Those Mad Austrian Charterers Strike Again

May 23, 2016August 12, 2016 ~ stull61 ~ Leave a comment

Don’t get me wrong – I like Austrians. And I even like Austrians on charter boats. But it appears only when safely at anchor – away from La Mischief. We had a great night 3 years ago in Vis, with a whole group of them, drinking long into the night on the deck of La Mischief. But not so much fun this time in a confined harbour in 40kts. But I’m getting ahead of myself…. We left Kortor at 8am after successfully checking out of Montenegro, heading for Cavtat in Croatia. The winds did their usual in the fjordland of Kotor, going from 0 to lots. We make it out into the open sea to find a beautiful following breeze. Now that makes a change. We flew up the coast and nearly got to Cavtat before we needed a reef. We decided to take the sails down instead of reefing as we were close enough.

We had been to Cavtat before so we knew the procedure. Cavtat is where you must check in to Croatia, you can’t go past or you will get fined. No loitering either, as soon as you get to Croatia you must check in. No anchoring in a nice bay on the way in.

Many cruisers get fined in Croatia – me included 3 years ago, and this time I was determined to stay on the right side of the law this time.

By the time we got to the customs dock it was blowing 40kts. We waited for a couple of boats to get sorted then dropped our anchor and backed in. We tied up to the dock, stern to, and I went off to get cleared in at the Harbour Master’s office and the Police office.

Meanwhile back at the boat……

Dee watched in amazement as a group of Austrian Charterers tried to come into the dock by dropping their anchor across everyone else’s chain and backing in all over the place. Dee felt our chain loosen as a result and put the motors on the keep us off the wall.

Then she watched in even more amazement (as did the harbour guy who helps people tie up) as the Austrians nearly rammed us. I got back to the boat to find Dee’s jaw on the ground, and we preceded to get off the wall as quickly as we could.

That wasn’t the problem. Our anchor winch stalled in the middle of the harbour (not where we left our anchor) as the mad Austrians yelled across to say they had our chain on their anchor. As they continued to motor around the harbour in 40kts of breeze, I suggested that perhaps they should think about getting it off. NOW!

Instead they grabbed their camera and started to take photos. Somehow they thought we needed to get our chain off their anchor. We talked then through the procedure. Put a rope round our chain you d#@ckh@#ds was sort of how the conversation went.

They finally stopped their photoshoot and one of them jumped in the water. It was a major exercise working out how to get a rope under a chain. Meanwhile they were all looking out the front and whoever was on the helm wasn’t looking at the looming rocks out the back. Somehow they managed to both get their anchor dislodged from our chain and keep off the rocks. Miracles do happen as they went off to terrorize someone else.

Not so easy for us. Our anchor winch was on strike due to having a whole heap of harbour junk dragging off our anchor. We managed to get it up little by little until we only had 6m out – the depth of the harbour.

We were then able to drag our anchor and its accompanying entourage back across the harbour to the wall where we were able to side tie (for 80 euros a night). I was rueing the fact that we don’t have a dive tank on board as it cost us a 100 euros for a diver to free all the sh@t off our anchor using a lift bag.

And there we stayed, having a quick drink with the Harbour Guy, reminiscing about the mad Austrians, before catching a cab out to get Stevo from the airport. The good thing about Cavtat is that its 10 minutes from Dubrovnick airport. After feeding Stevo a Beer or two, we had a quick look at the anchor, before deciding it could wait until tomorrow and off we went to dinner.

The next day we caught a bus into Dubrovnick, which scared the sh@t out of Stevo, as he peered over the side of the bus down the cliffs far below. Dubvovnick never fails to disappoint. Except for the weather! We did all the obligatories. The walk around the top of the wall, the gondola ride to the top of the hill/mountain for the views down to Dubrovnick, wandering the streets and Mexican for lunch. Whilst there, we handed over 165 kuna for a cruising permit for our dingy as you need this if you want to use the dingy for a bit of sightseeing as we often do. Part of my Don’t Get Fined in Croatia this time strategy.

Back at the boat, Stevo managed to get our anchor winch working from the helm station but the handheld refused to play ball. But that was enough to see us leave and head for Mjet.

Monks on a High

May 22, 2016May 22, 2016 ~ stull61 ~ 1 Comment

Lefkas is a Greek Island that never used to be an island. Way back in 800 BC, the Corinthians managed to dig a canal through some marshlands to create the island. Later on the more modern-day Greeks had installed a swing bridge so you can drive from Lefkas to the mainland.

