Swallow's adventures

Vessel Name: Swallow
Vessel Make/Model: Barbican 33
Hailing Port: Premier marina, Gosport
Crew: Paul Young Carole Young
About: Paul's been sailing for over 20 years ; Carole has just completed her Day Skipper Practical . Been living aboard for 18 months.
Extra: Giving up our jobs and sailing off into the sunset!!! Here we go.................
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26 May 2023 | Agios Nikolaus, Crete
26 May 2022 | Agios Nikolaus, Crete
14 April 2022 | Kalamata
22 March 2022 | Zante Port
22 March 2022 | Preveza
07 March 2022 | Parga
17 February 2022 | Orthoni
06 December 2019 | Santa Maria di Leuca
19 February 2019 | An evening in Marzamemi
19 February 2019 | Theatre at Segesta
19 February 2019 | Temple at Selinunte
19 February 2019 | Temple at Segesta
19 February 2019 | Sicily
12 January 2019 | Egadis
12 January 2019 | Sicily
27 July 2018 | Aeolian Islands
13 June 2018 | Tropea
Recent Blog Posts
26 May 2023 | Agios Nikolaus, Crete

Cruising the Cyclades Spring 2022- Part Three

NAXOS

03 June 2022 | Ios

Cruising the Cyclades Spring 2022- Part One Ios

Swallow has been safely hanging out at Agios Marina, Crete since June 2019 but various factors, including Covid, have prevented us from doing any cruising; all we've managed up until now is a few days anchoring in Elounda and a lively sail to Sitia last Autumn. However we did enjoy some land based sightseeing [...]

26 May 2022 | Agios Nikolaus, Crete

Kalamata to Crete

Kalamata to Crete (via Kithera)

14 April 2022 | Kalamata

Kalamata Winter 2018-9

At 0815 on Thursday 1st November 2018 we departed Koroni through the heat haze; the low lying mist all around was spooky. We were close hauled with only the main out, a pleasant but slightly chilly 15 miles passage. With only 3 miles to go we saw flying fish whilst a pair of old jets were soaring above [...]

Cruising the Cyclades Spring 2022- Part Three

26 May 2023 | Agios Nikolaus, Crete
Carole Young
NAXOS

On the morning of Wednesday 27th April 2022 we woke up to find ourselves alone in the lovely anchorage at South Rinea; at 10am we set off for Naxos, 18 miles south. We had very light winds to start with so Captain Paul adjusted the car for the genoa to get the angle of the sail right .In less than an hour the wind built and we enjoyed a great beam reach with the engine off; the auto helm was flashing low battery intermittently- it does that a lot! Another hour later- you guessed it- the wind died to nothing! We furled away the genoa and Swallow chugged her way through the velvety, gentle undulations of the Aegean. We took this opportunity to call ahead to Gregory at the marina to secure ourselves a berth. At 13.00 the wind picked up to 14 knots and we sped along at 6 knots over the ground with nicely balanced sails- these islands have given us some great sailing! The approach to Naxos was hair-raising! The wind went nuts whilst we dropped the main- I hate this part as we lose our stability and roll from side to side; a ferry was about to come out of the port and a fast jet roared passed us to go in. We were slightly earlier than planned so Gregory was not there to help us in (we later learnt that he wasn't around much at all after first thing in the morning). Captain Paul put Swallow astern, which she hates, and edged back next to a French boat; the wind was blowing our bow onto his boat so, whilst the Captain, Claude, was freaking out and trying to direct CP on how to steer his own boat, I quickly pulled up the starboard lazy line to pull us across- crisis averted! My British Facebook friend, Nigel, then appeared and took our rear lines and gave us the low down on the area, including the whereabouts of the much needed laundry service. This was the most expensive mooring we had in the Cyclades, at 10 euros a night, including electricity and water, we were certainly not complaining! Strong, scary winds were forecast for the next five nights so Swallow wasn't in a rush to move on, in fact we loved this island so much that we treated our stay as a mini holiday and stayed for ten days (yes I can hear you saying: isn't every day a holiday on your boat?). We enjoyed a pleasant first evening chatting to Nigel over a pizza and one too many limoncellos! There is also a local lemon liquor here called Kitron- tastes delicious but, trust me, it's deadly! Consequently I didn't get much done for the next two days but soon caught up with the laundry, cleaning, some cooking and work on my laptop. We enjoyed the beautiful venetian castle and town; I even treated myself to a new dress! We took an all day bus tour around this lush, green island which was fascinating; we saw temples, statues, a marble city, a pottery workshop, an old olive press, beautiful beaches and fantastic artwork; emery was once mined here and marble was also in abundance. The guide on the bus gave us a very informative, poetic and somewhat moving narrative.

Naxos prides itself on its Gravedera cheese which is delicious; there are loads of farms here producing milk and meat and the potatoes are something special! Gregory told us that the island is pretty much self-sufficient, although some foods are shipped in from Crete; he stated that there is no unemployment here and most people have three part-time jobs and are stress free, as long as they have time for a coffee or glass of wine every day, they are happy! This must be why Gregory was never there in the afternoons; during our stay Captain Paul took the lines for six boats and gave plenty of mooring advice- Gregory said he'd like him as his assistant! A couple of boats snagged their anchors badly here; for the unlucky ones who can't sort it, a diver costs 100 euros. I can honestly say this is our best island yet, oh and we discovered the best Greek taverna we'd ever come across- Nikos up in the main square; we just had to try everything of course: lamb kleftiko, moussaka, chicken schnitzel, meatballs, beef stifado.... And the list goes on!

