Greece - Saronic and Eastern Peloponnisos
Porto Kheli 141nm, 23hrs 30min
Thursday September 12 - Monday 16
Free anchorage
Thursday September 12 - Monday 16
Free anchorage
Timing our departure to have fair winds for sailing, but miss the worst of it, we left beautiful Amorgós at 0930 hours. The journey started out lumpy but the swell settled once we came into the shadow of islands to the north. We had great sailing winds and were up around 8kns for a significant amount of the time. Colin was in captains' heaven, and even gave thanks to the God of Wind saying "This is what I like Huey. Send it down mate, send it down!"
The night brought traffic unlike any we've seen. You had to be on constant alert for ships coming from all directions, and checking their trajectories to make sure you weren't on a collision course. I slowed down for a huge cruise liner on a path that looked close to mowing us down (too close for my liking anyway). We're visible to them on AIS (Automatic Identification System) but I wasn't leaving anything to chance with something that big. The AIS was invaluable, giving the speed and direction of the many boats around us, and a projection of their location 30 minutes ahead. This enabled us to see if we were likely to hit or just brush each other in passing.
During my night watch and just before dawn I saw the moon descend in spectacular fashion. It looked to me like someone dropping a huge orange disc between an island and a mountain range behind it. Of course this couldn't have been happening, and the mountain range I saw must have been a trick of the night mist. It was magical to watch none the less.
Arriving in Porto Heli at 0900 hours we were pleased to find there was lots of room to anchor. After letting out 40m of chain in 6m depth and pulling back hard we felt secure enough for whatever Huey was to throw at us, so we had breakfast and went back to bed.
Later in the day we scoped out the town and found places to provision, swap gas bottles, and something Colin's been seeking for months, a dive shop selling a used scuba tank! There was a feline curled up in the front window. I asked the shop owner "Is that your cat?" and he replied "No, but we are his people".
Friday we made it to the Port Authority to get our Transit Log stamped, Colin wishing to adhere to the instruction given to us in Sími of having it stamped at every port, though we'd heard from friends it was only necessary if you were on a town pier. My hunch is that the rules change depending on who you're talking to and on what day, and on how close to lunchtime it is. Walking back to town we talked to a lovely man in a restaurant called Salt and Pepper and decided that's where we should eat Saturday night, purely because he was so helpful and nice.
After coffee and a vanilla cream pie at Drouga's bakery we made it back to the boat before the wind blew up and before the second quarter of the AFL finals footy. Life is sweet, in more ways than one.
Saturday marked the arrival of our final guests for the season, Maxine and Arnhem. Welcome aboard! The wind had picked up considerably and was in fact fearsome during the night, sending the Captain upstairs more than once to make sure we (and everyone around us) were holding. We got wet going to shore, there was no avoiding it, then got accosted by a boy on a bike who insisted on directing the dinghy to where we were already going, taking the rope and tying us up, then taking our rubbish, then yup, asking for money. Of course we knew this was coming and thought there was no harm in letting him help in exchange for a few euros, except that I had to retrieve our recycling bag from the bin, and that next time we came to shore there were a dozen small kids trying the same ruse. They must have got word we were a soft touch.
The wind was still howling when Maxine and Arnhem arrived by bus from Athens, so there was nothing else for it but to have coffee and pastries at Drouga's Food House and wait for the gusts to settle. It seemed that good looks and gender were the main criteria for waiting tables, and I asked our waiter to be in a photo with Maxine in front of an ice cream display cabinet. An utterance of 'Yum' escaped her lips, and she wasn't talking about the ice creams. She later lamented that yes, she had said that out aloud.
Back on board the afternoon was spent orientating Maxine and Arnhem, hereby known as Maxter, to their accomodation for the week and going through the safety briefing and house rules. The toilet has been taking up an increasing amount of time in the briefing due to the inordinate amount of difficulty people have with it, and once we were through I think our guests were too scared to use it! Marine toilets - the bane of the cruising life.
