Cruising to Greece and back.

Click here for link for relevant PhotoAlbum Northern Cyclades Oct 2013.

I flew back into Athens on Thursday 26 Sept and met up with Woody in the baggage reclaim at the airport. He had just arrived from Istanbul. How's that for organisation!

We caught the ferry from Piraeus to Ermioni next morning and then on to Kilada by taxi. Angelo from the yard gave us a lift on his fishing boat to TB in the anchorage. The boat was covered in dust but apart from that was in good condition.

At 15:45hrs, we weighed anchor and motored around to Porto Heli. The fuel pump played up as we approached Porto Heli and the engine would only rev to half speed. The first thing I did after mooring up was to install the new fuel pump I had brought with me. The old unit was dumped in a skip.

The next morning, we topped up for fuel and sailed around the peninsular to Ermioni for the night. I had arranged to meet Roger in Lavrio, north of Cap Sounion, on Monday evening. We stopped overnight in Kouraissa on Kea and arrived in Lavrio on Monday afternoon.


Kouraissa..

Click here for link to larger image in PhotoAlbum Northern Cyclades Oct 2013.

The next morning, Thursday 03 October there was a light rain shower but by 10:40hrs when we left, the sky had cleared and it was a fine day.

As all the charter boats were out, there was plenty of room. We used the lazy lines provided and was charged the princely sum of 5 Euros which also included electricity.

Roger arrived at 20:30hrs by bus from Athens airport and was greeted by a spectacular thunderstorm and heavy rain in the early hours of Tuesday. By 10:00hrs, the clouds had cleared away and we had another beautiful day. We enjoyed a fine sail to the harbour of Gavrio on Andros. We stopped and anchored at Kourissia on Kea for lunch. The wind dropped late afternoon and we motored the last two hours to Gavrio.

We moored stern to between the ferry slips. In retrospect, we would have been better off mooring stern to at the north end of the quay with the anchor laid out in a northerly direction. At 02:00 next morning a north wind sprung up hitting us on the beam; so we decided to move out into the bay to anchor. We anchored in 6.0m of water but within a couple of hours the wind was gusting down off the hills in excess of 25kts. The anchor dragged so we reset it again and this time it held with no problem. The next morning, on weighing anchor, we found it was well and truly dug in.

We left fairly at 08:45hrs and sailed in coolish conditions towards Siros. Initially we had one reef in the main but the wind gradually died on us and we ended up motoring.

The harbour at Finakas was crowded with charter boats; so we edged alongside the small fishing quay on the north side of the harbour. The water was pretty shallow and we gently bumped the bottom from time to time. Later on a couple of charter boats behind us departed with delivery crews to Athens and we moved further out into their slots.


Alongside small fishing quay..

Click here for link to larger image in PhotoAlbum Northern Cyclades Oct 2013.

The next morning, Thursday 03 October there was a light rain shower but by 10:40hrs when we left, the sky had cleared and it was a fine day.

The sail across to Loutra on Kythnos was fairly lively with the wind reaching 25kts on a beam reach - a distance of 24 miles in 3.25 hours. We tucked in inside the mole at Loutra, behind a cruising catamaran and watched the entertainment as the fleet of 40 to 60ft charter boats moored up in the harbour. The range of seamanship displayed was quite large. The Meltemi blew 15 to 25ts all night but we were well sheltered inside the harbour.

The wind had eased to 10 -15kts next day and we headed off to Sifnos at 14:00hrs. But withinin 30 minutes, the engine conked out and I found the filters blocked with the dreaded diesel bug. Fortunately we were going in the right direction, downwind. We ran 5 miles south down the coast before beating up into a sheltered bay, Ay Ioannis, where we anchored in 3m of water off a deserted beach. It didn't take long to replace the fuel filters and get the engine going again. We decided to stay there the night and in the evening we were treated to the magical sight of the farmer riding his donkey up a track to the small chapel on the hill overlooking the point before disappearing over the sky-line. Ten minutes later his dog appeared, tracking him and followed him over the hill.

