Messolonghi to Skiathos and back (via Evia Channel)

Route from Messolonghi to Skiathos - 25th May to 10th June 2014

Did we make it, I hear you ask. Well if you look at the map above, you will see, not only our route, but the date we arrived in Skiathos...but to say that the Weather Gods were not on our side would be an understatement.
 

Korfos Bay

Having gone through the most expensive stretch of water in the world (mile for mile), the Corinth Canal, we rested for two days in the calm bay of Korfos, waiting of course for a weather window to go across to the island of Aegina. We finally made the 16-mile crossing on 2^nd June (Monday), giving us a week to reach Skiathos, a few days after our friends Brad and Marion’s arrival. 

 

As with most places in Greece, Aegina’s past is steeped in the mysteries of Greek myths and Gods. My research tells me that...

 

the island was originally called Inoni (or Inona or Inopia). It is said that one of the fifty daughters of the river god Asopus, was called Aegina, and she was loved by Zeus. The king of Olympus, in order to avoid, Hera, transformed himself into an eagle and carried Aegina to uninhabited island of Inoni. The fruit of Aegina's and Zeus' passion was Aeakos the first king of the island.

 

Aeakos asked Zeus to give him subjects, and so he transformed the ants of the island into humans. The first inhabitants of the island were called Myrmidones, from the Greek word "myrmigi" which means ant.

 

...this all sounds a bit like ‘Minions’ and interestingly, sometimes, when sitting in a bar, listening to the local population, they all sound like Minions too! (Despicable Me films)

 

Aegina is a triangular island, with a summit of 532m/1,745ft, resembling a ‘pimple’ on the southern end. Its position, roughly in the middle of the Saronic Golf, meant that it was of strategic importance throughout history. After it had been occupied by the usual Neolithic people, the Bronze Age people and the usual Mycenaean occupation, it was then abandoned for a few centuries. Then, after a few wars, it had another succession of usual occupiers, the Romans, Byzantines, Saracens, Venetians and Turks. From 1826-1828 the city was the capital of the newly liberated Greece and the first new modern Greek coins were minted here...

 

...our invasion only lasted three days, while we waited for a weather window to Souinon on the mainland! However, we had a nice time, bumped into the owners of a large catamaran, Pallaran, who also winter in Messolonghi, who asked us to help them bring their boat into the harbour...which was interesting.

Poseiden's Temple - Souinon

 

The thirty-mile trip over to Souinon took about four and half hours, and we had been told, was a very nice anchorage. The bay and cape are easy to spot as the well-preserved Temple of Poseidon sits atop the hill, overlooking and protecting the sea all around. The temple, built around 444bc, is where Byron is supposed to have carved his name and a few poetic lines one of the columns. Have you ever noticed how Byron gets everywhere! Unfortunately we could only stay one night has we had to move on...and how glad were we to get out of that bay. It was one of the rolliest nights we’ve had in long time. I’m not sure we’ll take a return visit to hike up to the temple.

 

After stopping at a large marina to refuel, we entered ‘The Evia Channel’. Evia is the second largest island in Greece. It looks like a mountainous spine, running north-south and has two distinctive halves split in the middle at Chalkis (Khalkis, Chalkdi...or any number of different spellings). There are numerous anchorages and towns in which to stop on both the mainland side and Evia side. As we were trying to get north as quickly as possible, we decided to aim for an almost landlocked bay called Voufalo (Boufalo, Bouphalo), or as we called it Gruffalo, for ease of reference. The forty-three miles took just under six hours and nothing eventful happened. I say nothing eventful, we were actually sailing. There is almost nothing in this beautiful bay, apart from a couple of tavernas, and some holiday homes. The bay is protected by a sand-spit with a few trees strategically placed and provides protection from all directions. Although we only stayed one night, we have promised ourselves a long stay on our return down the channel. Next stop Khalkis.

 

Khalkis Bridge opening

The thirty miles to Khalkis were uneventful. You have to take a slightly complicated route through a marked channel, under the new modern bridge (almost a replica of the Rion Bridge back in the Gulf of Patras). Then you enter a large bay where you can either anchor or go into the Yacht Club Marina and wait for the phenomenon that is the changing of the current through the bridge. It is said that Aristotle flung himself into the channel because of his inability to understand the currents. A quick ‘google’ search and you will see many references to this ‘phenomenon’. The waters under the bridge can flow up to 9 knots (it has been reported) and every six hours, no more, no less, the waters run still for about ten minutes and then change direction. Some people in the past, with a mystical tendency, believed it was linked to the phases of the moon... those of us who live further north or south of the Mediterranean will already be fully aware of such phenomenon. However, the road bridge is something to behold, in that rather than lifting or swinging, it drops down and then slides back underneath the road – with all the lights still on.

 

Khalkis Bridge underneath the road

However, once you have visited the Port Police, paid your €19, you are told to standby from 9pm and they will give you a 10-15 minute warning that the bridge will open. They only open the bridge at night-time (disrupting the day time traffic into the Capital of Evia is not an option), better to have a bunch of boats wallowing around, trying to avoid commercial traffic, dozens of little fishing boats, until we are called, is a much safer option.

