Freya & Us

Vessel Name: Freya of Wight
Vessel Make/Model: Westerly Oceanranger
Hailing Port: Portishead
14 September 2022 | South Wales
04 May 2022
02 May 2022 | Kos - 8,924 NM
24 April 2022 | Lakki, Leros - 8,914 NM
11 April 2022 | Lipsoi - 8,776 NM
07 April 2022 | Samos, 8,735NM
20 March 2022 | Samos - 8,735NM
31 October 2021 | Samos - 8,491 NM
09 November 2020 | Severn Beach, Bristol - 8,735 NM
08 November 2020 | Samos Marina, Pythagorio - 8,735 NM
26 October 2020 | Samos Marina, Pythagorio - 8,735 NM
20 October 2020 | Marathakampos - 20th October 2020 - 8,715NM
09 October 2020 | Limnos - 8,620 NM
30 September 2020 | Patmos - 8,602 NM
25 September 2020 | Evdhilos, Ikaria - 8,552 NM
13 September 2020 | Oinoussa - 8,491 NM
03 December 2019 | Bristol - 8,443 NM
05 November 2019 | Mytilini - 8,443 NM
18 October 2019 | Mytilini, Lesbos - 8,413 NM
11 October 2019 | Molyvos, Lesbos - 8,379 NM
Recent Blog Posts
14 September 2022 | South Wales

Final Story

After 12 years, 8,924 miles, 376 ports of call we officially handed Freya to her new owner last night.

04 May 2022

Interactive Map

By clicking on the link below you can load an interactive map to see our route and explore the places we stopped at.

02 May 2022 | Kos - 8,924 NM

The end of another adventure

Time to move on as we needed to drop Ian and Jess off in Kos for their flight home. There wasn't a breath of wind as we motored to Kos harbour which is very atmospheric under the old castle. It all felt very hectic in the town after a few weeks exploring the tiny, peaceful islands. We were treated to [...]

24 April 2022 | Lakki, Leros - 8,914 NM

Stunning Aegean

It was 11 miles to Skala Patmos and an amazing broad reach sail all the way (almost!) - definitely what it's all about. The sea could've been flatter but it was as expected after the high winds. We went side to on the quay with a Finnish boat where it was very flat and peaceful, especially after the [...]

11 April 2022 | Lipsoi - 8,776 NM

At last, we’re off!

And finally we were ready to go! The engine started first turn, we let off the lines and left Samos marina. We've loved our extended stay on Samos but we're not sorry to leave the marina which is very is unprofessionally run. We were joined on our first trip for ages by dolphins just outside Pythagorio. [...]

07 April 2022 | Samos, 8,735NM

Very stressful final preparations

The engine was removed very efficiently and with great respect for the boat. It was taken to Zlatco's workshop for further investigation! They returned an hour or so later to clean up - very impressive and the engine bay has never looked so clean and shiny! It was very traumatic watching Freya having [...]

A bus trip to Thessaloniki

02 October 2019 | Porto Lagos - 8,263 NM
Lorraine Chapman | Hot and Still
A very pleasant 20 NM downwind motorsail past a couple of oil rigs took us to Ormos Eleftheriou. We had to come here as it’s Rita’s (Paul’s sister) family name. It’s a beautiful, big horseshoe shaped bay with small islands dotted about it, a few smaller bays plus a castle and sandy beaches. After dropping the anchor in a sheltered bay we went ashore which was a bit disappointing as it’s a modern resort full of modern apartments and trendy bars where they served us the most expensive drinks we’ve had in the Aegean! Pleasant but nothing interesting but we had a nice peaceful night even though we’re next to a big fishing port.