Salt and Pepper turned out to be a great choice for dinner. Our man and his son were delightful in serving us and the food was delicious! I hadn't been enamoured with Greek cuisine I must say, but this food was very tasty. We followed it up by introducing Maxter to Extra Dark Chocolate ice cream at Drouga's. More than just a bakery!
Sunday was glassed off when we awoke but the wind wasn't far behind us in waking up. The Captain stuck to the plan of staying another night and we set the day's agenda: food, walk, shopping. During our walk Arnhem discovered some unusual green rock and he and I got to it collecting samples for the rock cairn on the saloon table. I know a rock cairn is somewhat impractical and difficult to maintain on a moving boat, but I like it.
The day's activities took us to 1530 hours and we returned to the boat with just enough time to eat and snooze before heading back out for dinner. Returning to Salt and Pepper (when you're onto a good thing...) we let the owner suggest some starters for us to share. He even said if we didn't like them we didn't have to pay, so as we were telling him how sensational they were he said "So you will pay?"
Click images to enlarge
The night brought traffic unlike any we've seen. You had to be on constant alert for ships coming from all directions, and checking their trajectories to make sure you weren't on a collision course. I slowed down for a huge cruise liner on a path that looked close to mowing us down (too close for my liking anyway). We're visible to them on AIS (Automatic Identification System) but I wasn't leaving anything to chance with something that big. The AIS was invaluable, giving the speed and direction of the many boats around us, and a projection of their location 30 minutes ahead. This enabled us to see if we were likely to hit or just brush each other in passing.
During my night watch and just before dawn I saw the moon descend in spectacular fashion. It looked to me like someone dropping a huge orange disc between an island and a mountain range behind it. Of course this couldn't have been happening, and the mountain range I saw must have been a trick of the night mist. It was magical to watch none the less.
Arriving in Porto Heli at 0900 hours we were pleased to find there was lots of room to anchor. After letting out 40m of chain in 6m depth and pulling back hard we felt secure enough for whatever Huey was to throw at us, so we had breakfast and went back to bed.
Later in the day we scoped out the town and found places to provision, swap gas bottles, and something Colin's been seeking for months, a dive shop selling a used scuba tank! There was a feline curled up in the front window. I asked the shop owner "Is that your cat?" and he replied "No, but we are his people".
Friday we made it to the Port Authority to get our Transit Log stamped, Colin wishing to adhere to the instruction given to us in Sími of having it stamped at every port, though we'd heard from friends it was only necessary if you were on a town pier. My hunch is that the rules change depending on who you're talking to and on what day, and on how close to lunchtime it is. Walking back to town we talked to a lovely man in a restaurant called Salt and Pepper and decided that's where we should eat Saturday night, purely because he was so helpful and nice.
After coffee and a vanilla cream pie at Drouga's bakery we made it back to the boat before the wind blew up and before the second quarter of the AFL finals footy. Life is sweet, in more ways than one.
Saturday marked the arrival of our final guests for the season, Maxine and Arnhem. Welcome aboard! The wind had picked up considerably and was in fact fearsome during the night, sending the Captain upstairs more than once to make sure we (and everyone around us) were holding. We got wet going to shore, there was no avoiding it, then got accosted by a boy on a bike who insisted on directing the dinghy to where we were already going, taking the rope and tying us up, then taking our rubbish, then yup, asking for money. Of course we knew this was coming and thought there was no harm in letting him help in exchange for a few euros, except that I had to retrieve our recycling bag from the bin, and that next time we came to shore there were a dozen small kids trying the same ruse. They must have got word we were a soft touch.
The wind was still howling when Maxine and Arnhem arrived by bus from Athens, so there was nothing else for it but to have coffee and pastries at Drouga's Food House and wait for the gusts to settle. It seemed that good looks and gender were the main criteria for waiting tables, and I asked our waiter to be in a photo with Maxine in front of an ice cream display cabinet. An utterance of 'Yum' escaped her lips, and she wasn't talking about the ice creams. She later lamented that yes, she had said that out aloud.