 

We were finally called to go through at 11:30pm. We followed two freighters, one mega yacht and a sailboat like ours. However he decided it would be fun to slow down and look at all the people standing on the bridge, rather than go through at speed in order to not get caught up in the eddies that are swirling around the entrance to the bridge and cause you to have no steerage over your boat! Next you have to negotiate a place on the town quay on the north side of the bridge.

 

North side of the bridge, town quay

When we arrived during the day, we took a stroll to investigate. Lots of spaces to be had, nice bars, pleasant promenade, we were looking forward to coming through.

 

Having transited the bridge we looked for a space – none to be had! However, there is a very nice Greek man who is controlling the quay. Those going southbound were waiting for permission to transit, after another two commercial freighters went through. Once they were given the ‘all clear’, the nice man on quay took our lines and we were secured for the night. Time to get to bed for an early start – wrong. It was a festival weekend and the bars were booming til 3am. We decided to sit in the cockpit, open a bottle of wine and watch the world go round til we fell asleep.

 

The next morning the weather was awful – we weren’t going anywhere. We texted Brad & Marion, and said we would probably be delayed another day. Fortunately, the weather let up and we managed to make the next stop, thirty miles north to Theologos Town. A nice, large bay on the mainland side, deep and protected from everything but the west – no weather forecasted from there. We had a lovely evening, first dinner up on deck, watched the Grand Prix and went to bed.

 

3am – we were woken by the howling wind, the dinghy wavering side to side on deck and suddenly the boat lurching, pitching and bouncing. Ah yes, nothing forecast from the west, apart from the thunderstorm that decided to brew up over the mainland. We knew there was nothing we could do but anchor watch until daybreak. We had seen safe anchorages around the corner, but they were edged with rocks and with 2m waves, it would have been foolish to attempt moving in the dark. We motored round at 6am, dropped the hook in a vague, uninteresting bay, surrounded by a disused fish farm and tried to sleep. What sleep we got was interrupted by the howling wind and the gusts over the island, swinging the boat in every direction. Even with all this wind, it was the first time in a long while that I didn’t want to go anywhere, I did not trust the weather.

 

David however, being David, managed to persuade me to ‘put our nose outside the bay and see what it’s really like outside’. He, of course knew that the wind was being accelerated over the hill and sounded much worse that it was – we continued.

 

The next leg of the journey was disheartening, we headed northwest for ten miles, then west for ten miles, went through a narrow pass at the tip of Evia, turned 180° and headed east for another ten miles. From our starting point, in what shall now be known as ‘Storm Bay’, Skiathos was approximately 30 miles due north, but Evia lies in its path, as you will see on the map above. However, we made for a bay called Vathikelon, which shall now be known as ‘Calm Bay’. Although it is very deep (anchor in 10-15m), it is completely landlocked and so calm and peaceful that I didn’t want to leave the safety of it. There is nothing there, apart from a few villas in among the olive trees – perfect. Next stop Skiathos.

 

Skiathos town quay – our guidebook tells us that the local charter operations protect their spots on the town quay with aggression – and we saw it first-hand. We have never been so aggrieved as we were on Skiathos town quay.

 

The quay had a few spaces free, so we dropped the hook, ran back and someone took our line – the normal thing now is for him to hang around, help us out and make sure we are tied on securely. No, he threw the line back, the boat swung around wildly under the gusting wind and we struggled to control the situation. Finally, a tourist who was sat on a nearby bench offered to help, for which we thanked him.

 

Marion, Brad, Dave, Michele - drinks!

We called Brad & Marion, they arrived and beer and wine was duly opened to celebrate our epic trip and final arrival. The boat moored next to us was advertising day trips. He neither helped us with our lines or spoke to us. At five o’clock he asked how long we would be staying,

‘four or five days’ we replied.

‘You have to leave, tripper boat coming back, you in its spot’.

‘Is this not the town quay?’ we questioned.

‘You leave or I get the Port Police.’

 

This happened three or four times with different people, but now they were British, more aggressive and accused me of being rude! I asked where their reserved signs were for the boats, and how were we meant to know we shouldn’t moor here. More shouting and arm waving and finally the Port Police arrived. The young officer looked very embarrassed when we asked him if this was not the town quay, shyly, and without making eye contact, he said no, you must leave. To cut a long story short, these tripper boats are obviously ‘paying’ to keep their spot and in the process are making visiting yachts feel very unwelcome. We asked B&M to leave while we sorted the situation out and for them to come back at 7pm for drinks on board.

 

We motored up and down the town quay, every time we tried to dock we were shouted at to leave, that it was a reserved spot. Finally we found what we thought was a free spot and tried to dock. A man on the quay was shouting profusely at us, waving his hands wildly. We were beginning to give up. I started to bring the anchor back up, but it was stuck, and it was stuck fast. We believed we had caught the ‘Mama Mia’ Daytripper boat’s mooring line. More shouting and waving of arms. Finally, we could do no more than take the boat back to the quay, and explain that David would have to dive down and see what the problem was.

 

To our amazement, the man waving his arms was trying to help us, not hinder. He was trying to point out that there is a danger under the water, just where we were dropping our anchor. He very kindly said that we could tie up to his tripper boat, he manoeuvred his two other tripper boats to help us. He told us to wait til the morning to dive, have a drink and relax. We could not have been more grateful for his kindness. One of his staff, Leanne, an English girl was very embarrassed when I told her how we had been treated further down the quay. They told us we could stay in their spot for a long as we wanted. When B&M returned at 7pm, we had not even showered, we were exhausted.

