Hi all Sue here
We have had a fantastic time sailing around the Peloponnese and have now reached the Cylclades Islands.
We hired a scooter to go visit Olympia, which was an adventure in itself, and also managed to stock up on provisions which was useful. Olympia was very impressive and very hot!! Although we visited late afternoon it was still quite a challenge walking around it in the heat. The museum was amazing and you couldn’t help being in awe at some of the things they managed to build and design.
The main site is huge and covers a vast area with all the buildings and the arena, very impressive when you see it for yourself. The quality of the information in the museum was excellent and they could do with doing some work in this area on the main site since information boards are very few and far between with only minimal info, although most people visit the site as part of an organised tour with a guide so they probably get more info. Although they have re-erected some sections of the buildings to give you some idea of the scale the main site is still mainly a pile of old columns, facades and rocks, still you do get an idea of the huge scale of the construction and the quality of the workmanship that went into it.
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| Statuary in The Olympia Museum | Part of The Olympia Site |
Pilos was a nice bay where we spent a few nights but the mosquitoes were a problem here. We went ashore for a few walks and found a strange wooden church which looked quite new but it was in the middle of nowhere. It was furnished inside so we presume it must be used at sometime. Pilos town was a very busy place with lots of cafe/bars.
The little wooden church was built right next to another small stone church that also looked as if it was still being used occasionally. They were both on the deserted Island of Sfaktiria and were probably built to commemorate the dead of the Naval Battle of Navarinon in 1827 between the Turko-Egyptian Fleet and the Greeks.
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| The Approach to Pilos and Gulf of Navarino | Wooden Church, Sfaktiria, Near Pilos |
Chris insisted that we had to hike up to the Venetian Castle where the views were stunning. We walked along the castle walls where he assured me would then lead on to the living quarters. I always believe him and am in awe of how much he seems to know as I thought the wall looked as if it just came to an end. Guess what it did come to an end and we had to turn around and go back!! His answer was that you would have thought it would lead to the living quarters!! The views were well worth the hike though so I let him off.
We climbed back down the North Side of the Island past Nestors Cave and around the beautiful horseshoe bay of Voidhokoilia that we had tried to get into by boat the day before but the swell was too much.
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| Palaiokastro Venetian Castle | Voidhokoilia Bay From The Castle |
As we prepared to leave Ormos Navarinou we watched one poor boat pull part of a ships funnel up with his anchor. It took quite a while for him to free it. We then moved on to Methoni where there was yet another castle. Here we met up with Steve and Tracy off At Last and spent a few very pleasant evenings with them before they set sail for Ragusa and we moved on towards Finakounda. Unfortunately we never made it there owing to the weather and carried on around to Koroni.
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| Neighbours Catching a Ships Funnel on Their Anchor | Turkish Tower at the Approach to Methoni |
It was while we were in Koroni that my sister decided she could fit in another little visit to Nimrod and so we made our way to Petalidhion to meet her there. Petalidhion was very quiet and it looked as if the summer season had already finished there. Once we had picked Caroline up we then headed across the bay to Kardamila where we anchored for the night. This was to give us an easy sail around to Diros the next morning to visit the famous caves.
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| Sunset Over the Kardamila Anchorage | Caroline and Sue, Couldn’t Find a Picture Without Glasses in Hand |
If you are ever in this area these caves are well worth a visit. Small boats take you around and it takes about 30 minutes and then there is a further 10 minute walk through the caves back to the outside.
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| The Spectacular Caves at Diros | Another View Inside the Caves |
We then sailed back across to Koroni to sit out some windy and rainy weather that was due the next day. As you can see from the photos the forecast was right. It was quite a spectacular storm that blew up in minutes, we went from a flat calm anchorage to big waves rolling in. It did clean the boat though so that was good!! After about an hour normal weather was resumed.
