The Web Log from Alba Voyager

The Web Log from Alba Voyager

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Cruise with Alba Voyager as she sets sail from Scotland on an adventure which will take her to many foreign lands and hopefully round the world.

2008 Aegean Island Cruise (Kos)

Jul. 1, 2008

We departed Isle Nisyros and headed north for the island of Kos, the wind was fair and we had a pleasant sail arriving in the port of Kardamena on Kos’s southern coast in the early afternoon.

We were hoping to meet up with John on La Gabriella (a fellow live-aboard from our winter in Marmaris) who we had been advised through the grapevine had serious gearbox problems with his boat and had sailed into Kardamena to affect repairs. On our arrival he was out to meet us, taking our ropes and happy to see ‘a well kent face’. His gearbox was out the boat and had been sent to England for a major overhaul and wasn’t due back for another couple of weeks.

A view of Kardamena Harbour

Kardamena was not our usual type of stopover, it being a very noisy tourist resort mainly for the 18 to 30 age group who in the words of Rod Heikell ‘want little to do with anything Greek and frequent any establishment that remotely resembles the ‘local’ at home’.

The main street Kardamena

However in their defence all the loud music stopped at mid-night and there was good shopping in the town. We hirer a car to tour the island and John kindly offered to come along as our guide as he had previously wintered in the marina at Kos and knew the island well.

Filling our bottles at the spring

Kos is a very fertile island and there is an abundance of excellent fruit and vegetables all grown locally. The reason for its fertility is a spring of crystal clear water which flows from high up in the mountains and irrigates the whole of the plain. It is said that this spring has been flowing continuously for 3000 years (that’s a lot of water). No need for bottled water here, just take along your bottles and fill them at the spring.

Looking down on the plain, Turkey in the background

A view from up in the mountains looking down on the plain all of which is irrigated from the spring.

The statue of Hippocrates at Kos

Kos is also famous for Hippocrates the father of modern medicine and although we may not know the history we will all have heard of the Hippocratic Oath. The statue in Kos harbour shows Hippocrates receiving a patient with some of his students gathered round.

Legend has it Hippocrates taught under this tree

This is reputed to be one of the sites where Hippocrates taught, in the shade of the trees with a cool meltemi wind blowing. A most pleasant place to be on a hot summer’s day.

Lunch in the village of Zia with John

John was most insistent that we visit the small village of Zia up in the mountains where he said existed the best restaurant on Kos. And he wasn’t wrong! The village is now a busy tourist attraction, but the restaurant is up the hill at the top of the village and most tourists don’t bother to climb that far. The view was as good as the meal!

The village church at Zia.

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2008 Aegean Island Cruise (Rhodes, Simi, Nisyros)

Jun. 8, 2008

Our winter spent in Yacht Marine, Turkey was like living in a holiday camp, and we had everything you could wish for and more right on our doorstep. I won’t go into detail as this log is more about travelling than living in a holiday camp. We did get the chance to travel to Istanbul (over 500 miles away from Marmaris) and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. As you can see from the photograph taken on route to Istanbul, Turkey does get snow. I would write more about Turkey but as we will be wintering again this year in Marmaris and cruising Turkish Waters next year I will keep my powder dry till then.

The Blue Mosque Istanbul Yes it snows in Turkey

As most of you will know Turkey is not (as yet) part of the EU, this means we have to go through the ritual of booking out of the country, visiting the offices of Immigration , Customs and Port Police. Forms have to be completed, signed and stamped then you are free to go. We were heading back to the island of Rhodes to stock up with some provisions we couldn’t get in Turkey and the bad news is, as we are coming from a country outside the EU we have all the procedures to go through again in reverse with the Greek authorities in Rhodes.

Mandraki Harbour Rhodes

Mandraki harbour is the main harbour for yachts on Rhodes, it is normally very difficult to find a berth here as most of the berths are taken by charter yachts which are based here, but today we are lucky. After completing all our paperwork with the authorities and paying for a week’s berthage we can relax and take in some of our surroundings.

Rhodes is steeped in history being founded in 480BC and becoming a predominant power in the Aegean. The part best preserved and visited by tens of thousands of tourists was built by the Knights of St John in 1309. The mediaeval town (known as the Old Town), the Castle and the palace of the Grand Masters should not be missed. One drawback is the number of cruise liners visiting the island, as many as four in a single day, depositing 10,000 people into a very small town, you just can’t move far less see the sights. Fortunate for us we don’t run to a timetable and the cruise liners normally only stay for one day so we could pick the quietest time to visit the town.