 

Alhambra next to Labmos boats - empty quay!

The next morning, Brad arrived at the boat at 08:30 (having been out partying to the early hours). He and David donned the diving gear we have on board and spent the next hour sorting the anchor and chain out. I cannot thank Brad enough for helping David with the diving, otherwise David would have had to do this on his own, while I let the anchor up and down, in among all the huge ferries coming and going.

 

It appears we had managed to tangle the anchor chain 360°around a block. Our newfound friends Labmos told us to use his lazy line when they went out for the day and ‘not to worry’. However, when everything was sorted, we moved down the quay a few spots and bought some wine and beer for his crew to say thank you for their kindness. They were the nicest people we met on Skiathos.

 

We had a wonderful three days with Brad and Marion, and the holiday was over all too quickly. Too much food and wine, but lots of good company. I only hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.

How much rain?

 

We decided to stay a few more days, there was some more weather coming. We hired a car on Saturday and sped(?) off round the island. As Skiathos is not that big, we were done by 3pm, and returned to the boat – for once the gods were on our side. Within ten minutes of getting back on the boat, the most violent storm we’ve seen for a very long time moved from Skopelos over to Skiathos. For nearly two hours we watched the rainwater flood down the main street and into the quay. The reverberation from the crack of thunder went through every bone in our bodies. We had to have the engine running for over an hour to keep the boat from bashing into the dock. We went through two lots of wet weather gear before it finally let up. At least it washed the boat, I suppose! However, watching Labmos and Leanne return with two boats full of holiday-makers arrive back, I realised how scared they must have all been, as they cheered the captains when they arrived safely back. To her credit, when I spoke to Leanne, she said she was really worried for us! 



Enjoy drinks over the bridge, waiting from friends to transit

And so, now we are on our return journey back down the Evia Channel. We have just come back through the Khalkis bridge (1am this time) and are spending a few restful days in the yacht club marina.




Tobin Bronze transitting

We've met up with friends from 2011 (Judy taught me to make jewellery) and we watched them transit the bridge northbound at 12:30am. It seemed funny watching them going through, as tourists waved at them as they passed by.



Fishermen surfing the current

Khalkis has a cosmopolitan feel, and strolling along the town quay, watching the fisherman 'surfing the current' is fascinating.

View over Greece from Khalkis Castle

Today we walked up to the castle, which is wonderfully preserved, and the views over Evia and Greece were breathtaking, especially as the air was so clear today.

Alhambra's new neighbours

Back in the Yacht Club Marina, we have got chatting to our new neighbours, who are also heading up to the Ionian, maybe a beer or two before we leave tomorrow to catch up with even more old friends.

A couple we met in 2011 on Ibiza are on their way northbound through the Channel, and we plan to meet half way on Tuesday. We will then explore the Saronic Gulf before going back through the Corinth Canal and heading for the Ionian for more visitors.

 

 

 

Until then, take care, and stay in touch.

Michele and Dave

More photos on https://www.flickr.com/photos/md_sailing/

Messolonghi to the Aegean

25^th May 2014 to 1^st June 2014

We finally left Messolonghi on 25^th May, after much fixing and cleaning, and of course visiting local sites of interest (mainly in the evenings, for dinner and drinks with friends).

 

The first part of our season will take us along the Gulf of Patras and Corinth, through the Corinth Canal, up the Evia Channel and onto meet with friends, Brad and Marion, who are holidaying on Skiathos. We then plan to meander slowly back down the Evia Channel, visiting places we did not see on the way up, around the Saronic Gulf before making our way back through the Corinth Canal. We’ll visit some other places in the Corinth Gulf before following our tracks back to Messolonghi, before heading back into the Ionian to receive family and friends in August and September. Well that’s the plan.

 

Rion Bridge

So far, we have been weather bond on a continuous basis.

Once out of Messlonghi, you go under the Rion Bridge, which in itself is a fascinating structure (which I have written about before), and which we go over when arrive by bus from Athens.



Trizonia fishing quay

Our first stop was a little island on the mainland cost called Trizonia, a miniature Alderney (for those who have been there). Not much going on, but seems to take a hold of you and you struggle to escape. Fortunately, we escaped, but will spend more than a night on our return visit. Off then to Galaxidhi. A well protected spot, which was handy as Force 7s were forecast for the next few days. We moored on the town quay, which has power and water (€9 a night for us if you want to know).

 

Galaxidhi bay

Galaxidhi’s history is that until the late 19th century, it had a sizeable merchant marine fleet and was a prosperous commercial centre, and has a marine museum containing exhibits from this period. Opposite the town quay there is a beautiful pine forest, which was planted by school children in the early twentieth century, and at the top of the mountain the Monastery of the Metamorphosis (actually a convent that was inhabited by one nun as of 2010 so Wikipedia tells me).