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| Approaching Storm at Koroni | 35-40knts Thunderstorm in Koroni Harbour |
After spending a lovely week with Caroline it was time to say goodbye and we sailed to Porto Kayio, which is a very small but very friendly village. Here we met up with Ragusa friends John and Vanessa off Nostromo and met some new friends Sooty and James off Sempre Decanter who were anchored next to us in the storm in Koroni. We spent a couple of nights ashore here in the friendly Tavernas watching the usual anchor antics at the end of the day.
| Three 7kg Tuna Caught all at Once Across the Lakonikos Gulf (Alice Sylvia and Delilah maybe!!) | All Filleted Ready for BBQ and Freezer, Enough for about 60 Portions |
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It was time to set sail again, this time to Elafonisos. It was going to be a long sail so Chris put our three fishing lines out. I couldn’t believe it when they all went off at once but Mr Cool Chris dealt with them all very calmly and in no time at all we had two 7 kilo fish and one 6 kilo fish on board. My big yellow washing buckets came in very handy!! They were then all filleted and ready for the freezer. We had sailed in company with Nostromo so a BBQ was planned for that evening over the radio. When we got to the anchorage our friends off Sempre Decanter were there as well so they were also invited to share our small catch!! We had a great night and much wine was drunk to toast the catch of the day.
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| Tuna BBQ With Old and New Friends, Elafonisos Island | The Infamous Cape Maleas and Monastery, SE Peloponnese |
It was then off to Monemvasia, along with Nostromo and Sempre Decanter, where we intended to sit out some strong winds that were forecast.
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| Monemvasia Island From The Harbour | Narrow Stone Streets of the Lower Town, Monemvasia |
Another hike was with planned with John and Vanessa to visit the old village and then behind the village to the summit to reach Ayia Sofia. It was breathtaking when you reached the top in more ways than one!!On our way back down we stopped in the village for a much deserved beer and also the most expensive one but the views were worth the extra cost.
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| Church of Ayhia Sofia on the Top of the Island | Looking Down Over the Lower Town |
Onwards we must go and next stop was Kiparissi where we just stayed the one night to break our journey to Porto Kheli. With the weather that was forecast we decided not to wait around here and to make our way into the Cyclades. So onwards again and after a 10 hour sail (yes SAIL!!) we are now in Serifos. Our plan was to make it to Loutra, Kithnos but never mind perhaps next time.
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| The Village of Kiparissi, Argolic Gulf | Approaching Livadi on the Island of Serifos in the Cyclades |
We are now in Levadi, Serifos – no way to make Loutra without a 15nm tack to the North!! We sailed all the way here with the wind at 50deg apparent all the way across, Sea state was pretty messy, not big waves but all short and choppy, also the course for Loutra was nearly straight into the seas and was just too uncomfortable for 50nm, the course to Levadi was much better but still a bit bumpy. So that’s where we are up to now where we once again wait for some strong winds to blow over. Our next stop should be Paros.
As usual for the Med we have not managed to do as much sailing as we would like, quite a few times the weather forecast has looked perfect for sailing only to find the wind was not as much as forecast so we end up motor sailing. Even around the notorious headland of Cape Maleas we only had 15 – 18 knts of wind even though it did seem to come from all directions over the space of a couple of miles and then settled pretty much on the nose for the 10nm up to Monemvasia. Still that is much better than the conditions that all the Pilot Books warn about and that some boats encountered a couple of days later, one 50’ boat came in with a shredded headsail looking very battered so it is definitely a place to be wary of.
We are safely tied up on the South side of the town quay here in Levadi with 20 – 25knts from the North forecast for the next 2 days, the S side of the quay is packed and we are now watching the fun as boats try and drop their anchors and reverse on to the N side of the quay with the wind blowing them straight onto it and their anchors failing to bite in the poor quality bottom. Very glad we managed to find a safe space when we got in yesterday, although just after we got tied up a couple of British boats came to say they were just about to move from the other side of the quay to the space we had used!! After a bit of juggling we managed to find room for them both anyway so everybody was happy in the end.
So we will now spend a gentle month working our way through the Cyclades Islands and over to the Dodecanese where we meet our friends Jean and John in Rhodes towards the end of October. We are looking forward to their visit and we also need to use the shopping opportunities of Rhodes to stock the boat up for our winter in Turkey where most alcohol is expensive and pork is not easily found because it is a mainly muslim country.
