The Peloponnese
30 August 2011
Belinda and Kit
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Peloponnese - Yithion:
The accepted wisdom tells us that heading west around the Peloponnese in summer is always going to be difficult; we'd left the strong northerly 'Meltemi' of the Aegean behind (phew!) but ahead lay the delights of the northerly 'Maistro' winds across the Ionion! (..a rose by any other name!). The Maistro tends to blow down the west side of the Peloponnese, then curl east and accelerate around the tips of the three fingers causing rough seas. Further north into the two bays of Kolpos Lakonikos and Kolpos Messinia residual winds funnel up from the headlands.
OK! - so it follows that we should get a nice sail with a following wind heading 26m north up into Kolpos Lakonikos to Yithion. .....Alas - no such luck! We had to motor all the way!
We anchored off the town and dinghied ashore to meet Kit's sister Jane and niece Lily who had arrived and taken a room on the bustling waterfront. Yithion is 'the gateway to the Mani' - the rugged middle finger of the Peloponnese, and was once the port for ancient Sparta. It's a pretty town with pastel coloured 19th century buildings along the seafront, and narrow back streets full of crumbling Turkish houses spreading up the hill. We lay at anchor for two days; we had shopping excursions ashore and Jane and Lily came out for dinner and swimming off the boat.
Whilst anchored Kit effected our 4th dinghy rescue! A dinghy was drifting off from a large motorboat anchored nearby so Kit leapt into action (and into our dinghy) and tried to alert the motorboat crew. He knocked and shouted for ages to raise someone and eventually the sleepy owner appeared. By this time his dinghy was fast disappearing into the distance so he grabbed the key and they set off to retrieve it. The dinghy turned out to be a small RIB - far too big for our little Quill to tow - so he towed Kit back to Quilcene. Later he came over with a bottle of nicely chilled bubbly by way of a thankyou - he said his 'sailor' (crew) hadn't secured the dinghy properly and was very grateful to Kit for saving it.
Sightseeing! Mistra: We tied up on the quay in the harbour where Quilcene would be safe whilst we hired a car to explore. We first visited Mistra, a fortress town dating back to the 11th century. This is a captivating site with ruins of churches, libraries, strongholds and palaces spread across the side of a steep hill. It's divided into three parts, upper and lower towns and the Kastro on the summit. We had decided to park at the bottom of the hill, take a taxi to the top and walk down through the extensive ruins to better enjoy them in the searing July heat. ..but we hadn't taken into account the problems in Greece; all the taxis were on strike! Jane and Lily bravely volunteered to walk up from the bottom, whilst we drove up, parked and walked down - we would meet halfway to hand over car keys!
From the upper car park it was still a long hot walk up to the Frankish Kastro on the summit, but well worth it! There are amazing views all around and we could see the site laid out down the slopes. This is where the artistic and richly cultural Byzantine Empire made its last stand against the invading Ottoman army. Kit and I slowly made our way down through the upper town, stopping to admire the well-preserved church of Agia Sofia, where some colourful frescos still survive, and the façade of the Palace of Despots - unfortunately closed for restoration. Despite walking downhill we were just about melting when we arrived at our rendezvous point, Monemvasia Gate - gateway to the lower town, where we'd arranged to meet the uphill party. As we waited we chatted to Trevor and his son Edward from England, who were taking a break on the route uphill. Kit and Trevor had civil engineering in common and it transpired that Trevor also loved to sail so was interested in our trip. By chance they were staying in Yithion too and would later come and see us aboard Quilcene.
Jane and Lily arrived and we handed over the car keys and continued down through the ruins of the lower town, stopping to enjoy the cool interior of the Convent of Pantanassa - still maintained by nuns; now Mistras' only inhabitants; the monastery; houses and a very interesting museum. Despite the incredible heat we'd all enjoyed seeing Mistra - it must rate as one of the most extensive and well-preserved ancient sites we've seen. Later we recovered with a well-deserved siesta before a cooling dip and sundowner on nearby Mavrovouni Beach.
The Caves of Diros: Next day we visited the extraordinary Caves of Diros toward the south point of the Mani. These caves are purported to extend underground for 14km although only 1.5km is open to the public. We had to take to a punt with a local guide for the first section; it was eerily dark and quiet with only an occasional comment from our guide (in Greek!) and the swish of his pole through the clear dark water. We passed through caves with appropriate poetic names such as 'Palm Forest' 'Crystal Lily' and 'Three Wise Men' - no doubt suggested by the spectacular shapes of the stalactites and -mites. In the connecting tunnels we often had to duck to avoid banging our heads on these amazing natural formations. The last section we saw on foot, and finally emerged blinking into the bright sunlight - an incredible experience! ..and a brief cool respite from the hot July sun!