 

However, from Galaxidhi you can take a bus to Itea, the next port along, and then another bus to Delphi – which we did. Numerous photos on our flickr website

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/md_sailing/

 

What I have discovered about Delphi in brief: It is both an archaeological site and a modern town on Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. Dating to the classical period of Ancient Greece (510-323 BC), the site of Delphi is believed to be where Zeus sought to find the centre of his "Grandmother Earth" (Ge, Gaea, or Gaia). He sent two eagles flying from the eastern and western extremities, and the path of the eagles crossed over Delphi where the omphalos, or navel of Gaia was found.

 

Earlier myths include traditions that Pythia, or the Delphic oracle, was the site of an important oracle in the pre-classical Greek world (as early as 1400 BC), and served as the major site for the worship of the god Apollo after he slew Python, "a dragon" who lived there and protected the navel of the Earth.

 

Apollo's sacred precinct in Delphi was a panhellenic sanctuary, where every four years, starting in 586 BC [5] athletes from all over the Greek world competed in the Pythian Games, precursors of the Modern Olympics. These Pythian Games rank second among the four stephanitic games chronologically and based on importance.

 

Needless to say, there is so much more to be said about Delphi, but you all have access to Google and can read at your leisure. However, it was a fascinating place to visit, and one which we will visit again as there was so much more to see.

 

Kiato beach

After three days at Galaxidhi, a weather window appeared, which we took, and after a calm motor half way across the Gulf of Corinth to its southern shore, the winds changed and we had a force 6 ‘on the nose’. Fabulous! Big seas, boat going up and down and crashing into every wave – it resembled our time in the Caribbean. In addition to this, the wind was cold, so we had to wrap up on fleeces and jeans.

 

Kiato harbour

However, we still had a problem when we go to Kiato, where we were heading – the harbour is east facing, and we had strong easterly winds. We were not sure it would be a safe harbour. Fortunately, on our arrival, there is a small fishing harbour on the inside, which is protected from the east, and we managed to go alongside, along with our friends on their boat Chanty. We were stuck here for two nights with force 7-8s howling all day and all night. However, we saw a weather window on the horizon, which we had to take otherwise we would be stuck there til Tuesday (when the Corinth Canal is closed for repairs).

 

Western entrance to Corinth Canal

We set out on 31^st May, wind and sea behind us for the hour and a half trip to the entrance to the Corinth Canal.

 

The Canal is the most expensive stretch of water in the world, mile for mile, in our case €66 per mile...€200.97 to be precise to transit the canal – the alternative is spending three weeks going the long way round. It is however AMAZING.

All three bridges

 

Both the Romans and Greeks have looked at schemes to start a canal, but only Nero actually started digging. Unfortunately, the 6,000 Jews who were digging didn’t even get down to rock before his energies were diverted back to northern Europe. The present canal was started by a French company, and finished by the Greeks in 1893. It is 3.2 miles long, 25m wide and cut from limestone 79m above sea level, and takes about half an hour to transit.

 

Easter entrance to canal

We were lucky, we didn’t have to wait at all to be given permission to enter; some yachts have to wait up to three hours. At the eastern end, you tie up alongside and part with your money.

 

We are now tied to a very nice dock, owned by a Yannis and his taverna, in a well protected bay called Korfos, 15 miles from the Canal. And a very nice meal we had there. The dock is free, has extremely nice new lazy lines, showers and Wifi, and Yannis welcomes you to his dock.

 

Now for our next step. We need to get to Skiaothos, but the weather has changed again and for the next 3-4 days Force 8s are forecast where we want to go. We will stay at Yannis tonight, try to get to the island of Aigina tomorrow (about 15 miles away) and ride out the weather there. From there we can take a ferry across to Athens, so we have things we can do while we wait for the winds to calm down. Now we’re through the Canal the pressure is off a bit, but if the winds continue this way we’re not sure when we’ll get to Skiathos, probably just as our friends are leaving...

 

Watch this space...

Rats...guests...the regatta... and tomato challenge!

Ahhhh, the crystal blue waters of Port Atheni on Meganisi. AKA Rat Island, and yes, we got one. This year, everyone we have met has either had, or known someone who has had a rat on board. And I can tell you it's not very nice.

We discovered ours a week before mum was due to arrive, and he had been on board for at least two days before we saw any 'evidence' of him. However, once we had found the 'evidence', we couldn't stop finding the 'evidence'. He had been everywhere, and the problem on a boat is that there is 'everywhere' for them to go. If they can't find food, they start chewing anything in sight, wires, upholstery and even my favourite starfish sandals...this meant war.

So we went and bought four sticky rat traps - the idea being that the rat/mouse is lured by the food in the middle of the trap, it walks across the sticky stuff, and then its feet and are stuck firmly. That's the theory. The reality is that having placed said sticky pads in the obviously places Mr Ratty had been, the next morning we not only found evidence of Mr Rattyt in our cabin, but also paw prints straight throught the sticky stuff and out the otherside.

'Ah, you need to buy the cage traps...you need to put chocolate, no salami, no cheese...in it, that will get him, guaranteed overnight', so everyone said. So we bought two and no they didn't work. The chocolate, cheese and salami were still in place the next morning. What to do? Whilst scratching our heads and searching Google, for other options, we checked under the bilges to a sticky trap we had laid and forgotten to check. Well blow me down, there he was, stuck, flat on his side, still squeaking. It was all too much for me and I had to get off the boat while David sorted it out - sorting it out meant getting out his big, solid fishing gloves, a large plastic bag, and at arms length 'export said vermin'.

