Cruising donkeys

Cruising donkeys

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Cruising Donkeys to Greece Cruising donkeys
Ormos Thoriko 1Nm North of Laviron
August 16, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
It’s been a while sorry, but not much to report. After our day trip we spent 2more nights in Port Cheli waiting for winds to ease, we did more supermarket shopping and bought a copy of the Daily Mail exciting eh! then continued around the Peloponnese coast. We spent a night in Ermioni a smallish town built in a small sheltered bay within a much larger bay. The town had grown and was now on both sides of an undeveloped headland. The next night we were in Poros Town on Poros island still in the Peloponnese but now on north coast opposite Athens. It was much busier but the channel between the island and mainland was long so lots of space to anchor. Here we got our Transit log stamped again by the this time friendly Port Police who wanted to know why we didn’t have the original crew list I explained that the port police in Port Cheli had insisted that they had to have it and received a very Gaelic shrug in response. I had prepared another one that John as captain had signed and we had a copy of the original so it was all OK. We also liked Poros and had thought to perhaps spend another night there mooching the winding streets of the town perched on the hill but more wind is approaching so thought we should head for pastures new while we could/before it arrived. Poros has a beautiful clock tower and sea front, which yes was busy with people having coffee shopping and eating but was also felt relaxed and easygoing. Then a night in the south of Aigina island before crossing to here on the mainland. I think I have already said but we decided to visit Athens and a couple of other places on our way back north when things might be cooler and less busy. We ended up trying a couple of bays on south of Aigina before deciding on Ormos Klima because the first choice which which was 2 bays further east had a lot of swell, the next one coming back west seemed OK, there was a beach bar/cafe and initially this played nice easy listening music but around 5pm we noticed cars leaving and motorbikes and scooters arriving coupled with an increase in volume and a change in genre to club/garage music 🎶Time to go! One more bay east, literally just around the headland and no noise a couple of houses, well villas really, one of them even had a sparkling purple helicopter in the garden I was going to take a photograph in the morning but it left before we did. We watched 3 other boats making a hash of going stern to on the rocks on the side of the bay, they all got there eventually but were not sure why they didn’t just anchor, who knows. We were settled and in the water snorkelling and they were still looking for the best place tie up.
We did have a bit of an Oops 😬 moment today when as we were coming in to anchor for lunch I heard a very loud CRUNCH/BANG and dashed topside, where John calmly said ‘don’t worry just a rock’. Apparently he couldn’t really see the plotter/depth sounder as sun was reflecting off it so merrily steered us over an obstruction! After anchoring we went to inspect the damage, luckily we are just missing a bit of anti foul there’s no real damage. The good news news is that while snorkelling I came across a bit of chain, this isn’t unusual but normally the chain is attached to a bobber as a permanent albeit summer mooring. However at one end of the chain I found a Danforth anchor and at the other nothing! So we scavenged and now have anchor and about 40m of 6mm galvanised chain sat on our dive platform, no idea what we will do with it it’s too small for us!
Here are some photos for those of you who can’t be bothered with the words.Read more
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Hydra and Spetses
August 11, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
So yesterday we took a boat tour to Hydra and Spetses, it was a bit rough but the stugeron tablets worked fine, well I think it was a combination of them and the fact that I had had no sleep the previous night as it was so hot. Hydra apparently has 2,000 residents and the only motorised transport is a few trucks for essential services like rubbish collection, fire, ambulance. The average person travels by foot or donkey, deliveries in the town are done by hand carts as the majority of roads are actually lanes that are stepped and cobbled. Hydra town is built around a natural bay like a natural Amphitheater. Most people live in the town and a few other hamlets on north coast. The centre of the island is almost mountainous, definitely big hills. We walked around the back of the bay up and down steps from one headland to the other then we travelled to Spetses a much lower island with 4,000 inhabitants spread out over a lot of the island. It appeared very affluent but that was an impression gained primarily from the property’s which were Italianate in style and I don’t know if they are locally owned or holiday homes. Spetses used to be home to shipyards where they built wooden ‘caiques’ (I think I have spelt that correctly) but we didn’t find any remaining evidence even though a Tim somebody had his wooden replica ship that he used to trace the Route of the Argo and Ulysses return after the war, built here. In Spetses we were dropped off at the new harbour actually just two piers at Dalia so we thought we would walk to the old harbour, we followed the signs but 45mins were still walking with no masts in sight. We altered route and another 15 mins later found harbour but like I said were disappointed no boat yards left. We followed the coast on the way back and it was much quicker I think some little oiks may have mucked around with the road signs we were following! We got back 10 hours after leaving even more exhausted and slept really well!Read more
