Meltemi, Marmari, Vasiliko phone signal?

[brownsox]

Dear forum. We thought we'd go up the Evia channel to the Sporades. Strong winds in Aegina. One calm day and off to Sounion, lovely. Then 3 days F6 in Sounion. One calm day, and the forecast max 5 for the next 3 days, we potter up to Marmari. Row ashore, calm and lovely evening. Woken at 3.45 by the howling ... Today it's fierce, up to 30 knots. Rocna well dug in but not pleasant. Now the forecast is saying 4 days of this, on day four (Friday) F8 is mentioned.
So the question is, do we tough it out here, or run back to Vasiliko which looks like better shelter, when/if the wind moderates a bit in the evening. (Another question, for later, is whether we give up on the Sporades altogether, if this is going to be a continuing pattern.)
And the question we need to ask the forum really, is about phone/internet signal in Vasiliko. Is there any? On the way across in roughly that area I think we lost signal for a while. Wouldn't be very happy about 3-4 days there with no comms at all. Weather forecasts included.
Any recent experience of the Vasiliko anchorage? And any other experienced comments welcome.
Thanks

 

[vyv_cox]

We have just done it the opposite way, has been a very windy season. The plan was to do the Evia Channel slowly as last time we went through quite quickly. In the event we passed through even more quickly due to unsettled weather, then spent a week on Andros and another on Tinos. If this pattern is repeated in September I would stay in the Saronik/Argolic.

Don't know Vasiliko I think but our Cosmote Mifi works everywhere..

 

[truscott]

We're a few miles ahead of you. Went through the bridge at Chalkis last Tuesday and are now in Pigadi. FWIW we were blasted in Sounion, managed to claw around the headland and gave up after 3+ hours and put into Olympic (62 Euro's for one night. Ouch!). Forecast medium winds for the next day didn't turn up and we endured the washing machine cycle from hell to Porto Rafti where we spent the night being air blasted to hell. We did have a nice sail from Porto Rafti, and with the forecast decided to give Marmari a miss, only to get blown out from Alymyropotamos, leave Voufallo alone because Vyv said it stunk of sewerage (and it looks like the wind is funneled in there) and opted for Karavos where we spent a flat calm night. Opted for Eretria next, which was fine and then just rocked up direct to Chalkis. The anchorage just south of the bridge is great if a little surreal. In hindsight we should have just run through that night but we stayed to explore (Chalkos Meze Bar directly behind the Visitors Berth at the wharf (next to the Venetian House and Old Church) was a great find.).

We opted to push on instead of mooring up after passing through the bridge (which opened at 3 instead of the posted 0230) and headed to Limnos, only to discover it was full. We sailed across to Kolops Atlantis and spent the night at anchor in Ormos Theologos (don't bother looking for the ancient temple. It's just a clearing in the trees now). Went back to Limnos, which we really liked, and then to Loutra Adipso, which we didn't. then on to Orei which is nice, but the harbour Guy charges midnight to midnight, which we didn't learn about until after we had stayed for 2 days. Not a major, but a little annoying.

Looking back, it seems that the major winds we had were around Sounion. Now it's just windy during the afternoon and dies off in the evening. Similar to the Dod's and Turkey.

The Gulf of Volos looks interesting and seems to have a different wind system to the Sporades so we will explore here for a bit. Rod the God promises flat water on the south coast of the Sporades, so I am hoping he gets something right for a change. There are no anchoring options in Limnos contrary to his assertions!!

We are on Cosmote and have had no issues with coverage at all.

Cheers, PT

 

[crisjones]

We spent a couple of days in Oreio last summer and didn't get charged at all!!

The Volos Gulf is well worth exploring although Volos itself is a bit tatty and the harbour is busy with limited mooring options for visitors - you usually need to use a charter boat berth.

The wind in the Gulf is usually an afternoon sea breeze from the SE quadrant getting up to around 20 maybe 25knts at times but fairly flat seas so good sailing conditions.

The SE corner of the Gulf around Vathoudi Bay is nice with plenty of anchoring possibilities. The W side of the Gulf also offers enough anchoring places and some nice little towns / villages to explore.

There is also a Lidl at Agria about 3nm SE of Volos behind the petrol station, you can anchor off in about 5m and land the dinghy just opposite the petrol station. Lidl is close enough to actually take the shopping trolley back to the dinghy. Best to go early before the breeze starts picking up.

 

[vyv_cox]

PT,
Your wind pattern sounds similar to ours, mostly less further north. We spent a few days in O.Volos, although not up to Volos itself, had some SE F5 in afternoons but one day of N F6. When we arrived at Orei there was a fresh westerly that made berthing tricky but after that the pattern was normal, sterns into the wind. We stayed nearly a week, a very pleasant place.

Now that charging for berthing is the responsibility of the Dimos, not the port police, we find changes everywhere. In most ports, but particularly on Evia, also Andros and Tinos, they charge by day, not night, so we pay an extra one. In some this includes water and electricity, sometimes not. Usually a person will come and collect the money, saving the interminable waits at PP offices. The days of free visits are drawing to a close as the collectors tend to be quite tenacious. €6 for a night is hardly excessive though!

 

[JFowler]

Hi PT,
What was Pigadi like- were you on a quay, or at anchor- depths etc?

John

 

[macd]

leave Voufallo alone because Vyv said it stunk of sewerage (and it looks like the wind is funneled in there)

There are no anchoring options in Limnos contrary to his assertions!!

Brownsox: sorry, can't help with phone coverage.

Voufalo isn't always smelly, but it is quite small - room for only about six yachts. And, yes, the valley funnels the wind and makes for very strong gusts.