Now we had to find a quick and, dare I say, painless, way to put the poor thing out of his misery. And so we found another use for boat planks...they're not just getting on and off your boat...I leave the rest to your imagination. Needless to say the boat was scrubbed from top to bottom and we don't leave any hatches open, especially when we're on Rat Island.

Moving swiftly along, Before mum arrived we spent a few days with Ian & Jenny, and 'Franny Dog' and spent another 'awe inspiring' day driving around the stunning island of Lefkas. It also happened to be Ian's birthday, which made it all the more special while soaking up the views from the very top, before a lovely lunch on the edge of a cliff, under the shade of some trees.

At the top, we happened upon a chapel. Yes, right at the very, very top. The views of the islands were, as always, amazing, and inside the chapel was pretty stunning as well. It is obviously maintained by 'someone' as there were candles and incense burning.

One particularly interesting view from the top was of the 'Mickey Mouse' radar ears perched on another mountain top! I'm sure they do a very important job of receiving and/or transmitting, but I'm not entirely sure, so I asked David...he thinks they military communication dishes, but who knows! Of course, as we had a car for the day, we had to finish off the day with a trip to Lidl to stock up on all the necessary items we can only get from there...dinner in town was very nice too!

The following week mum arrived and we had a really lovely week with her on board, apart from the 'incident' which we don't mention. Needless to say she can now say she has truly had a 'boat bite' and what a corker of a bruise it was.


Hopefully the many friends she met helped her to enjoy her stay and forget about the 'incident'. Photos of the bruise are available on request, but require written authority from mum!

 

Then came our next guests on board - Jim and Lynda. The plan (always subject to change as Lynda soon found out). 'We'll stay on board three days, then move to a hotel for a relaxing final few days', Lynda said and this was the original plan. 'Ah, but its Regatta week and we have a spare space for a willing helmsman' came our reply...'we'll see how the plan works out'.

They arrived on Sunday night, around 9pm, but as this is Greece it took the to-ing and fro-ing of texts and about an hour's wait, to get Jim and Lynda to the right part of Nydri, but they arrived just as we were ordering another drink at the bar...After a few more drinks, dinner and a good night's sleep we planned the week's events.

The weather was forecast to change/increase that afternoon/evening and we had planned to get a spot on a dock in Nydri...that all changed. We took Jim and Lynda out for a sail and to show them their hotel from the sea. It was also a good way to get Jim back in 'boat mode' and see how much Lynda like being on a boat. The wind, as always was changable - for changable read 'direction boxing the compass and strength from nil knots gusting to 20 knots'. We had a reasonable time 'sailing to the wind' (unheard of normally as you are usually going somewhere and the wind is either non-existent or 'on the nose') for about an hour and then we looked at the clouds above the mountains...time to get back to a safe place for the night.

Too late! By the time the sails were in, the wind was howling and the rain was falling so hard that it was actually flattening the sea. We had to put full wet weather gear on in a matter of minutes and, for the first time ever, put our navigation and steaming lights on during the day. I can honestly say I have never seen rain like it anywhere in the world. It was unsafe to try to get back to a dock (not that anyone else had gone anywhere and there were no spaces), or even to the anchorage. Lynda went below, Jim and I kept a look out and David safely motored the boat around a holding pattern until a lull appeared and we could try to get somewhere to anchor. Vlicho was our only real option, and we weren't happy about it - it is known not to be a good place in a southerly storm (check out you tube and you'll see what I mean). We managed to get ourselves into Vlicho and anchored before the next burst came through. The anchor held fast, but the wind was so strong that it was pushing the boat sideways. We were wet, tired and hungry - only one thing to do in these circumstances - a bacon sandwich.

The storm passed in a couple of hours and we stayed safely tucked up in Vlicho for the night, having been treated to a lovely meal at the 'Seaside Restaurant', before planning the next day.

Tuesday was a very enjoyable day, a surprisingly nice sail in the morning over to Meganisi for lunch, and an even more surprisingly fast sail back. I made the suggestion to the 'boys' that perhaps they should go out tomorrow on Solent Clipper, as they were in fact going to be racing her on Thursday in the Regatta.

Not sure why none of us had thought of this before!

 And so it was that Ian (Skipper - middle), Jim (Helmsman - right), David (Tachtician - left) and Fran the Dog (Mascot - below) entered the Southern Ionion Regatta.

A race of 127 boats from mid-way down the Meganisi channel, around Arkoudhi Island, to the finish line in Sivota. (Lynda and I went to their hotel, had lunch and spent the afternoon round the pool - someone has to keep up standards).

The Team now have 'salty dog' stories to tell their friends and families for many ages to come. But when all is said and done, apart from the debarcle with a couple of catamarans 'which must have cost us a least 20 places...' they came a very well respected 58th. Lynda, Jenny (unfortunately missing the whole event as she had to be back in the UK), and I are very proud of their efforts. I do feel however, that they should have got 'Prettiest dog over the line'.

 

For the rest of their stay, we hired a car and drove Jim and Lynda around Lefkas, (one more time, but it is still an astoundingly beautiful island) and then left them to enjoy the comforts of their Resort Spa Hotel, with its many pools and restaurants before they headed back to normaldome of the UK. We had a great time with them on board.

