Empty anchorages, wild flowers and snow capped mountain backdrops are the prizes of early season cruising in Greece. Changeable weather is a price worth paying. Our plan – launch and head south to the Peloponnese – Greece’s answer to Scotland.
We headed back to Rush at Cleopatra boatyard in mid March, a week before launch, with time for cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, maintenance and stocking the food lockers.
Aussie couple, Craig and Jo, also returned to their catamaran, Sunday of London, a few doors down from Rush. We met when Craig asked to borrow some tools to break into their boat… the office being locked, along with their boat key. Could have been a stressy situation after long travel, but they were smiley, calm and collected. We punctuated our respective boat work with coffees and suppers in local tavernas and on board and they quickly became proper friends.
Rush’s launch was wet and windy but went smoothly. Until we launched Derek and his outboard went into limp mode (who even know that 15hp outboards have limp mode these days?!) as soon as we increased speed. As I write this, flushing, fuel cleaner, a Suzuki dealer session and several speculative parts replacements later, the problem remains unresolved. Yet you can bet it will turn out something simple.
The early season weather remained changeable and, following a day or two in Lefkada trying to fix the outboard, we headed south. Our friend Claire (of last April’s blog and Nick the Greek fame) and single-handed racer mate Juan were due to join us for Easter (following successful Wadhams match-making!) and, with a few days to go, we had to nominate an airport. That went badly.
The island of Zakinthos was on our route to the Peloponnese and the forecast was OK. They booked flights. The forecast changed.
Zakinthos harbour is big and the yachts berths in its NE corner are not where you want to be in SW gale.
We diverted to Messolonghi on the mainland. Claire and Juan landed – we broke the news – they got a ferry – we hired a car – Amanda drove an hour and a half to collect them. Pissed. Them, not Amanda. A boozy lunch waiting for the ferry – a charismatic barman on it – and their journey was painless.
Meanwhile I battled to protect Rush from an unfriendly wall in Messolonghi. All because the Port Police cleared the excellent, all-round sheltered anchorage due to an incoming Navy vessel for their 200th siege anniversary celebrations. The vessel turned out to be marginally larger than Derek. And tied up on the wall anyway.
We pride ourselves on careful planning and a well-maintained ship leading to generally drama-free cruising. Not this time. The added travel was just the first of daily incidents during Claire and Juan’s Easter aboard…
We pushed on towards the Peloponnese, discovering and fixing a blocked and exploding heads holding tank en-route. Ours, not theirs, fortunately. Horrendous. NEVER happens to us.* Amanda bravely bore the brunt but I mucked in after finding a spot to anchor.
We pressed on. The wind died leaving a messy swell behind the departing weather system. A bumpy ride and Claire, wisely, took to her bed. This just wasn’t a good day.
Finally, an idyllic spot very close to Finikounda beach. Anchor down and let the odyssey begin. Before even adding the coke to the rum, a towering black cloud appeared over the mountain. BOOM. Thunder, lightning, rain, 30+ knots. No choice – anchor up and we headed offshore until it went through, before picking another bay for the night. And relax.
Next mooring we were off to old favourite Koroni for a proper quayside taverna lunch stop. Which was lovely. The plan being to then lift the anchor and head to Kitries. Except we couldn’t lift the anchor. Fouled. No worries – we’d foreseen this risk and buoyed it…. with insufficient line length** to retrieve it onto the deck, so the boat hook was wrenched from Juan’s strong grasp. That required re-launching Derek to pick up the boat hook, buoy, trip the anchor, then recover everything quickly to avoid winding up on the harbour wall to leeward. A spirited beat which Juan, of course, loved took us to Kitries. And relax.
For a short time. Then a crack-of-dawn start into Kalamata Marina – rental car collection – road trip to Athens airport for Claire and Juan’s flight home, with an afternoon in Athens on the way. Seemed a great plan. Most of that great plan was spent gridlocked or racing a million scooters in Athens streets barely 5mm wider than our Citroen Something. That seemed to suit nominated driver, Juan’s, Spanish temperament.
Greece 0 – Spain 1 – English nerves 0
Back aboard, Amanda and I spent a week sailing around the southern Peloponnese, discovering new places such as the deserted island of Sapienza. So wonderful we subsequently returned twice more. This is a stunning region – Greece’s answer to Scotland and, especially in early season, almost deserted. When the Ionian Islands are busy, spotting another yacht around here is an event. There are few all-round sheltered anchorages and even fewer harbours but the scenery is spectacular.
Below – Breathtaking scenes at all times of day
Mike and Jules, friends we met in Montenegro last season, were heading our way on their catamaran Shway Shway. We sailed back to Navarino Bay to meet them. Jules is a photographer, so not only did we live the dream of cruising in good company as beautiful spring weather set in, we will forever enjoy Jules’ fabulous photos of Rush under sail. As a small return favour, we helped rig their new Code sail and take it for a spin.
My sister Diane and brother-in-law Alan were due to fly into Kalamata to join us for our last week of this trip. After going back into Kalamata marina to pick them up, we texted a “Safe flight – see you later!” message. Diane replied “You do know it’s tomorrow, don’t you?”
Anyway, what a truly special time, once they were on board. There has been a lot of water under our bridges over the years – both good and… I bloody love them. And they, of course, love Amanda.
– and Greek cruising life
In contrast to Claire and Juan’s trip, this one was filled with great weather, beautiful places and tranquil moments. We kept finding Diane perched in quiet corners on Rush, absorbing the scene.
We all prepared Rush for leaving her in Kalamata through May – Alan taking on the task, in a downpour, of cutting plastic sheet to cover the whole cockpit floor and transom steps. When Rush spent a day unattended in the marina, while we went to Athens with Claire and Juan, we returned to discover the stray cats (attracted and fed all winter by the live-aboard community) loved to sharpen their claws by scratching our lovely, soft and comfortable Seadeck flooring. Faced with Rush spending a month there unattended we went for it with feral feline defences – plastic covering, sonic motion-sensor gizmos and large pots of smelly vinegar.
We’ll return to Rush at the beginning of June and hope that Diane and Alan will be able share her again before too long.
Rush compliment of the month (try to read with a quiet Aussie drawl): “Rush has to be the best looking catamaran around this size that I’ve seen.” Coming from Craig, with an eye for style after a lifelong career at the top of the marketing world, we’ll take that.
*We think the hose from the holding tank to the through-hull dried out and blocked over the winter, despite flushing before lifting out. Next time we’ll leave the through-hull closed and fresh-water in the tank.
**Since that episode we’ve refined our anchor buoy set-up. We now ensure the line is several metres longer than the water depth, so it’s easy to lift the buoy onto the bow, ready for tripping. This creates risk of the line wrapping around a rudder or daggerboard if the boat swings, so we added a weight to the line, 3m below the buoy, to reduce that potential. There are proper, self-coiling, anchor buoys on the market that do this job properly in return for more €€€€€€. Added to the list.