Alba Voyager in Mandraki Harbour

Having completed all our chores and managed a bit of sight seeing we sailed for Pedhi on the island of Symi. We picked Pedhi which lies in a deep bay on the east side of the island rather than the main town and port on the west side, this we thought would be much quieter after the hassle and bustle of Rhodes.

Pedhi village on the island of Symi

Something which may not be appreciated in the UK (especially after last summer) is that water in the Greek islands is a scarce commodity and in many cases has to be ferried to the islands. The pictures show the water boat discharging then departing Pedhi early morning, this was a daily occurrence.

Water boat discharging its cargo at Pedhi

Water boat crossing our bow early in the morning

We enjoyed Symi and could have stayed longer but we are trying to head as far north as possible before the Meltemi (strong northerly winds) set in. The next island we are aiming for is Nisyros famous for its volcano. Since leaving Turkey we have enjoyed some good sailing and haven’t had the motor on except for getting in and out of harbour. Today is Tuesday 27^th May and again we enjoy fair winds until the last five miles when the wind comes on the nose, so it’s motor on and motor sail the last five miles to the main town and harbour of Nisyros, Mandraki with its castle built by the Knight of St John over looking the harbour. We hired a scooter (the best way to get around) to tour the island and of course visit the famous volcano

Looking down into the crater

Down on the floor of the crater

The crater of the volcano is situated in the middle of the island on the Lakki plateau. The main crater is 260 metres in diameter and about 30 metres deep.

The temperature is over 100deg F down here

You can hear the water boiling

Although the guide says the volcano is extinct when down on the floor of the crater the air is filled with the smell of sulphur and you can hear and feel the water boiling under your feet. The steam rises out of large vents, I tell Anne ‘Don’t go stamping you feet here’.

Watching us watching them

The saying goes ‘Mad dogs and English men out in the mid-day sun’. I suspect that’s what the tourists were watching from the observation platform or was it us watching the tourists?

Cafe in the shade

Having extracted ourselves from the floor of the crater where the temperature was well over 100deg F it was a great relief to find this café tucked under the trees for shade. This scene very much reminder me of South Africa where like here the sun is your enemy and has to be treated with great respect. Time for lunch, so it was back on the scooter and of to Nikia a small village high up in the hills with commanding views of the sea and the islands beyond.

View of the crater from Nikia

The main street in the village of Nikia

The village square with the sea beyond

The reason for such narrow streets was to create shade and of course when these houses were built the motor car hadn’t been invented, donkey would be the main mode of transport when not on foot.

Lunch over, back on the scooter and off to visit the Monastery situated high in the hills above the harbour. Unfortunately when we arrived at the Monastery it was closed (or everyone was asleep), but there was always the small consolation of viewing what reminded me of ‘a little bit of Scotland’ (although they grow very much higher here).

The Monastery high in the hills

A small reminder of Scotland

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Greece - The Aegean

Oct. 15, 2007

We departed Methoni on the morning of Monday 9^th July our course set east to round Cape Tainaron the most southerly part of the Greek mainland and nearly the most southerly part of Europe, being beaten only by Tarifa in Spain which is 16 miles further south. We had a pleasant motor sail for the first part, then in the afternoon the wind increased and allowed us to turn off the motor which always brings an air of tranquillity to the boat. We rounded Cape Tainaron about four in the afternoon and turned north making for the small village of Kayio with the wind increasing from the northwest. The village of Kayio lies in a deep bay with its own natural harbour, we dropped anchor about 50yards from the beach letting out all our chain and settled in for the night with the wind increasing to near gale force and viscous squalls driving down off the mountains.

Cape Tainaron

The Anchorage Kayoi The Beach at Kayoi

Next day the wind was still blowing hard from the northwest but as we liked our surroundings we decided to stop for a couple of days and explore the area. We had noticed a small chapel on the headland at the entrance to the bay, so we set off in search of that. On reaching the chapel the sea views were magnificent, giving a panoramic view to the west and east, where we had come from and where we were heading to next. Inside the small chapel was also quite a surprise as you can see from the photograph.

Inside of the Chapel

Alba Voyager had remained pretty well trouble free since we left Scotland two years previously, little did we know that was about to change, dramatically!

