Summer in the Saronics
14 October 2011 | Greece
We've spent the summer sailing in the Argo-Saronic Gulf, travelling once a fortnight between Epidavros in the Saronic Gulf to Navplion in the Argolic Gulf. We've had a much quieter season than last year in the Ionian. There were a few flotillas and charter boats around but nothing compared to the Lefkada area.
Epidavros is a small town with a lovely harbour and anchorage. There's a small amphitheatre just outside the town which is apparently used for children's plays in the summer (we didn't see any evidence of this), but the main attraction is the Santuary of Asklepios and theatre at Ancient Epidavros, a bus ride away. The theatre is the best preserved example of an amphitheatre from the ancient world. There are plays performed here every week and we'll try to get to one next year. The amphitheatre holds 14000 people and you can sit right at the top and hear a coin drop on the central stage. The sanctuary was used as a centre of healing, people came with their various ailments, washed in the holy waters of the sanctuary and then slept in the 'Abaton'. Overnight they received a visit from Asklepios (the god of healing) and would wake cured. There was obviously a bit skepticism as there are loads of ancient medical instruments in the museum which were found there!
From Epidavros we visited the islands of Angistri, Metopi and Poros. Angistri is a satellite island of Aegina and Metopi a satellite of Angistri! The islands are beautiful, lots of cypress pine so they smell like a sauna in the summer heat. Poros is separated from the Pelopennese by a narrow channel which is busy with ferries and local boats. It's lovely to motor through the channel so close to the town, just have to watch out for the hydrofoils and fastcats that stream through on their way to Idhra.
From Poros we headed to Nisis Dhokos and Ermioni. Dhokos is a lovely island with a huge bay on one side, unfortunately a lot of it is too deep to anchor in. However, we managed to anchor off the beach a few times and Andy was often successful here when he went out with his spear gun, we had quite a few bass out of the bay! Ermioni is small town on the coast of the Pelopennese and has a fantastic market on Thursday mornings, we tried to get here most weeks to stock up with fresh fruit and veg.
Once we left Dhokos and Ermioni we were heading into the Argolic Gulf. Our first stop here was Korakonisia, a group of bays with good holding and shelter. We spent a lot of time here, wandering on the beaches, swimming in the clear water and fishing for more bass! Andy saw a monk seal here once, he'd been fishing and had four bass in his bag, the seal was obviously hungry and thought he deserved the fish more than Andy! Luckily Andy managed to chase him away and we barbied the fish that night.
From Korakonisia we'd often head to Koiladhia for an overnight stop. The water here was a bit murky so no swimming but plenty of turtles to spot. Koiladhia has a couple of boat yards and we're planning to be lifted out here next year for a month so that we can paint and anti-foul.
Our next stop was Navplion and initially we anchored outside the harbour. We found that as the summer went on the afternoon breeze would pick up and it would be very uncomfortable on Norna so we started to go into the harbour and tie up to the wall. We don't really like being tied up as we have to keep the cats in (they have no road sense and like to get off the boat if they can) and ropes and fenders creak all night! However, we can easily fill with water in Navplion and it is a lovely town to explore.
Navplion was the original capital of modern Greece from 1829-1834 and has three castles: Bourtzi at the entrance to the harbour, Akronafplia in the town and Palamidhi above the town. We didn't get to Bourtzi but walked around Akronafplia and climbed the 980 steps to Palamidhi, the views from the top were amazing.
We're now on our way to Athens. We have a problem with our batteries and they're going to be tested next week so we'll have to be in a marina for a few days (no power otherwise). Hopefully there won't be any strikes and we'll be able to explore the ancient sites and make the most of our time there.