On our way to Khalkidiki!

On the 17th August, we set sail from Thessaloniki to the Khalkidiki Peninsula which is the most prominent geographical feature of Macedonia, and an area we have never been to before! It is like a hand reaching down into the northern Aegean with three “small” peninsulas forming fingers, Kassandra, Sinthonia and Akti or Mt Athos, which rises up to over 2000 metres. The countryside is totally different from most of the Greek islands with densely wooded areas all the way down to the waters edge where the finest sandy beaches in Greece can be found.

The coastline however is a far cry from the beautiful whitewashed, blue shattered villages of the Islands, and we have to say really do not cater for the sailors amongst us, as you will see!

The Kassandra Peninsula

Kassandra Peninsula’s west coast is approximately 85nm long and we planned to stop in 3 places, the first a simple anchorage, Akra Epaniomi, Nea Moudhani and Nea Skioni, before heading around the tip.

The water was so shallow a long way out so we could not quite get as tucked in as much as we wanted, which meant not quite as peaceful night as we would have liked, so we ended up setting off early the next morning for Nea Moudhani. We did think about going into 1 of the only 2 marinas in Khalkidiki, Sani, that was until they quoted 144 euros for 1 night! So Nea Moudhani it was!

Nea Moudhani

Our pilot guides described this as more of a working town, than a resort, with a busy waterfront area, the harbour being usually full of local craft, so it was by no means a certainty that we would get in!. They weren’t wrong, although there was, when we arrived, a couple of places against the harbour wall. Not the most amenable spot, with no power or water, and the need to walk past the very smelly bins to get to the waterfront but at least we were moored upwind of them so the smell didn’t infiltrate the boat and turn us a pretty shade of green!

We spent a couple of hours wandering around the town and working out where to have a bite out later on in the evening!

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Which is exactly what we did, grilled octopus and calamari, with 1/2 litre of the local vino to wash it down, perfect! We then wandered back to the boat, to catch up on some much needed shuteye after the night before, only to realise just why the harbour wall was free!

With nothing to be done, we closed the hatches, hid in our bunks and prayed it would be just the one boat and not the whole fishing fleet throughout the night, thankfully for our mini fans and earplugs!

The following morning, we actually awoke quite refreshed, and set sail past the Posh Sani Marina to Nea Skioni, with enough wind to sail the full 42 nms, but we did get more than a little wet!

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Nea Skioni

A convivial little place, once we snuck our way in amongst the fishing boats, which actually didnt smell, hooray! It was a bit of a stressful mooring, as when we first arrived there didn’t seem to be any space for us without venturing into a shoal area with much less than the 2 mtrs depth we needed, not helped by a tiny racing yacht having gone alongside in what had to be the area with the most depth! A quick panic did set in when the depth under our keel dropped to 0.5m and, as Seaclusion doesn’t stop on a 6 pence, 0.2 by the time reverse gear actually kicked in, so we went alongside at the harbour entrance, absolutely horrible with no protection from the rolling sea, head in our hands, when luck would have it, a sailing boat the same size as us, pulled in the lines, pulled up their anchor and headed out to sea. we didn’t hesitate to jump in their grave!

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We had a day here, as we needed the southerly winds to drop before heading around the tip, and they weren’t due to do that until 4pm, (now we understood why that other boat had left when it did and saved our bacon), we spent the time exploring, as we do and will let the pics do the talking!

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Cute Place, but now it was time to move on, around the tip and across to the Sinthonia Peninsula, as there is not much by way of shelter on the east coast of Kassandra.

The Sinthonia Peninsula

After a part sail, part motor for 27nm, with some friends to keep us company for a while, our first stop on Sinthonia was Porto Koufo, which our pilot book described as one of the most magnificent natural harbours in the Med. It was great, but I think we have been a bit spoilt by our time in Turkey! The entrance through sheer red cliffs was spectacular but once inside, it was just a bay with somewhat murky waters, the inevitable jelly fish, which seemed to have followed us everywhere we have been…and a very higglety picklety ”port”! We dropped our pick a little way from the hub hub and watched as yachts rafted up and found spaces where we didn,t think there was one, whilst sat on the deck with a bottle of vino, of course!

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Porto Koufo

We stayed there for a couple of nights, the first, eating on board and chilling, the next day, paddle boarding, relaxing in the sunshine and pumping up our sad looking dinghy, which was still losing pressure. Then with fingers crossed dinghied over to the port the next evening with the pump on board, just in case!

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The next day, completely chillaxed, we set sail northwards, along Sinthonia’s west shores with the intention of finding a fab anchorage for the night, which didn,t take us long, and we dropped our pick just off from an amazing sandy beach, ready for a swim.. hmmm, maybe not!!

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These little buggers, well, not so little, some were the size of frisbees, have been everywhere in the northern Aegean, and whilst I (Chantal) am not afraid of fish, I am afraid of these, having been stung badly in the past. Swimming amongst them was not going to be on the agenda! That said, it was a beautiful spot, where we intended to spend the night, until the wind changed direction bringing in the swell. Having had one rolly polly night not so long ago, we left rather than risk another and headed to the port of Nea Marmaris, in the belief that we could anchor off, inside the breakwater with some protection.

But here is where we tell the story of how the little words in a sentence are very important! So our pilot book described this place as having a rather battered wave breaking pontoon protecting the harbour and that it may be possible for visiting yachts to find a berth on the outer pontoon, and here’s the important bit, lay an anchor as well! Well I, (Chantal that is), read it as lay at anchor! For the non yachties reading this blog, that little word ‘an’ versus ‘at’, is the difference between tying up to a pontoon with an anchor to support the bow behind to what was now a totally non existent breakwater, or free anchoring somewhere not quite in the direction of the waves!

Lets say, David was not amused by the error! The second posh marina of the area, Porto Carros, was only a mile away and we were sorely tempted!

That said, the town was worth the visit, a bit quirky, not particularly quaint and picturesque but had a great atmosphere and David managed to get a much needed haircut, something he had been trying for the last 5 places we have been too, but were all fully booked for days!!!!

Nea Marmaris

By evening….

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By day..

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The next day, not wanting another night on a pontoon that might not survive another winter, we set sail for the most northern point on the west coast of Sinthonia, Nikiti, hoping to get a spot in its marina, a charter base, in the belief that the charter boats would be out and no one would mind!

Nikiti

And we were in luck! We found a space, with water and power, a luxury, and no one to charge us for it, or more importantly, to ask us to leave!

First order of the afternoon was to find a laundry, which we hadn’t found since Volos, more than 2 weeks before and our bed linen could quite happily walk its own way there by now! Hahaha, we did find one but they were so busy with the hotel trade, with bag fulls outside the launderette screaming out to be washed, that the answer was a flat no!

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the world go by along the beach, cocktail in hand.

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A peaceful night was then had on board, before we set sail again, back the way we came to Porto Koufo, before heading around the peninsular to the west side and Mount Athos and our next chapter!

25th August 2021