East Peloponese

Leonidhion It is the 9th July, Tan has had her stitches removed, so once more back to Ormos Zoyioryia where she had her first swim since the operation then next day after a breakfast swim we departed almost due west across the gulf for Tiros where we had been told there is a nice new quay with water and electricity but that wasn’t the case so we continued south to Leonidhion (see chart). where we berthed stern-to. A picturesque small hamlet and ancient harbour with crystal clear water, a small beach and a fresh water stream winding down a fertile valley from the mountains. One hotel, several taverna’s, a small supermarket and a disco until 5:30 a.m!

Next day we went to Kiparissi and anchored in Chapel Cove having seen a flying fish and being visited by a family of dolphins on route. There was a large Amel yacht broadside on to the small quay so no room for anyone else. There was also a huge motor cruiser with a landline to shore so we had to anchor in 16m of water with 50m of chain out. The bay is surrounded by stunning mountain scenery and a small ‘white’ village on the other shore. Just after midnight the wind got up and there were gusts and around 03:00 we were woken by the crew of the cruiser telling me that there was a problem with my anchor – the chain was straight down! I patiently explained that with no wind the chain was meant to go straight down.

Ieraka Onwards to Ieraka, a beautiful rustic hamlet with a tiny shop and several taverna’s one of which was being decorated with ribbons, when we enquired if it was for a wedding we were told that it was a baby naming ceremony for the owners niece. The boat Lady P was on the quay (Ed & Janice) and we had drinks with them. The ceremony in the evening was very nicely done with many glamorous guests and traditional Greek music and dancing which finished just after midnight. It was a very pleasant spectacle.

The forecast next day was for strong winds which would create quite a swell in this tiny harbour so we departed in the company of Lady P for much better shelter at Monemvasia. We were told that there were severe gusts here last night and several boats dragged anchor and the Pilot book says holding is poor so we went stern-to with 50m chain out to hold the bow. The town is pleasant with adequate provisions, 2 or 3 fruit and veg. Shops, butcher, mini-market an supermarket. Had Ed & Janice over for drinks and had a nice evening. We are waiting for the weather to change before we round the notorious Ak Maleas which separates the Aegean from the southern Ionian so the next night we had an enjoyable meal out at Scorpios taverna and the following day we went around the old fortified city of Monemvasia.

South Peleponese

Koroni Ak Maleas is a mountainous headland somc 780m high. It has a formidable reputation and mariners leaving Greece coined the saying: 'Round Malea forget your native country'. It was the Formidatum Maleae caput of the Roman poet Statius and the cape where Odysseus was blown south to the land of the Lotus Eaters. - 'I might have made it safely home, that time, but as I came round Malea the current took me out to sea, and from the north a fresh gale drove me on, past Kythera” – Odyssey.

It’s mid July (15th), we departed early with an uncomfortable swell until we rounded Ak Maleas then had the wind astern while we headed up the 5 mile wide busy shipping lane of Elafonison Strait to Elafonisou Island where we anchored but had an uncomfortable night due to rocking and rolling caused by the swell from passing ships. Next day enjoyed a pleasant sail as we headed west along the south coast of the Peleponese across the Gulf of Lakonikos and anchored in the bay at Porto Kayio.

Methoni harbour from the Venetian Fort Porto Kayio is at the southern end of the “middle finger” of the Peleponese, a pleasant little hamlet in a horse-shoe shaped bay surrounded by steep hills and boasts a mini-market that doesn’t have bread or fresh produce, four small taverna’s and a new tastefully designed hotel. We managed to get some fruit and veg from a mobile grocer in a pick-up truck. There is a monastery and walled dwelling on the opposite side of the bay. The scenery and architecture is quite different here - this is the Mani Region, the mountainous countryside is bare and harsh but the buildings which look almost military are all built with a beautiful grey stone.