There were fun and games during the night at the usual bewitching hour of 02:00. The main anchor, a 15kg Bruce attached to 8mm chain, dragged as the wind picked up. We re-set it but it still would not hold. I took the stern anchor, a 4.5kg Fortress FX-16, with 6m of 9.5mm chain and deployed it on a 19mm multi-plait anchor warp. It dug in immediately. It is obvious that the Fortress style of anchor is much better at digging in with the hard sands found in the Aegean.

On Sat, we had a long sail from Kythnos back to Ermioni. But a quick one - over 70 miles in 10hrs in a good Force 5 to 6 and doing over 8 kts for extended periods. The wind dropped as we approached the bottom end of Hydra and we ended up motoring into the bay at Ermioni.

The stronger winds over the last 3 days had taken their toll and I had to replace 7 broken mainsail slides before leaving the next morning.

Over the next few days we pottered up the Argolic Gulf visiting Kosta, Porto Heli, Vivari and Tolo before dispatching Roger off from Nauplion on the bus to Athens on Wed 09 Oct. Woody and I then sailed back to the anchorage in Tolo to help Stavros celebrate his birthday.


Woody, Stavros and Simon..

Click here for link to larger image in PhotoAlbum Northern Cyclades Oct 2013.

10 October 2013 was a memorable day as Tristan Ben Ward was born in Paris. I suitably wet the head of our first Grandchild.

Tobin Bronze was lifted out first thing in the morning on the 10 October. After a quick scrub down, we installed the covers and laid up for the winter.

During the summer, we had sailed 668 nautical miles and the log reading was 17,722 nM.

On the 12th, Woody flew out to Auckland and I returned to Wiltshire.

Judy and I returned to Kilada on 24 October and stayed ashore in a small apartment for a couple of weeks. The weather was absolutely gorgeous with a couple of spectacular overnight thunderstorms to clear the atmosphere. It was very pleasant working in the boatyard duringthe day and relaxing in the evenings. The hardest part of the day was deciding what taverna to go to that evening.

The main maintenance jobs were
1) Remove the fuel tank and thoroughly clean it out
2) Replaced the external pear-shaped sacrificial anode
3) Replace the engine throttle cable
4) Fitted the new Raymarine auto-pilot
5) Re-build the engine using the reconditioned pistons and blocks we took to Greece in April.

We stayed the last couple of nights in Tolo relaxing and catching up with old aquaintances.

For the first trip of the summer, I planned a nice little cruise down the west side of the Argolic Gulf, past Cape Maleas to north west Crete and along the coast to Iraklion. We were to meet up with Kevin and Lesley there and then continue the loop back to Koilada via Thira (Santorini) and Milos in the Cyclades to the mainland. It sounded good in theory but events conspired to make it quite of a slog. I must confess that it was also a bit (maybe even a big bit!) over-ambitious in the planning!

Tobin Bronze was lifted back into the water by the very efficient staff in the boat yard at 10:30hrs on Wednesday 26 June. The temperature was 32ºC with a slight southerly breeze - perfect weather.

Next morning we up-anchored at 08:45hrs using our new anchor winch (What a blessing!) and motored for eight hours south across the Argolic Gulf to Monemvasia. We managed to squeeze in alongside in the south east corner of the marina even though the lady on the French catamaran ahead was having kittens that we were going to hit her inflatable on its stern davits. More helpfully, her husband was assisting us by taking our lines ashore. Yachts no longer go stern to inside the marina as the life-boat now lies along the southern wall. It is a good thing too as last year, in 10 minutes we saw two boats foul their anchors on the sunken pontoons which are in the middle of the harbour.

We strolled around the harbour and had dinner at the Aktaion Taverna and were greeted warmly by Maria, the lovely Greek lady owner who had befriended us the year before. It was pleasing to see the turtles still swimming around in the harbour.

As we were already a little behind our schedule, we took off at 5:15hrs on Friday morning steering a direct course of 142º for Chania in Crete. It was a long hot day with no wind and not helped by a slight swell on the beam. We were both hot and tired when we arrived in Chania at 18:30hrs. Chania is a beautiful harbour to sail into and is bustling with tourist traffic. We picked up the mooring line and went bow-to on the town quay.

Visitors berths in Chania.
Click here for link to larger image in PhotoAlbum To Crete 2013.