We left Kayio heading east for Cape Maleas, the last Cape before we headed north into the Aegean Sea. The pilot book had warned of strong winds and heavy shipping between the Cape and the island of Kithera. And so it was, but nothing we hadn’t handled before. Alba Voyager seemed to be enjoying it with the wind about 60 deg off the bow and 8 to9 knots on the clock. Normally when the boat is sailing like this we don’t trust her to the autohelm but hand steer. When it came my turn on the helm I noticed that the lea shrouds (wires which hold the mast up) were all very slack and they shouldn’t be. I asked Anne to quickly take the helm back so I could investigate the problem. It was serious; the cap shroud on the lea side was so slack it had come out of the spreader. Although at this point I didn’t know why, the obvious thing was to get all sail off the main mast fast. If we had tacked we would have lost the mast. In the panic to get the Genoa rolled away the leach line caught on the bare spreader and we ripped it out of the sail from top to bottom. The mainsail we managed down without damage. Engine started, we altered course for Elafonisos Bay which is a large open bay about seven miles from our present position and one which would give us shelter in the prevailing wind so we could take stock of the damage. The problem as it turned out was, the teak beam supporting the mast had rotted through. The rot being caused by a leak from the shower allowing water to soak into the beam. The mast had dropped into the boat by about 50mm (2” to those of you who can still remember gas lighting). Although serious we took up the slack in the bottle screws which then held the mast steady but the downside was we would be unable to set any sail for fear that the beam giving way completely. We have a long way to go and this would leave us only the mizzen and the engine, so my thoughts turned to how we could execute some sort of temporary repair. The weather held us in the bay for 5 days while the Meltemi blew itself out. On day six we decided to get round Cape Maleas and up north to Monemvasia the first port where we might find suitable materials to make a temporary repair. The wind was still blowing F5-6 but with the mizzen set this would give us some drive to assist the engine. We had a hard sail until round the Cape and then by magic the wind died away to nothing and we motored the remaining 15 miles to Monemvasia. Monemvasia although disappointing from the point of view we couldn’t get what we needed to carry out temporary repairs on the mast turned out to be a gem. We got a long-side berth in the harbour and on the Saturday after our arrival a mock battle was re-enacted to celebrated one of the major sea battles in the War of Independence against the Turks. The local heroine was Boubalina who commanded the Greek fleet and destroyed a large part of the Turkish fleet at Navplion with fire ships.

Battle at Sea Battle in the Harbour

Battle at Night

We thought it only fair that we should join in with our own celebrations and here joined forces with the Dutch boat rafted on our outside. There were a few sore heads in the morning left over from the battle!

Battle Celebrations

The weather and in particular the wind was reported light (F3-4) and fair for the next couple of days, so we decided to head for Navplion 60 miles north at the head of Argolikos Bay, stopping overnight at Kiparissi on route. Navplion is Greece’s second largest city and we were sure we would get what we wanted for our temporary mast repair here. Also we would stock up from the large supermarkets in town before heading into the islands. We were looking for some sort of jack to fit between the keel and the underside of the beam which supported the mast and in this we were lucky finding a small hydraulic jack, the type to jack up your car when changing a wheel. After restocking the boat and taking on gallons of bottled water (due to the heat we were getting through about four litres a day) we set off for Khaidhari where we had arranged to meet up with John and Vanessa of Meander a Bruce Roberts 40, one of the boats we had met whilst wintering in Sibari. Here we fitted the jack and were pleased with the result thinking now we would be able to set a bit of sail, however our joy was short lived as the jack only stayed up for about 4 hours before loosing pressure. Oh! Well back to the drawing board and plan ‘B’.

Meander at Anchor

It was Thursday 26^th July when we departed Khaidhari, this was our last contact with mainland Greece from now on it would be all islands until we reached Marmaris in mainland Turkey. Because of the mast problem we had decided to curtail our cruise through the Aegean Islands and were heading in a near straight line to Marmaris where we would have the mast removed and proper repairs made. But Lady Luck wasn’t finished with us yet, they do say bad luck goes in threes. We were headed for Limin on Isle Idhras and on arrival found the harbour like the M25 on a Friday night. And to compound things we fouled our anchor on a very large and heavy ground chain in the harbour while attempting to moor. This caused more confusion as we were having trouble getting free and thought we would have to put a diver down. After a two hour struggle and help from another boat we managed to free the anchor and get berthed. We spent the night in the harbour and hated ever minute, this is one place well worth missing in our opinion, Anne never even got off the boat.