Before I begin the finale of the tomato challenge, I wanted everyone to know that Fran the Dog is an exception dog. Loyal (not sure who to most tho', she can be found on anyone's boat if the incentive is right), friendly (especially to those who will give her as much fuss as possible) and attentive(? not if your name's Ian).

 

However, she is the most remarkable when she goes swimming. And I'm sure Ian and Jenny won't mind me sharing with you photos of Fran going swimming and then attempting to get out of the water when she has finished...

Finally onto the tomato challenge. Well as no-one actually produced a tomato, there is no actual winner.

Jenny's (off the boat Tashinga, who is now safely back in South Africa), hers went by the wayside weeks ago, something to do with a birthday celebration which overtook all efforts to keep her poor tomato plants alive. Jenny's (Solent Clipper - challenge setter), hers unfortunately, despite her best efforts, went by the wayside while she had to go back to the UK and Ian (Skipper) unfortunately mis-read her instructions of 'feed Baby bio to toms once a week until I return', and gave them an overdose of full strength Baby bio every day - at least they died happy.

Mine, after a great sadness, and the pushiness of my mother, made me give up one of 'The boys' to allow the strongest take all the nutrients from the soil. (Now I know why I grew up the way I did, being the baby of the family....).

As you can se from the photos (then above and now below), he grew and grew, he even grew four little flowers, but no tomatoes came forth. In the end, as we knew we were coming to Messolonghi this weekend, I gave him to a good home in Nydri, on the dock we use, they grow lots of flowers and vegetables. They have promised to take good care of him, and I can have visiting rights next year if we're passing! This is how big he grew - it may have been something to do with the size of the pot that wouldn't allow the flowers to turn into fully fledged tomatoes...who knows. But he's in a good home now.

We are now back in Messolonghi, getting the boat ready for winter. We have three weeks before our flights back on in October when we look forward to catching up with our family and friends back in the UK...but I'm sure I'll write one more blog before we leave. Watch this space!

 

Remake of 1975 British children's film...and the tomato challenge!

When we last spoke I was on the verge of becoming a fully fledged 'commissioned jeweller'. I am glad to say that I have become that 'commissioned jeweller', having sold my first necklace and earing set. Watch out winter boot sales, here I come. However, on more of a sailing/travelling note, what, I hear you cry, have we been doing for the last few weeks. Well the excitement here in the Ionian just doesn't stop. Well, it does when its 36 degrees and no breeze...but I will not complain.

We have been fortunate enough to meet up with some old friends - Steve and Jenny on Tashinga, new friends - Ted and Ginny on Suum Cuique (It's Latin for 'each to his own'), Bobby and Ian on Carlina (hairdressers who happily make you sit on the back of their boat, covered in a black hairdressing robe in 36 degrees, while you have your haircut with everybody looking on...). Finally Ian and Jenny, with Fran the Dog, on Solent Clipper. So if you get called Jenny, or a variation therein, it's because I've been surrounded by Jennys. What with the fact that we call the wind generator Geni W, the Honda generator Geni H and the genoa (headsail if you don't know), Geni S, all makes for a very confusing life, as in 'I wonder what Jenny's up to?' Am I referring to one of three friends or one of three bits of boat equipment...

Moving swifly on. For a change (and because needed to collect some large items) we rented a car for a day with some other friends - David and Lesley on Hie, note that she is not be called Jenny, but he is called David - even more confusion.


Lefkas Northwest Coast

After we finished our shopping spree of a) new razor for David, b) new USB cable for computer c) collection of Hie's sail from repair and d) some jewellery bits for me, we then went exploring the west coast of Lefkas.We stopped and had a lovely lunch on Kathisma beach. Unfortunately, at this time of the year, it is wall to wall umbrellas and Italians.

As we walked to our chosen restaurant (the one that had a space in its car park) we saw quite an imperssive sight - paragliding going on directly above our heads. We watched as they rode the thermals off the cliffs and then eventually landed on beach, between the umbrellas.

After lunch we continued to drive up, and through, the magnificent mountains of Lefkas, and back over the middle of the island and round the sometimes trecherous road leading back to Nidri.

We stopped to look at the stunning view over the islands of the South Ionian and down into Vliho bay, before continuing around Vliho Bay to get a different view from the one we normally see - from the land to the boat, not the other way around! In the picture on the left you can see Scorpios, owned by the infamous Onasis family, now rumoured to have been let on a 99 year lease to a very wealthy Russion who is going to build apartments...I bet you don't see them on Last Minute.Com when their built! But you do see an enormous mega yacht (power) in the bay most days. Now when you stop there fore lunch you can go ashore, up until now you could only swim up to the beach before you were asked to leave!

Anyway, I digress. Our remake of a 1975 British Children's Films...Let me explain further. As we left Nidri, one fine sunny Friday morning (we had received a call two days before to say that our new sail was ready for collection - horray!), we headed out of the bay and up the coast for Lefkas to collect said sail. On route, David, in his calm, collected fashion, commented that one of the oars from our dinghy had been stolen over night...'some bugger's nicked one of our oars' to be precise, 'what idiot would want to do that?' This would be very bad triming as we were about to to up a river to meet Tashinga and Solent Clipper, and would therefore leave us...wait for it....'up a creek without a paddle'... it get's better... 'Oh dear.' I replied (clearly already thinking of my punchline), 'does that mean we can make a remake of the film 'One of Our Dinasaurs is Missing', but call it...'One of our Dinghy Oars is Missing'. You can imagine his response - I thought it was very quick on my part! Anyway, as it turns out the oar was just hiding beneath the dinghy cover and was there all along, so we won't be making any remakes of 1970s kids movies - shame, I thought it would be fun.

