My prediction of a
disturbed night was well founded. At about 0400 there was a wind
shift to the east which brought the British registered sailing super-yacht
into contact with a motor yacht which was well within his swinging
circle. By judicious use of twin screws and powerful bow thrusters the
managed to extricate himself from the restricted space he had chosen
and proceeded to back up into the ferry turning area and anchor
there. The net result of this was 5 short blasts (meaning “get out
of my way!”) from the ferry that arrived an hour later. At this
point common sense prevailed and they departed! I would not have
wanted to be the “professional skipper” who brought about this
debacle; his days in command may be numbered! In the meantime a
French yacht had also departed the anchorage freeing up a much more
appropriate space for the Spanish super yacht and they had wisely and
silently moved into it, placing me well outside their swinging area.
Deep sleep at last, with the exception that Mike was arriving at 0630
and needed to be plucked off the jetty using the dinghy; ah well,
there is always tomorrow night...
 |
| Banana II, but not as I remember it. |
That morning, leaving
Mike to sleep off his overnight flight I set of into town to get
victuals etc. Skiathos is not an ideal town for re-victualling; almost
every shop sells tourist tat of one sort or another. Food shops are
very few and far between and after the torrential downpour of the
night before the streets were crowded with tourists, seeking somewhere
to go in the continuing rain, and still awash with water and detritus
from the drainage gulleys. An hour in town was long enough and with
all the necessary victuals acquired I woke Michael and we set off for
Banana II beach which looked as though it would be a sheltered
anchorage in the prevailing NE wind. By 1430 we were anchored and
enjoying the sunshine. There we stayed overnight and for the next 24
hours.
The following day we
met up with three Italian speakers on the beach, and not being one to
miss an opportunity to practise my Italian we invited them to join us
for a circumnavigation of Skiathos the next day. Two of the guys,
Luca and Marco were from Venice and the third, Filippo, was part
Italian, part Greek which was to prove very useful later. Next
morning we set off at 1100, using a northerly breeze, for a very
enjoyable sail round the island. By 1630 we were anchored back at
Banana II having covered 27 miles in total. Not everyone was pleased
to see us! A lady (I call her that out of politeness only) soon swam
out to complain that at 75m we were anchored too close to the beach.
If we didn't “go away” she would call the Port Police (AKA
Coastguard). No amount of Filippo's persuasion, in Greek, would
succeed in making her be more reasonable. The Coastguard duly
arrived and told us we were “breaking the law” by being so close
to the beach. I questioned the origin of the law. One of the Coastguard officers replied “It is Greek
law”, I was able to explain to him that it was not Greek Law but
was in fact European Law adopted by Greece and because the law was so
badly drafted it was unclear whether it applied at all in this case.
It was intended to prevent power driven vessels operating near
bathing beaches where they represent a severe risk to swimmers.
Having undermined his confidence in his position he then became much
more reasonable and, having inspected all my documents (in order to
save face), we then agreed that, to keep the old woman quiet, we would
move a further 50m off the beach. They departed, we moved and the old
woman swam round the boat in circles for the next hour mouthing
comments; it was not clear whether these referred to the
ineffectiveness of the Coastguard (in her eyes) or our continued
presence! Eventually she tired of it and departed.
 |
| Sunset at the anchorage at Nisos Pithou |
In the course of the
day Filippo had informed us that he was planning to depart for Athens
in two days time and one option was via Volos. As Volos was on the
agenda anyway we offered him a lift to Volos which quickly became all
of us sailing across to Volos and then returning to Skiathos. With a
northerly wind forecast for the next three days this was not going to be
a problem, and so it was that the next morning we set off for Volos
anchoring overnight at Nisos Pithou, a small uninhabited island just
inside the Gulf of Volos.
 |
| Anchored in bay on west coast of Nisos Palaio Trikeri |
The next day we said goodbye to Filippo,
had a slightly questionable lunch on the waterfront (not a restaurant
to be recommended), re-victualled, refuelled and re-watered the boat
and then set off for the return leg to Skiathos stopping at an
anchorage on Nisos Palaio Trikeri overnight.
 |
| Panormou, south bay, Skopelos |
The next morning we
exited the Gulf of Volos early and were on a brisk beam reach heading
for Skiathos as the wind died and headed; in the end we decided that
we would bypass Skiathos and head for Skopelos instead. Our guests
were very happy to stay on an extra couple of days and Mike was keen
to see Skopelos as well. In the end we finished the day in the
delightful surroundings of the south bay at Panormou. Next morning
dawned fair and bright but with little wind and so we motored round
to the east beach at Stafilos passing a good two hours swimming and
enjoying the sun before motoring round to Skopelos town to replenish
with water and food.
So taken were the team with Skopelos town that
we decided to stay the night there and make an early passage back to
Skiathos next day. As a consequence we enjoyed an excellent lunch on
the waterfront and a somewhat less successful dinner in the
restaurant high above the town behind the church on the quay.