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Portocheli
August 9, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Well a few days ago we visited Monemvasia and John has confirmed its one of the places he would like to go back to. It is a Greek Mont St Michel, permanently linked to the mainland by a long isthmus and bridge. You then follow a road around the edge to the walled in New Town full of narrow streets and winding alleys no motorised transport as roads are too narrow and steep. Above the new town perched on the top of the rock are the ruins of the Old Town and citadel, some parts of which have been partially renovated so you can get more of a feel for how things used to be. We arrived at the port early afternoon but waited for the evening before actually going to the island as the walk but the zigzag alley to the Old Town was steep, we went there first then wandered through the New Town getting temporarily ‘lost’ a few times as the lanes doubled back on themselves. We had iced coffee and water before heading back to the mainland for food, there aren’t as many photos of New Town as there should be to do it justice as by the time we descended I was desperate for a drink, of water! so not feeling like taking many piccys but here are some of photos I did take. The next day was long and a bit lumpy as we traveled to Portocheli, I spent most of the trip lying on the floor feeling rough, might have been sunstroke or my tea, or the run in the morning as well as the waves as am fine now. We have high winds for next few days so are staying here, well the boat is we are going to take a cruise to Hydra and Spetses towns tomorrow. I know it seems a bit odd but both island’s harbours are chock a block at this time of year so easier to take ferry.Read more
TravelerI went to Spetses many years ago (early eighties) and it was especially fascinating for me because one of my favourite books is set there - The Magus by John Fowles. Some of the features mentioned in the book were easily found. When he first wrote it he didn't identify the island, then some years later he issued an "updated" (ie more sex) version and said it was based on Spetses. Loving your blog ...
8/13/18Reply
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Port Kayio
August 5, 2018 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 28 °C
So we have had a couple of nothing much days. After leaving Koroni we cruised to Kalamata where we stayed in a proper marina and managed to buy a lot of Gluten Free bread, none of it was his favourite but at least we found some. I am sure Kalamata must have some historical sites but apart from the churches we didn’t find anything. We did walk through the park and see lots of rolling stock on the old train lines and visit the town square, a large modern and very busy place. Lots of people walking, drinking chatting not much eating we nearly gave up but found somewhere on one of the side streets eventually. In Kalamata we tried to find some gas for our stove but no joy, this meant we left the marina fairly late about 11:30 and we headed straight to Limeni. Limeni is a fairly well sheltered bay just to the North of the Diros caves. Early this morning we set off to the caves arriving just after they opened. The cave system is 14,700 m long but the tourist route is only 1,500 m you are punted around for 1200 m and walk the remaining 300 m. There were loads of stalegmites and stalactites they were beautiful but I felt we were rushed around in the punt with 8 people in it and as it’s quite cramped both on the punt and in the caves and tunnels unless you are at the front you miss out on seeing everything. That said I have lots of photos. From the caves we headed around the Mani peninsula headland to tonight’s stop where I swam around the bay. The Maniot village architecture is quite distinctive almost all the buildings are stone and square with small window and arches, also a lot of the villages seem to be somewhat precariously balanced on the hillsides.Oh yes forgot to mention that on our way here we saw this narrow steep sided gulley and John decided to take the boat in much to the surprise of the fisherman on his rib already in there, the gulley was 70 ft deep.Read more
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Koroni
August 2, 2018 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 27 °C
From Navarino, after climbing up to the ruined Palacio kastro fort in the morning before breakfast, we headed south again and around the headland to Methoni a small surprisingly Greek touristy town. Methoni also had a ruined fort with a Turkish tower tight on the headland, we didn’t walk round this feeling we had done enough forts for while. Then today after some more research and emails we are still no closer to figuring out what we will do for the winter or where we will get the boat surveyed. We need to do this to be able to renew the insurance next January. However we have made a plan for the next few days, there are some higher winds sweeping in so we had to plan or risk being stranded without adequate shelter, that said with our luck it will either be early late or not arrive, that’s my preferred option, so we are spending tonight in Koroni. Guess what? Yes it has a ruined fort this one we did go and walk around there are a few houses inside the walks but it is mostly occupied by a monastery for John the Baptist. Tomorrow we head to Kalamata, a real marina, where we hope to be able to find Gluten free bread, if not I will use their electric to bake some. From there to, I think it is called Limeni and the Diros caves then Porto Kaylo and that’s enough of that because as all seafarers know plans are made to be broken, probably by the weather.Read more
Mary Le Poidevin Fabulous photos - fabulous adventure.