On 7th May 2022 we sailed 19 miles to Kaladon, a southern anchorage on Naxos. Leaving the port was just as bad as when we arrived- Swallow was thrown around all over the place; we had wind and waves on our starboard beam as we made our way past Vrak Frouros, a ferry hit the rocks here and sank 12 years ago. As our navigator I always like to give such hazards a wide berth although several catamarans were pretty close. The wind quickly died and the sea, being only 30 metres deep, was pretty rolly. Captain Paul quickly dodged two bright green pot bouys and the Champion jet steamed past us, quite a busy stretch of water between Naxos and Paros. The wind built on our beam and we reached 7.3 knots over the ground, 25 knot gusts kept picking up Swallow and throwing her off course- the auto helm couldn't cope but the Captain did a great job steering. Swallow enjoyed galloping along with the white horses, it was a little too racy for me though! Everything calmed down as we came around the bottom of the island and we dropped the main without drama! We motored slowly into the sandy bay and dropped our anchor in 5 metres of water, we were all alone apart from a campervan on the beach. The wind died during the night, making us roll, so in the morning we moved on to the little quay, ran by Vassilis whose own farm produces cheese, milk and eggs. What a peaceful place; we ruined the beautifully raked beach with our footprints, the hot sand was so soft and the water perfectly clear; there's a beautiful mountainous backdrop of rich ,green hills and a natural spring which trickles down on to the beach. We saw a couple of fisherman and a smattering of visitors, a water taxi dropped off a couple of tourists. The most frequent visitors here are the birds: gulls, herons, swifts, swallows, buzzards and falcons- a little piece of paradise!

SCHIANOUSA

On Monday 9th May 2022 we made a sad farewell to Naxos to try out the little islands further south. It was a very still day so, engine assisted, we crept down for 8 miles to the small island of Iraklia- big mistake! The bay of Agios Yirgious was so windy and a yacht was moored side on leaving no room; turning around was tricky but we eventually hot footed it out of there, 2 miles across to Skhinousa. There was a big swell outside of Mirseni and plenty of wind inside. It was early afternoon and there was a Swedish boat moored alongside the quay but also had his anchor out, this was across the chain of a pretty German boat so they couldn't move; the Swedish guy helped us in- we also moored alongside as it was too windy to try and negotiate the current set up with the other boats. As time went on more and more boats were coming in, a couple of them attached to rocks over the other side. A big catamaran came in and started shouting at us, saying that we should med moor and make more room; he was right of course but the Swedish boat was making it difficult. He threatened to call the port police so we decided to try and sort the situation; eventually the captain of the German boat came back so that the Swedish boat could move- now we could adjust ourselves to med moor, although this was going to be difficult as it was still pretty windy. At that moment the catamaran guy came over for another argument, it got a bit heated between him and Captain Paul but in the end they both calmed down and apologised with mutterings of "water under the bridge"- now they are suddenly best friends and he helped us adjust our mooring! The next day the northerly wind pushed all the boats sideways and our anchor dragged along the sand; there was a young French family next to us, in a small Beneteau , they kindly took CP out in their dinghy to reset the anchor. We took a walk to the next bay along which was idyllic: beautiful, clear, shallow water with plenty of sea urchins and fish. On our way we came across goats, chickens, a turkey and a donkey. This was a sleepy little place, until ten ribs turned up with medical professionals and a very noisy welcoming committee, some sort of convention going on but peace was resumed very quickly!

IOS SOUTHERN ANCHORAGE


After three days in Mirsini we decided that we should start making our way slowly back to Crete; we had originally planned on sailing east to explore Amorgos and Astipalaia but there were heavy northerly winds forecast and we didn't want to get stuck there as we were due to fly home in a couple of weeks. We dropped 16 miles down to a southern anchorage on Ios, Ormos Manganari. This was a peaceful, the moon was almost full and we could see the lights of Santorini in the distance; we had some entertainment too-Captain Paul was busy preparing one of his delicious curries when an empty dinghy floated passed us; just as we were about to launch our dinghy to help the owner appeared, having swam 60metres on his back with his flippers to recue it- rather him than me!

ANAFI

The next morning we weighed the anchor at 9am to sail down past Santorin, which was covered in a heat haze; the sea was pretty lumpy and we were plagued with flies, I swotted eight in the saloon, the blood of some poor cow or goat oozed out of one of them- gross! Once we were clear of Santorini the sea flattened out and we had a great sail; as we rounded the bottom of Anafi we spotted the chora up on the hill; the colours of the island were amazing; it's basically a lump of coloured rock- sandstone cliffs with shades of green and red. The sea was flat calm and a gentle breeze took Swallow around to a little port in the south. There is a tiny harbour in which, reportedly, small boats can enter; we couldn't see over the breakwater to see if there was room in there and feared that, if we ventured in, we wouldn't have room to turn around to get back out. So we dropped the anchor in to the sand; after seven hours at sea we didn't fancy venturing ashore to climb up to the chora or investigate the harbour to see whether or not we could have gone in there, but, I can safely say that we will not be returning here - the anchorage is extremely rolly and we didn't sleep at all; we set off at 5am for our home run of 60 miles!

As we left Anafi dawn was about to break and the bright orange moon was disappearing. We were both tired and grumpy, the sea was rough and the wind was cold and strong but, with her sails perfectly trimmed, Swallow enjoyed a great beam reach- she knew her way home! The only bit of excitement on this passage was having to kill our speed to allow a car transporter to cross us. At 16.30 we dropped the main, reefed the genoa and put the engine on to creep around the notoriously windy corner of Ak Ayios Ioannis. We dropped the anchor in Spinalonga Bay at 17.30 and were greeted by SV Millie who had cooked us dinner- what a welcome! We spent a couple of days chilling here before returning to Agios Nikolaus to put Swallow to bed before flying home in early June.