After breakfast we moved 1.5 miles to the other, less sheltered, side of the bay and anchored below the castle. We paddled ashore in the dinghy and climbed the hill to the entrance. It was free but there wasn’t a lot left apart from the walls but atmospheric nonetheless in its position on the side of the hill. Back to the boat for coffee before motoring (not even a hint of wind!) 7 miles to Kavala port. Kavala is a sizeable city on the coast of mainland Greece with a lot of history. We moored alongside on a long pontoon with views of the citadel and aqueduct - lovely. A short walk before dinner found a clean, tidy and maintained waterside with everything we need close by although our drinks were even more expensive than the last ones!

More exploring in the morning took us around the port to the huge aqueduct which looks authentically Roman but was actually built by the Ottomans in the Roman style and on the site of a Roman one. It is spectacular whoever built it! Next we wound up the steep narrow streets of the old town to the castle on the top for amazing views of the city below and over to Thassos. The citadel has been rebuilt many times over the years. Most of what can be seen today is Ottoman but remains from Greek and Roman periods can be seen below. Going down the other side of the hill through the old town there is the house of Mohamed Ali who ruled in the Ottoman period and a palace which is now a hotel which looks amazing from the boat. Both are open to the public but closed the day we were there!

Thessalonika is only 2 hours from Kavala by bus but much further by sea. We decided to go by bus as the end of summer was approaching and we really wanted to see Greece’s second city and so we were up early in the morning and off to the bus station. It was a lovely journey across the top of the three fingers of Halkidiki and passing lakes which seem to almost cut them off altogether. We managed to find our hotel on public transport which was lovely and although there were lots of other hotels in the area we weren’t sure why as it wasn’t convenient for anything! We walked miles around grimey, crowded, congested, manic streets but it was very interesting - a bit like Rome there are ruins around every corner. It has so much history and so many different cultures. We knew that Larry and Linda (without Debbie who’d gone home) were there and so we arranged to meet them on our first evening and had a lovely meal in a pedestrian, trendy area near the docks filled with bars and tavernas.

First stop the next morning was the White Tower, the symbol of Thessaloniki. On the way we walked through shopping areas, wonderful markets and the grand Aristotle Square. We were a little underwhelmed by the remaining tower but there were boat trips around the harbour in various reconstructions of old ships - and free for the price of an overpriced drink but still a bargain. We boarded our galleon and it was a very pleasant hour and a chance to see the city skyline from the sea. There is a city tour bus run by the bus company charging 2€ right next to the usual red buses charging a lot more. It was a long way up to the castle and so we found the bus stop at 1.50 and found the bus was due at 2.00 - perfect. 20 minutes later we were still there, ummm. 40 minutes later and we were still there and having not had lunch we thought we’d give up and we negotiated 2 busy roads of manic traffic only to see the bus stopped at the traffic lights - we took our life in our hands to retrace our steps only to sit on the bus until 3.00! The tour was awful with the conductor reading from a guide book and talking over the top of a recording which came in between his ramblings in part sentences and neither made sense! Anyway we got to the top of the city and to the citadel where we started with a much needed souvlaki lunch. Walking up through the old town we came to the castle which was an interesting star shape and was used as a prison until the 1980s. Walking back down we had great views all over the city and bay as we followed the city walls stopping to visit a few churches on route. We are a bit churched out but there were some beautiful Byzantine churches in the city. By the time we got back to the bottom everything was closing and we were exhausted and so we walked back to our hotel and collapsed with a bottle of wine and peanuts from the mini bar!

In the morning we continued our tour with the Byzantine church of St Dimitrios built in the 7th century and held a relic of the saint in a silver casket. It was a beautiful church but also had a much older crypt underneath holding pillars, fonts etc from a previous age. Next was the Rotunda built in 306AD and very similar to the Pantheon in Rome - amazing that the whole building is still standing and it’s been in constant use all of that time. Close by was the triumphal arch of Galerius which celebrated his victories with carvings clearly still visible and led to his palace and the Rotunda. And finally the ruins of the palace itself surrounded by the modern high rise apartments! There was much more including the ruins of the huge Roman agora but too much to include - a fascinating city if a bit to manic after life on the islands. Time to get the bus back to a Kavala.
Comments

About & Links