8/8/18Reply
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Cruising Donkeys to Greece Cruising donkeys
Ormos Navarinou
July 31, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
OK so a whistle stop catch up, once we returned to the boat we departed the quay and anchored up for the night it meant we got at least a little breeze but swims were restricted as there were large white jellies in the bay. Next day we moved on to Kiparissia, where they were repairing their breakwater and had poured lots of concrete jacks but they looked very like modern day terracotta warriors stood in there rows on the quayside. Here we went alongside just behind a sad steel fishing boat. After a restful but warm afternoon we walked past the warriors and up into town heading for the old fort on the hill we got there but were very sweaty on arrival,views were worth it though and the lovely meal in the town square watching the kids on bikes skates and scooters. The following morning I managed a slow run before we headed off towards Pylos and Ormos Navarinou, a large almost enclosed bay. Apparently my run had taken it out of me coz I had to have a nap on the way down so missed seeing the caves at the entrance to the bay. It was OK though because John decided that the next day we needed to kayak around the island, Nikos Sfaktiria, that creates the bay, with a wadeable channel at the north. Well the book said wadeable I was on my very tippy toes to get across. It was a good trip if hot, we scavenged some more rope for tying around rocks, to keep our long lengths just for the water not wearing out on the rocks, we also found a little yellow rubber duck 🦆. The caves were impressive one of them was long and narrow and I admit I wimped out before I found the end because it was pitch black low roofed and I could hear a weird hissing squeaking noise.😱 There was also a big natural arch that we went through before returning up the inner eastern side of the island stopping to see the memorial for the fallen Greeks from 26 April 1825, and the memorial for the French from the battle of Navarro and the grave of Bonaparte’s nephew next to 2 churches 1was wooden which John loved. All in all it took us 4 1/2 hours we slept well that night.Read more
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Olympia
July 28, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
Well we made it the train arrived and departed the Katakolon station on time and took us via Pyrgos to Ancient Olympia, it was clean and air conditioned. The site is over 4000 years old I believe as along with the archeological finds from the Helladic period they have found prehistoric tombs. The site is between 2rivers and was the site of the sanctuary of Altis prior to becoming the venue for the Olympic Games, there were games prior to 776BC but that was when the contests were reorganised and scheduled for every 10 years. Most of the buildings are from 4th century BC. In the 7th century AD the site which was now nearly ruins was flooded and buried under silt. First excavations were in 1829 with other after, but enough history here are the pictures. The journey back wasn’t as straight forward the train only went to Pyrgos then we had to catch a bus to Katakolon, we are fortunate that most Greeks speak English and are happy to help as the signs were all Greek, to be expected we are in Greece, but no translations so we had no idea where to catch the bus from. We found the stop and bought our tickets, the ride was busy and not as cool as the train but we got back to Take Five so all is well.Read more
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Zakythos Town
July 26, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Last island for a little while we are now cruising down west coast of Peloponnese, but we spent the night at Zakynthos Town on the Town Quay only second night we have had to pay for in Greece so far! We had to walk round the harbour to get our Transit Log stamped so I took some photos of the local sites. I would have waited to post with more information but tomorrow we hope to go to Olympia, we are in Katakolon the closest port at the moment and have been trying to figure out our transport options for tomorrow, hopefully the train will be running as it’s direct otherwise we have a couple of buses to figure out. Fingers crossed 🤞.Read more
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Zakynthos
July 25, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Another day another island we are now on Zakynthos off Ay Nikolaos. We spent 2 nights in the harbour at Argostoli and then 1 night up north anchored in the head of the bay, as it was too windy for us to head out to sea. The morning before we headed north we were lucky enough to see the loggerhead turtles that are apparently regular visitors to the harbour as the fishermen feed them the fish guts. After seeing the turtles we wandered across the bridge to the south of the harbour, built after the 1953 earthquake to see the Argostoli Marina and the abandoned boat just in case there was a bargain there. Do you remember I said about the Greeks putting churches in some random locations well if you look carefully at the photo of the rock island you will see a church/chapel there. The last photo was our view as we had a drink with the sea at our feet and Take Five alongside the quay, in the distance.Read more
