ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE AEGEAN

Laurie getting into the spirit wearing colorful local hat

We really enjoyed the Cycladic island of Nisos Folegandros where we anchored in the idyllic bay of Karavostasi. On the beach beside the small port was a great little taverna where we enjoyed ice-cold beers at the end of hot days, and from the port there was a regular bus service to the hilltop chora (village).

This little taverna on the beach really appealed to us

Great cafe in chora’s village square at Folegandros

This rustic gate was made entirely from pieces of driftwood – nothing wasted

The weather forecast for the Aegean Sea showed a protracted (five day) NW blow up to 35 knots approaching. We didn’t really want to be stuck in one place for five days, particularly with friends arriving in about 10 days, so decided to head for the eastern Greek mainland, where the weather appeared much more settled. We had a great 63 mile open sea trip from the Aegean island of Serifos to Ermioni on the Greek mainland, in a 20 knot NW, with 1.5 to 2m seas breaking on our starboard bow, showering Envoy in spray (which is quite rare). The stabilisers “did their thing” and only once did my cup of tea spill a little! This is one of the longest journeys we’ll do in one day this year, as mostly we’re hopping between anchorages, typically 20 mile cruises.
We found an excellent sheltered bay near Ermioni, well sheltered from the north, and the blow here reached only 30 knots and lasted a couple of days. Here for the first time this year we saw some turtles in the water. Ermioni was also excellent for re-stocking supplies, and we found a great bakery where the lady serving us insisted that we taste her delicious treats.
Moving on to anchor off a small village called Vivari we met a fleet of 11 charter yachts. Many of the skippers had limited anchoring skills, and one of the yachts dragged and banged into Envoy, but no damage was caused. Shortly after that we could smell smoke, and a large bush fire erupted near the village. The smoke got thicker and then warm ash started to fall around us and aboard Envoy - so time to move. As we motored to a nearby bay two sea planes arrived to fight the fire – they took on water from the sea and dropped it on the fire.

Bushfire behind the village of Vivari

The next day the smoke cleared and we were able to return to our preferred bay of Vivari. Here we noticed a house near the water with a large vegetable garden, and beautiful organic fruit and vegetables for sale. They were remarkably cheap and we bought a good quantity of potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, beans, peppers, cucumbers, and corgettes for a total of nine Euros (about NZ$15). The place was run by Dimitri and Marie, who invited us to come for a coffee the next day.

Organic vegetable garden in Vivari

Marie had painted this odd-shaped organic potato to look like a lady’s face

Our friend Brooke Archbold joined us here for three nights – our first visitor from New Zealand this year.
With Brooke we anchored in a nearby bay called Krathona, and climbed a steep winding track to visit a tiny old chapel built into a cave.

Envoy anchored in Karathona

Stairs to the small chapel in cleft of rocks

Laurie in a small section of the chapel

Diane Laurie in chapel’s main room

We were the only visitors, but there is one resident – in a corner of the chapel we found a small wooden box with a glass top containing a human skull and bones, with no explanation on the person’s identity.

Box containing human skull and bones

Laurie and Brooke outside chapel

Brooke is very knowledgeable about recent developments in all sorts of boating equipment, and as a result of discussions we’ve decided to buy a tablet to use as a GPS/Plotter, as we really want the back-up of a system which is not hard-wired to Envoy.
At the time of posting Brooke had moved on, and we are heading to nearby Nafplio to berth in the harbour and meet some more friends arriving from New Zealand.
Then we’re going to cruise around the southern area of mainland Greece known as the Peloponnisos into the Ionian Sea.
TECHNICAL
All mostly going well. Our smaller RHIB seems to have a minor air leak, as we need to pump in more air every few days. We’ll get this checked in Corfu early August.
Our Maxwell windlass has a minor oil leak from the gearbox. We have a spare gearbox so will swap that over in Corfu too, and get the leaking one fixed.
Envoy has two interchangeable autopilots. The Robertson unit (which are no longer produced) powers up OK, but will not hold a course, so we’re having to use the Simrad most of the time.
LOG
Up to 30 June have spent 92 days aboard, and cruised 640 miles for 118 engine hours.