So, onto more interesting things - WE HAVE A NEW SAIL AND IT SAILS - New sail up, through the 12:00 noon Lefkas bridge heading north, three and half hours sail. No problems, sail comes out, sail goes in, no jamming, no creasing, just a lovely bright shiny new sail (thanks mum!)

However, more interesting stuff was to come - we were about to enter the River Acheron on the mainland. It is supposedly the river that flows into the ancient Acheron where the souls of the dead were thought to descend into the underworld. As we sailed towards Fanari Bay, where the entrance to the river hides, we had been greeted with a reasonable wind on our nose and two meter waves - where did they come from? (The Adriatic, which is why they were so big). As you can see from the photo, the entrance is not very wide, less than 100m wide, quite shallow and with a 1-2 knot current flowing out. This current, meeting the waves created an interesting approach that we decided not to attempt before checking it out in the dinghy. We anchored, took the dinghy in (with both oars) to meet up with our friends who were already tied alongside the wooden quay that has been built about 1km up the river. Having riden the waves on the way out in the dinghy, we decided it was too dangerous to attempt at 7pm so we stayed at anchore that night. We took the boat up the river first thing the next morning.

The river is ice cold and spring water. On the quay they have provided ice cold showers for you to use, if your brave enough. Whilst in the river, we actually woke up in the mornings shivering and the floor in the boat was cold! The quay is set in the village of Ammoudhia, which itself is very pretty, tidy and full of very reasonably priced restaurants and hotels. Although it is a tourist village, it had a very calm and friendly feel about it.

The following day, we took the dinghys (photo of Ian, Jenny and Fran the Dog) up the river to see if we could find some lost souls trying to find they way down to Hades. All we found was a tripper boat full of holiday makers, a few birds, one sunken boat and not enough depth to go right the way to the entrance. But we had fun all the same.

The following day, Ian and Jenny (Solent Clipper) left the river. We knew this would be an interesting sight to watch, as the river isn't really big enougn to turn a boat around in - certain techniques would need to be applied. We would all watch carefully. For your information Ian and Jenny's boat is 4 ft shorter than ours. Firstly they tied a line to their starboard side (that's the one on the river side in this case), and took this back to Steve and David, who were standing on the boat that Solent Clipper had been rafted to... keeping up.

The current in the river flows between 1 and 2 knots, heading out of the river. The aim was to move the boat forward with lots of power, the boys would hold on to the line as Ian turned the boat back on itself, hoping that the current would take the bow once the boat had gone past the point of no return, and hopefully not getting caught up in the bushes on the other side of the river. Here's them just at the point of no return.

Now, we have to do this tomorrow, but with no spare room...to say it was going to be an interesting morning when we left would maybe be and understatement!

However, before Ian and Jenny left, she gave me and Jenny (Tashinga) a challenge. She has on her boat an Italian herb garden that she has been growing since leaving Italy at the beginning of July. So, out of the kindness of her heart, she left us both two baby tomato plants - the challenge being the first to grow a tomato. I have since repotted and named my plants (hereby referred lovingly as 'The Boys'), and am speaking and nuturing them everyday. Here's their photo.

Having had three wonderful days up the river, with both our paddles, we decided to move on.  Our exist from the river was as expected, interesting, and I feel that the new addition of foliage to the anchor and pulpit works well, even though David made me remove it. Luckily no photos available to show what a mishmash we made of it.

We decided to go the fifteen miles across to Lakka and we had decide to get there early to try and find a least a little corner to anchor in. Lakka in August is always full. To make our journey even more delightful, we were greeting by two dolphins just five miles out from the entrance to the bay.
As I say now that we are in August, it is Italian season, and there is normally no space available. WRONG. We arrived to find not one, but three spaces available on the town quay - unheard of in August. We call our friend Terry (Seadragon) who we had agreed to meet there and all slipped onto the town quay with no questions.

My main reason for going to Lakka, apart from the glorious colour of the water and the picture postcard cuteness of the place, is the bead shop...which has now closed down! Typical!  However, we did find a fantastic beach bar, set up in the trees, just off the beach, with sun loungers, free wifi and cold beer. So I suppose it is the next best thing. We met up with some more sailing friends from Messolonghi and we stayed two nights.

Since then we have been back to Vliho, Nidri, over to Port Atheni. We have decided that this will now be our weekend retreat. You can anchor in clear blue water, take two lines ashore and create your own private swimming area behind the boat, and there is a wonderful little beach bar, only a dinghy ride away. While we were there this weekend we met up with Terry (Seadragon), Bob and Jane (Bobcat), and the following day, Steve and Jenny (Tashinga) and their two guests joined us again.