Cruising the Cyclades, Spring 2022- Part Two

13 May 2023 | Delos
Carole Young
SIFNOS

On Wednesday 13th April at 1000 we slipped our lines and made our way out of Ios Port to sail up to Sifnos island. We raised both sails before leaving the bay and Swallow enjoyed a nice close reach as she was on course for the tip of Sikinos. The sea was glistening behind us under the sunshine and we could see Naxos, Paros and Anti-Paros, in the distance, to our starboard; as we passed Sikinos we were in the doldrums! The land effect had killed our wind. Today was just how non-sailors imagine the med to be- a flat sea underneath the blue sky broken by the white jet streams from the planes bringing in the tourists. Later the wind picked up to 10 knots and Swallow bombed along at 5.2 knots; two miles from the bottom west tip of Sifnos a current pushed us on our starboard side and we had to de-power the sails as we were healing too much. Overall not a bad 35 mile passage ending with anchoring in Vathy Bay in 6.5 metres of sand and weed. We spent three nights relaxing at this idyllic spot which has a lovely beach and lots of sheep and goats on the hills.
SERIFOS
We'd intended to visit the port of Kamares, further up on the west coast of Sifnos, but after stressfully negotiating two fast hydrofoils at the concealed entrance and then approaching the quay we were told that it would be too dangerous to moor here with the squall that was expected the following day; the port police suggested that we head for Serifos, our nerves were a bit frayed by this point and we debated going back to Vathy Bay, but we took their advice- Swallow calmed our nerves by giving us a fantastic 10 mile sail up to the other island where we happily tied up alongside a concrete wall in the inner harbour of Livadhi; there were hardly any lazy lines and no room to lay anchors. We spent four days here and walked up to the chora for a coffee; a pretty place and fairly quiet but this is early season! We stopped to chat to an elderly couple who gave us some delicious yellow plums from their trees- we later found out they were medlars.

SYROS

On the morning of 20th April 2022 we edged out of the inner harbour of Serifos- we held off whilst a big Artemis ferry came in, which gave us a chance to get the fenders and lines stowed away; we got the main up straight away and headed north east up to Syros. There is so much to see whilst sailing amongst the Cyclades: tiny islands dotted around, the glistening sea and so many different cloud formations crowding the Greek blue sky; they were shape shifters, one minute scary monsters and cherubs and then a horse drawn chariot and a garlic clove! These clouds are the islands of the sky; the blue and white of the Motherland is represented all around us; nature is truly wonderful. As we approached the island yet another ferry interrupted our course! We furled in our genoa and followed him in; 16 knots blew us side-to onto the concrete pontoon, squashing our fenders. This was an abandoned, free, marina in Ermoupolis, the main town on the east coast; there was no electricity or water but the guy running the local town quay (where the super yachts tied up) said we could come anytime and fill up with water. There was a petrol station close by with cheapest fuel we'd seen so far so Captain Paul filled up our cans. It was a ten minute walk to Lidl and a twenty minute walk to the town which has everything you could possibly need; for such a small island there is a real buzzing city feel here. We celebrated Greek orthodox Easter here and had the most amazing time in a place that resembled Italy; beautiful architecture with marble everywhere. Delicious food, beer, market stalls, processions, candles, churches, fireworks, foghorns and more beer!

DELOS

After three hectic nights in Syros we slipped away, on Easter Sunday morning, to the sound of further celebratory explosions, and headed for an anchorage at the top of Nisos Rinia,18 miles away; we knew stronger winds were coming in the next few days and wanted to visit the archaeological site on Delos while it was calm; it's forbidden to anchor next to Delos overnight so we anchored in this idyllic bay 1.5 miles north of the site; gently sloping green hills lined the sandy beach- we saw ruins of stone buildings from a bygone age. Through the clear turquoise water we could see the rippled sandy seabed scattered with sea grass. Over in the distance is the rather more sophisticated, and expensive, popular island of Mykonos in the distance. It was so peaceful here, making it hard to imagine, as we looked across to the now abandoned Delos, that this was once the most important thriving trade centre of the med, where thousands of slaves were traded. When night fell the stars lit up the sky- there wasn't a single light visible on the shore. The next morning we navigated Swallow through the rocky shallows, dropped the anchor and took the dinghy to Delos- we got here early to avoid the crowds! We spent three hours looking around this fascinating site before heading 3 miles down the windy channel to the anchorage at the southern end of Rinia- we had 12 knots of wind behind us and only 2 metres under the keel in some places. There were five other boats here, a floating campsite! We were sung to sleep by German campfire songs, very entertaining! Next stop Naxos.



Cruising the Cyclades Spring 2022- Part One Ios

03 June 2022 | Ios
Carole Young
Swallow has been safely hanging out at Agios Marina, Crete since June 2019 but various factors, including Covid, have prevented us from doing any cruising; all we've managed up until now is a few days anchoring in Elounda and a lively sail to Sitia last Autumn. However we did enjoy some land based sightseeing around Crete itself and also to Athens and Thessaloniki; we were lucky enough to visit Meterora ( a train ride from Thessaloniki) where six monasteries are built high up in the clouds, perched on top of rocks, absolutely breath-taking. We decided to sail around the Cyclades in Spring; these islands are north of Crete and can be badly affected by the strong northerly Meltemi wind during the summer- not having sailed any distance for three years we did not feel ready for that, as well as the fact that you can be holed up in one port for days or even weeks sometimes. We arrived in Crete on 1st March 2022 and it was freezing! Apparently this was the worst winter here in 30 years- there was still snow on top of the mountains. We spent our time giving Swallow a good clean, inside and out, rigging the genoa, repairing a leaking port light, re-fuelling and passage planning; we kept an eye on the winds ready for a break in the northerlies, which are uncharacteristic for this time of year, to make our escape!

Ios

On the afternoon of 5th April 2022 we left the marina, through the Sahara dust haze, and headed for Elounda where we would anchor and wait for our getaway moment. It was such a great feeling to be finally out on the water. Captain Paul grew concerned as Swallow's temperature gauge had risen significantly, he took the engine out of gear and it didn't go down so he left the engine running after we anchored to keep an eye on it. We feared that this may hinder our trip but luckily it turned out to be a wiring problem which was sorted in no time.