Back on board the afternoon was spent orientating Maxine and Arnhem, hereby known as Maxter, to their accomodation for the week and going through the safety briefing and house rules. The toilet has been taking up an increasing amount of time in the briefing due to the inordinate amount of difficulty people have with it, and once we were through I think our guests were too scared to use it! Marine toilets - the bane of the cruising life.
Salt and Pepper turned out to be a great choice for dinner. Our man and his son were delightful in serving us and the food was delicious! I hadn't been enamoured with Greek cuisine I must say, but this food was very tasty. We followed it up by introducing Maxter to Extra Dark Chocolate ice cream at Drouga's. More than just a bakery!
Sunday was glassed off when we awoke but the wind wasn't far behind us in waking up. The Captain stuck to the plan of staying another night and we set the day's agenda: food, walk, shopping. During our walk Arnhem discovered some unusual green rock and he and I got to it collecting samples for the rock cairn on the saloon table. I know a rock cairn is somewhat impractical and difficult to maintain on a moving boat, but I like it.
The day's activities took us to 1530 hours and we returned to the boat with just enough time to eat and snooze before heading back out for dinner. Returning to Salt and Pepper (when you're onto a good thing...) we let the owner suggest some starters for us to share. He even said if we didn't like them we didn't have to pay, so as we were telling him how sensational they were he said "So you will pay?"
Click images to enlarge
Nisís Korakonisia
Nisís Korakonisia 5nm, 1hr 45min
Monday September 16 - Tuesday 17
Free anchorage
Monday September 16 - Tuesday 17
Free anchorage
The winds were finally settled enough on Monday to leave the shelter of Porto Kheli, but not before picking up some fresh produce and selecting a box of goodies from Drouga's. The water at Korakonisia was a stunning blue, and just what the doctor ordered after the murky shallows of Porto Kheli. We anchored next to two other boats but moved to the next bay a while later after the breeze swung.
Click images to enlarge
Click images to enlarge
Órmos Kapali 18nm, 3hrs
Tuesday September 17 - Wednesday 18
Free anchorage
Tuesday September 17 - Wednesday 18
Free anchorage
At our next stop the waters weren't quite so clear but we did get to see a couple of turtles popping their heads up. We also got to meet Brian and Sue from Darramy, one of the boats we communicate with on the MedNet. They joined us for drinks in the afternoon and, as cruisers do, talked turkey about travels and boat equipment.
On a boat the size of Loch Fyne Lass there's not much privacy and one can't wee off the back without clearing the decks first. Arnhem had sought such clearance but by the time Maxine and I moved off he'd disappeared. I yelled out the coast was clear and heard a muffled reply from the toilet, "I've upgraded to Business Class"!
On a boat the size of Loch Fyne Lass there's not much privacy and one can't wee off the back without clearing the decks first. Arnhem had sought such clearance but by the time Maxine and I moved off he'd disappeared. I yelled out the coast was clear and heard a muffled reply from the toilet, "I've upgraded to Business Class"!
Nisís Dhokós
Órmos Skindos 6nm
Wednesday September 18 - Thursday 19
Free anchorage
Wednesday September 18 - Thursday 19
Free anchorage
In Órmos Skindos the waters were once again crystal clear and deep blue. Maxine and I swam to a pebbly beach with beautiful orange rocks, and so began another collection. We had to transport them back in our bathers and leave the larger ones behind a rock to be retrieved later. A paddle boarder neared the shore following our departure, and with alarm I thought he might have seen me hiding the rocks and was looking for my cache! He left without setting foot on the beach though so we thought they'd be safe for another day.
Each night we treated ourselves to tasty fresh salads and Colin's home made flatbreads, followed by the biscuits and baklava from Drouga's. All part of the Mediterranean diet, doing a body good.
