High Hopes for the Pagasitikos Gulf, Mainland Greece

On the 6th August, we set sail from Skiathos Town heading to the Pagasitikos Gulf, otherwise known as the Gulf of Volos.

The Gulf is said to be a mythical destination with coves beaches and teal-coloured waters, ideal for relaxed sailing, as the sea is usually relatively calm with light warm winds. So we were really looking forward to swimming in its turquoise waters and visiting little fishing villages with their unspoilt Greek culture. We were planning on spending a good couple of weeks there.

We left Skiathos, knowing the winds were not in our favour, that we would be tacking to start with however the forecast showed they would lessen and move round the compass to help us. HAHAHA, had we not trusted it, we probably would have stopped on the south west tip of Skiathos instead of battling on in a Force 5, with a good reef in our sails, the katabatics as we entered the Gulf bringing it up to a Force 6, still Seaclusion did a really fast speed of 10.4 knots.

Shattered, some 6 hours later, we found a bay tucked in the north of the gulf, dropped our pick and opened a bottle of beer, of course! The winds did drop and we had a wonderful peaceful night on board, with the company of only 1 other yacht near us, so we could play our music to our hearts content over a fab bottle of vino and some home cooked food!

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The following day, believing we had lots of time, became a bit of a work day…. our trusted dinghy had sprung a leak and was deflating a little too quickly, and our solar panels were definitely not charging our batteries, potentially a big problem!

So despite the heat, David got his head stuck into the tiny hot battery cupboard to try to source the problem…and soon discovered the culprit, a loose wire!

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Next was my turn, the dinghy!. After David had helped pull it on board and pump it up, we painstakingly went over it with soapy water to find the leak. It soon became apparent that it wasn’t a puncture but one of the seams at the end of the tube.. that was a big problem, not so easy to fix! Still we deflated the dinghy, and I got to work with the glue and the patches hoping it would work. An hour later, all we had to do was wait 24 hours, reinflate and keep our fingers crossed!

Sadly as the afternoon progressed, we watched the smoke clouds billowing up from the massive fires on Evia behind the mountain that separated us (together with a mile stretch of water, thank god). As the sun went down, we could see the extent of it even further!

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After another peaceful evening on board, hoping for all the people on Evia that they would get the fires under control, we headed off to bed, planning to go exploring further into the gulf in the morning (after blowing up the dinghy!). The morning however changed all that, as we woke to a boat filled with smoke and covered in ash. We clearly had to leave, so we started to blow the dinghy up, only for the Dvid, who was doing all the hard work, to exclaim, it has not worked, it isn’t getting any firmer, to soon realise that the pump was knackered….they say bad things happen in 3’s! Thankfully it was just about firm enough to pop back on the davits, so we then pulled up the anchor and headed northwards towards Volos, missing out on 2 places we wanted to stop at, Ahilio and Pigadhi, but hopeful we could come back on our way out of the gulf.

It was only when we left our safe little bay that we realised the full extent of the fires.

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We headed north, hoping to get away from the smoke to a town called Amaliapolis, said to be a picturesque fishing village in the Bay of Mitzellas on the Western side of the Pagasitikos Gulf, where we dropped our pick. Even if we had wanted to go exploring, our dinghy wasn’t going to let that happen, but under the smoke filled skies, sadly the place had somewhat lost its charm!

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So the following day we continued northward to Volos, still hoping to out run the smoke and to find what Steven calls a ‘sweetie shop’ aka a chandlers, to buy a new pump and a few other bits and pieces we needed.

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Volos has always been an important maritime town, but clearly not for visiting yachts. With no one around to tell us where to go, or to help with the mooring, we found a spot ourselves and for once grateful there was no wind, slowly backed Seaclusion up enough for David to step off onto the quay and take the 2 sterns lines and then we sorted out the bowline.

We then went wandering, found the port police, and asked if they wanted our papers and if we had to pay for the mooring, to be told we were in a private berth and had to move to the end of the very very very long quay, with no power and water.

However it was well into August so we took an educated guess that the owner was unlikely to return….and stayed put!. We also found our sweetie shop, bought a new pump and some extra patches as we still didnt know if the fix had worked, and a visit to the much needed laundry, which turned out to be a do-it-yourself Launderette. The biggest problem was then getting enough change to fill firstly the washing machines and then the driers. We then spent the evening in search of a romantic place to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversay. HAHAHA, apparently in Volos, on Mondays, most of the restaurants shut, even in the height of the season… so we ended up in a pizzeria on the front, crap food, but decent vino & great company, we had to say that ! We had a real giggle anyway!

Volos

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Not wanting to outstay our welcome on the berth, we left Volos the following morning, with the intention of visiting some of the picturesque places in the bay, but the following picture will explain why that just wasn’t going to happen, we could hardly breathe…

Sadly we decided that the Gulf of Volos would have to wait to us for another year. Below are some piccies I grabbed from the internet to show you what we missed…

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So we headed out of the Gulf, planning on stopping at a little palace called Ayia Trikeri. We did stop there, but the westerly winds (not that the piccies show it), were blowing straight in so we didn’t fancy tying up to the quay and the depth of the water was too great to secure a safe mooring for the night, so we turned back to a tiny bay we had spotted before hand and dropped our pick for the night.

Ayia Kiriaki

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Despite the smoke, we watched the fishermen go about their business, and the tiny sun go down in dramatic style.

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After a peaceful, if not a little smokey night, we left early the following the morning, passing by Evia in silence and started our 60 mile slog (as there wasn’t enough wind to help us) northwards towards Thessaloniki.

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We are so sorry that this blog isnt our normal bubbly account of our travels, however the smoke filled sky brought home to us the utter devastation this island has suffered, both now and for the future for its people, our hearts and thoughts are with the Islanders who have lost so much and we wish them a speedy recovery.

11th August 2021