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Agostoli on Cephalonia
July 23, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
On our way from Pessades to Argostoli we visited Nisis Vardhianoi, off to the West of the bay entrance, for a swim and a look round, as seems to be the case in most of the inaccessable spots in Greece there was a chapel of sorts though unlike many of the others we have seen it was not well looked after. On the island there was also a wreck, John thinks it’s from around 2-3 years ago but boat was about 50 years old, photos attached both of wreck and flora etc we found on the island.Argostoli although apparently being the capital was a fairly quiet town, inhabitants all very friendly. The coastguard that we spoke to when we registered explain that he worked too many hours for too little money, so did the lady in the laundry and the shopkeeper, it seems to be a common problem. While there one morning we met a Brit who was spending his holiday helping a local charity monitor the loggerhead turtles 🐢. He explained that they tended to come into harbour early morning to see the fisherman when they brought their catches in. So that’s our goal for tomorrow morning.Read more
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Ithica to Cephalonia
July 20, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
We arrived in Vathi, the main town I think, on Ithaca it is in a large bay but is not that sheltered from the prevailing wind, as the wind comes down over the hills, though as it’s a bay there is no fetch for the waves so not too rough mostly choppy. We have for 30mins so far been watching 2 other yachts trying to moor up stern to in strong ‘beam on’ wind, we just decided it would be easier to anchor so we were settled after 5 mins. More and more yachts arriving so our afternoons entertainment is sorted!😉
Instead of one night on mainland we ended up spending 2 while we waited for a storm, well probably more like very high winds, on the western coast of Cephalonia to drift away offshore. From Astakos we went to Pagania, the sheltered inlet I mentioned in last post only to find there were other boats there! Well Really! but it was OK they were quiet neighbours, the occupants of one boat spent the afternoon and early evening looking for shellfish and then laying a net. Needless to say they were French.😂. The noisiest things were the cow and goat bells in the early evening and morning. From there we headed over to a truly small inlet on Dhragonera island, see photo of chart plotter, the inlet would have fitted 6Take Fives in total 3 side by side and two rows, we reversed in and had stern lines ashore on both sides we arrived before the afternoon winds so lots of time for me to swim the lines ashore, the island is uninhabited except for goats, so very peaceful.
Vathi on Ithaca was really quite nice, the write up in the pilot book didn’t do it justice, as it called the houses pale concrete squares, this was because the earthquake in 1953 had destroyed all the earlier architecture and none of the new builds were more than 2stories so as to be earthquake proof, but I thought they looked lovely and the town was small and largely pedestrianised. We ate ashore and John unsurprisingly had another lamb dish Keflitki, I had seafood pasta, both were very good. The following morning more shopping and then off to Cephalonia, the location of ‘Captain Corelli Mandolin’ a good mildly informative read. Sadly our first anchorage option wasn’t very sheltered, so we headed on towards Pessades, today has been a long cruise compared to previous weeks in Greece we were cruising for 6.5 hours. Pessades is another quiet anchorage with a small cafe on the headland final photo.Read more
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Astakos, mainland Greece
July 17, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Hello again, we did manage to meet up with Alistair, Melissa and the girls on cup final day, (well done France) we had a great evening chatting and eating ashore in Palacios near where they are staying, they have another week of holiday to get over seeing us so should be fine by the time they get back to Guernsey. It was great to have people to chat to who knew the same people and places we did so we caught up on the local news or lack thereof.
We are now in Astakos which is a very Greek town, there are some foreign yachts on the quay and cafes and tavernas, but none of the signs are in English, the majority of the tourists appear to be Greeks which makes it feel much more authentic and sat here having coffee after a lovely meal of Greek salad, kalamari and lamb chops I can not hear English being spoken, but there are lots of conversations.
