Wiggo
Well-Known Member
I have been over to the dark side again, this time in the Saronic and Argolic Gulfs of Greece. So here's the photo odyssey...
We flew to Athens and the travelled by coach to Epidhavros, crossing the Corinth Canal en route. The picture really doesn't give any sense of the size of it, but stepping out onto the bridge was a real cheek clenching moment.
Once in Epidhavros, we quickly got settled in and fed and watered for the night. The following morning, we had a look around the port, bought some provisions and had the first of our briefings.
The first day was a short sail to Vathi, but stopping off in a bay close to Epidhavros for lunch first. Rather oddly, we discovered that the local stinkies were friendly, waving without prompting:
The first views of the bay gave us some idea of what was to come:
The lunch stop was an awesome start, with the water as warm as a swimming pool:
After lunch, we sailed off to Vathi for an overnight stop.
The entrance to Vathi is very narrow, and the harbour equally tiny, but the views are spectacular.
There isn't much in Vathi apart from a couple of tavernas, but the food was good and we spent a quiet night.
On the following morning, we set off to round the Methana headland to reach Poros. The first mark was a tiny white church on the headland:
At this point, we turned Northeast and began to get a little wind, sailing past scenery that was straight out of the Greek Classics:
The wind started out light, but we soon had a reasonable wind on the starboard bow and made good speed upwind, before tacking and running south to Poros:
Once we approached the harbour at Poros, we could see something large, white and expensive:
She turned out to be the Esmeralda. Anyone know anything about her (stupid question, I know).
We headed off and spent an hour or two in the beach before walking along the seafront for dinner at the Oasis Taverna. As we passed Esmeralda again, we saw the famous 'sleeping lady':
Next morning we set off early for a brisk sail round to Ihdra. This is a well-known grockle trap and we needed to get in by lunchtime. The trip was only around 12 miles or so and the wind was again from the Southeast making for an enjoyable sail. Ihdra was already getting busy by 12 noon, but we got in on the South Quay, right in front of the tavernas:
The town is spectacular, being pretty much unchanged for the last century and a half:
Even the local electricity board uses a donkey to get around (cars are banned on the island):
As we were rafted up, we saw a largish ship enter the harbour and manoeuvre onto the harbour wall. The yacht alongside us looked a little apprehensive as the ship moored up less than two feet from his side, but there were no problems. The bow door was lowered and the island's supplies started to be unloaded:
A fork truck unloaded pallet after pallet onto the quayside - everything from ice to a washing machine to a gravestone to a bed came ashore and was taken away in handcarts or by donkey:
The following day had a long sail, pushing twenty miles, passing Ermioni and Dhokos up to the tiny port of Koiladhia. En route we passed Spetses, stopping briefly for lunch in a cove on the north western end of the island:
We reached Koiladhia by about 5:30 in the afternoon, after an exhilarating run North with the boat goose winged and hitting 7.5 knots.
We spent the night at anchor, but before going ashore for the evening, the lead crew organised a tender race (with the oarsmen blindfolded and directions given by the kids):
As the course was around the anchored boats, we were naturally doused with buckets of water from the spectators. Your esteemed correspondent is proud to have come second. An evening ashore was enjoyed in a local taverna that did a fabulous mezze selection for €15/head. The following morning we set off to cross the Argolic Gulf to Astrous, and as we left, a boat ahead of us radioed back to say that the Southern entrance was full of large turtles. Unfortunately they had gone by the time we got there. The sight of the town in the morning light was spectacular, however:
We then crossed almost due West over to the town of Astrous. The cruising guide describes it as having no 'must see' sights, but being a beautiful unspoilt fishing village, all of which is true. On the way over, the wind picked up and the final couple of miles saw us on a beam reach hitting 8.2 knots according to the GPS.
As well as the beautiful harbour, the village has a small amphitheatre which we took over for our egg dropping contest and punch party:
We then wandered into town for another fine meal at the Remezzo taverna, tucked away under the trees:
The final day's sailing saw us crossing over to the east side of the gulf for a lunch stop before rounding the headland and mooring up in Navplion:
Just as we were mooring in Navplion, there was a great commotion from below. SWMBO was on the bow about to let the anchor go, and I was backing down onto the quay wall with a very lively crosswind, so it was the perfect time for my son to get his thumb trapped in a door jamb (don't ask). Lots of screaming and blood everywhere and nothing I could do. I called the lead crew on the VHF and asked them to just take our lines wherever we ended up, and they duly did, allowing me to go down below and deal with the first aid bits. No 1 son is now minus his left thumb nail...
The final night was spent in a taverna in the centre of Navplion, and was great fun, with the final competition being the 'tacky souvenir' contest:
It was a close run thing, with the dolphin tealight holder and the flip-flop fridge magnet neck and neck with the 'donkey with olive skewers' from Ihdra. Fortunately, the combination of poor taste and even poorer manufacturing meant that our donkey had already had a leg fall off on its two day journey. Tacky, useless and broken, our donkey won the day and will shortly be restored with superglue or gaffer tape and will become a prized feature on Eulimene...