The next morning we took our weather window and headed off for the island of Ios, 90 miles in a north-westerley direction, so we'd be sailing in to the night. The predicted winds were north westerly, veering to east and then south east so we'd hoped for a good sail later, but no, just our luck, it was on the nose most of the way. We hadn't done such a long passage or a night sail for a few years so consequently felt slightly cautious, we needed to get our sea legs back. We kept the main sail up for stability as the metre swell was bouncing us around, so much so that the plotter couldn't give us an accurate speed reading. We sailed off course for a while, with the genoa out, to give us a smoother passage; we turned the engine off, but only for just over an hour as we were drifting way too much off course; the swell wouldn't have made tacking easy so we just punched in to the wind and waves for the rest of the way. To add insult to injury we had 12 knots of a south-easterly wind for the last four miles of the journey. At 0700 the following morning we were at the port entrance, we fendered up and radioed on channel 12; the port police told us to come in and tie up wherever we wanted to, we would have liked a bit of direction or someone to take our lines but hey we didn't want to interrupt their breakfast! We'd read on all the useful apps that the moorings at the far end of the harbour suffered with swell from the ferries ; imagine our joy when we saw a nice wall, the other side of the fishermen's harbour, to tie alongside to. We didn't know whether to trust the lazy lines in the harbour and it was rather blowy so we thought this was the safest bet- we took our papers to the port police and they said they were happy with where we were.

Naturally the next thing we needed was sleep so we retired to the cabin; a few hours later we awoke to the sound of a gigantic ferry coming in and a commotion on the pontoon. I popped my head out of the washboards and, to my horror, witnessed four burly fishermen pushing Swallow off the quay wall with all their strength; the ferry had caused displacement and swell and this, coupled with the low pressure system, caused the water level to rise over the low quay wall and so all of Swallow's fenders had popped out on to the concrete. The fishermen told us that this was quite a rare occurrence. Following Swallow's lucky escape Mario the fisherman, his mate George (an ex yacht skipper), Captain Paul and myself had a heated debate on what would be the best plan to avoid a repetition when the next ferry came in; it was too windy to attempt med mooring and so it was decided that Mario would attach a line to our starboard beam and take an anchor out, in his rowing boat, to pull us away from the quay. That seemed to do the trick. The next morning Captain Paul wasn't happy- the anchor seemed to be slipping so he decided that we would med moor a bit further along the quay; it was still fairly windy and we decided that we'd pay out plenty of chain; somehow we were out a bit too far and used all of our chain, 60m, followed by 20m of line; a couple of kind German yachtsman took our lines and George came past, raising his eyebrows, as he was insistent that alongside down in the harbour would be the best option for Swallow. The lines were snatching a lot, making us very uncomfortable and we had to be so far off the wall, to avoid any surging damage, that we couldn't get off the boat - I had to deploy the dinghy, pulling myself along the mooring lines, to cover the five metre distance, where there's a will there's a way! Anyway, that evening, Captain Paul decided to eat humble pie and move us down in to the harbour as per George's advice. Just as I was about to step off to tie up alongside ,a Greek crew on a catamaran told us to use the lazy lines and come in stern to- Captain Paul attempted to disagree but my gut feeling was that they knew what they were talking about so my reaction was JUST DO IT! Yes there is ferry swell here but the quay wall is higher and Captain Paul attached his metal springs to the midships leaving the rear lines slack so that Swallow wasn't in any danger; he even rigged up our plank so that it resembled a proper passarelle- everyone is happy!

Now we knew that Swallow was in no danger we could leave her and explore; Ios is a known as the party island, but this was very early season so we could enjoy it at its best. We took the long climb up to the chora, with its quaint shops, tavernas and plenty of bars offering the twenty euro five shot challenge! We walked to the beautiful beaches of Milopotas and Koumbara, there were typical blue and white chapels everywhere and carpets of spring flowers. There was such a friendly vibe to the whole place; we enjoyed a tasty meal at the grill house in the harbour and planned our next leg- we agreed that we had definitely learnt a lot from all of the mooring antics here. Next stop Sifnos!

Kalamata to Crete

26 May 2022 | Agios Nikolaus, Crete
Carole Young
Kalamata to Crete (via Kithera)

Knowing that we had to return to the UK in six weeks' time and that we would probably not be sailing this coming summer, we decided to bring forward our stay at Agios Nikolaus Marina on Crete; we had booked a winter mooring from November so instead opted for an annual contract which worked out to be a very reasonable price of around 5 euros per day! Unfortunately the impending date for Brexit has brought so much uncertainty to the future of our cruising; we managed to obtain a temporary beige residency card in Kalamata but who knows whether this will be sufficient after the end of this year.

Porto Kaio

We opted for the most direct route to Crete, south via Kithera island. On 10th May 2019 at 0800 we set off for an anchorage 50 miles around the south coast of the Peloponnese. After six months of being tied up in the marina we needed to get our 'sailing shoes' back on for our next adventure, albeit a short one. The ducks swam over to join in the farewell; we met some lovely people this winter and the goodbyes and promises to keep in touch were heartfelt- you tend to form close relationships quickly when away from home, especially as you don't have your usual support network around you. Dimitra, the lovely office lady, squeezed my hand and wished me well, even the marinaros were waving us off; it was all rather emotional. Mark and Jan on SV Lyra were to keep us company today; it's always nice to have another yacht close by to stay in contact with. There was no wind and the sea was rather lumpy; we hoisted the main sail for stability, in anticipation of strong winds around the point further south.
Fluffy white clouds were resting on the luscious green mountains and the sun twinkled across the sea below. The swell around Capo Grosso was really uncomfortable but died down after a couple of hours as we passed a lump of rock stuck in the middle of the sea- Vrak Karavi. We eventually enjoyed a great beam to broad reach with 10 knots of wind. We short tacked on our approach to the anchorage, the wind was now howling at 25 knots! We dropped our anchor at 1600 in 13 metres of water- and relaxed!