We spent last night at anchor in Port Leone on Kalamos, it may be called a port but is in reality only a large bay with a church and a few deserted buildings. It took me 45 mins to swim around the bay looking at the fish and avoiding all the lines that other yachts had taken ashore to stop them swinging. We had lunched on Meganissi’s east coast but as wind picked up we headed south east to Kalamas, it is a bit odd to, as we cruise along to look around and see land in all directions, there are so many islands. We think we will spend another night on the mainland in what on the charts looks like a very sheltered but secluded inlet before going across towards Ithaca
I need to check spellings on this one so place names may be amendedRead more
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Nidri
July 14, 2018 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 25 °C
Sorry obviously we shouldn’t have watched as England did well until we did watch. Personally and sorry if this upsets some I think Croatia played the better game especially in the second half. But enough of football, we got our Transit Log stamped in Levkas the morning after the match and then headed off, as no one came to see us about paying for the mooring we didn’t, pay that is. We had a lovely peaceful cruise down the Levkas canal, past egrets and other waders as well as a lot of seagulls on the local reclamation site! Well peaceful ish we managed to pick up a Cicada that didn’t leave till we anchored up, they are bloney loud them eh! We then spent a couple of nights in isolation in a little bay called Vali Vathi on the mainland side before cruising around the Onassis island called Scorpio to Nidri. While at Vali Vathi I did a bit of wombling (they are fur covered creatures that live on Wimbledon Common and were created by someone living on Alderney, look them up) and collected a black sack of rubbish mostly plastic tops and lids, lots of plastic straws and bits of rope. The little bit of beach was only about 45m wide and 10m deep but the rubbish went up into undergrowth where the wind must have blown it but I didn’t do that bit. Nidri is a bit of a tourist trap but still fun and very sheltered, we saw last part of the play off for third place where we ( I am counting myself as English as that appears to be what the Greek are doing) lost again☹️. Tomorrow we are due to meet the Boyle family who are over here on holiday, we thought we should ruin at least one day of their peace and quiet!Read more
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Levkas Town, Town Quay
July 11, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Oh dear another noisy night the bars in Preveza stayed open with music till 03:30 and one place was still serving at 05:30 but had turned the music off so just chatting noise. You would think we would learn but after a quiet night at anchor NW of Preveza we have headed to Levkas Town through the lifting twisting bridge.
Each end lifted towards centre and then the whole thing rotated. We nearly had an incident or two when the American boat at the front of the queue appeared to be waiting for a personal invite, there was a lot of waving arms and yelling GO GO and then he started to move forward slowly. Everyone else had started moving forward as the bridge lifted expecting him to also move as south bound traffic, per our literature and website, had right of way but he was frozen as north bound vessels came through. The gap was at least 30m wide so plenty of room for both directions to go at same time, never mind he’s American it’s not his fault.
So the reason we are here is that tonight it’s England v Croatia World Cup semi final and I don’t expect England to go any further so thought I should let John watch this match, am I a great girlfriend or what! We have been for a wander through the town so some photos attached. Also attach is Vega a ketch belonging to 2of the guys that helped us moor the second time in Preveza its wooden we didn’t know the name till we anchored the next night.
Oh yes do you remember I was pleased with how well the mooring stern to with the anchor had gone well...... spoke to soon for some reason, probably because we hadn’t set the anchor far enough out or perhaps someone else caught it, it slipped out the mud and wouldn’t catch so we had to go out and try again only this time it was a lot windier, oh dear, well we dropped the anchor much further out and just let it run till it ran out of chain ( luckily we had secured the end ) then with the help of about 5guys pulling for all they were worth to keep us off a little fibreglass boat alongside us, we eventually managed to get into the mooring without crushing anything. We needed another shower after that. As a reward we had a lovely meal out I had souvlaki, kebab, john had lamb chops, though they looked more like ribs to me! Both were delicious though and so was the chocolate cake I had bought for my dessert, not GF so couldn’t share, shame. The next day before heading here, Levkas, we got our Transit Log stamped at the coastguard office and I had a hair cut, nothing drastic just a trim and relayering as getting to thick and taking ages to dry. Well after tea we are going to the Irish Bar (everywhere has one) to watch the game.Read more
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Preveza
July 9, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
Our first night in a marina in Greece, well sort of we are actually on what they call the Town Quay it has elec and water but only costs E14 a night. We have filled up with water and are charging everything up and may even, if it gets a little cooler do some hoovering. I have been using the ‘ it’s really not worth putting the generator on just so I can hover excuse’ for a while now. Luckily a friendly German helped us to moor up as this was our first stern too with the anchor but we did a lot better than the catamaran that came in after us that had 4 guys and their wives on board, admittedly the wives all stayed inside well out of the way while the men stuffed things up on their own even with both John and the helpful German assisting.
Since I last posted we have spent 2more nights at anchor, the first in Parga where although we tried to go ashore in the dinghy the swell caused by the high winds made it impossible, well impossible without getting soaked. The second night we spent in Two Rock Bay which was only about 10 miles south of Parga but as the swell was horrible and I had had a lousy nights sleep a short trip was called for. Two Rock was much quieter only 6 boats not 13 and no jet boats and ringos or waterskiing. The reason I, well both of us really, had a bad nights sleep was the wedding party that was in the beach bar/restaurant off our stern with speakers pointing offshore so as not to upset their neighbours. Initially we thought it wouldn’t be too bad as after the fireworks there was DJ music not too loud and recognisable for the most part, but at midnight the volume went up and a Greek guy started warbling, hat off to him he kept going for 3hours, but really some of us wanted to sleep! I was hoping to spend another night there under calmer and quieter circumstances but the swell when we woke was rolling in so we headed off to find somewhere calmer. We very nearly came unstuck when John assumed, you know the joke, that we should go south about the rocks in the bay to get to the anchorage and got to the point where there was no spare depth under the keel but all’s well that ends well.