The down-side (from our point of view) is that the whole harbour waterfront is crammed with tavernas and bars. And the place was absolutely packed with people. No signs of a credit crisis here.

Along the harbour in Chania.
Click here for link to larger image in PhotoAlbum To Crete 2013.

Fortunately the discos - and there were more than one - stopped at 02:00hrs. Perversely the silence then woke me up.

A couple of local yotties warned us about strong northerly winds which were forecast for the following afternoon. Chania has a repution of being exposed to such winds. This, on top of the noise, was an additional incentive to move on. I found this image on the internet which illustrates this.

Chania in northerly winds..
Click here for link to larger image in PhotoAlbum To Crete 2013.

The next day we motored east along the coast to Rethymnon and arranged for Kevin and Lesley to catch a bus and meet us there on Sunday. From what they told us about Iraklion, it was a good decision. Rethymon is a busy city with the old town being particularly attractive. The marina provides good shelter even if it has no facilities apart from water and electricity.

Typical of the narrow streets of the old town..
Click here for link to larger image in PhotoAlbum To Crete 2013.

There are some very good (and expensive) restaurants in the town alongside some better value traditional tavernas. Away from the hustle and bustle around the main harbour, we found a cheap traditional taverna in a great position overlooking the sea. Just perfect for dinner as the sun sets behind the Venetian fortress. This tarvena is the one in the middle with the brown roof.

Looking across the main harbour from the north west..
Click here for link to larger image in PhotoAlbum To Crete 2013.

I had been following the weather forecasts very closely for the previous week and it was becoming obvious that the winds in the Cyclades would be unfavourable for our proposed track. Our course would have to be northerly and then north westerly. The prevailing winds would be mainly north to north west and between F4 and F6. So we decided to take a more sheltered route more or less back the way we had followed down to Crete.

As we were delayed in Rethymon for a couple of days, we didn't get away until 14:00hrs on Tuesday 02 July. It was odd having to motor on a flat sea while 75 miles away to the north east it was blowing Force 5 - described by Admiral Beaufort as "17 - 21 kots. Moderate waves. Many white horses." What did effect us though was the residual swell which rolled in from the north and made life uncomfortable.

We didn't arrive in Kapsali Bay on the south side of the island of Kithira until 05:00hrs next morning. Kevin and Judy practised night watch-keeping and identifying the aspect of other shipping from their lights. Poor Lesley was laid low by sea sickness and didn't see much of the crossing.

We originally anchored in the bay at Kapsali and later went bow-to on the quay after everyone had a few hours sleep and a swim. Well, Kevin and I had a swim but the girls abstained! There was a blustery cross wind in the harbour but the new Fortress anchor was holding strongly. A big (at least 30 mtre) motor boat next to TB tried to reset her anchors but ended up with them fouled with each other. Good entertainment for an hour or so. Eventually they sorted it out and then gave up and departed. Later on we saw them anchored stern-to very snugly in a tiny bay under the cliffs. It looked a lovely anchorage sheltered from the mainly northerly wind.

Judy took Kevin and Lesley up to the town, Chora, on the hill overlooking the bay while I kept an anchor watch The wind didn't last too long and I joined the others for lunch in the picturesque taverna an the west end of the beach.

Late in the afternoon we motor sailed a few miles around the corner to Avelmona, another anchorage where Judy and I stopped last year. It is a lovely spot but the standard of the food in the tavernas was quite disappointing.

We left at 09:45hrs next morning for the passage back to Cape Maleas on the mainland. Once again, it was the usual story - no wind. Eight hours later we anchored stern-to in the tiny port of Ieraka a few miles north of Monemvasia. Tranquil and peaceful are two words that readily come to mind to describe this place.

Along the quay in Ieraka..
Click here for link to larger image in PhotoAlbum To Crete 2013.


On the following day we did manage a couple of hours sailing while on passage to Ermioni. It was so nice to have a spell of pleasant sailing. Of course the wind was directly on the bow so we ended up having to motor sail to get anywhere near our lay line. We arrived at 17:00hrs and berthed stern-to inside the quay. There were half a dozen or so serious live-aboards of various nationalities in the harbour. Makes an interesting scene.

