Leaving Monemvasia we sailed 7 miles up the coast to Leraka. The entrance here was awe-inspiring sailing in through a dog leg passage between two massive rock outcrops both sides gave no indication of the town inside. Once though the town was beautiful, and the shelter fantastic. It reminded us of a Greek version of a Devon fishing village like Fowey. Initially we tied up next to a taverna on the town quay. Having come in perfectly (well done Jacques) We realised we only had about 10cm under the keel onto rock so whilst still floating any slight change in water level could have grounded us. So we re-located to the old ferry Quay with 5mts depth. The ferry no longer running now the town finally has road access, but the only way to the houses on the far side was still only by boat. Whilst beautiful and sheltered the weather forecast showed strong winds coming again in two days time and with little further to see after 24hrs we decided to press on moving up to Kiparissi. Here we tied to the side of the old fishing quay for a very bouncy night as the swell came in. even so we were much better than the boats on the end who pitched violently all night. Fed up of the movement we left at 07:00hrs the next morning for Tiros.

Tiros is a small holiday town apparently frequented Predominantly by Germans with clear water and smooth white stone beaches it was clear to see why. Tavernas catered for the German Preferences with Sauerkraut, Bavarian Sausages on the menu. We tied up at the new harbour but as it was Sunday no one was around. We were the only visiting boat till a Late arrival of a Dutch crewed charter boat. Though it was only early September the town, bars & restaurants all seemed closed as if the season was over. Eating on-board we left the next morning for Koiladhia.

The Sail to Koiladhia was in a light breeze so with all sails out we drifted at about 3knts across Argolikos Kolpos and anchored off the town dominated by the large and impressive church. The colour of the water here was amazing turquoise and though later in the day we did have a thunderstorm come over, the bay was perfectly sheltered. Here we met up with our friends Stuart & Christine on yacht Marissella. They dinghy-ed over to us and we went ashore together for dinner in one of the quayside restaurants. Again it looked as if the season here was over only one other table being served in the restaurant. It was great to catch up with them since Naxos in the Ionian, two months previously. They had come through the Corinth canal whilst we had sailed down and around the Peloponesse. We shared stories & details of places visited. They would be retracing some of our steps down to Kithera so told them of the places we had enjoyed. We agreed to sail together for the next few days and the following morning followed them out and on to Khaidhari.