked good for a return to the Cyclades. The winds in
the central Aegean are notorious in the height of the summer, and although we
were down here in June, there was no chance of a return in July or August. Now
they’ve dropped again, and we set sail from Athens early on Thursday morning,
heading south. The sea was mixed – good for a while and then with quite a swell
before we reached our first port of call, the island of Serifos. As we came
around the island, it looked pretty barren and we wondered if we’d made a
mistake by bothering to visit, but once we got to the small port, we knew we’d
hit gold. It was beautiful. By the port were a couple of gold beaches fringed
with tamarind trees, and on a towering hill overlooking the sea was a
picturesque town of sugar-cube houses.
We went ashore early evening and after a drink on the port, took
the bus up the hill to the town, which was just as pretty close up as from a
distance, although not nearly as polished and touristique as Santorini and
Mykonos. In a tiny square, we sipped fresh orange juice as the light faded, and
watched the residents congregate for their evening constitutional. It was a
magical evening.
We debated whether to stay another day in Serifos, but we’d
heard a lot about Milos and instead set sail again. Many centuries ago, Milos
was another volcano, and sailing into the Caldera was a jaw-dropping moment. It
is exceptionally beautiful, especially when the sea is as calm as it was that
morning, and we were both awe-struck by the island. We tied up in Adamas, the
main town and port, where ferries come and go with alarming regularity causing
the boats moored there to rock and roll on the swell.
As the island is quite large (compared to others in the
Cyclades), we hired a car for the day and after visiting the catacombs, ended
up at a tiny fishing port called Firapotamus, where the old boathouses are
lined up along the water’s edge, each with different coloured doors, and a blue
and white church stands on the end of the promontory. It was about as pretty as
you could imagine, enhanced by the bright turquoise of the warm shallow waters
in the bay.
Yesterday we moved on again, intending to sail most of the
way around Milos but eventually making a break for the north to try to get out
from under a large, dark grey cloud that was dogging us. I think Zaffina may
have had a cloud magnet on board, because it seemed wherever we went, the cloud
followed, and eventually we moved on to the island of Kimelos, where we dropped
anchor in a sheltered bay and waited for the cumulus to dissipate. Eventually
it did!
So here we are, debating whether we should go back to Milos
or move on to Sifnos. The latter looks likely; there are supposed to be some
exceptionally good restaurants in Sifnos…not that we are guided by greed in any
way! The dark clouds have gone, the sea is sparkling and there is plenty more
exploring to be done.
I love Greece!
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