Chaos in Limin Harbour

Come morning and as soon as we could get free from the other boats blocking us in we were off! Next stop the port of Merikha on Isle Kithnos about 50 miles east of Idhras. About halfway there gremlin three decided to put in an appearance, the oil pressure in the engine started dropping, help! No sails (except mizzen) and now no engine, things were going from bad to worse. It’s funny how the brain starts thinking when faced with a serious problem, like a game of chess it starts thinking of all the known permutations of what is causing the problem. Well having gone through this process we started with the simplest solution, top up the oil in the engine. Yes, this gave a marked improvement. But about an hour later the oil pressure was nearly back to square one. Second thought, must be something wrong with the oil, so stop the engine and carry out a complete oil change. This is no fun at the best of times but at sea in a seaway it’s ten times worse. Anyway when the engine was restarted we were greatly relieved to find that all was well the oil pressure was back to where it should be. That lasted for about three hours when it became obvious that the oil pressure was dropping again, all be it very slowly. Stop the engine and check the oil level, well surprise, the level is now higher than when I refilled the engine after the oil change. We’re getting close now, something’s getting into the oil, it’s not water, must be diesel, but from where? On close examination of the engine the most likely culprit is the fuel lift pump. We were close to Merikha now, so I decided to leave things as they were until after we arrived as we were both feeling the strain. When we arrived the harbour was full so we motored to an adjacent bay and anchored there. Next morning and after a good sleep we tackled the problem of the lift pump. As we had no spare or repair kit I rigged a bypass. Our fuel tanks are above engine level and I reckoned the fuel would run by gravity to the injection pump. On starting the engine this time the oil pressure didn’t drop any further. Now we know where the problem lies. We changed the oil in the engine again to remove the oil contaminated with diesel and thanked our lucky stars that it wasn’t more serious. Now back to concentrating on the mast problem. To give the engine a proper test we decided to move a short distance up the coast to Sandbar Bay which we were told was an idyllic spot. It was indeed beautiful and we spent a couple of days here chilling out as they say.

Anchorage at Sandbar Bay

We sailed from Sandbar Bay heading for Livadhi on the island of Serifos 25 miles to the southeast, our fingers were crossed that ‘Lady Luck’ had played her three cards and would now move onto some other poor unsuspecting yacht leaving us to reach Marmaris without any further mishaps. We arrived at 4 o’clock having motor sailed all the way and anchored in the bay just off the town. From the anchorage we had a great view of the Chora built high up in the hills .This type of village is not uncommon in Greece and I believe they were built high in the mountains because, one, it is cooler in summer catching any breeze and, two, you could see the next invasion coming and had time to flee or at least roll stones down the hill at them as they climbed up to get you.

Looking up to the Chora from the Anchorage

The pilot book said it was well worth making a visit to the Chora for its magnificent views and the small chapel which stood on the top of the hill. I said to Anne “we should walk up and have a look”, she said “we’ll take the bus”! We took the bus.

View of the Harbour from the top

Looking down on the Village Chapel at the top

Cruising in Greece is similar to cruising on the west coast of Scotland in the respect that you can usually see the next island before you set off which makes navigation a doddle. Our next port of call was Vathi on the island of Sifnos, a meer 16 miles away. Vathi is a small village in a near landlocked bay with a quite anchorage and a beautiful sandy beach, just the sort of place we enjoy most.

Vathi Village Entrance into the Bay at Vathi

We spent two days here doing-------well, nothing before setting off for the island of Paros a whole 30 miles away. On arriving at the island’s main port, Paroikia we found the marina full and had to anchor in the bay. While looking for a suitable place to drop the hook we heard cries of “Alba Voyager”, “Alba Voyager” on looking across we were over the moon to see Dream with Geoff and Pammie on board, the last time we met up was a year ago in Denia, Spain (Dream had left Scotland at the same time as us and our paths had first crossed in Dublin). Paroikia had another surprise for us, we were able to buy all the bits I needed to make a good temporary repair to the mast. But with a lot of catching up to do with Dream that would have to wait to our next port of call where there was a good marina to do the work in. Dream was also heading to Naxos so we had a pleasant sail in company arriving to find again, the marina full, so it was into the anchorage which thankfully was very sheltered.