We have dropped off a load of washing and will be returning there later as they also have hot showers for E2 a time, our last proper shower was in Gallipoli, though in our defence we do rinse off the salt every night and have tried to wash our hair with our fish friendly shampoo every couple of days but it doesn’t lather or seem to be able to cope the salt build up very well. But it’s salty hair or poison the fish so salty it is!Read more
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End Bay S of Mourtos
July 6, 2018 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 26 °C
So after a very peaceful if very warm night yesterday we have continued south. (Oh I must take this opportunity to thank my mum for, I would say helping me but really she did most of the work, making our sunshade for Take Five without it I would definitely have melted by now.) We aren’t managing to travel very far as it gets so hot we need to anchor and get in the water, but today, not in accordance with the forecast I might add, there was a southerly breeze for the morning we made it down to Nisis Sivota and Mourtos where we then pottered around looking for an anchorage that was shallow enough and had enough space for us well we ended up in End Bay. There are some very flash apartments well I think that’s what they are might be houses and a hotel complex. We had hoped to go out to Paxos and Antipaxos but the weather this weekend off the coast is a bit much for us so we will stay on the mainland, our books do say that at the weekend both islands get very busy with trippers so hopefully it’s not too big a loss. First 3photos are at tonight’s anchorage the other three are boats we’ve seen in last few days. I tried to photograph a Mitchel that John saw today but it was too small.Read more
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Ormiskos Valtou N of Igoumenista
July 5, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
We eventually managed to get the correct chip, on American Independence Day. So after two more nights anchored off Gouvia waiting for the chip and then another because it arrived late in the day we headed South. I would give you a blow by blow account but it just winds me up but while waiting I swam from our anchorage to the chapel in the bay photo 3 and also took pictures of some of the plastic fantastics in the Marina and there were a lot (photo 1 & 2) On Thursday morning we headed south past Corfu Town and then across the channel to our next anchorage which was beautiful so peaceful just cicadas and egrets to keep us company, well there were also some fish but they didn’t come out until after we had put the fishing rods away and then they were leaping joyously out the water. Photos 4 5&6. I am also now reading Eleni which is based in a mountain village close to Pagania and Igoumenitsa about one woman’s struggle through the Second World War and Greek civil war that formed part of WW2 and continued until 1949 its a very good read.Read more
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Pagania, mainland Greece
July 2, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
OK so I spoke too soon the SD card we picked up was a C-Map 4D even though we had told the lady in the shop that our Furuno chart plotter would only take NT, NT+, and Max. We think that that’s what she told the engineer but either he didn’t believe her or thought there was no way anyone would have anything that old! We don’t know but we paid for it and brought it on board to try but as expected the chart plotter panicked and didn’t get off the opening page. I called and told the store that the card was no good and could they get the one we had asked for and given them the number of, the lady wouldn’t confirm over the phone she just wanted us to go in again the next morning. We did and then had to come back to boat to get existing chip and operators manual to confirm that what we had asked for was what we needed. Great! So anyway we now have to wait till Wednesday (the 4th) to get the card hopefully the right one this time. We were originally told Tuesday but hey this is Greek time so no surprise that’s it’s a day later. We also got to experience the Greek postal system, it would appear that only post offices can sell stamps so we managed to find a post office and we were the only ones who actually wanted to post anything others were paying bills, collecting money and other things that took ages with obviously only 2staff working and queue almost out the door. William your birthday present is on its way but I really have no idea when it will arrive.
Well rather than stay on the anchorage which was getting crowded as apparently lots of boats have to move out of the marina for Fri Sat Sun as that’s the change over dates for the charter boat companies and the marina needs all the berths, we decided to go across to the mainland. We found this lovely little very protected bay a dog leg where the noisiest things were the cicadas and the cows, the only habitation was a farm though we had had to dodge a fair few fish farms to get into the bay. We had to navigate there, the old fashioned way with a paper chart, fortunately it was day light and clear so we were fine. Sorry no photos of anchorage was too busy relaxing but I have attached some scenery ones and one of me drinking the blue wine we bought back in Almerimar, yes blue!