Next morning it was
away early to motor to the northern tip of Skopelos, a beam reach
from there to the SE of Skiathos and then a close reach along the
south coast to Koukounaries beach where we finally
 |
| Skopelos town quay |
said goodbye to our
guests; they were flying back to Venice next day! Mike and I settled
down for an early night and an even earlier departure next morning;
westwards towards the Stenon Trikeri, Orei Channel and then into the
northern part of the Gulf of Evia. Our intention had been to anchor
for the night near the Nisos Likhades, at the very northern end of
the gulf, but as we had made such good time and the anchorage was not
that great we continued on down to Kopolos Atlantis, 15 miles further
south. Unexpectedly the island Nisos Atlantis did not offer a
suitable sheltered anchorage and so with dusk approaching we motored
at full speed the 4 miles east to Ormos Ay Ioannis Theologos,
 |
| The crew at Skopelos |
which
was much more sheltered even if less secluded.
From here it was an
easy 20 mile sail to Khalkis and a phone call to the Port Police at
Khalkis informed us that the bridge would open at 2320 that night. As
a consequence we spent a quiet afternoon at anchor just north of
Khalkis and moved into the town quay waiting berths at 1700. By 1800
I had completed the formalities, paid my €42, and received my
briefing from the Port Police. All we had to do now was wait. To pass
some of the time we walked along to the Khalkis Yacht Club where we
were very well received. An hour and two beers later we had been allocated a
 |
| Downwind towards Evia |
berth
and made several new friends amongst the membership. Supper at the
Xalkos Meze Bar (excellent and highly recommended, halfway from the Yacht Club to the bridge and lying back from the waterfront) and it was back to
the boat to await our call on VHF Ch 12.
 |
| In the waiting berths, north of the bridge at Khalkis |
Sure enough at 2300 we were
called by name and requested to get under-way and pass through the
bridge.
 |
| Khalkis Bridge, no tides in the Med! |
By midnight we were moored at the yacht club, assisted by
members who had stayed late to await our arrival. We had decided to
take a days pause at Khalkis to get victuals, find a laundry,
replenish gas and try to get all the essentials sorted before heading
on south.
 |
| Khalkis Bridge |
With the assistance of the club secretary all of this was
achieved in half the time it might otherwise have taken. The club
really is the most hospitable Yacht Club I have ever visited! In
return all they asked was a complimentary comment in their visitors
book ! Such generosity.....
 |
| Khalkos meze bar |
Supper was again taken
in the Meze Bar (we were greeted like long lost friends, given a
complementary carafe of wine whilst we decided what to eat, and the
prices were very reasonable) and after a second night in a club
berth, with our laundry returned, we set off at 1100 to head on into
the southern half of the Gulf of Evia.
 |
| Khalkis Yacht Club, we couldn't get closer to the clubhouse! |
Our plan was to head for Ormos
Almiropotamou, a well sheltered anchorage, for the first night and
then onwards to Nea Marmara for the second. The reason being we were
due to pick up some friends, who live in Athens, for a weekend sail;
from Nea Marmara, on the Saturday morning. Ormos Almiropotamou is not
a densely populated place but it suffers more than most places I have
seen from the blight of part finished buildings. 30% were empty cast
concrete frames or evidently only part completed.
 |
| Approaching the new Khalkis road bridge |
As it turned out we
spent a very tranquil night in Ormos Almiropotamou and then motored
in a flat calm to Nisos Stira for lunch the next day. The west side
anchorage there was so lovely that we decided to spend the night
there and accept an early start the next day. At 0830 on the Saturday
morning we motored out of the southern entrance of the enclosed bay
and headed for Nea Marmara in another flat calm!
Having plucked Simon
and Nikos off the ferry jetty in Nea Marmara we motored out to the
Petaloi Islands and anchored in the bay on the NW side of Nisos Xero
for the rest of the day. There was no wind even if we wanted to have
a sail! This bay is a beautiful bay and was not too crowded despite
it being a weekend.
 |
| Ormos Almiropotamou |
The following day we again had no wind but
decided on a change of scenery and thus we headed southwards through
the channel separating Nisos Megalo Petali from Nisos Zero; slightly
nervously as it is charted at 3m depth and the last 3m channel I
tried, in Turkey, had silted to less than 2m with the result that we
spent an hour plus trying to re-float Kurukulla! The channel
successfully navigated we headed for Ornos Likourimas, a bay on Evia
Island proper, at the southern end of the Stenon Xero channel
separating Nisos Xero from Evia. A pleasant anchorage and much less
frequented than the islands.
 |
| Sunset at Nisos Stira |
After a few hours here we decided to
shorten the distance between us and Porto Rafti in the hope of some
wind later in the day to sail the rest. Our prayers were answered.
After motoring to Vasiliko on the south shore of Nisos Megalo Petali
and an hour there swimming we were justly rewarded with a brisk wind
for a beam reach all the way to Porto Rafti. 7 knots plus almost all
the way. The only downside was that there was no berth available at
Porto Rafti and so we put Simon and Nikos ashore by a touch and go on
a fishing boat moored alongside and then Mike and I went out into the
anchorage to anchor for the night and prepare the dinghy for taking
him ashore at 0530 for his flight back to UK.
 |
| Ormos Likourimas |
Not a great time or way
to start the day but all was successfully completed and I settled
down to await the arrival of another group of friends joining later
that day.
The next leg takes us
out into the Cyclades, wrestling with the Meltemi, so more when we
are there.......