Looking down into the Anchorage at Naxos

We would spend a few days here in company with Dream and their friends Wayne and Angie in Hitrapia their Warrior 35. I excused myself from the social scene and got on with our mast repair, which thankfully went smoothly and I had it finished in a day. With the jack in place I reckoned we would be able to set a modest amount of sail on the main mast.

My home made jack supporting the mast

We spent a wonderful six days in Naxos in each other’s company. In addition to taking in the local archaeological sites we set about finding the cheapest beer and the best Gyros (Greek fast food, delicious) in the town. Not an easy task, but one we threw ourselves into!

Ancient Temple Built 530 BC Anne Viewing the Ruins

All good things come to an end and so it was on Saturday 18^th August, we set sail for the island of Amorgas leaving Dream in the anchorage to wait for more favourable winds to take them northeast to Turkey. We had a fast sail setting the genoa and mizzen over to a small bay at the south end of the island where we dropped anchor and settled in for the night.

Alba Voyager Under Reduced Sail

Next morning the wind was blowing hard from the northeast so we decided to stay put and just have a day at anchor. The bay we were in was very quiet with no habitation in sight and offered good shelter from the wind, so we just relaxed after our hectic week in Naxos. In the morning we were greeted with a dead calm, so on with the engine and we motored all the way to the island of Astipalia and the village of Skala on its eastern side.

Alba Voyager in the Harbour at Skala

Skala has a small inner harbour which is in the process of having a new mole built to protect it from the east (you can see it in the photograph just beyond Alba Voyager) and here we anchored virtually in the centre of town.

The Village of Skala from the Harbour

Skala is a pleasant village with some lovely walks and we lingered here for four days taking in a birthday dinner for the skipper. The skipper was most appreciative and in a moment of generosity next day took the crew out for morning coffee.

Anne enjoying a Drink while overlooking the Harbour

Friday 24^th August we set sail for Tilos (pronounced Teelos) 52 miles to our east and had a great sail with the Speedo registering over 8 knots for part of the way and this under our reduced rig. Livadhia the main town on Tilos has a mini marina come harbour which offers both water (a commodity you can’t get on all the islands) and electricity and we were lucky to get a-long-side berth here. We had friends flying into Rhodes in a few days time who, we were supposed to meet there. However we found we could not get a berth in Mandraki marina the only marina in Rhodes and to solve the problem we got Christine and Margie to catch the ferry from Rhodes to Tilos, about a one and half hour journey. In the few days we had been here we had mapped out a number of interesting sites worth visiting. This interspersed with a spot of sunbathing and other more energetic activities should fill their week.

The Monestary on Tilos

One of the best ways to get around is on a scooter (especially when you’re going to the other end of the island and you miss the bus, literally).

Get on Your Bike

About 3 miles outside Livadhia and up in the hills there is a deserted village (deserted after the Second World War), what makes this place special is they have just reopened the pub. It opens at midnight till about six in the morning, they lay on a free minibus to get you there and back and to create a spooky atmosphere many of the houses have been wired up with lights which can be switched on and off in time with the music. For those who fancy a bit of Greek dancing, Zorbo is on hand to lead you off.

The Deserted Village Complete With Pub

The weather is still sunny and very hot during the day, we found the best time was early morning or the evening after sunset when the temperature drops back to the seventies. This is the time to eat and although Livadhia has a population of only 500 inhabitants it boasts 15 restaurants. We tried a few and could thoroughly recommend them all, a lovely way to spend the evening and end the day.

Typical Sunset

Our friends took the morning ferry to Rhodes for their flight back to the U.K. later in the afternoon and the next day we sailed for Rhodes. We needed to stock up on a few things, mainly wine and diesel, both of which are a lot more expensive in Turkey. Mandraki marina was full as we half expected, but we managed to get tied up in a disused harbour about a mile further along the coast. We spent only a couple of days here as the surroundings weren’t very nice, getting the provisions we needed and booking out of the E.U. with the port police. Next stop would be Marmaris in Turkey our first non E.U. country since leaving our home port nearly three years ago.

We are booked into Yacht Marine Marina for the winter, so headed straight there to complete all the booking in formalities. We are allowed a 90 day visitors visa and the boat gets 12 months before tax is due to be paid, as we will be heading back to the U.K. and Greece respectively before these periods expire, there is no problem. The main reason for choosing Marmaris as our winter base is our very good friend and ex next door neighbour Jimmy keeps his boat here and we had promised to sail in company before the end of the season something we used to do regularly back in Scotland. Due to our mast problem this wasn’t possible but we all shipped aboard Tom Crean, Jimmy’s Island Trader and set off with his brother Brendan for a few days of food, wine and song. Hopefully we will get to repeat this with Jimmy and his wife Rhona at the start of next season.