It’s almost fifty miles to our next port of call so we set off early next day, rounded Ak Tainaron (cape Matalan) and crossed the Gulf of Messiniakos to Koroni, leaving the towering (2307m/7500 ft) Taygetos mountain range in our wake. Cape Matalan is the second-most southerly point of mainland Europe surpassed by only 14 miles by the Straits of Gibraltar. It is also believed to be ancient Tenaron, the entrance to the underworld but we didn’t see it, even through the binoculars! Kooroni is an old Venetian town with narrow streets leading up to the castle which is mostly occupied by a convent. There is a good supermarket and with strong NW winds predicted we stocked up on supplies here and headed off to Port Longos on the island of Sapientza.

Sapientza is a small (4 miles by 2 miles) island lying just under a mile off the south coast of the Peleponese. Like many places in the Mediterranean the name Port simply means a place of shelter. Port Longos is a deserted bay except for fish farms, a lighthouse and some goats but it affords excellent shelter from the West and North. We sat out two days of near gale force 7 north-westerly winds in comfort and tranquil isolation. Unfortunately the water was too cold for swimming.

We arrived at Methoni on the Pelepones on the 21st July and anchored in the busy bay. It is obvious that the town takes great pride in it’s appearance with clean streets lined with flowering hibiscus standards. We spent a few hours in the huge walled Venetian Fort the interior of which is overgrown with a profusion of wildflowers. Then we had a pleasant lunch at a taverna with a beautiful garden terrace then went shopping at Dia before having a short swim in the evening.

West Pelopenese and Ionian

Ay. Efymia - Cephalonia From Methoni we “turned the corner” onto the west coast of the Peleponese. to Pilos and yet another unfinished marina paid for with EU grants and taken over by local boats but the town has adequate provisions. Pilos is in the bay of Navarinou where the great battle of Navarinon was fought which led to Greek Independence.

Dolphin racing! There is little shelter on the East coast of the Peleponese and with N-NE 4 to 5 winds forecast we decided to go to Nisos Arpia, one of the two tiny islands 32 miles off the coast. The wind soon swung round to N-NW which gave us a hard slog to windward and a long day and finally anchored in Ormos Tavernas on the smaller island. The islands once supported a prosperous monastery which is still very impressive and judging from the cultivation around may well be making a recovery. There was an expensive power boat on a mooring buoy near the monastery. We were quite disappointed by the islands and only stayed one night.

The Monastery at Nisos Arpia Managed to sail half way to Katakolon on the Peloponnisos and were visited by dolphins. On arrival we anchored in the bay outside the marina, the water is murky with algae and thick with jellyfish and there are continuous streams of bubbles rising from the seabed, probably methane. Katakolon is not a pretty town and is made even more unattractive by disco music. The town seems to be totally dependant on large cruise ships which berth here, disgorge their passengers onto coaches to whisk them off on a lightning tour of Ancient Olympia some thirty odd kilometres away. There are numerous expensive jewellery, clothes, and gift shops, and one tacky overpriced supermarket but there is also a superb bakery/confectionary which has bitter chocolate ice-cream to die for! We spent one night at anchor then moved to the town quay when we discovered we could get a train directly from here to Ancient Olympia which we did next day and had a magnificent outing. At one point here were three large cruise ships moored here.

On the 27th July we departed the Peleponese after a 25 minute struggle weighing the anchor which had fouled on a large mooring chain and went to Ormos Kari on the island of Zakinthos. Despite the small tripper and dive boats continually coming and going it is a nice peaceful bay with sea temperature of 37.7C, lovely swimming and the occasional glimpse of a turtle. Ormos Keri lies at the western end of the bay of Lagana which is the most important nesting area of the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) in the Mediterranean. The whole bay is a restricted area with three different Zones, Zone C where we are permits anchoring and navigation at speeds of less than 6 knots whereas at the other extreme in Zone A it is forbidden for any boat to enter, moor or for any kind of fishing. We stayed here for seven nights taking the dinghy ashore to the expensive small mini-market as required.