Kithera

The next morning we weighed the anchor and waved goodbye to SV Lyra who were going east around the Peloponnese coast. We headed in a south easterly direction towards the island of Kithera, 36 miles away. Apparently Kithera is the birthplace of Aphrodite, although Cyprus claims the same about their island, so who knows! We had a port close reach at first but then the wind died! Whilst crossing a busy shipping line we needed to radio a couple of big ships to ensure we could keep our course. The final hour of sailing was crazy, with 21 knots of wind; we reefed the main and bombed along close hauled. We reached the small port of Kapsali late afternoon and tied up alongside to the quay; there was only one other boat for company and nobody came along to charge us, bonus! Kapsali, with its small fishing harbour, was tranquil with a traditional feel to it; there was a lovely little beach and a chora on the hill. We walked up to the church amongst the coastal rockery plants- purple campanula with their deep bells and pretty thistles. The locals were friendly too; I imagine this town would be especially busy during the summer season.

Kolymbari

Early the next morning we hoisted the sails and headed for Crete, Kolymbari was to be our first port of call. It was a lovely sunny day and the chilly wind gave us a tight close haul; we bashed into wind and half a metre waves- Swallow got a frothy salt bath whilst pitching up and down! We were excited to be approaching Crete and were surprised that we saw very few vessels. We passed Anti Kithera, where, some thirty years ago, divers found an astrolabe dated at around 200 B.C. Our passage took around nine hours and, again, we were able to tie up alongside. After a great night's sleep we met up with an old friend from the UK, Nikki and her partner Les, who had made their home here some years ago. It was great to see a familiar face so far from home and even better to enjoy a seafood feast together.

Chania

After spending three days in Kolimbari we decided to move on, 13 miles east to Chania; we knew we'd have to use the engine, as there was no wind to speak of, but time was ticking away and we had to stay ahead of the game! We tied up alongside the quay wall at a cost of 5 euros per night plus a bit extra for water and electricity; you can't complain at that! The only downside here was that a massive stinkpot moored up next to us for 2 days, blocking our view of the sunset and running its generator all night; however, the captain gave us a bottle of fine French wine for the inconvenience. Chania is a picturesque Venetian city and we enjoyed meandering around the little streets.

Rethymnon

On the 18th May 2019 at 0930 we left Chania for Rethymnon, 30 miles away. The Port Police told us that there would be no firing practice today around the Akrotin peninsular so now was a good time. We pushed against the easterly current around the peninsular and then had a nice beam reach down to our destination. The only signs of life we saw today were a cruise ship leave Soudha and a solitary, antisocial dolphin. We had read a few horror stories , on the Captain's Mate app, warning us not to use the visitors' pontoon; unfortunately the mooring master insisted that we could not go inside the harbour, even though there was clearly room ,so that was our only option. The following day brought 27 knots of horrendous winds from the south; well, what a day that was! The lazy lines, which were supposed to hold Swallow back were badly maintained and too short and the wind was skewing her to port and pushing her bow straight onto the pontoon. We secured a line from the starboard stern to the pontoon and Captain Paul gently motored backwards while I held the bow off with all my mite- there was no way I was going to let our precious Swallow get a hole in her! Then one of the lazy lines somehow got caught in the propeller and stopped the engine, clunk; Captain Paul cut the line, what a disaster! To add insult to injury the overweight marinaro, instead of assisting us, filmed the whole thing for his latest disaster movie! The 30 knot winds carried on until 4am and the following morning, instead of sleeping, we had the problem of sorting out the propeller! We called over some guys on a Jetski to ask if they knew a local diver- one of them replied with 'don't worry be happy', asked for a knife and jumped in; he refused payment but was more than happy with a bottle of red wine; they chatted to us for ages, telling us about their awful experience of London and all the crime they witnessed; they were not at all impressed by the UK and told us that they will stay on Crete for ever, I totally got what they were saying- it's such a great lifestyle on this island. Later that day. relieved that Swallow was in one piece, we ventured into the pretty old town; there were lots of tourists, attracted by the bars and restaurants and beautiful long beach. We met a lovely couple from Bristol, Jo and Steve, who had moored up inside the harbour without asking- good plan, I sometimes wish I wasn't so compliant!

Dhia Island


After 4 nights in Rethymon we departed at 0730, accompanied by Jo and Steve aboard their yacht Markab, and headed for Dhia Island, 38 miles away and north of Herakleion. A light headwind today so not much sailing but Swallow steadily ploughed through the rippling sea, glad to be away from her traumatic ordeal. We sat back and admired the beauty of Crete's low lying, rugged coastline of sandstone backed with a small mountain range; there was a slight eerie mist and the sun was trying its' hardest to sneak through the gloomy clouds. We spotted the odd olive grove and hamlet. There were a few fishing boats around and Captain Paul saw a fish jump, wishing he'd put his rod out! We arrived at 1400 and anchored in 9.5 metres of sand and weed, putting out 40 metres of chain. There was a mass of rocks all around us and we were being spied upon by seagulls; after the tripper boats disappeared we had the bay to ourselves, it was so idyllic. The island seemed barren at first but we noticed plenty of plant life when looking more closely. Various species of falcons and buzzards soared above us, showing off their flying abilities and dive bombing whilst teaching their babies how to hunt, others stopped to socialise on the cliff face. A peaceful night was had by all!

Spinalonga Lagoon

On Thursday 23rd May 2019 at 0900 we set off for Spinalonga Bay, our penultimate destination. I was very excited about this as, having read Victoria Hislop's The Island, I was intrigued to see Spinalonga Island. We'd hoped for a nice sail today but the westerly wind was pathetically feeble. At midday the wind picked up and we were able to turn the engine off for a broad reach, we let the kicker off a bit to bag out the main; we were on a dead run towards the point and goose-winging, the genoa on the starboard tack and the main on the port tack. All was going well until I took the helm and accidentally gybed, Captain Paul was not happy; we furled the genoa in and carried on with just the main sail. The sea was rather rolly around the point of Ay. Ionnis, the winds can really accelerate around here, we had 12 knots of wind, as soon as we got around the corner we had 20 knots on the beam and then a massive gust healed us right over, not fun! We could see Markab having similar problems ahead of us so we turned on the engine, headed into the wind and got the main down. We arrived into the bay at 1600 and anchored opposite Elounda town in 5 metres of sand; time for a sundowner!