At Anchor in Jimmy's Island Trader 'Tom Crean'

We hope you have enjoyed following our cruise and reading our 2007 log. Winter here in Yacht Marine looks as if it’s going to be a busy one with all sorts of events and trips organised from the marina throughout the winter for the 250 odd live-aboards.

Best Wishes from Tom and Anne

Alba Voyager

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Greece - The Ionian

Jul. 6, 2007

After spending a few days with John and Marilyn McMeeking from Helensburgh and obtaining our Greek Transit Log from the Port Police we were ready to cruise the Ionian. Our first port of call was to be Vonitsa only a few miles south east from Preveza and still within the inland sea. Vonitsa is a small holiday town with a small free marina and a fort which we had been told was worth a visit.

Vonitsa Seafront with the Marina in the background

Unfortunately having climbed the hill to the fort we found it closed due to construction work. We would have much appreciated the notice advising us of this to have been placed at the foot of the hill rather than at the entrance to the fort. The day was hot and like most forts it was built on the top of the hill, however it was an excuse for a nice cool beer when we arrived back in town.

Vonitsa's Fort (closed)

We departed Vonitsa on Tuesday 15^th May heading south to Lefkas but calling in at Preveza on the way past to do some last minute shopping and top up our water tanks. We have been told that the availability of water can be a problem in parts of Greece and it’s not unusual to have to buy water from tankers on the quayside. So whenever we have the opportunity to fill our tanks from a free quayside tap we do so.

To reach Lefkas you have to pass down the Lefkas Canal which has an unusual opening road bridge (opens on the half-hour) which takes the form of a floating barge.

Opening Bridge on the Lefkas Canal

Once safely past the bridge Lefkas sits halfway along the canal on your starboard side (right). We had arranged to meet up with John and Vanessa (a couple we had spent part of the winter with in Sibari) on Lefkas Town Quay, little did we know it was going to be so busy.

Lefkas Town Quay

We managed to squeeze in and ended up staying five days as the town had so much to offer. We dined out at a non-touristy Greek restaurant where you were taken into the kitchen and shown all the food being prepared and you make your choice from that. Saves on printing menus I suppose!

The food was excellent and not expensive by British standards. Now one of the problems we have been having is with mosquitoes bites (100 times worse than the Scottish Midge) and meeting up with John and Vanessa gave us the chance to do something about it. They have a sewing machine!! So off we went into town in search of mosquito netting. This turned out not to be as difficult as we thought (obviously they have a lot of problems with the mosquitoes). Hey ho, back to the boat to make our mosquito net which would enclose our bed and hopefully allow us to sleep in peace. I can now report it has been a great success and the number of bites we now suffer has been greatly reduced.

Alba Voyager at anchor in Kioni

As we have said before, we prefer the smaller villages to the large towns and this has to be one of our favourites. We had to anchor and take a stern line to the shore to stop us swinging into other boats, the harbour is a favourite stop for the flotilla charters and gets very busy. Charter boats are always a cause for amusement and Kioni presented plenty of that. We had one woman fall off a yacht while leaning out holding on to the flagstaff (which broke) at the back of the boat. A man some how fell out of the dinghy while rowing ashore, the woman left in the dinghy couldn’t row and was being blown out of the harbour. Another woman (sorry ladies) lost one of the oars while rowing the dinghy ashore and was left going round in circles. We had one French yacht run into us while trying to anchor (no damage), after several more attempts he left the harbour presumably to go and practice some where quieter.

Anne just popping in to see Nicholas Cage

We had enjoyed our time on the island of Ithaca and had one more stop at Vathi, spending a couple of days before moving on to Cephalonia. Anne was keen to visit the place where Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was filmed, so our first port of call was Sami. Here there is a good yacht harbour and we found plenty of space although it filled up late afternoon with charter yachts. The town has embraced the making of the film (which is based on a true story, in 1943 the Germans massacred 9000 Italian troops on the island, on Hitler’s personal orders) and you can find all sorts of memorabilia from the film in the town.