Will we go to the dark side again? Yes, definitely. Will we sail in the UK? Only if it's 30* or hotter...
We flew to Athens and the travelled by coach to Epidhavros, crossing the Corinth Canal en route. The picture really doesn't give any sense of the size of it, but stepping out onto the bridge was a real cheek clenching moment.
Once in Epidhavros, we quickly got settled in and fed and watered for the night. The following morning, we had a look around the port, bought some provisions and had the first of our briefings.
The first day was a short sail to Vathi, but stopping off in a bay close to Epidhavros for lunch first. Rather oddly, we discovered that the local stinkies were friendly, waving without prompting:
The first views of the bay gave us some idea of what was to come:
The lunch stop was an awesome start, with the water as warm as a swimming pool:
After lunch, we sailed off to Vathi for an overnight stop.
The entrance to Vathi is very narrow, and the harbour equally tiny, but the views are spectacular.
There isn't much in Vathi apart from a couple of tavernas, but the food was good and we spent a quiet night.
On the following morning, we set off to round the Methana headland to reach Poros. The first mark was a tiny white church on the headland:
At this point, we turned Northeast and began to get a little wind, sailing past scenery that was straight out of the Greek Classics:
The wind started out light, but we soon had a reasonable wind on the starboard bow and made good speed upwind, before tacking and running south to Poros:
Once we approached the harbour at Poros, we could see something large, white and expensive:
She turned out to be the Esmeralda. Anyone know anything about her (stupid question, I know).
We headed off and spent an hour or two in the beach before walking along the seafront for dinner at the Oasis Taverna. As we passed Esmeralda again, we saw the famous 'sleeping lady':
Next morning we set off early for a brisk sail round to Ihdra. This is a well-known grockle trap and we needed to get in by lunchtime. The trip was only around 12 miles or so and the wind was again from the Southeast making for an enjoyable sail. Ihdra was already getting busy by 12 noon, but we got in on the South Quay, right in front of the tavernas:
The town is spectacular, being pretty much unchanged for the last century and a half:
Even the local electricity board uses a donkey to get around (cars are banned on the island):
As we were rafted up, we saw a largish ship enter the harbour and manoeuvre onto the harbour wall. The yacht alongside us looked a little apprehensive as the ship moored up less than two feet from his side, but there were no problems. The bow door was lowered and the island's supplies started to be unloaded:
A fork truck unloaded pallet after pallet onto the quayside - everything from ice to a washing machine to a gravestone to a bed came ashore and was taken away in handcarts or by donkey:
The following day had a long sail, pushing twenty miles, passing Ermioni and Dhokos up to the tiny port of Koiladhia. En route we passed Spetses, stopping briefly for lunch in a cove on the north western end of the island:
We reached Koiladhia by about 5:30 in the afternoon, after an exhilarating run North with the boat goose winged and hitting 7.5 knots.
We spent the night at anchor, but before going ashore for the evening, the lead crew organised a tender race (with the oarsmen blindfolded and directions given by the kids):
As the course was around the anchored boats, we were naturally doused with buckets of water from the spectators. Your esteemed correspondent is proud to have come second. An evening ashore was enjoyed in a local taverna that did a fabulous mezze selection for €15/head. The following morning we set off to cross the Argolic Gulf to Astrous, and as we left, a boat ahead of us radioed back to say that the Southern entrance was full of large turtles. Unfortunately they had gone by the time we got there. The sight of the town in the morning light was spectacular, however:
We then crossed almost due West over to the town of Astrous. The cruising guide describes it as having no 'must see' sights, but being a beautiful unspoilt fishing village, all of which is true. On the way over, the wind picked up and the final couple of miles saw us on a beam reach hitting 8.2 knots according to the GPS.
As well as the beautiful harbour, the village has a small amphitheatre which we took over for our egg dropping contest and punch party:
We then wandered into town for another fine meal at the Remezzo taverna, tucked away under the trees:
The final day's sailing saw us crossing over to the east side of the gulf for a lunch stop before rounding the headland and mooring up in Navplion:
Just as we were mooring in Navplion, there was a great commotion from below. SWMBO was on the bow about to let the anchor go, and I was backing down onto the quay wall with a very lively crosswind, so it was the perfect time for my son to get his thumb trapped in a door jamb (don't ask). Lots of screaming and blood everywhere and nothing I could do. I called the lead crew on the VHF and asked them to just take our lines wherever we ended up, and they duly did, allowing me to go down below and deal with the first aid bits. No 1 son is now minus his left thumb nail...
The final night was spent in a taverna in the centre of Navplion, and was great fun, with the final competition being the 'tacky souvenir' contest:
It was a close run thing, with the dolphin tealight holder and the flip-flop fridge magnet neck and neck with the 'donkey with olive skewers' from Ihdra. Fortunately, the combination of poor taste and even poorer manufacturing meant that our donkey had already had a leg fall off on its two day journey. Tacky, useless and broken, our donkey won the day and will shortly be restored with superglue or gaffer tape and will become a prized feature on Eulimene...
Will we go to the dark side again? Yes, definitely. Will we sail in the UK? Only if it's 30* or hotter...