And that’s what we did at 6am, heading for the Meteoras. Ever since I got to Greece with Dee, she’s been raving on about the Meteoras. So now it was time to see what all the fuss was about.

The drive up there was pretty cool. It took us 3 hours to wind our way up through the mountains with numerous tunnels and viaducts, all built with lots of EU money. At one stage we hit fog as we drove through the clouds. The drive itself was worth the price of admission.

We arrived at the town of Kalambaka, just after 9am and found the tourist office who gave us a really good map. Then we were off. There’s six monasteries you can visit and we did them all. Theres quite a few others dotted around that airen’t open to the public and those that are open are closed on different days so we jagged it arriving on a Sunday when all 6 were open.

The monasteries sit perched on top of rock columns and in the olden days the only way the monks could get in and out was by a series of ladders and rope baskets. Begs the questions as to how exactly did they manage to build the impressive building perched on top of sheer rock cliffs in the first place.

Nowadays they have carved steps into the rock face and put in a modern road that goes round the back of each of the six monasteries. There are also flying foxes that winch across supplies.

Each of the monasteries are a bit different, all retaining their air of myth and mystery. For starters, one is a nunnery – evoking images of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The most famous is the one that was in James Bond’s “For Your Eyes Only”. Must watch that movie again. This is the most photogenic but the least interesting inside. Megalo Meteoro is the most extensive, housing several museums, including the blacksmith’s shop and the extensive kitchen. As you wander around, you catch a glimpse of monks and nuns going about the stuff that monks and nuns do.

We managed to knock off all the 6 monasteries by 1pm and we then headed off to find a nice restaurant in the cute little village of Kastraki for lunch. Kastraki sits spectacularly right at the foot of the Meteoras and it was filled with rock climbers, one of which only had one arm. Now there’s guts. The adrenalin junkies are well catered for here as there is also an annual mountain bike race down through the Meteoras.

We still had some time up our sleeve so we headed for Parga, which is a charming little resort town on the neck of a promontory flanking two bays, with an impressive Venetian Fortress perched high on an adjacent headland guarding the whole town. We spend a couple of hours there checking out the old town, the nice beach and the views from the fortress.

Then it was off back to Lefkas.

Spending Some Boat Dollars

May 22, 2016 ~ stull61 ~ 2 Comments

Whilst in Ithaca I’d rung up the marina in Lefkas and ordered my replacement water pump from the Chandlery recommended by the Marina. I hadn’t been to Lefkas before so I thought this was my best course of action.

13161717_10205726154826030_8054884334501701351_o — Going Up the Lefkas Canal

The guy from the Chanderly told me it would be there Friday definitely – Thursday maybe. The Greeks only go back to work on Wednesday after their Easter break so the chances of Thursday were pretty bleak; but we thought we would go in Thursday anyway so we would be there to pick it up Friday morning.

Lefkas is a big boating centre in Greece with lots of charter boats based there, and has lots of chandlerys, sailmakers etc. So we took the opportunity to run down our boat shopping/ chores list.

We had the choice of booking into the Lefkas Marina at 57 euro a night; or going stern to on the town wall for free. I always have trouble knocking back “free”. The water depth next to the wall is a bit shallow in places so we had to pick our spot, but otherwise it was great.

Contract Yacht Services (CYS) was the nearest chandlery, right opposite where we pulled up, so we started our shopping expedition there. It’s run by a couple of British expats, who are great to deal with – highly recommended if you are in that neck of the woods and like me wondering who to contact.

Unfortunately the guy I bought my pump off was a nice guy, but disorganised in a typically Greek sort of way. The pump didn’t arrive on Friday but he assured me it would arrive on Saturday. Come Saturday, no pump. He (supposedly) chased it up and told me it would definitely be there Monday. Bugger. We were planning to leave ASAP. So a quick rearrange of our plans and we hired a car to drive around Lefkas Island on Saturday afternoon before heading to the Meteoras on Sunday. But the Meteoras are a whole blog entry in itself so you will just have to wait for that part.

Returning from the Meteoras on Monday, I got the phonecall to say that my pump model number is not available in Greece. The Greeks never fail to surprise me. It’s a 40psi Jabsco and the advice he got back was that you need to buy the 25psi pump and then buy a 50 euro pressure switch that converts it to 40psi. So we rushed back to CYS and got the same story – this time in 10 minutes rather than 5 days. Another marine store that had lots of Jabsco pumps said the same thing. Onto Google for a bit more research and then back to my original guy to do a deal given he’d screwed us around. Needless to say I got my new 40psi pressure switch for 14 euros more.