Scene of the accident at Sami

While there we witnessed a bad accident with a dredge working in the commercial harbour. The driver of the drag made a dangerous, near fatal error by bringing the jib of the drag nearly vertical. The bucket swung towards the drag smashing into the cab with the result the jib flipped backwards breaking off at its base and somersaulting over the machine. Fortunately the driver had seen this coming and had jumped from his cab and fallen into the water where he was rescued. Wonder what his boss said when he heard the news!

Too much excitement, so we moved a few miles south to Poros a small village with nice walks and free of charter yachts. We spent a couple of days here before moving on to Zakinthos the next island down where we were to meet up with our good friends Georgie and Morag.

Zakinthos at night from the Harbour

Zakinthos town has the main commercial port for the island and as such yachts must use the marina, but at 15€ per night including electricity it wasn’t bad. Zakinthos Island (also called Zante) is the furthest south of the Ionian islands and we were surprised the find it was also the most touristy (with exception to Corfu) with the consequence that prices had taken a major hike.

In saying that they were still cheaper than you would find in the U.K.

Girls Day Out

As the picture shows our friends enjoyed their holiday with temperatures in the 90’s, this considering Britain was experiencing one of the wettest Junes on record. After an excellent week together and a farewell dinner on the last evening, we set sail the next day for Killini on the mainland.

The Ferry Port at Killini

Killini although a small town is the main ferry port for the islands and as such sees a tremendous amount of through traffic. Unfortunately very few people stay any length of time most driving straight on to the ferry. A new yacht harbour has been built inside the commercial port and we tied up there with water and electricity, all free! This has got to be the best yet!! (all marinas should be like this).

The new Yacht Harbour at Killini

We would have stayed longer but were on our way to meet up with our friends John and Vanessa who we had last seen in Lefkas. It was now Monday 18^th June and we were heading for Missalonghi in the Gulf of Patras.

Missalonghi is reached along a one mile dredged channel, the port is huge and little used by commercial shipping. There is an area of the port laid out for yachts with alongside berths and floating pontoons (no water, no electricity). The town is a half-mile walk from the port and on the way to town there is this field full of old fighter aircraft, tanks, mobile rocket launchers and other bits of military equipment. There is no indication who they belong to or why they are there, strange!

Some of Aircraft just sitting in the field with the grass growing round them

The town itself was a delight with many pedestrainised streets, good shops and excellent restaurants. We stayed for a week in company with John and Vanessa, mainly working on maintenance jobs on the boat during the day and sampling the local cuisine in the evening.

On saying our goodbyes to John and Vanessa we headed south for Katakolon stopping overnight at Killini to top-up our water tanks.

Two Cruise Ships in the Harbour at Katakolon

We arrived at Katakolon to find it a very busy harbour indeed. Our reason for coming here was to visit Olympia, site of the ancient Olympic Games and by the number of cruise ships in the harbour a number of other people had the same idea. On one day alone there were three cruise ships in the harbour with a total of 7500 passengers on board. Olympia is 25 miles inland from Katakolon, so we went by train at a cost of 2 Euro each return (now who does that compare with rail prices in Britain) and the train was very modern, clean and air conditioned.

The Olympic Village

The place where the flame is lit

Leading down to the Games Field The Original Games Field

Statue of the Emperor Hadrian inthe Museum

We had a marvellous day out visiting the site and the museum and would advise anyone who gets the chance not to miss it, you won’t be disappointed.

Rock formation at the entrance to the Lagoon at Pilos

We were now nearing the bottom of the Ionian (actually we were in the Peloponnese) and only had one more place on our list of “must see” places (Methoni) before we turned east and headed for the Aegean and all its islands. On the way down we dropped in to Pilos for a couple of days. Pilos sits in a large sheltered lagoon and the entrance to the lagoon has a spectacular rock formation.

The Venetian Fort at Methoni viewed from seaward

Methoni is only 10 miles further south, so we made a late start hoping for some wind. Wrong again, motored all the way. Methoni has a large and well preserved Venetian Fort which guarded the trade routes around the Peloponnese and is open to daily to visitors. It also boasts some beautiful sandy beaches and really is an idyllic spot to anchor and spend a few days.

Anchorage at Methoni with the Fort in the background

While anchored here we met up with a young Russian couple who were just completing a five year circumnavigation. They both spoke good English and we spent a very interesting afternoon in their company. We were pleased to be able to help them with information on ports and harbours between here and Falmouth. Their boat was a catamaran of unusual construction which they had taken seven years to build. They were heading to St Petersburg and we wish them fair winds and good luck.

