Made it to Katakolon

We put the Spinnaker up in the vain hope of getting a sail but it wasn't to be. We motored gently on a flat sea all the way to Killini and passed a turtle gently swimming on the surface. The only highlight after that was dodging a couple of ferry's that didn't come within a couple of Miles!
Killini is pretty full of fishing boats and large trawlers so we decided to anchor. You can anchor just outside the port with good holding and plenty of shelter but the bottom comes up very quickly and very unevenly - in particular there is a 1M patch just outside the harbor entrance. The water isn't clear so you can't see the bottom. We followed contours for half an hour until we were sure of the shape of the seabed then dropped the hook in a nice wide (but invisible) bay. Meanderer arrived as we were settling down.

Next day we left them there as they were picking up their friends in a couple of days and headed off down to Katakolon. The voyage was much lumpier than we expected and poor Lucifer had a dreadful time. We even spotted a couple of incipient twisters forming which scared me enough to drop the sails. Fortunately, they didn't touch down and just faded away!

Katakolon is a large harbor primarily for huge cruise liners - some days three at a time. The harbor master, Leon, is incredibly helpful but can be a bit touchy. He got very cross with some dutch people who didn't notice (or possibly just ignored) the instructions to call on VHF12.
He offers mooring (including port fees) electricity, showers, clean toilets, water (although rather brown and not attractive for putting in tanks) all for €10 per night. He also has a washing machine for only €2.50 a load. The port police are far too busy with cruise ships to bother with yachts so they seem to delegate everything to Leon.
Katakolon is a strange place. It has a couple of small supermarkets, a good bakery, etc but almost all the shops are shut until a cruise ship comes in. Then suddenly everything and everyone wakes up, all the tourist shops hustle for business for a few hours until the ship sails and everyone shuts up and goes back to sleep.
We made friends with a lovely Australian Pete and his friend Lyn. They have a lovely little boat which they have nearly finished doing up and then are off the slow way back to Aus. We took them out for a short sail to see how the autopilot works and they invited us up for a barby.

The reason the cruise ships (and we) were in Katakolon was to visit Olympia. This is possible by train (amazingly cheap and comfortable), by bus, by taxi or by hire car. We took a car because we also wanted to shop and pick up our guests in nearby Pirgos. We were charged €35 for an almost new Panda by Christos which is pretty reasonable. unfortunately, he has a stupidly small milage (€0.22 per km after the first 120km). That is only enough to go to Pirgos once and then straight to Olympia and back. We ran up €8.80 although he did reduce it to €5.00 when I complained. Avis does unlimited milage for €40 which would have been better as we would not have felt constrained and could have made a side trip or two.
Olympia was lovely - a very peaceful and atmospheric place (at least if you get there before the Cruise ship parties arrive). I did a bit of sketching while the others yomped all around the site.




By Monday all the Rally participants had arrived. See next weeks blog... 

Gulfs of Corinth and Patras

We set off from Corinth bound for Galaxidi - the best port from which to get to Delphi. As predicted, the wind near Corinth was light but further North and West it was 5 gusting 6 and on the nose, We had forgotten just how nasty that can be - and Lucifer found it even worse - a picture of misery huddled under the navigation seat.

We gave up and went into Kato. We are indebted to Sarah and Beanie on Rozinante who told us about the place describing it as a Hurricane Hole. Spot on! It's a huge but sparsely used commercial harbor where you tie up alongside a huge wall with bollards suitable only for huge ships. There is no water or electricity either but the shelter is superb and it seems to be completely free. We waited out the afternoon gales for 3 days before setting off for a dead-calm motor all the way.

Galaxidhi is as picturesque as we remember it - an exquisite village set around an excellent harbor with all facilities and only standard Greek port fees (€8.11 for us). Both water and electricity are free. Even David and Jilly tied up side too on the short jetty with no trouble. We were met by a rather strange bloke called Tammi who shouted a lot, tried to direct us and took our lines. He then tried to get us to take water for €5 but then asked for €2 when we said we didn't need it yet. I gave him €1 as charity (much to L's disgust) and he seemed to be my best friend which was not entirely a good thing. Later, the harbor master came round and told everyone not to give him anything as it just encourages him and he is defrauding the visitors.
Next day David, Jilly and I hired a car and drove up to Delphi. They went round the site and Museum (which L & I had done a couple of years before) and I spent a very happy 3 hours sketching the beautiful temple of Athena just below the main site and completely free to access. We had lunch in Arachova (alpine ski village on the shoulder of Mt Parnassos) and then drove back.
David & Jilly's boat, Meanderer, had been moved from the side to the head of the Jetty and slightly damaged! David was all for berating the German boat that was now in his place but luckily Jilly calmed him down as it turned out to have been moved by Tammi who "thought a ferry was coming" even though they haven't been here for years. The man is definitely loopy - L calls him the village idiot. The port police were very interested and will be having serious words with Mr T about not touching other people's boats.