3rd August (the mad month) - our next stop was Zakinthos Town where we went stern-to the quay. We were pleasantly surprised by Zakinthos town, it being much nicer and quieter than we had expected – no noisy disco’s and reasonable provisions but the quay was expensive at 25 euro per night.

The following morning we left the island of Zakinthos and were inspected by a pod of 6 dolphins on our way to Kato Katelios on the south coast of the island of Cephalonia (Kephalonia). There are under water shoals so we had to anchor well off shore. The bay is home to a few villa’s, 2 or 3 beach bars, a hotel, a long sandy beach and a new breakwater and marina which is currently under construction. We had an uncomfortable night due to wind from the southwest – shame, it would have been nice to stay.

At anchor in Ay. Efymia We left early and sailed round the SE tip of Cefalonia and up the Strait of Ithica into Ormos Sami and anchored in the small bay off the harbour at Ay. Efymia. This used to be the main port for the east of Cefalonia until it was destroyed in the 1953 earthquake. There is adequate shopping here but most notable are some new buildings on the hillside, garishly coloured little boxes perched next to each other, brings to mind the old song “little boxes all made out of ticky-tacky”, nevertheless we stayed two nights and I posted my daughter’s birthday card here.

Port Leone, Nisos Kalamos Continuing north up the Strait of Ithica we looked into several possible anchorages on Cefalonia but they are all very deep and plagued by wasps. It’s mayhem with all the charter boats and motor boats zipping about but we went into the bay at Fiskhado which is described as “a safe picturesque port with 19th century houses set amid green pine groves”. At this time of year it’s packed with flotilla and charter boats and it’s charm is lost amid the tourist hoards so we continued on to Ay. Nikolaos on the island of Ithica where we anchored. We have been here last year and liked it, crystal clear water, lovely swimming, a few campers on the beach, and lots of nudism.

After three nights we departed for Sivota on the island of Levkas, another picturesque enclosed bay with olive trees around the steep slopes and despite the profusion of flotilla boats (this is a base for Sailing Holidays) we managed to find a small space to anchor and went ashore for provisions. We were very disappointed with the shops, no bread, no meat etc. When we got back to the boat at 13:30 we decided we’d had enough of this place and left for Port Vathi on Meganisi but they have extended the harbour which makes it difficult to anchor so we continued round Meganisi to Port Atheni, a place we knew and liked. We were lucky and managed to get a place on the quay where there is water and electricity. The hamlet has a pleasant terraced bar and adequate supermarket with a shower-block with washing machine, magic for Tan as laundry can be a problem in Greece. It is also home to our favourite taverna “Niagas” which we frequented and were greeted like long lost family. We stayed for six nights during which time the quay filled up every night with Greeks and Italians and there were up to 20 boats at anchor in the small bay.

Goats on the beach It’s mid-August and we want to be back in Mallorca to meet Mike and Chris (Shabonee) at the end of September. I have worked out that we can do the 1100 mile trip in 30 days allowing for reasonable breaks and waiting for weather windows so in the meantime we are pottering around the Ionian. Our next stop was Port Leonie on the island of Kalamos, a well sheltered bay with a derelict village which was abandoned when the inhabitants emigrated because the 1953 earthquake destroyed the fresh water supply, however the church is maintained by a small group of people from a local village. This would be a nice place to spend a few days apart from the plague of wasps, they are everywhere, Tan was stung on the lip, fortunately she didn’t have a severe reaction to it as she sometimes does but it was painful. Several black goats came down to the beach and appeared to be drinking from the sea! Two Italian boats arrived and played very loud disco music until 2:00 a.m, shouting and shrieking to each other – must get he boat fitted with torpedoes!

Next day we went to Vathi on Ithica and stocked up at Carrefour who delivered to the boat then anchored in the bay before rush hour. It was very crowded and noisy at night so next day after topping up with water and fuel and getting the 7 day forecast we left and went back to Ay. Nikolaos on Ithica. The bay was very busy and we were kept awake by disco music from some noisy Italian boats – not the same ones! We have decided that it’s too crowded here in August and there is a weather window to start our journey back west.