Steel Russian yacht at anchor in Methoni

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Web Log for our 2007 Cruise … Sibari (Italy) to Marmaris (Turkey) through the Greek Islands

May. 9, 2007

Alba Voyager

Sibari Refit

Having completed our winter refit and back in the water it was time to make our departure. Our winter in Italy has been quite and relaxing with good weather, compared with the U.K. that is. As ever you meet and make friends with a number of the cruisers who are also wintering in the marina and it is always a difficult time when it comes to say goodbye to them. For those of you who get to read this, you will be in our thoughts for a long time to come, we wish you good sailing.

Saying our goodbyes

Sibari Marina is an excellent marina to winter, very sheltered with excellent facilities and helpful staff. However there is one drawback, the channel leading from the sea to the marina silts up during the winter and has to be dredged in spring before the first boats can leave.

Opening the channel

We accompanied a Swiss boat down the channel and were the first boats to leave. Our crew for this first leg over to Greece were, Susie (daughter), Dom (partner) and Beth an American friend of Susie, all except Beth had sailed before so they quickly settled into boat routine. We were headed 38 miles down the toe of Italy to a harbour at Ciro where we would over night before crossing over to San Leuca on the heal of Italy.

Mussolini Monument

The crossing of the Bay of Taranto was made under engine with the mainsail hoisted to steady the boat in the long swell that was coming up from the south. We arrived in San Leuca and booked into the marina for the night. The crew went ashore to visit the monumental stone staircase by the harbour which was built by Mussolini as a ceremonial gateway into Italy.

We were up early the next morning for the crossing to Greece, we were aiming for a small island just north of Corfu by the name of Nisoi Othoni where we would anchor overnight before continuing on to Corfu Town in the morning.

A happy crew

On our departure in the morning we were delighted to find that the wind gods had decided to come out and play and the crew took over the helming of the boat from the autopilot. We had a cracking sail averaging 7 knots and touching 8.5 when the wind piped up, this is more like the adverts now! On arrival at Isle Othoni the wind was funnelling down a valley straight into the harbour (which is small) giving gusts of F7 to F8. We put down our anchor with lots of chain in the middle of the harbour as we were the only boat and hoped it would hold. Fortunately the holding was good and come morning we were in the same spot. Downside was the crew had to remain on the boat which was a pity as we would have loved to have gone ashore and tried one of the local Tavernas.

Othoni Harbour from the sea

By morning the wind had dropped to calm, so it was motor on (again) and head for the Corfu Channel about 20 miles to the southeast.

Albania left Corfu right

The Corfu Channel is only about a mile wide at its narrowest point and care has to be taken not to wander into Albanian Territorial Waters because lots of not very nice things happen on that side. As we were motoring and visibility was good we made sure to keep close into the Corfu side. Compared with the previous day when we had lots of wind and the crew were gainfully occupied. Today the crew are bored with only sunbathing to occupy their time (skipper was busy with the navigation keeping out of Albanian Waters) so it was agreed that a cook (chef) be nominated for the evening meal. Dom was the unanimous choice and after a bit of coaxing and finding the correct attire got down to providing an excellent dinner with the help of his assistant Beth.

Our Chef Dom

On arrival at Corfu we booked into the NAOK Yacht Club marina for a couple of nights at the substantial some of 15€ per night, water and electric included. From here it is a 5 minute walk into the town where every amenity is available. Well not quite, we were unable to get our Vodafone 3G computer card working, the Vodafone shop were a bit baffled as to what to do, so no Internet on board yet. We would have stayed in Corfu longer as the holiday season proper hadn’t yet started but our crew were booked into a hotel in Athens for a short stay and wanted to get over to the Greek mainland. We sailed (motored) from Corfu on Wednesday 25^th April and headed south to Preveza where our crew would get a bus to Athens. To get to Preveza from the open sea you sail down a dredged channel which leads to an inland sea, the channel is well marked and presents little difficulty. Once through the channel it opens out into a large inland sea with Preveza on your port hand (left). We went bows-to on the town quay which was very convenient for the bars and cafes, but was a bit noisy at night, so after a couple of nights we moved into the marina. At this point our crew left for their trip to Athens and we settled back into our relaxed lifestyle. In a few days friends from Helensburgh would be arriving to launch their boat (Quaich) that has been wintering in Preveza Boatyard.

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