Next day we pottered up to Trizonia having hoisted the Spinnaker more in hope than expectation. D managed to fly it in 4 Knots of wind for half an hour much to L's annoyance and then had to take it down again before it collapsed as the wind dropped further. Even Lucifer seemed to tolerate it.

Trizonia is a lovely little island with an effective but unfinished Marina - although we chose to anchor off. Lots of thick weed but enough patches of mud to give excellent holding with care. We went over to the tiny village for a drink but ended up being tempted to a meal. We were just finishing when a large thunder storm made its appearance over the mountains and was clearly heading straight for us. We dashed to the Dinghy and just got back on board before the heavens opened and the sea fried with Lightning.

 The next day we had the best sail of the year. After about 2 hours motoring in calm, the wind came up from behind. L, who was at the helm, noticed and actually suggested deploying the Spinnaker and we had a glorious run through the beautiful Rio-Antirio bridge and on almost to Missolonghi. We did the last 5 miles with conventional sails as the wind strengthened and backed a bit too much. The good news is that the repair seems to be holding.


Not only was the wind excellent but we found someone to sail with - a little Swedish Ketch called Johanna. We screamed past them with the spinnaker but once we were on main and jib, it was much more even. We both took pictures of the other boat and swapped them when we got to the marina.

So now we're resting in Missolonghi Marina for 3 days. Very reasonable price (€19 per night) and they have made huge progress since we were here 3 years ago. There are excellent facilities now and hundreds of boats both in and out of the water. They even have several washing machines and dryers! A supermarket and Chandlers are both scheduled to open in the next few days which will save on the long treks into town.

To the Corinth Canal

Next day we headed up to Porto Heli. Unfortunately, there was no useful wind most of the way although we did get a couple of hours sail at the end. We had our usual excellent anchorage and were able to relax and have a good nights sleep.
We planned to go to Hydra the next day and - being so small and crowded, wanted to get there early so we had a crack of dawn start. We were there by 11.00, all tied up and looking forward to a day there culminating in a good dinner at a taverna. Hydra is a charming little town on a steep and sparsely populated island - with no motorised land transport - just donkeys and hand carts. The harbour is very small and crowded and unfortunately was too difficult for Meandrer who, after a valiant attempt, bailed out and headed for Poros. We we untied and headed there too. We ended up having an excellent meal at the Posidonia taverna so all was well. We stayed Sunday too as Alex and Emma had to get back home via Athens - I took the opportunity to draw and paint the Taverna.
The next day was Monday and off we went to the excellent chandler - the best I know in the Aegean. He managed to get an open cell domestic battery for David and new mooring warps for us from Athens that evening. We spent the day and night in Russian bay - just taking Rosa in to the quay in Poros for a few minutes to pick up the goods. We were moored next to a lovely little wooden yacht and I took another opportunity to paint - which came out surprisingly well.

On Tuesday May 1st, we motored round to Palaia Epidavros (not a breath of wind). We initially went on the quay and were met by the port police who asked us to report to them after 1700. We then found that the amphitheater wasn't open (a May 1st strike apparently) and since it was hot and a bit sticky, we joined Meanderer in the anchorage - a very good move as it was cooler and we could swim.
After lunch we were joined by a small charter yacht who laid their anchor to the bitter end which then plopped into the sea and disappeared! It seems that the charter company hadn't bothered to tie it on. They needed a hands so we tied their boat onto Rosa then all spent a happy two hours dredging his chain up with dinghy anchors - a surprisingly difficult task when the chain is too deep to see. In the evening we went off to the port police and to my great surprise were charged for swinging at our own anchor. Only €3.81 but stuck in the craw a bit.
Early next morning, we left for the short run to Korfos - yet again no wind. We swung at anchor with the idea of getting off early next day to go through the canal. After a peaceful night, we weighed anchor at 0700 only to find that it was heavily encased in a fisherman's net. It took an hour to cut it free all the time alternately drifting close to shore and motoring backwards (dragging the net) to get into deep water - with heart in mouth in case we got the damned thing round the prop. With hind-sight, I should have dropped the kedge after the first motoring session.
The canal passage was smooth and efficient although expensive. We were lucky that huge floating crane completed its passage and came out just as we got there or else we would have been waiting for hours.

That evening, together with Gilly and David, we had been invited to dinner with some very posh friends of theirs so we pulled into Corinth. We rafted up on the only hammerhead and hired a car for only €30 from a nice greek car hire company.

We had dinner with Nicolas Egon who is a famous artist (This is one of his pictures) and his wife Matty who owns a major Greek shipping company. Both were delightful company and we had a really memorable evening. Nicholas uses a technique of water color overlaid with pastel to give detail and brightness. I'm definitely going to give it a go.