Freya & Us

After 3 nights in Astakos we thought we'd exhausted its possibilities and moved on. Our plan was to head for Messolonghi anchoring for 1 night on the way. We motored (again!) to our planned anchorage but there were lots of fish farms and very little shelter as the land was so flat. There was a lovely looking beach a bit further on but it was too shallow to get in behind a hill for shelter - too shallow is a new problem in Greece but we're near a river delta with lots of shifting sand banks. Our last option was a stunning bay on an island - but this time was very deep! Given our new skills in long line mooring we thought we'd give it a go in a corner which shallowed close in. We dropped the anchor in 16m and nervously reversed against it towards the shallow bit and Paul took our lines ashore in the dinghy - it was perfect and we were very proud of ourselves - but as we went to tighten the chain, the anchor hadn't dug in! Very disappointed but impressed with our attempts we headed back to the beach and anchored for lunch.

We decided to head on the 20 miles to Messolonghi on the north coast of the Gulf of Patras where we had to go a long way off shore to avoid the shallow water and moving sandbanks. The town is up a 2 mile channel lined with houses on stilts and passing lagoons which are a national park and wetland wildlife reserve - very different from the very mountainous parts of Greece we've visited so far. We arrived quite late and anchored in the bay which was very sheltered and peaceful - until the club started at about 11.00 and continued all night! In the morning we went into the marina - very odd as the 2 partners have fallen out and rumours abound as to whether you can go in or not, whether you can stay or be thrown out by the port police etc. But it's been fine, with all facilities working and cheap given the problems. The rumours continue in the marina with lots of boats refusing to move in case they aren't allowed back in.

We were pleased to be safely in the marina that first night as the winds picked up (as forecast), but what wasn't forecast was the thunderstorm that hammered the boat for over an hour. The deck needed a good clean and a pressure washer wouldn't have done a much better job than the rain.

Our bikes are out for the first time in a while! We spent a day cycling around the lagoons which was very hard work on the rough tracks. We are definitely here at the wrong time of year for the over wintering birds but we saw lots - most of which we couldn't identify! There were interesting fishing techniques with poles and nets across the lagoons with fishermen from the stilt houses punting in the shallow water. Disappointingly, for a national park, there was also lots of rubbish on the tracks, but this is Greece! At one point Paul cycled on ahead to see if a muddy bit of track was passable, as you can see from the picture, it wasn't!

There is a 5km causeway between the channel and the lagoons linking Messolonghi and a small beach village. We cycled along it for lovely views of the lagoons and stilt houses and sat on the beach for a while - something we don't do very often. On returning we cycled into Messolonghi and found The Heroes Garden commemorating the war of independence in the 1820s. There is a statue of Byron as he was instrumental in the uprising and died of a fever here. There's nothing else of great interest in the town but it is very nice, with a pleasant square to people watch over a drink.

Today we're having a domestic day and may go to the beach later. I think tomorrow we'll continue out travels........

The link to our map seems to be stopping people leaving comments on the blog, so I've removed it from these posts for now. I will be keeping it up to date so simply go to one of the special map only posts and click the link there to see it