Adventures with Steven & Tasmin on board Seaclusion

Finally the 19^th August arrived and we made our way back to the marina to sort out the bill, only to be told that we needed to go to the office and one of Kavas’ employees offered to drive David, suggesting the “little woman” aka me, wait behind… Hmmm as you can imagine that went down well, not! Anyway we finally got Seaclusion back in the water a good 2 hours later than planned, after some serious haggling over the bill, having been presented with one that was considerably more than the initial quote. After some provisioning, we popped over the road for a proper curry followed by an early night so we could set off early the following morning south for a few days pending the arrival of Steven and his girlfriend on the 24^th.

We had a fabulous downwind sail in North Westerly winds to Ayos Marina on the East coast of Aigina thinking it would be sheltered for the night, Sadly no, not entirely sure how we got an easterly swell with north westerly winds, but we did and I ate into 1 of my 3 rolly polly nights until just before the sun poked its head up over the horizon.

On the 21^st, we set sail again, still in a North westerly 5, flying along at a speed of 8 knots into Methana on the mainland. We had previously avoided Methana as our pilot guide had described the place as olfactory with a characteristic rotten egg smell of sulphated hydrogen bubbling up in the harbour being so pungent that the village’s nickname is Vromolimani, maing “stinking shore”. However we had been told by someone in Alimos who had sailed these waters for years that it wasn’t that bad and we should go.  We arrived at the harbour to moor up stern too with our anchor on the public quay. Aside from David misjudging the distance ( a first for him), not once but twice, our third attempt saw us safely moored up, ready to go exploring. We didn’t really notice the smell, it certainly was far more tolerable than Aigina town and its stinking fishing fleet.  We sat on the front having a drink and listened to the longest rendition ever of jingle bells courtesy of 3 young local boys having a giggle in a dinghy tied to the shore.

We found Methana to be a lovely charming but sleepy little place, certainly not deserving of its write up and we plan to return there to do the necessary when we have to put the boat to bed for the winter.

On the 22^nd, the winds dropped totally and we motored back to the south side of Aigina and dropped our pick in a tiny little bay, the first one all summer where we have the bay to ourselves. Having had dinner and some local retsina wine on board we had a peaceful night.

The following day, with still no winds we motored around the corner to the town of Perdika, a little place recommended in the book, but the tiny harbour was pretty full and we didn’t fancy doing the whole anchor with a long line ashore so we motored off up the coast and dropped the pick just south of Aigina town, not wishing to fumigate the yacht once again with fish smells, watching the busy little entrance in action!

So it was now the 24^th August, the day Steven and Tasmin were due to arrive so we had to get back to Alimos to meet them. The North Westerly winds kicked up again and we had a fab close haul sail in a Force 5 to arrive in time to clean the boat and remove all the clutter that had accumulated in our third cabin aka our store room. We then went into the office with the ships papers and realised we were on the wrong quay, as they were very helpfully numbered from the road side and not the ends of the pontoon. Our attempts at mooring proved rather  interesting, as we found a spot on the right quay, tied off only to find that each potential line (3) that could lead to a bow line, went nowhere. We moved again, and again and finally got settled. Steven and Tasmin finally got to us around 10pm, David meeting them at the entrance and having offered to take Tasmin’s bag, soon realised that between them they had 40kilos of luggage, and had a chuckle at the thought as to where they were going to put all their stuff! They soon redeemed themselves as they handed over all the goodies they brought, namely pizza express dressing, cadbury’s dairy milk, shortbread, 1 litre peach schnapps and pressies for us both. We took them out for a bite to eat and a few too many glasses of wine! On returning to the boat, Steven raced ahead to unpack his bag to make sure he  didn’t lose his space to Tas and her extensive holiday clothes.

The following morning, we fuelled up via tanker, the guys still asleep in their cabin, and left at 9 to make the 30 nm crossing to Poros. The Meltimi winds were bubbling up behind us so we set the sails up with a sensible reef in them and we had a great downwind sail to the north of Aigina, by which time Steven and Tas surfaced. The winds dropped to 8 knots so we pulled the rest of the sails out, still downwind, until they rose from 8 to 24knots with a massive gust of 34 knots, all before we had time to reef again, which sent us spinning around not in as much control as we would have liked. In fairness to us, it is the first ever uncontrolled gybe we have ever done, not that we have want a repeat performance. Perhaps not the greatest introduction to sailing for Tas, but she was cool, quiet, but cool!

