Since going through the Corinth canal we have been zooming along. We have now arrived in Keri, Zakynthos. We will leave from here in a couple of days for Sicily. The trip will take about 48 hours so we are waiting for a favorable forecast. It has been very cool and rainy for the last week or so, very unusual for this time of year. Some days it only got to 23 degrees, freezing. The sun is back out today however. This is Zakynthos harbour. Quite big and noisy but good to fill up with fuel, food and water before our long trip. And also a good time to do some routine maintenance and give everything a check over.
So the next blog should be from Sicily, unless something particularly exciting happens in the next day or two before we leave.
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Last year when we first went through the Corinth canal heading east we intended to sail to the entrance, anchor for the night and go through the next morning. However the weather was bad so we ended up going through, kind of by accident. This time, heading west we intended to sail to the entrance, anchor for the night and go through the next morning. So of course here we are on the other side of the cannal having slightly accidently gone through, because the weather was bad. It was still exciting the second time through, still a pretty amazing bit of engineering. Also still just as expensive, €180 for a boat our size. And leaning from the experience of some friends of ours who shall remain nameless, we made sure we had plenty of fuel in the tank. It would be very embarrassing if you were to run out half way through.
The other day we sailed 60 miles from Psara to the bottom end of Eva island. We had a great sail, we averaged 7.7 knots and reached a top speed of 12.2 knots (surfing down a wave). At the end of the day we were putting the sails away (our mainsail rolls up into the mast) and we made a rip in the sail, bummer. So next day we sailed down to a nearby marina to seek repairs. Olympia marina is a big place but rather barren feeling with no town to add some life. The sail man came this morning and delivered the repaired sail back this afternoon. So we are good to go tomorrow morning. Of course I will be leaving them one of my arms and one of my legs to pay for the marina fees and sail man's invoice but there you go thats sailing in the Med. We did lots of boat jobs while we waited. Including being bicycle repair man.
Psara is a small island with a big history. In former times it had a population of over 20,000 and was a prosperous shipping centre. It became one of the first islands to rebel against Turkish rule in the early 1800s and in 1824 the Turks invaded the island and killed almost all the inhabitants. Today is has a population of around 400. There is only one town on the island, the rest is quite dry. Although there are only 400 people there are 67 churches on the island. And some of them are quite large. This one alone could probably fit the whole population. There are lots of lovely beaches but not many tourists. Today was also laundry day as there was water available on the quay. Here I am being beaten up by the flappy wet sheets. Some of the old building along the waterfront are in need of some repair. And look there is our boat (in case you missed it). The harbour by night. Oh yes I meant to say - some of the survivors of the massacre moved to Evia and populated Eretria (also known as Nea Psara, nea means new) which we visited early in the trip.
We have been in Lesvos for a few days now. We are waiting to sail south and the winds are from the south. Our first stop was Sigri at the western end of the island. Sigri has a great little castle which you can't go into as it is a bit unstable. From there we sailed to Kalloni which is a huge bay in the centre of the island. We treated ourselves to lunch at this beachside taverna. Unfortunately just after this photo was taken the stylus pen from my phone dropped out and went down a gap in the timber deck. I eventually got it out with a stick with some bluetack on the end but the locals thought I was a bit crazy. Now we have moved to another anchorage in the same bay. A little fishing village with one taverna (not the building with no roof) This is not what you want to see when you are living on a boat. It it a thunder cloud developing. It is now rumbling away not far from us and we will be happy if it stays there. The problem with thunder storms (apart from your mast being a great lightening rod) is that they create a lot of wind from any direction. So far so good, I will let you know how we got on next time.
We really enjoyed our stay on Limnos. Good anchorages, nice towns and beaches, friendly locals and very few other yachts. This photo was taken on a huge long beach that we had mostly to ourselves. Our last night in Lemnos before heading south. We had a great sail from Lemnos down to the next island of Lesvos. We even got our spinnaker out for the first time in 2 years.
This is Limnos island. The very large bay in the centre, Ormos Moudrou, was the naval base for the Gillipoli campaign in WW1. The bay was full of ships and the town had supply stations and extensive hospitals. Just outside of the town is an ANZAC war cemetary. It is very well maintained and a very sobering place to visit. I photographed the information board. Hopefully you can zoom in and read it. There are a lot of New Zealand servicemen buried here along with many other nationalities. I found this grave particularly sad. It is very windy today and we are sheltered in the little harbour. It is forecast to drop down tonight and we will sail for the next island tomorrow, Lesvos here we come.
We have been on Limnos for a few days now and the island is becoming one of our favourites. It is a bit off the tourist track so is quiet and relaxed. First we spent a few days in the harbour of the main town called Mirina. That's us anchored way over the other side (antisocial). A great little town with all the facilities and home to about 6000 people. Mirina is overlooked by a huge castle. Which we fully explored in the morning before it got too hot. After a very enjoyable couple of days in Mirina we sailed around the south coast to a large bay called Kondia and anchored by a little fishing boat harbour called Dhiapori. There is not much there but we did find this very rustic taverna which sold very tasty ouzo. From Kondia we sailed around to Moudhros which is the second biggest town on the island. Just arrived so will explore here soon and tell you all about it and also the special connection this town has with New Zealand.
We have decieded not to go all the way north but to instead spend more time in fewer places. No point in rushing about just to tick more places off on a list. On top of this rock you may just be able to see a little church. This featured in the movie Mamma Mia, where the wedding took place. We sailed past to take a look. This is a large fully enclosed bay that we spent a couple of nights in. No one lives on the island so it is nice and peaceful. In the evening the fishermen come in for some shelter. From there we sailed accross to the little island of Ag Efstratios and parked alongside in the small harbour. The island has a population of only 370 and a good percentage of them were in the taverna last night. There is also a big military presence here, being quite close to Turkey. This morning it is quite windy from off shore and we are being pressed against the quay so for now we are not going anywhere. I guess we could get out if we had to but there is no rush.
We have been spending a couple of days in the main town of Skopelos. We have been exploring the town They have just finished whitewashing the church. There are lots of these cute little murals in the town. This is inside one of the churches. Taken looking in from a high window. We also explored the nightlife of the town a little bit.
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October 2019
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