We are now back at Gouvia anchorage as like I said we were told Tuesday but now it’s Wednesday hopefully.Read more
Mary Le PoidevinWow! Beautiful photos😊
7/3/18Reply
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Near Gouvia Marina north of Corfu town
June 27, 2018 in Greece ⋅ 🌧 20 °C
We have almost officially arrived in Greece, it’s worse then Tunisia, but that’s mostly because all the parties are not in the same place. We had to visit port authority in a Gouvia then go the port police and customs in Corfu town and then back to port authority. The process is very labour intensive so keeps lots of people employed, a computerised system would involve only one person instead of the four we have seen! But at least it gave us an excuse to wander around Corfu town which was, to use an American quote (they are a few of them around, probably off the cruise ships), very quaint with lots of winding little streets a fair few of which turn out to be dead ends. The church’s are less ornate but there are still lots of them. I have included photo of John to prove he is still alive after I got a little upset about his forgetting that we didn’t have electronic charts for anywhere east of the foot of Italy! This should be sorted tomorrow when we collect the new SD card for the plotter.Read more
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Kassiopi in Corfu
June 24, 2018 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
After a short cruise from Erikoussa we anchored just S of Kassiopi and walked to the small tourist trap port, it is just as I remember it from my trip a few years ago with Jess Lund (thanks for that holiday it was just what I needed) we are deciding whether to stay on the anchorage or head through the channel towards Gouvia Marina and anchor there decisions decisions. I should probably admit that, and this pains me as I know it’s been lovely in Guernsey, the weather has been a bit pants every other day it’s been raining either drizzling or torrential but at least it’s still warm.Read more
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Greece, well Greek waters anyway.
June 21, 2018 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 24 °C
We made it we are anchored off the small island of Othonoi it’s just to the NW of Corfu. There were days, well certain trips, when I thought I wouldn’t get here but all’s well that ends well. We got visited by the Italian authorities again on our way across don’t know why, they just wanted the boat name number of people and our destination. We were tempted to take a photo of the boat but weren’t sure that would have gone down very well. On the way here we actually got all the sails out John tried to take photos to prove it so here they are. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s trip we are going to go 7 miles to Erikoussa great! On my screen the auto detect where we are hasn’t worked so might need to update. Am off to bed before I get bitten even more.Read more
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Santa maria di lueca
June 21, 2018 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
OK so this should be the last post from Italy we are off to Greece tomorrow, well weather permitting obviously. It’s a bit of an odd place really it is famous for the ‘gateway of Italy’ steps that Mussolini had built but the architecture of the buildings is a bit OTT it’s a nice enough anchorage and provided there is no wind we will be OK, the problem is we are anchored on rock and the wind direction has changed 180 degrees since we anchored so we might end up dragging. I will keep an ear open as obviously being a man John wont he will just fall asleep.Read more
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Gallipoli
June 20, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C
So after leaving Castella nice an early, we would have been even earlier but spent some time looking for the Lega Navale office so could leave details and money, only to return to the boat to see guy waiting with receipt book. We then had to try to explain that we had left money in the office post box we think he got it as he did give us a receipt. We headed to Cirò Marina which had had read should have room for a couple of tourist boats in amongst the trawlers and the officials were supposedly very helpful. On arrival a local boat did dash up to us when we were getting a little close to some submerged rocks which we thought boded well. As evening set in we mooched into the marina, there was no one official around but we found what appeared to be an unclaimed spot on the quay and waited to be moved on. Fortunately no one else wanted the spot and no officials turned up despite the boat being passed by most of the fishermen and their mates which we decided was good news. The next morning there was a market so we had a look round as you do then headed into town proper in search of a Gluten free bread for John. We didn’t find the bread but did get some provisions so back on board to unpack before trying again a couple of farmacias did stock GF food but no brown bread, but through perseverance and sweat (it was very warm) we found some eventually. On our way back we tried a couple of the cafes that had been open earlier as it was about 13:30 so we thought lunch would be good but bizarrely the cafes/restaurants were all closed for lunch!