We had 36 hours of 30 knot winds, with 40 knot gusts, which accelerates over the mountains here; Swallow was undeterred and dug her anchor in so hard that she pulled up a massive lump of mud when we left. Once everything had calmed down we enjoyed a relaxing swim and explored the friendly town of Elounda, popular with tourists but not too overdeveloped; there's a nice beach and a walk around the coast will show you old windmills, salt pans and a small sunken city.

After a few days we moved and anchored near to Plaka, a smaller town. There were lots of passing tripper boats arriving at Spinalonga Island, coming from Elounda, Plaka and Agios Nikolaus; you just have to ensure you don't anchor across their direct route but there is plenty of space. We took our dinghy to the island and on arrival noticed that half of the dinghy's propeller had fallen off- we figured we may have caught this on the rocks as we tied up in Plaka; luckily we're going back to the UK soon so we can bring out a new one. Spinalonga Island is an old Venetian fortress which was undergoing some refurbishment at the time of our visit; it's steeped in history but most famous for being a leper colony from 1903 to 1957 and attracts hoards of tourists. Many Cretans I have spoken to won't go there as it signifies great loss and sorrow for many families; I did sense a slightly uncomfortable feeling when I was there, thinking about those people completely cut off from society and their loved ones; although they did develop quite a community amongst themselves. Every time we've sailed past since then I can't help but silently say a little prayer for all the families affected.

Agios Nikolaus

On Friday 31st May 2019 we weighed the anchor and thought we had a jelly fish wrapped around the chain- it was a plastic bag, we swiftly retrieved it making one less for a turtle to devour! We headed for Agios Nikolaus, 12 miles away; this was to be Swallow's home port for the next 12 months. It was a beautiful, hot, sunny day and we glided across the water which resembled a skating rink. We passed a tripper boat, the Captain gave us a toot and all the passengers waved- who said it was lonely at sea! There were also several fishing boats and small motor boats in Mirabello Bay and we had a great feeling as we entered the port of Agios Nikolaus. Our berth was tricky to reverse in to but Captain Paul handled it well, Manolis took our stern lines, handed us the lazy lines and gave us a warm welcome. Despina, in the office, was equally welcoming and we could tell instantly that Swallow was going to love it here. We had six days, before flying home, to familiarise ourselves with the town and ensure that Swallow was safely put to bed. We love the town, it has everything we need, shops, cafes, tavernas, a sandy beach, the friendliest of locals and a stunning lake, oh, not forgetting a Lidl; we're very exciting to explore more when we return from the UK, although, not sure when that will be yet! Stay tuned guys and thank you for reading about Swallow's adventures so far.

Kalamata Winter 2018-9

14 April 2022 | Kalamata
Carole Young
At 0815 on Thursday 1st November 2018 we departed Koroni through the heat haze; the low lying mist all around was spooky. We were close hauled with only the main out, a pleasant but slightly chilly 15 miles passage. With only 3 miles to go we saw flying fish whilst a pair of old jets were soaring above us; the sea fog is behind us and we can see the coast ahead of us; the sea is like glass and Swallow is gliding along towards her winter home. The friendly marinaro, Kosta, greeted us, directed us to pontoon A (where they put all the smaller boats) and handed us a shower key in exchange for 5 euros. The lady in the smoke filled office was pleasant; the marina here is bigger than we had imagined and a bit tired, but the town itself made up for that.

We really enjoyed our winter in Kalamata; we firstly ventured past the old docks and the area seemed very run down, but after that we walked through the train park and up to the precinct and we were very impressed with the selection of shops, bars and restaurants. I loved the arty shops with their pottery, paintings and koumboli beads and Captain Paul frequented the numerous hardware stores where he found everything he needed for Swallow. Up in the old town is a gyros kiosk next to a tiny church- we often sat here on the wall with a gyros and a beer people watching. Near the old train station is a fantastic grill house, with a pig roasting on the spit in the window, which quickly became captain Paul’s favourite eatery! There were several liveaboards, including many in camper vans, who participated in a Sunday, bring your own barbecue. We met a wonderful, characterful Canadian lady, Brenda, in the supermarket who invited us to her home with her German husband, Wolfgang (they run a cycling holiday business in Kalamata); Brenda cooked us a tasty curry which we enjoyed with some of their Greek friends. We meet such lovely people on our travels which helps us temporarily forget that we are away from close friends and family.

We bought a couple of old bone shakers as there are plenty of flat cycle paths in the town; we cycled to the massive farmers market once a week and also to Lidl, to stock up with British Cheddar; we also found some stilton and port in there at Christmas, which was pleasantly low key in the town. Nobody moves out of the way on the cycle paths, not even when startled by my bell. We loved the ride along the beachfront, stopping en route for a hot chocolate; even December was warm enough for a swim.

A couple of southerly gales came in which meant Swallow was rocking and rolling all over the place- the high waves came over the wall intermittently and swamped us; getting off the boat was a challenge! At this time most of us retreated to Skippers Bar where you would leave smelling of 20 a day! The marina, after such a storm, was fully carpeted with logs and debris, which had run down from the mountains!
Swallow had her underpants changed here; we lifted her out and the Captain rubbed down the ageing green copper coat and applied the local blue antifoul. We also took out the toilet and associated pipework in favour of a composting toilet, which we had delivered from the uk.

Kalamata is a great base for visiting the surrounding villages we got a bus, which went down some very narrow village roads, to Finikounda and Methoni, with its fantastic castle and crashing waves; this made up for the fact that we couldn’t anchor there on our passage around the coast. We hired a car and took a mountainous drive to the impressive ruins of Ancient Messeni, with a massive ancient Greek stadium and amphitheatre. We also drove, with friends, to the old Byzantine town of Mystra with a medieval castle; I felt like a small child exploring- it was magical; the mountain goats were very friendly too!