Arnhem tried his hand at paddle boarding on Thursday and the four of us tackled a beach clean up, instigated by Maxine. It's possible I spent a little more time retrieving and adding to my rock stash and taking photos than I did collecting rubbish, but everyone has their role. Colin remarked that the saddest thing about all the rotting plastic rubbish was that every beach in Greece is like that. Bring on the extinction of humans I say, and let the planet get on with living.
A turtle surfaced as we left, a farewell gift from nature, and we embarked upon our last sail with Maxter. A beautiful sail it was too, all the way to Poros.
Click images to enlarge
Each night we treated ourselves to tasty fresh salads and Colin's home made flatbreads, followed by the biscuits and baklava from Drouga's. All part of the Mediterranean diet, doing a body good.
Arnhem tried his hand at paddle boarding on Thursday and the four of us tackled a beach clean up, instigated by Maxine. It's possible I spent a little more time retrieving and adding to my rock stash and taking photos than I did collecting rubbish, but everyone has their role. Colin remarked that the saddest thing about all the rotting plastic rubbish was that every beach in Greece is like that. Bring on the extinction of humans I say, and let the planet get on with living.
A turtle surfaced as we left, a farewell gift from nature, and we embarked upon our last sail with Maxter. A beautiful sail it was too, all the way to Poros.
Click images to enlarge
Nísos Póros
Póros
Anchoring neatly amongst numerous other boats in Navy Bay we let out 50m of chain in 12m depth. Nearby were Brian and Sue on Darramy, who we know from the MedNet, and Quintessa, another yacht in the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC). Brian set up a coffee meeting with Quintessa on Friday morning and it turned out the crew, Bob and Sarah, were from Boston. They most recently lived in Andover where I had worked for a couple of years. I had a lovely time reminiscing with them, as well as getting lots of information about where to get boat work done in Marmaris. They were heading to Montenegro for the winter but we hope to cross paths again in our cruising futures.
My mission in Poros was to try the island's best ice cream at Vessala, where a mother and daughter make not only their own ice cream but cakes, chocolate and truffles to boot! The parfait certainly lived up to the reputation given to it by our friends Michael and Daniel, and in fact Arnhem said the chocolate parfait was the best ice cream he'd had...ever! Made with cream instead of milk it was pretty hard to beat.
I tracked down the location and we eyeballed it on our way to Apagio, a restaurant I'd chosen Apagio for dinner based on location (close to Vessala), and it turned out to be a good choice. The appetisers we shared were sensational! I felt sure I knew the lady on the table next to us so after dinner I introduced myself. We couldn't find a connection so she must have just looked like someone I know, but they invited me to sit down for a chat. Amanda and Simon, from London, holiday in Poros every year and have been eating at Apagio since it was a six table restaurant on the other side of town. Now it takes the space of two restaurants and is packed every night! They vouched for what the waiter told us about the appetisers being his mother's recipes that she'd been making for 20 years.
Coffee with the OCC crew was scheduled for 0930 on Friday, which we followed with a walk through the old town. The sky was threatening storms and we returned to the boat for a late lunch, and were resting it off when a small amount of pre-storm hell broke loose upstairs. A Polish boat, that had been circling for almost an hour according to Brian and Sue, anchored across our chain then decided to move and drag us with it. Brian came to the rescue in his dinghy and was able to release our anchor from their chain, but after three tries at anchoring back in the same spot the captain decided it would be safer to move outside the crowded area as we kept ending up too close to other boats. We dropped the pick in 16m and let out 60m of chain. Not ideal but that's all the chain we had and we held fast. Arnhem was enjoying anchoring, though there was some commentary from the bow that the captain might drive him crazy if he had to pull the chain up one more time. We settled just as the rain started and it built progressively, adding in the occasional thunder and lightening for good measure. It didn't take long to reach a consensus that it would be better to eat in that night, and Colin whipped up something delicious out of tuna and rice. Did I mention he's a clever captain?