Vathia: From the caves we drove farther south to see the fortified hilltop village of Vathia. The Mani is a rugged mountainous place whose inhabitants have historically been aggressive people that carried on violent long-running feuds. Their houses were built like forts, many with tall square towers to overlook the surrounding land - even today, although the feuding has ceased and the people are more peaceful (thank goodness!), Maniot houses are still built in the traditional way with towers. Vathia was abandoned some time ago, perhaps because it is in such a remote spot, although one or two of the tower houses have been restored and now appear to be lived-in for at least part of the year. We wandered around the small settlement where despite some crumbling buildings and overgrown narrow streets it is easy to imagine its inhabitants feeling secure in their hilltop 'eyrie'.
After all that sightseeing we headed for the nearby seaside village of Yerolimeni for a lunch of pork souvlaki, a cooling swim and an ice cream (in that order!!!)
That night in Yithion our sleep was disturbed when we had to move the boat in the middle of the night; the port police needed to make space on the quay for a ship that had been arrested and the huge coastguard gunboat that was escorting it. They told us it was taking arms to the Gaza Strip, and we watched as the two vessels slowly made their way into port in darkness. In the light of day we took a look at the 'arrested' ship - which looked like a passenger ferry with 'Free Palestine' emblazoned on it. It was flying a Comores flag (a French African country) on its stern, a Jordanian flag on its port side and a rainbow coloured one to starboard! ..not forgetting the obligatory Greek courtesy flag. The people on board said they were just on a peaceful aid mission, and when we looked on the internet for information we decided that it was probably part of a convoy that had been stopped en route to break the Israeli blockade and attempt to get supplies to Palestine.
Actually there was another ship tied up on the quay, in custody for smuggling cigarettes and drugs! If they keep arresting ships there'll be no room on the quay for yachts!!
Porto Kayio: We kept watching the weather and soon saw suitable conditions to round the tip of the Mani. Jane and Lily decamped into our aft cabin and we left for Porto Kayio on the SE Mani. Friends had warned us to be wary of this anchorage due to accelerated winds and patchy holding. Light winds meant that we had to motor most of the way, but also gave us a quiet night in Porto Kayio. It took three attempts to get the anchor dug in but eventually it held well enough for us to go ashore for supper - a rare treat! ..and in quite spectacular surroundings; a cluster of tower houses on one side of the bay and a monastery on the other! Whilst snorkelling over the anchor I saw an octopus 'barrelling' across the seabed right out in the open! Normally I'm lucky to catch a glimpse of one hiding in some rocky nook or cranny!
Next stop was Limeni, a deep bay on the west side of the Mani; we took lots of dips here as it was our last anchorage before the marina at Kalamata, where Jane and Lily would leave us for Athens and their flight home.
Kalamata - where the delicious olives come from! ..so of course we had to buy a good supply! These are evidently hand picked to avoid bruising when they ripen in November, and are only grown in the olive groves around Kalamata; the Kalamata olives are larger than most and the trees are distinctive with larger, greener leaves. The marina was a handy stop where we could refill our water tanks and cupboards, and there is a regular bus to Athens. It's quite a big city with a lively seafront, but two nights was enough and we were keen to get out on anchor again. Once Jane and Lily left we sailed across the bay to Petaladhia and anchored for the night.
Next stop was Koroni: a pretty town toward the tip of the third and final finger of the Peloponnese. It's a pretty anchorage under the fort but we only stayed one night as the weather looked good to continue around the headland to another picturesque port - Methoni. Here we anchored under another large Venetian fort, with a hexagonal Turkish tower built on a rocky isthmus jutting out into the channel. This is a really spectacular anchorage and we gave ourselves two nights here so we could explore ashore.
The weather was kind to us with only light northerly winds coming down the west side of the Peloponnese as we headed further north, sailing into the large enclosed bay of Navarinou, scene of the only maritime battle fought at anchor.
Katakolon: Jellyfish! ..as we approached the anchorage we saw several large blue/white jellyfish so assumed there would be no swimming. However, next day there were none in sight, thank goodness, so we could cool off safely. We spent three nights here, and took a train to see Olympia; it was a very hot day and we were slightly disappointed as most of the remains seem a bit scanty. I guess that we've seen so many ancient sites recently, many more well preserved and certainly with more intact stadiums (notably Aphrodisias in Turkey); however this IS the site of the original Olympic games in 776BC so it does merit a trip. ....and like a true tourist, I posed on the ancient starting blocks for the obligatory snap.
Killini: An exciting sail (for 'exciting' read 'very fast and slightly scary') took us to our last port of call on the Peloponnese. A typical large ferry port, Killini is a busy, dusty place; we anchored off the port for one night, then moored on the quay for two. There's a pretty chapel on the end of the breakwater that looks amazing at night when its lit up.
That was our whistle stop tour of the Peloponnese; another area we'd love to return to and further explore. ...so many wonderful places - so little time!