Should you need an option nearby, Ormos Vouvos, about 1NM to the SW, is good. It's mostly quite deep but there's reasonable depths and room to swing off the middle of the three small beaches. Holding good on sand. We had no strong winds there, but there looks to be much less funnelling effect than at Voufalo. No facilities.

Truscott: 'Limnos': are you sure?

Orei/Oreio/Orieos, mentioned about, was free when we were there in June. Berthing is now on the N quay, stern-to the prevailing wind, so easy (although Vyv wasn't so lucky on arrival).

 

[truscott]

JFowler; Enjoying Pigadi so much we're staying another night. We are at anchor in 12 Mtrs, on weed and sand. In the shallower parts the weed is a LOT thicker. The dock is occupied by a Sailing Holidays flotilla and a couple of other boats. There are 12 yachts and a powerboat on the dock, with 3 more SH boats tied to the outside of the mole. The walk up to Achilles Tower is a good one, and the views are pretty superb.

Vyv; We were hoping to cross paths with you and Jill again (especially when I saw your update on Voufalo while we were in Sounion), but by the time we left Porto Rafati, you'd already been to Andros. We'll be heading down past Leros at the end of Sept or beginning of October so will keep an eye out for you guys. We enjoyed Orei and the various walks around the town and found the people very friendly and helpful. In fact got to say that Greece continues to be a fav of ours. We continue to find the people friendly and helpful.

crisjones; Thanks for the info on the Gulf of Volos. We are intending to explore around Vathoudi and will look at the W side too. Our Pilots (Elias and Heikel seem to imply that it's off limits though, so we're a little confused). And... especially nice to know that there's a Lidl near by. Methinks a shopping trip is in my future!

Cheers, PT

Hi PT,
What was Pigadi like- were you on a quay, or at anchor- depths etc?

John

 

[crisjones]

Truscott,

We visited Amaliopolis, Nies and Achiellion on the W side of the gulf, anchored in all 3 places in reasonable depths with good holding, no restrictions that we were aware of.

 

[JFowler]

We've also used Amaloipolis in the past. A good anchorage and min 3.0m on the quay, which has 'open' water. Good butcher attached to a mini-market on the front.

 

[vyv_cox]

Truscott,

We visited Amaliopolis, Nies and Achiellion on the W side of the gulf, anchored in all 3 places in reasonable depths with good holding, no restrictions that we were aware of.

We were in Amaliopolis a few weeks ago. It blew old boots from the E/SE, the quay was impossible and it was uncomfortable anchored as far south in the bay as we could. Shelter not very good in those conditions.

 

[crisjones]

We were in Amaliopolis a few weeks ago. It blew old boots from the E/SE, the quay was impossible and it was uncomfortable anchored as far south in the bay as we could. Shelter not very good in those conditions.

Vyv,
We were anchored in the bay about 0.4nm E from the town quay in about 5m on sand, I seem to remember it being well sheltered from the afternoon SE winds and even E winds should have been OK. The town bay itself is definitely a bit more exposed but mornings are generally calm so an easy dinghy ride into the village, probably not so pleasant on a windy evening if you need to go to a taverna!!

 

[Palarran]

has been a very windy season.

.

No kidding !! But great for sailing. We went up the Evia Channel and stayed in the Sporades from July 28th until August 13th, then made it back down to Paros. The sail from Skyros to Kymi was in 30 knots and from Kymi to Andros was up to 40. Leaving Andros we were hit with a strong katabatic wind at 45 knots which moderated to a dead calm in about an hour.

Our Cosmote mifi worked everywhere as well.

 

[brownsox]

All interesting stuff following on from our queries.
We're still in Marmari ... Big wind started on Tuesday 23rd and has continued day and night, 6,7, occasional mention of 8 in the forecasts. This evening 27th a bit lighter but tomorrow it's stil saying 6-7. So we're sitting tight until Monday. Even caiques have stayed put. Luckily we got ourselves on to the quay after a day and a half in the washer. Truscott and others, thanks for all the info. Big question now is whether to continue northward or not - will the season continue just as windy.

 

[truscott]

All interesting stuff following on from our queries.
We're still in Marmari ... Big wind started on Tuesday 23rd and has continued day and night, 6,7, occasional mention of 8 in the forecasts. This evening 27th a bit lighter but tomorrow it's stil saying 6-7. So we're sitting tight until Monday. Even caiques have stayed put. Luckily we got ourselves on to the quay after a day and a half in the washer. Truscott and others, thanks for all the info. Big question now is whether to continue northward or not - will the season continue just as windy.

Brownsox; All I can say is that it must be very localized where you are. We have been having light to moderate winds here in the Gulf of Volos. If you can bear it, I'd suggest pushing on up the channel to somewhere like Karavos. We found once we were tacked into the big bay by Rafina the winds moderated a lot. We then had a great sail up to Alimirapotamou, where we found it howling. Sailed out of there to Karavos where we found it several wind forces lighter. We chose to anchor in the harbour, but there was loads of room on the quay. From Karavos onwards we have found the winds tend to fill in in the afternoon and then die off at dusk. We have still encountered strongish winds from time to time but nothing like around Sounion and the bit to Porto Rafti.

Cheers, PT

 

[brownsox]

Thanks PT. we left at 7 this morning with 2-3 forecast but it was 4 anyway and a bit bashy into the wind and sea. So came in to Voufalo, which is really lovely. No smell. Pretty bay, couple of tavernas. Still quite windy overhead, top of 4 but very sheltered water. Great to have escaped Marmari after a solid week there, good little place though it was. So we keep going north and expect good things
Btw yesterday our friendly neighbouring caique took a family out for the day. We helped with lines on their return and hearing English spoken I asked the father where they'd been. A horribly familiar voice, olagenous, creepy. A lot of facial hair. Instant recognition and shock - it was Michael Gove ... Aaaaagh.