Another 15 miles south, nearly at the tip of the peninsula is Porto Kayio. This is a nearly enclosed bay with the entrance in the NE corner and a small village at the head. It's a deep bay so anchoring space is limited but there were only three other boats when we arrived and we got the hook in at the second attempt through the hardened sand with the help of the skipper of an Austrian boat who was already in the water checking his own anchor. He signalled for us as he watched our anchor's behaviour on the sea floor. The water here is very clear and you can see down the 10m to the hard sand, weed and rock.


The village at Potro Kayio, Splice is moored out of picture to the right
We had a calm day and were joined by another Cruising Association boat 'Dragon ll of Cowes', one of the few other CA boats we have seen this year. Martin and Sarah came on board for beer or two that evening and we had a good chat for a couple of hours. They were heading off around the Peleponnese in the other direction so it was a brief meeting but good to talk to fellow sailors.

We took the short stroll to the chapel on the headland the next morning and stopped at a cafe overlooking the harbour for a coffee on the way back. It's a pretty village that is popular with land based tourists judging by the cars that arrive down the one road out each day but still had its character intact.

The bell gets tested at the chapel above Porto Kayio

The forecast looks good here for another night but the week ahead has very strong winds down the eastern side of the gulf meaning its not sensible to carry on to the island of Kithera to the south as we had planned. A retreat north to Gythion is the probable outcome but we will enjoy a meal ashore tonight and make a final call tomorrow.

Main Photo: The bay at Porto Kayio