The next day was long we had a 59 mile trip (10hours) across the bay of Taranto to Gallipoli, yet again my sea legs let me down🤢so after 2hours it was over to John while a curled up and felt very very sorry for myself, I surfaced about 2 hours from Gallipoli at which point it dawned on John that our plotter doesn’t have the eastern Med on it, Wally, we did to rectify this by buying the SD card asap.🤪 Luckily the Navionics app on the iPod covers the whole of the Med so we can use this in interim. Anyway we got into the Gallipoli marina OK though it took a while for anyone to acknowledge we were there and after booking in and showering, (It was so nice to have a proper shower and feel really clean) we walked into the old town, with everyone else, taking part in the evening promenade, for some tea. I had a type of pasta specific to the area John had a mixed grill!Read more
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Castella
June 17, 2018 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 22 °C
Hello everyone, it’s been a few days I know so to help you catch up, after two nights anchored in Taormina bay we headed east across the Messina Straits to mainland Italy. The first few hours were lovely, by that obviously I mean calm, and with dolphins but then the wind picked up and for some reason decided to go against the tide making for a choppy/sloppy ride, also for a couple of hours before the calm turned not long before we anchored up offshore from a little town called Africa Nuovo. Sadly we didn’t realise just how sloppy the sea had been until I went into our cabin after we had anchored up to find that our bed and the clothes and books alongside it, were soaked! Everything up on deck to start the drying process but we knew that realistically we were going to have to rinse everything to try to get the salt out so that was the mornings first job. But before that we had to clear all the accumulated junk from the fore cabin so we had somewhere to sleep.
So after the washing everything, including the mattress, Photo 1, we headed along the coast stopping off at Siderno to do some shopping at a hyper market as getting low on GF(gluten free) bread and hoped here would be big enough to have some, it did but only white much to John’s disappointment. Fortunately we had moved everything inside before setting off on our shopping expedition as the heavens opened, it was a lot more than the 3mm/3hr the forecast gave, more like 3mm/30mins if not more we were soaked. However once the sun came out it didn’t take long to dry ourselves off, my shoes took a little longer. Then towards Roccella Ionica but very little shelter so we go into the marina. At least this means we can charge everything up, do some washing, use the hoover and do some cooking which is exactly what I did the next day. I felt like a domestic goddess having produced GF rolls, GF loaf, GF carrot cake and Panna cotta. The good weather also meant the mattress dried out, thank goodness as this meant we could sleep under the mozzy net again.
Today we headed to Castella again with the intention of anchoring, and we did try but the 25mph winds were making things a bit uncomfortable and aren’t supposed to ease till 2am so we headed into the marina, on a wing and a pray as no VHF or telephone number luckily there was a marinero there to help us in and we are settled. Took a quick walk round town so here is a photo of the Castle after which the town is named and the sunset. Other photos are of the coastline we have passedRead more
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Taormina
June 13, 2018 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
From Syracuse we cruised to Isola Ciclopi and Acitrezzi where we anchored up in a tight spot between the breakwater and the rocks. Photo one was taken as we were approaching we ended up anchored just the other side of the high rock in the middle of picture, we think Take Five has formed the backdrop for photos by most of the inhabitants as everyone seemed to take a photo while they were out on their evening promenade.
Then onwards to our current location in Taormina bay, underneath the town, photo 2 taken at mooring looking up old town. Today we walked around the very picturesque town, this is the most touristy place we have been to so far in Italy, but by far the most beautiful and clean. Photo 3 shows Etna with an odd disc like cloud forming, photo 5 shows Take Five with her more illustrious neighbours, there have been 6 different super yachts around today, the yacht yachts are cruise ships but the motor cruisers appear private.Read more
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Syracuse ruins
June 10, 2018 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 21 °C
We visited the ruins of the Greek theatre, the Roman amphitheatre, the Ear of Dionysus and quarry, Sanctuary of Madonna and a museum dedicated to the works of Archimedes and Leonardo. The Greek Theatre is from 5th century BC and could accommodate 15,000. It is used during May and June for the production of Greek tragedies when they cover a lot of it with wood so it can used without destroying the ruins. Amphitheater the arena is one of largest of its kind built 2nd century AD unlike Greek one this was for entertainment not elevation of men’s minds. The Ear is part of the quarries that served as prisons for defeated Athenians but acoustics are incredible you can whisper at back of the Ear and its easily heard outside. The Sanctuary is a very modern church built in the 1960s of concrete, it is a ribbed cone of 2levels, the crypt which looks to me much like a church with the usual little chapels or are they called naves around the edge, and the main church very modern and open we had to scurry out quickly as a service started as we were wandering round. In the photos you will see one of very pretty pasta options and a plate of fruit. Anyone one recognise the blackberry looking things, they were lovely but weren’t blackberrys.Read more
Anon Ymous Sicilian mulberries perhaps? Leaves favoured by silkworms apparently!
6/12/18Reply
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