When we weren’t sightseeing we kept ourselves busy in other ways: Captain Paul soaked olives from the market in buckets and jarred them up with garlic, lemons, chillis and rosemary, delicious! He prepared pickled onions and I made my own mincemeat for mince pies! I also made use of the free lemons growing everywhere and baked a few cakes! Living a simple life!








Kalamata
At 0815 on Thursday 1st November 2018 we departed Koroni through the heat haze; the low lying mist all around was spooky. We were close hauled with only the main out, a pleasant but slightly chilly 15 miles passage. With only 3 miles to go we saw flying fish whilst a pair of old jets were soaring above us; the sea fog is behind us and we can see the coast ahead of us; the sea is like glass and Swallow is gliding along towards her winter home. The friendly marinaro, Kosta, greeted us, directed us to pontoon A (where they put all the smaller boats) and handed us a shower key in exchange for 5 euros. The lady in the smoke filled office was pleasant; the marina here is bigger than we had imagined and a bit tired, but the town itself made up for that.
We really enjoyed our winter in Kalamata; we firstly ventured past the old docks and the area seemed very run down, but after that we walked through the train park and up to the precinct and we were very impressed with the selection of shops, bars and restaurants. I loved the arty shops with their pottery, paintings and koumboli beads and Captain Paul frequented the numerous hardware stores where he found everything he needed for Swallow. Up in the old town is a gyros kiosk next to a tiny church- we often sat here on the wall with a gyros and a beer people watching. Near the old train station is a fantastic grill house, with a pig roasting on the spit in the window, which quickly became captain Paul’s favourite eatery! There were several liveaboards, including many in camper vans, who participated in a Sunday, bring your own barbecue. We met a wonderful, characterful Canadian lady, Brenda, in the supermarket who invited us to her home with her German husband, Wolfgang (they run a cycling holiday business in Kalamata); Brenda cooked us a tasty curry which we enjoyed with some of their Greek friends. We meet such lovely people on our travels which helps us temporarily forget that we are away from close friends and family.
We bought a couple of old bone shakers as there are plenty of flat cycle paths in the town; we cycled to the massive farmers market once a week and also to Lidl, to stock up with British Cheddar; we also found some stilton and port in there at Christmas, which was pleasantly low key in the town. Nobody moves out of the way on the cycle paths, not even when startled by my bell. We loved the ride along the beachfront, stopping en route for a hot chocolate; even December was warm enough for a swim.
A couple of southerly gales came in which meant Swallow was rocking and rolling all over the place- the high waves came over the wall intermittently and swamped us; getting off the boat was a challenge! At this time most of us retreated to Skippers Bar where you would leave smelling of 20 a day! The marina, after such a storm, was fully carpeted with logs and debris, which had run down from the mountains!
Swallow had her underpants changed here; we lifted her out and the Captain rubbed down the ageing green copper coat and applied the local blue antifoul. We also took out the toilet and associated pipework in favour of a composting toilet, which we had delivered from the uk.
Kalamata is a great base for visiting the surrounding villages we got a bus, which went down some very narrow village roads, to Finikounda and Methoni, with its fantastic castle and crashing waves; this made up for the fact that we couldn’t anchor there on our passage around the coast. We hired a car and took a mountainous drive to the impressive ruins of Ancient Messeni, with a massive ancient Greek stadium and amphitheatre. We also drove, with friends, to the old Byzantine town of Mystra with a medieval castle; I felt like a small child exploring- it was magical; the mountain goats were very friendly too!
When we weren’t sightseeing we kept ourselves busy in other ways: Captain Paul soaked olives from the market in buckets and jarred them up with garlic, lemons, chillis and rosemary, delicious! He prepared pickled onions and I made my own mincemeat for mince pies! I also made use of the free lemons growing everywhere and baked a few cakes! Living a simple life!






























Southern Ionion- The Home Run (Pic is Pylos)

23 March 2022 | Koroni
Carole Young
Katakalon

On the morning of Saturday 13th October 2018 we prepared ourselves to depart Zante harbour, heading NE for 20 miles to Katakalon on the mainland; on weighing the anchor we realised that it was hooked up to a large section of decking- Captain Paul successfully disentangled us and we navigated out of the port. The wind was NE force 4 and the sea was pretty rough so we hastily hoisted the main sail with myself on the helm trying to keep us into the wind whilst the Captain dealt with the sail; the swell was 2m and this operation in these conditions always terrifies me- our life jackets are definitely on today! A fishing boat forced us to go off course and the dinghy, which was secured to the coach roof forward of the mast, broke loose- Captain Paul to the rescue again. We had a reef in the genoa and we were bombing along; a challenging but exhilarating downwind sail! A couple of hours later the wind died and we were bobbing along on the now gentle swell; we could see Kefalonia and Zante behind us in the distance; it was good to know that we would soon hit the mainland and be on the home run for our winter destination. As we rounded the point of the mainland towards Katakalon we noticed a current pushing us along, this, coupled with a nice wind on the port beam, gave us a good sail into the anchorage. The depth here was 3 metres and we were pitching all night, so not a good night's sleep; we were treated to a firework display though, for no apparent reason, apart from the fact that it was Saturday night perhaps! You can take the dinghy in here and visit Olympia by train, cruise ships often dock here for that purpose; unfortunately conditions didn't allow this for us, maybe next time!