Sadly on Saturday we had to farewell our beautiful friends Maxine and Arnhem. Thank you for this year's theme song (Natalie Gauci's version of Crazy), for a million laughs, and for your generosity of soul and spirit. We know you love us, even though your parting words were "Time to get off the good ship lollipop. It has been crazy! You guys are going straight to hell if you don’t mend your ways. I'm glad we're leaving". I have no idea what we could possibly have done to prompt such a comment.
Back on the Lass we began to recover from the late nights spent talking and a week of fabulous adventures. We returned to town later to pick up our clean washing then popped over to see Sue and Brian on Darramy who had moved next to us, then we dined together at Apagio. The cute kittens were around again and I asked permission to feed them our left over fried anchovies while I took over a hundred photos (a hundred and twenty actually). Adorable! One last trip to Vessala to try the cream parfait in an aloe vera cone. Words cannot describe how amazing this was, only small grunts of delight.
Click images to enlarge
My mission in Poros was to try the island's best ice cream at Vessala, where a mother and daughter make not only their own ice cream but cakes, chocolate and truffles to boot! The parfait certainly lived up to the reputation given to it by our friends Michael and Daniel, and in fact Arnhem said the chocolate parfait was the best ice cream he'd had...ever! Made with cream instead of milk it was pretty hard to beat.
I tracked down the location and we eyeballed it on our way to Apagio, a restaurant I'd chosen Apagio for dinner based on location (close to Vessala), and it turned out to be a good choice. The appetisers we shared were sensational! I felt sure I knew the lady on the table next to us so after dinner I introduced myself. We couldn't find a connection so she must have just looked like someone I know, but they invited me to sit down for a chat. Amanda and Simon, from London, holiday in Poros every year and have been eating at Apagio since it was a six table restaurant on the other side of town. Now it takes the space of two restaurants and is packed every night! They vouched for what the waiter told us about the appetisers being his mother's recipes that she'd been making for 20 years.
Coffee with the OCC crew was scheduled for 0930 on Friday, which we followed with a walk through the old town. The sky was threatening storms and we returned to the boat for a late lunch, and were resting it off when a small amount of pre-storm hell broke loose upstairs. A Polish boat, that had been circling for almost an hour according to Brian and Sue, anchored across our chain then decided to move and drag us with it. Brian came to the rescue in his dinghy and was able to release our anchor from their chain, but after three tries at anchoring back in the same spot the captain decided it would be safer to move outside the crowded area as we kept ending up too close to other boats. We dropped the pick in 16m and let out 60m of chain. Not ideal but that's all the chain we had and we held fast. Arnhem was enjoying anchoring, though there was some commentary from the bow that the captain might drive him crazy if he had to pull the chain up one more time. We settled just as the rain started and it built progressively, adding in the occasional thunder and lightening for good measure. It didn't take long to reach a consensus that it would be better to eat in that night, and Colin whipped up something delicious out of tuna and rice. Did I mention he's a clever captain?
Sadly on Saturday we had to farewell our beautiful friends Maxine and Arnhem. Thank you for this year's theme song (Natalie Gauci's version of Crazy), for a million laughs, and for your generosity of soul and spirit. We know you love us, even though your parting words were "Time to get off the good ship lollipop. It has been crazy! You guys are going straight to hell if you don’t mend your ways. I'm glad we're leaving". I have no idea what we could possibly have done to prompt such a comment.
Back on the Lass we began to recover from the late nights spent talking and a week of fabulous adventures. We returned to town later to pick up our clean washing then popped over to see Sue and Brian on Darramy who had moved next to us, then we dined together at Apagio. The cute kittens were around again and I asked permission to feed them our left over fried anchovies while I took over a hundred photos (a hundred and twenty actually). Adorable! One last trip to Vessala to try the cream parfait in an aloe vera cone. Words cannot describe how amazing this was, only small grunts of delight.
Click images to enlarge
Ermioni
Koiládhia
Pack up and shut down.
Haul Out