After being in Port Leone for a few hours we decided to to head to Meganissi. We rounded the south of Nisos Kalamos island into the open sea and decided to get the sails up. This is where the hard work began. We raised the sails by pulling lots of rope in and we had to keep doing tacks when we wanted to change direction so we didn’t sail into the wind. It was very hard work for me and Nige as we were constantly pulling in ropes, whilst Jazz was steering the tiller! The waves when we were sailing were amazing and the boat was heeled right over.

We then decided to sail into Vathi so we radioed the Marina to reserve a berth but we got a reply that we may not be able to as it was fully booked but thankfully they found us space. We got into our berth then a monster yacht came in and it was massive! It was very interesting watching it trying to moor up.

After watching this we went to the bar had a drink and then went to the Rose Garden for some well earned food and what amazing food it was.

Jasmine sailed us out of the port around 10am. Our destination was Port Leone. The hamlet sits in a bay on the south-east side of the island. In the infamous earthquake of 1953 Port Leone’s water supply was damaged and effectively cut-off. The villagers were evacuated and never returned. What remains are half a dozen abandoned houses, two of them with olive presses still visible, and a church which is maintained and looks to be pristine. It’s a surreal place and in some ways surprising that nobody has ever tried to rebuild the houses. The setting is stunning. The water the most amazing colour.

Jasmine did a great job of sailing us into one of the bays and we anchored in 5m of turquoise sea. We motored over to the wooden jetty in the tender and had a nose around the houses before having lunch and the obligatory swim!

It’s hard to imagine living in a place like Nisos Kalamos. The population is around 270. There is one school for infants and when the kids get to age 11 they have to go across to the mainland every day by ferry to attend secondary school. We wandered up the hill in the evening into the part of the village where the locals live. There we enjoyed a drink in a taverna frequented entirely by Greeks. Surrounded by stone buildings, sitting on a terrace enjoying a capuccino with moonlight was delightful. Here the prices were great value, Jasmine’s milk shake was half the price of the tavernas on the quay.

The following morning we chatted for a while with the family on the neighbouring boat. Nigel and Jenny were here with their son George and his partner. Their other son had spent some time working out here as a skipper and in a strange twist of fate had worked for the previous owner of Ruby and the boat had been his house for a summer!

We wandered up to the bakery with them and came across this amazing car buried in the overgrown hedge right outside a few houses.

We had an early start as we were all awake because of the strong winds, so we were all up and ready by 7am. We left cliff bay nice and early to set off to go to Nisos Kalamos. We pulled up the anchor and let the rope free from the shore and went into the high winds and very rough sea. We were straight into a swell of over a metre and the bow of the boat was slamming down and at times going under the water bringing a huge amounts of salty spray over us sat in the cockpit.

It took us 2 and a half hours to get in to the harbour and Nige said that me and Jazz had to get us in so I took the tiller and steered us into the harbour but it was harder then i thought!

It was difficult as there were boats coming out and we had to judge the angle to go in to keep away from the boats and the rocks. The wind was also pushing us against the stone mole.

When we were all settled in the harbour we set of to the beach close by, walking there was tiring as it was mostly up hill and by far the hottest day yet. We were all going to go for a swim but Jazz was in there the longest as I thought it was quite cold and Nige was refreshed. After the beach we went to a bar called Georges to have a nice drink and to chill out ready for dinner later.

Later we headed around the corner to One House Bay and anchored up for the night, or so we thought?!

After a delicious dinner cooked by Josh, we settled down for the evening only to be disturbed with a violent swell rolling into the bay.

It was so violent infact, there would be no possibility of getting any sleep, so a decision had to be made.

Our initial plan was to night sail into Kastos, however a quarter of a mile out, we decided the sea was too rough. Therefore, our decision was to head back to the more sheltered cliff bay.

Anchoring up and tying a line a shore in the failing light was more of a challenge than expected. After a tiresome day, we chose to hit the sack!

Our 1am wake up call this time was from the howling winds, surprisingly Josh who had chose to sleep outside for the night slept through most of it!

Dad had a fairly early morning, after being woken up by the local bin men at 6,00am he decided to catch a glimpse on camera or the rising sun.

Josh and I decided to head to the shops, as we needed to collect tasty goods for our journey ahead! If our trek to the shop wasn’t already difficult enough, it was just made worse with Josh and I having to carry 6 bottles of water each back to the boat!

Once that was over, it was time to set sail!

Today’s Destination, One house Bay on Nisos Atako.
The Journey right from the start eventful, with 1m swell throughout the passage making for a rough crossing.

A couple of hours into the journey, we decided to take a look at the neighbouring bay, which has the descriptive title of ‘Cliff Bay’.

The surrounding cliffs drop 350ft straight into the sea, eroded over time by wind and earthquakes the derby lays clear to see.

We anchored in the bay with 3 other boats, and spent most of our day swimming and snorkeling.