But enough of my boring pump story, as we ended up having a really great time in Lefkas. The town itself is quite lively, with good bars and restaurants. These got a bit of a flogging as we kept running into yachties that we didn’t know, but soon got to know over a wine or five.

The first of these was Barry, who was a Kiwi who owns Sailing Holidays in Greece (and Croatia) and has run flotillas for the last 40 years around these here parts. One of those larger than life characters who had stories to tell and knowledge to impart. At the other end of the sailing experience scale was Johnny and Julia, who had just bought a boat and were embarking on their first great sailing adventure. Barry and I helped them perform their very first Med moor and we had a great night with them. Johnny is Johnny Morant, a young successful painter whose paintings are in a couple of London Galleries (check him out at http://www.johnnymorant.com). Johnny describes himself as a “Youtube sailor”, but has good common sense and wiliness to get out there and learn so they will be right.

After a hard nights drinking we were looking forward to an AFD, but that was never going to happen when 3 Perth sailors rolled up at the back of La Mischief.

13173575_10205726169026385_736824508129752426_o — Stunning Beaches on the West Coast

Lefkas has some great beaches and it was good to get a car and go off exploring. Once again, we were stuck by just how green and lush the islands of the Ionian are. Maybe it’s the time of the year we are here. All the really good beaches of the Ionians seem to be on the Western Coasts and this was the case in Lefkas. We called into a few before we drove down to the south coast to Vasiliki, famous as a windsurfing destination. Then up along the East coast to Nidri, which looks across Vilko Bay, which is a large lagoon with boats anchored everywhere. In the corner of this large bay is another bay called Tranquil Bay. This place is super protected, with some yachts having wintered afloat here.

An afternoon of driving over, it was time to head back to La Mischief and prepare for an early morning start to the Meteoras.

13217080_10205726183146738_5729680724619103561_o — Early morning start to the drive to the Meteoras

Passing the Rorschach Test

May 22, 2016May 22, 2016 ~ stull61 ~ Leave a comment

We left Frikes in the morning and enjoyed a beam reach across to the straits that separates Lefkas and Meganisi, before the wind completely died. As Rod said, the channel is one of the loveliest straits in the Ionians and it was great motoring through it a second time.

It’s quite amazing to pop through the other side into this wonderful protected bay with yachts everywhere. There was some sort of race going on as well as all the cruising boats. We headed for the private Skorpio Island, which was owned by Aristotle Onassis for a sticky beak.

You can’t land on the island, it’s still privately owned but it was still interesting circumnavigating it. Then it was on to Inkblot Island…Meganisi.

On the charts it looked fascinating with bays and inlets littered along its northern coast. We picked out Port Atheni from Rod and headed there. It wasn’t a port in any sense of the word…just a nice indented bay. I must admit that I was a little disappointed in Meganisi. It looked really cool on the 2 dimensional chart, but I like Ithaca a lot better.

Mind you, the water was lovely and clear and the little bays interesting. It’s just that I was expecting a bit more. We anchored in the head of the bay amongst 4 other boats in about 7m of water. Still too cold for a swim. So we dingied in and had a half litre of wine at the one and only open restaurant. Then back to the boat for a movie and a morning get away.

Montenegro – The Definition of Stunning

May 22, 2016August 12, 2016 ~ stull61 ~ 1 Comment

Lord Byron once called Montenegro’s coastline the planet’s most beautiful encounter between land and sea and I reckon he might have been onto something.

Bar is the first port of entry when approaching from the South and that’s where we headed. It was a 107nm run up to Bar from Vlore – too far for a day sail so we planned a slow overnighter.

Which was just as well as the wind was on our nose the whole way. We burned quite a bit of fuel getting there and by the time we got there at 9am the next morning our diesel tanks were almost empty. Perfect as fuel in Montenegro is quite cheap, and I’d assumed we could get duty free fuel like last time. Two problems with this, you can only get duty free fuel when leaving Montenegro and we needed some on entry and the fuel jetties weren’t interested in providing a small amount (ie 600litres) for the hassle it involved. So no duty free fuel this time. At 92c a liter its still the cheapest I’ve paid for a while.