On the first night we had 'progressive supper BBQ'. This took the form of Terry cooking everyones meat on his boat, I made a salad and Jane a potato salad. We transported all the food from all the boats to Bobcat (a lovely big catamaran with a fantastic outside eating area). We then played a very silly game called Banana Scrabble - much fun was had. On the following night we had a 'progressive supper chilli'. I made a chilli, Jane made a chilli and Terry made the rice. All the food was once again transported to Bobcat and we place Mexican Train Dominoes (appropriate for the chilli). And then we discovered the freshwater leak...

...watch this space to see if we've fixed it!

Til next time - Michele and Dave onboard Alhambra in the Ionian

Doesn't time fly...

...I can't believe we have only be back on the boat for six weeks, it feels like we've already had a full season on board. But don't think that we're complaining, it means that it feels like time has slowed down. That may just be us, it does take a while to get used to a completely different lifestyle - or it could just be the heat, in which case, I will pour another glass of iced water and get on with this update.

Dolphins around Oxia

So, what have we done in three weeks since leaving Messolonghi. On our first day out of the marina we were greeted by three enormous dolphins, swimming and playing in our bow wake. There is nothing more wonderful to see than dolpins. They really do put a smile on your face.

View from Georges
Restaurant

On my previous blog I mentioned that our first planned stop would be to Kastos. That plan, as all plans, was subject to change, and did so at the last minute. The town quay was, unsurprisingly at this time of year, full with boats, so we went around to the next island, Kalamos and went on the dock in the little harbour. We last visited Kalamos back in 2005 when we chartered a boat in the Ionian, long before we bought Alhambra.
     Back then a very nice man met us on the dock, took our lines and introduced himself as 'George'.  He explained that he had the restaurant at the end of the dock, showers and washing machines were also available. Well nothing much changes in eight years. We arrived, George took our lines, and told us all about his restaurant, showers and washing machines. After a hard, 40 miles of motoring we decided to have dinner in his restaurant - all very pleasant.

Glassy seas on the Ionian

The next day we set off for Nidri, about 17 miles north-ish. Again, so unlike the Ionian, there was not a breath of wind - no need to even think about getting a sail out. We got the headsail out twice the previous day, but as normal, the wind went on our nose and after rolling in the headsail twice my daily exercise was complete. David and I have agreed that even if there is no wind, we should still get the headsail out so that I can haul on lines and winch the sail away, all in the name of exercise...
    
However, I digress. We arrived safely in Nidri, got a space on the Neilson dock and spent the afternoon relaxing around the very welcoming swimming pool. That night, we attended the weekly Neilson Quiz (it raises money for Sail Cancer) and is held at one of our favourite bars - The Tree Bar. All was right in the world again.
     That night, whilst catching up with friends who run the bar, and explaining we needed to take our mainsail up to Lefkas,one of them very kindly offered to drive us there the next day - this meant we could take our mainsail to the sailmakers without having to take the boat there. And so it was that on Wednesday 10th July we ordered a brand new mainsail - hopefully it should be arriving by the end of July - yipee (we think).

Since then we have met with some old friends, been for drinks and dinner and generally enjoying the waiting around for a new sail. Good friends on Locomocean, invited us to join them for dinner at a restaurant half way up the mountain, behind Nidri. Nothing special about the menu, typically Greek, all very nice and inexpensive, but the view was wonderful, as you can see.   

 

A few days later, another set of very good sailing friends on Fritha, arrived back in Nidri. They, unfortunately, are going back to the UK soon, so we needed to get a whole lot of catching up and socialising sorted out. They invited us to lunch on their boat in One Tree Bay. This bay is so named, because there is one tree in the Bay. There's a lot of other bushes and greenery and stuff around, but there is a particuarly obvious tree, on its own, in the middle of a field.

When we visited last year, it was one of the few bays that still had nothing in it. This year a beach bar has sprung up - unsurprisingly. The bay is fantastic, it has crystal clear water, perfect for swimming and you can see straight to the bottom. It has fantastic views all around, and the back drop of the mountains to complete the picture, as you can see from the photo above. However I really must get a picture of the Tree!

     We continued the week in a similar vein, lunch round the pool, drinks at the bar, dinner with friends. However, in between all this exhausting socialising, I have been making jewellery and writing my book. There are photos of the new jewellery and 'wine glass bangles' (as I am told they are called) on the Jewellery page. I have also taken my first commission for a necklace and earings set. I will let you know whether they liked it or not.

 

     Finally, I have to add two photographs of the other creatures in life that make me smile - dogs. As we left Messolonghi, a German couple, who live in Crete, when not sailing in Greece (keep up), rescued this adoreable fluff ball. It just had so much energy and bounce, you couldn't help but like it.

Then, when we were another dock for a day, opposite us, on a motor boat, a young girl arrived. In her had was the tiniest puppy. She put her down on the boat - the puppy scampered around and nearly fell off twice, overboard, then ran around yapping to her 'mum' whenever she couldn't see her. She had so much character, I could easily have 'stolen' her away. We believe there is probably quite a bit of Huskey in her, but not sure what else - either way, I'm not sure how long this little bundle of fun will stay this small.

 

That's about it for this installment. Hopefully by the next one I will be able to put up a photo of Alhambra and her new mainsail. Hopefully all the engineering issues will be sorted and we will finally be able to go sailing - properly!

 

Michele and Dave on Alhambra - Nidri, Greece