Kevin and Lesley left us next morning on the 12:30hrs hydrofoil to Pireaus while Judy and I took TB around the corner past Spetses and Porto Heli to Koilada. Four miles from the entrance to Koilada the engine conked out. There was a slight northerly wind and as our waypoint was dead to windward, we spent a slow couple of hours beating to windward before bearing away into the anchorage. It is always rewarding when you go into an anchorage under sail and drop the anchor.

On Sunday morning I replaced the fuel pump. There is a design weakness in the fuel pumps on Volvo MD11 engines, where the suction valve in the fuel pump works loose. Volvo make an expensive sealed unit replacement which in the past I have resisted buying. But it is now priority number 1 on my "to buy" list.

Our "little" cruise to Crete was 377 nautical miles with a total of about 4 hours actual sailing. Too ambitious and not enough time to stop and enjoy smelling the roses!

In the afternoon, we moved TB onto a mooring belonging to the boat-yard and tidied everything away. We took a taxi to Ermione and booked into the Philoxenia Hotel near the ferry quay. That evening we had dinner in the taverna/restaurant at the head of the quay. When I told the owner that I had first come to his taverna across the road 39 years ago, he came back and presented us with a jar of olives from his farm 6 kilometres away.

On Monday 08 July we caught the hydrofoil to Pireaus and returned to Wiltshire. To prevent embarrassment I should not mention how I left the car keys on the boat, had to hire a car at Heathrow to get home and return to the airport the next day to collect our car.

But it was just one of those trips!

Over the winter I bought quite a bit of kit for TB - some to replace old stuff, like the anchor chain, and some for improving the boat, such as an anchor winch, new light-weight Fortress anchor and solar panels. I also had some parts from an old Volvo engine I had found on eBay to be used as spares. So we decided that we would drive down to Greece taking all the gear with us.

I also had an extensive work list for maintenance to be done with the main priority being to replace the ply on the transom where rain-water had got into the ply. When I built TB I hadn't sealed the chainplate entry through the deck and consequently very quickly rot had set in. In only a couple of years after launch, I had noticed the deterioration and had sealed the chainplates properly. But the damage had been done and even though there was no further deterioration and the structural effect was negligible, it was unsightly. By taking the car, I could take all my tools with me.

We took the Mitsubishi 7-seat with the seats folded down and loaded to the gunnels with gear, leaving on the evening of Sunday 31 March. The route was to Portsmouth, onto the ferry to Caen, then south on the first class roads in France through Le Mans, across the Loire at Tours, SE to Vierzon, S almost to Clermont Ferrand and E via Lyon to Chambery near the Italian border where we stopped the first night. The only navigational error all day was when I missed the turn-off in Lyon. We did see the correct exit but I was in the wrong lane and couldn't get across. We soon got back on track.

Next morning we crossed into Italy via the 13km long Tunnel du Frejus, crossed northern Italy south of Turin, past Parma, then south down the Adriatic coast to Al Castella near Pescara. Here we stopped in a delightful B&B just below the walls of the old castle.

Next stage was south to Bari, onto the Seafast ferry to Patras. From Patras it was a relatively short 2½ hour drive to Koilada. The whole trip was only about 2,400km (1,500 miles).

We had ten days in Koilada working on the boat. We stayed in the Pepista Sunset Apartments which has a lovely peaceful location just over the hill from the village itself.

Then we drove back! I must admit it was nice to get home.

As I didn't get all the maintenance done that I would have liked to, we returned to Greece on 15 May but decided to fly this time. Our friend Valarie who lives in the village came with us for a holiday. She had never been to mainland Greece before. Easyjet flew us from Gatwick to Athens. We hired a car and drove to Koilada arriving around 22:00hrs. We had arranged with Lepista Sunset for late arrival. For the next 10 days Judy and Val did the tourist bit with the hire car while I got on with the maintenance.. Epidaurus, Porto Heli, Ermioni, Spetses, Hydra were all "done". Judy also was chief "gopher" when I needed anything and wielded the paint bush when necessary on TB.

There are a few photos in album "Spring 2013".

We flew back to Gatwick arriving around mid-night on Sunday 26 May.