Reefed, we made the rest of the way without incident and dropped our pick in the bay off Poros town, definitely not wanting to go back on the deadly quay again! We chilled out for a while, as Tas set about finding homes for her clothes and stuff. The boys kindly said they would take the dinghy ashore to take in 2 bags of badly needed washing. They moored up to a small pontoon, only to find out that it had come away from the quay, so unless you could long jump circa 10 metres, you had to then moor up against the town quay instead. Once Tas had finished, Steven went down to get his shoes. Within 2 secs we hear nothing but expletives coming out of the cabin as Steven discovered that Tas, not having enough room on her shelves had encroached on his and he couldn’t find his shoes. Needless to say Tas found most of her stuff all over the floor and had to re-organise.

We ventured into town for a bite to eat and to let the guys do some exploring. By the time we had to make our way back to the boat it was blowing 20 knots. Needless to say there was not a dry person in the dinghy by the time we got back to Seaclusion!

The winds continued to blow the next day, so we decided to stay put for the day and ate dinner on board.

On the 27^th, the winds having lessened a bit we left our safe harbour, motored through the narrow channel that separates Poros from the mainland.

Poros

Tas and Steven remained fast asleep ( not sure how mind you) and sailed mainly on a broad reach in a Force 4 gusting 5, 15 nm around the corner to the tiny harbour on the island of Hydra. We managed to grab the last spot on the north quay, not wanting to risk another incident on the south quay with onshore winds and the dreaded hydrofoil and numerous water taxis turning the harbour into a washing machine. A rather interesting anchor stern too mooring, the winds still gusting, and a high quay wall. Getting on and off was going to be a challenge for all of us except Steven without  a gangplank, so Steven with his super long legs  made the jump, Tas got off via  our neighbouring yacht which did have a gangplank, and they went in search of a shop to buy a plank of wood. However there was a big local wedding going on and the necessary shop was shut, they did however manage to return with a rather rickety plank, over 4 metres long  which did the job.

Island of Hydra

Hydra is a long narrow island lying parallel to the Peloponnisos, the town itself became a fashionable artists colony in the 1950’s and whilst it is now a popular tourist destination, it still retains lots of charm with tiny narrow cobbled street, bourgainvillea growing abundantly, no cars in sight, mules doing most of the work!

We spent a lovely evening in the town and a peaceful night.

On the 28^th, we set sail for Ermioni, the winds blowing a leisurely North 4, that was until we approached the headland and got hit with katabatic winds of 20+ knots which stuck with us as we approached North Ermioni. We had the option of mooring alongside with the wind blowing us off, which we thought was a good choice and reversed into our space with 2 kind gentlemen helping us with our lines. All in time to watch the start of the Spa Grand Prix. As the winds picked up some more I went up deck to check the fenders when a friendly Scottish guy, Mark,  who lived here approached and told me that it was a really dangerous mooring as the winds kick up the sea in the harbour towards the town and they in turn come back at the harbour wall where we were, creating a washing machine effect. We didn’t hesitate, and moved to go around to the south side of the headland, rather timely as the F1 race was red flagged at that moment, so safely moored up to the public quay in time to watch the rest of the race. Despite the hooley that was blowing around the headland, we had a surprising peaceful evening and night despite the winds.

The following morning we were just about to go exploring when a charter boat decided to leave, picking up our  anchor and then proceeding to dump it 10 metres from our bow requiring a full reset! We duly did this and then went off into Ermioni to go exploring and do some provisioning.

Ermioni

We then set sail (it now being the 29th August) for Spetsi, a beautiful little island but with a quaint but horribly tricky harbour that required an anchor and a long line ashore, or to anything you could tie onto, even including tankers moored up in the commercial side, so we went to a bay 3 miles to the West of it and dropped our pick for the afternoon and night. I went off on the paddle board for a bit and when I returned, Steven decided to try his hand at it. Given his height he started on his knees and despite the advice we gave him to ahead into wind as it would be easier to get back to the boat when he was tired, he didn’t quite manage it, drifting off behind the boat, much to our amusement, until the wind started to pick up and we started to panic that he might not get back. I dived into the water to save the day but my efforts were not needed as he did indeed get back, although still on his knees!

We had a lovely evening on board, eating, partaking in the local wine and playing cards.

The following morning, and not wanting to miss out on the town of Spetsi, we found the number for the water taxis on the web, which also told us it was about 20€ a trip, we called one up and jumped aboard about 9.30. we arrived at that the lovely little harbour only to be fleeced again when the skipper asked for €49! Ouch!

Island of Spetsi

Spetsi is a roughly oval island, very lush, covered in pine trees. The town itself  is said to be more akin to the Italian Riveria than  Greek town, with the exception of the old harbour, surrounded  by may grand old whitewashed houses, and again no cars!