Kiparissia

The following morning we set off for Kiparissia, around 28 miles away; the wind was very fickle and we figured we'd need Swallow's motor today; we punched into the waves which were half a metre high and luckily not on the beam. Later the wind veered around onto the beam giving us a good starboard tack across the large bay, The Gulf of Aracadia; this was lined with villages backed by the Egaleo mountain range. I started wondering what would be going on in the numerous households; it was siesta time so I guessed the men were snoring whilst their wives were preparing the evening mousakka! We arrived in to the little port at 1700 and were greeted by blue and yellow jumping fish and the resident turtle. This was low season so room along the wall to go alongside- what a treat in a very sheltered spot! We stayed here two nights: the first night we met Emma and John and their daughter Ellen, on Brown Bear and hopped aboard for a drink. The next morning Captain Paul washed the boat as we found a water pipe full of hot water. The seafront here is tired but the town is busy with everything a sailor needs, including an AB supermarket; we walked uphill in the middle of town under the afternoon hot sun, only mad dogs and Englishmen! We were rewarded with fantastic views from the old castle ruins.

Pylos

At 1100 on Tuesday 16th October 2018 we prepared to leave Kiparissia; a large fishing boat had moored up behind us in the early hours and we noticed that Brown Bear had already left. We were heading for Pylos; we'd heard that this was an unfinished marina where many boats are moored for free and is usually packed; we contacted a very helpful Dutch guy there on Facebook who assured us that we would probably get a space and if not there is plenty of room to anchor in the bay. Six hours of motor sailing straight in to the southerly wind of varying strength, apart from a few tacks before approaching the Nisis Proti Channel, and we were welcomed by the Dutch guy, Hans, who helped us tie up alongside the concrete wall just past the entrance, behind an abandoned yacht which had been seized for carrying refugees. There is also a town wall in Pylos- we'd heard that two boats had been damaged there in the medicaine. The last few days Captain Paul had been experiencing kidney pains so the first thing we needed to do was find a doctor. We spoke to a pharmacist who prescribed antibiotics and pointed us in the direction of a urologist. The urologist did an ultrasound, gave him medication and sent Paul to Messini, a bus ride away, for an x ray- all of this was very time consuming and this coupled with unsettled weather meant we would be staying here for two weeks.

We had a great time in Pylos; we met two other British Yachts: Linea (Sarah and Ian) and Blue Vigil (Claire and Pete) - we all enjoyed a delicious meal at a nearby taverna and Claire cooked us all a superb curry! We visited the Venetian Fort with its spectacular views and underwater museum. The boys got a bit tipsy one day and decided to board the abandoned boat next to us- not a good idea as one of them was carted off by the Port Police for a few hours- a story that I will leave for my future book! There are some great anchoring spots around the Navarino Bay, we took a walk uphill and overlooked it; we realised that you could spend weeks around this beautiful area. The pièce de resistance here was the re-enactment of the Battle of Navarino , a sea battle between the Ottomans and the Allied force of Britain, Russia and France which won the War of Independence for the Greeks on 20th October 1827; an old yacht, made to look like a Turkish boat, was set fire to and off went the fireworks; cannon fire sound effects echoed around the bay and it truly made you feel like you were right in the middle of it- terrifying! Eight days later we were treated with Oxi Day parades through the square- this celebrates the day, 28th October 1940, that Greece said NO (oxi) to Mussolini who wanted to occupy strategic areas of Greece- this led to Greece's involvement in World War 2.

Koroni

On 31st October 2018 we set sail for Koroni, here we would spend the night before entering Kalamata where we were booked in from the 1st November for the winter. Our minds took us home this morning as our little grandson was starting nursery school today. This was a pleasant uneventful passage, albeit a bit swelly. We passed Methoni castle, this is apparently a good anchorage but too late in the year for us; we had a lovely beam reach through the islands of Sapientza and Skhiza, popular for hunting and firing practice. The hazy sunshine reflected on the water and we passed stunning cliffs of sandstone, littered with greenery and the occasional isolated house. As we rounded the tip of Ak. Akritas and Nisos Venetiko we spotted Brown Bear who was also heading for Koroni. At 1500 we dropped the anchor, using a trip line, into 5 metres of water, digging in to the weed and mud; it was Halloween but like a warm summer's day. John on Brown Bear anchored near us, after three attempts to find a good spot, and came aboard for a beer. We could see the pretty village and castle and a turtle popped up to say Kalispera! Tomorrow we will be mooring up for 6 months.

Swallow's Photos - Gaeta Xmas 2017
Photos 1 to 72 of 72 | Main
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Xmas train
Xmas tree by town hall
Ape light
Afternoon tea aboard Scarlet
more xmas lights
Xmas light
Week 1 of fireworks
Via Indepenzia xmas lights
Via Indepenzia early evening
Steps up to church Via Indepenzia
Romans moved in for Xmas
Nov 2017
next to old train station
More fireworks
Igloo xmas scene
Fish xmas lights
Descent from Mount Orlando 7 Jan 2018
First course
Xmas light
Xmas eve drinks in The Dutch
On the Xmas tourist train
Xmas dinner aboard Swallow
Xmas day stroll
Washed up jellyfish
Xmas day 2017
Walk back from lunch 23 Dec 2017
Tunnels on Mount Orlando
Street fun NYE
St Francis interior
St Francis looking down
St Francis Assisi church
Siesta
Serapo beach 12 12 17
Ready for NYE
Ready for lunch
Pole dancing NYE
Outside Duomo
Lunch is calling
NYE Signora di Venti
NYE fireworks everywhere
Nice view darling
My mate Santa
Merry Xmas everyone
Gaeta Medievale NYE
Homemade mandarin liquor from Anna
Lunch at La Macerrelia
Luca as santa
Xmas day 2017
Mmmmn Limoncello
Light show NYE
January walk to Mount Orlando
Beach walk
Jan 10 2018 at marina
Medieval Gaeta
Evening at Annas
Entertainment at marina 23 Dec 2017
Dolphin xmas light
Dinner Italian style
Annas house
Off for lunch 23 Dec 2017
Serapo beach Dec 22 2017
Love this beach
Serapo Beach Dec 12 2017
Beautiful early January
Beach walk Dec 22 2017
Battery at Mount Orlandp
Aragonese castle
Dinner at Annas
Anna and Luca
Loving this weather
Sunny December
Inside Duomo
 
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