We spent the morning exploring and then braved the exorbitant charges to get back to our boat, being the only way we could, and then had a fabulous sail to a town called Tiros on the mainland.  Once again the katabatic winds (F5) made our mooring a challenge and with no one to help us tie off, we deemed that an anchor stern too mooring was not going to happen, David brought us safely alongside, to then be surrounded a couple of hours later by 12 boats in a flotilla.

Tiros

Tiros is a typical Greek resort with a long pebble beach and the waterfront lined with tavernas and bars.

We decided to eat out that evening, and after a few drinks, Steven and I spotted two church bells in the village, with their ringers within easy reach, so, not noticing the vicar standing by, decided to have a giggle and wake the now sleepy town, much to the disapproval of the vicar!

On the 31^st August, we then set sail for Navplio, well motored as there was no wind and once again moored up on the town quay. The town was gorgeous, filled with mostly 18th and 19th century buildings, mainly 2 or 3 storyed stone houses, shuttered and balconies, a real gem. The houses were engulfed in bougainvillea, and it seemed that there was a competition throughout the town as to who could grow the biggest plant up the side of the house. The town was filled with narrow cobbled streets adorned with tavernas on every corner and all sorts of shops, which Tasmin certainly made use of, buying presents galore (not that we knew where she was gong to put them in her already 20 kilo bag). It had 2 old forts, once on an island in the bay and one on the top of the hill above the town.

We also befriended a cat, or should I say it befriended us, the gap from our stern to the quay being no obstacle as it repeatedly jumped aboard, and had to be kindly carried ashore each time.

Navplio

Having wandered the streets all afternoon, we chilled out on the boat for a bit, thankfully our resident cat had found another boat to frequent and then David and I grabbed a romantic meal for 2, whilst Steven and Tasmin did the same, thankfully not ending up in the same restaurant!.

Following morning, David and I got up at 7.30, leaving the “kids” asleep and walked the 993 steps u pto to the old fort, which, together with its views over the bay and the town, was spectacular.

We then returned to the boat, looked at the forecast which showed the Meltimi building up around Athens and out to the Cyclades and decided that we weren’t going to try to get Tasmin back to Athens, 3 days of 30 miles a day banging into a Force 7/8 with the corresponding swell wasn’t going to do us or the boat any good. A Hydrofoil was by far the best option! We therefore turned south again in a nice SW3 to visit the town of Astros which we had missed.

Astros

Astros had been described as a bustling fishing village. Not sure we would agree. It has a pretty harbour and one old cobbled street with a few scattered shops and old stone shuttered houses, typical of the region, but it was very quiet and uneventful!.

I say uneventful, that was until we had just let off our lines the following morning to head across the bay. Previously we needed to get new sun covers for some of our deck instruments, which as they were not longer current stock had been a bit of a nightmare to find, but find we did and Steven had brought them out with him. So back to the story, just as we had let go of our stern lines and David was pulling up the anchor, Steven exclaimed, isn’t that a Raymarine cover floating in the water!. I turned  to look and sure enough it was one of our brand new ones, not best pleased I suggested to Steven that he might go swimming for it. That did not appeal to him (didn’t have his swimmies on was his excuse), so David saved the day, becoming “marine boy” and dived in after  our new sun cover, thankfully with success, as we drove around the small and shallow harbour waiting for him!

We then headed across the bay the northerly winds returning for once as forecasted, to Kolladhia, a proper working and fishing town, renowned for the number of turtles that swim in its natural harbour, with the sole intention of spotting some!. Just at the entrance to the harbour is one of the  Onassis family’s private island, which we sailed around hoping to get a glimpse of the undoubtedly magnificent property. Sadly all we saw was it’s boat house and a number of “toys” lined up on its private quay, the main residence well and truly shrouded from any prying eyes!

Kolladhia

We waited expectantly and donned the dinghy in search of the turtles but none were to be seen. As the town again was rather uninspiring, we ate dinner on board and played cards for most of Tasmin’s last evening on board, aided of course by some very good local Greek wine out of a plastic bottle!

The following morning we set sail around the corner to Port Heli, the wind kindly up to 20 plus knots on our arrival. Initially there was  no space on the quay so we dropped the anchor, not looking forward to getting Tasmin, her 20 kilos bag and hand luggage off to the hydrofoil by dinghy, when a yacht popped out and we managed to nab the space before anyone else did, up against a 45ft yacht one side and 79 ft power boat the other, my knees were knocking again when we were all safely moored up! The town and waterfront however was rather characterless,  but it served as a great stopping place for Tasmin to depart, via a hydrofoil back to Athens as the Meltimi was blowing again and we could not get her back in time for her flight!

Having  seen Tasmin safely aboard, we chilled out for the evening and made ready the next for our onward journey, hugging the coast northwards to make our way back towards Athens and the Evia Channel.