The marina cost us 90 euros for the night we were there, a lot cheaper than Budva and Porto Montenegro. The cost of a 7-day cruising permit for Montenegro was also 90 euros, courtesy of being a catamaran.

We took a quick walk around the pleasant waterfront, before hopping in a taxi for the 5km ride to Stari Grad (Old Town). Stari Grad was up on a hill overlooking the new town with an imposing Venetian Castle overlooking some nice cobbled streets. We finished off our day with some of the best octopus we have had so far.

Next day we had a great sail along the coast with a southerly blowing up our behind. We turned into the Bay of Kotor past the twin forts that guarded its entrance where the wind dropped off to nothing. As we turned the corner and headed South into the second bay the wind picked up to 40 knots as it funneled through the narrow opening between the 2 bays. We motor sailed past all the bunkers and submarine bays left over from the war. Then the wind dropped off to nothing again as we motored over to the channel that separated the 2nd Bay from the 3rd Bay. This is the Balkans impersonation of the Norwegian Fjords.

As we popped out into the 3rd and innermost bay, we had a great view of the 2 islands, each with its own church. We did a sail past with lots of photos in the overcast conditions and then headed up to the North end of the bay for a look see.

Then we pointed south and headed back 6nm to Kotor. The wind was on the nose and at one stage, managed to hit 40kts yet again. We decided against anchoring and instead pulled into the small marina that borders the old medieval town. We could literally step off the back of the boat and cross the road to the market outside the city walls. Perfect at 69 euro a night.

Next morning we were off in a hire car to see this beautiful country. First stop was the capital where Dee had to visit the embassy to sign some papers. Getting there involved driving along a very scenic coastal highway before cutting inland through some awesome mountains before dropping down into a plateau with a large lake. Podgorica, the capital wasn’t much to write home about as it was pretty well flattened during the war. We briefly called into the Hard Rock Café to get some decent internet and then we were off.

Our first stop was the Ostrog Monastary, perched 900m above the Zeta Valley on the side of a cliff. We were two of the million people that visit here annually. It was built in 1665, God knows how (but then He would), its white building backs onto 2 large caves and is very impressive.

We continued on our way along the narrow twisting and steep road back toward the Bay of Kotor. Driving down to the bay, we stopped and admired a huge waterfall that tumbled into the bay.

We checked out the beautiful seaside towns of Risan, with its Roman mosaics, and Perast, with its fine Captains’ Houses and waterfront restaurants. Perast has a great sea-faring past, evidenced by Peter the Great having sent some of his Russian naval officers there to study maritime science in his days as Russian Tsar.

On the way back to the boat we passed numerous mussel farms and managed to find one that sold us 3kgs of very tasty mussels that we boiled up and consumed for dinner.

Next morning it was up and then up – to the top of the Castle of San Giovanni that overlooked the medieval town of Kotor. 1350 steps later (give or take), we were 1200m up overlooking the Bay of Kotor for some views to die for. The weather was starting to behave itself so we got some really good photos.

Then it was down to the car again for a drive out to Budva. We took the coast road out of Kotor, a narrow winding road along the side of the waters edge, until we got to Tivat and then the highway to Budva.

Budva was a really cool town. We parked and then walked along the boardwalk to the marina to check it out. Then we walked through the old city walls into the old town. Lots of cool shops and restaurants in the narrow walking streets. There was a castle on the point, which we went through and got some really good views from the top. Then down to the cool beach bars for the obligatory mojito or two.

We finished the day off with a return visit to Porto Montenegro, the marina/glamor hub that La Mischief called into 3 years ago. We wandered the boardwalks through the trendy shops and restaurants and checked out some of the boats. Got told off for taking a picture of the THREE boats owned by His Royal Highness Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdul Azziz al Saud (there’s a mouthful) called Golden Odyssey, Golden Odyssey 2 and the support yacht Golden Shadow.

Then it was back to Kotor to check out the celebrations for Montenegro’s “10 years of independence – 1000 years of culture” anniversary – pretty cool. Next morning we tried to check out but couldn’t find the harbour master. The guy from the Marina tried to call him without luck. Eventually we found him but it was getting too late to leave. What the heck, there’s worse things than another day in Kotor.

So off we went on a long walk along the foreshore, stopping for a nice lunch of mussels and fish. It also provided us with a bit of shopping time (Dee) and a bit of blogging time (Steve).

Next morning, we located the harbour master, checked out of Montenegro and we were off to Cavtat in Croatia.

Where’s My Mandolin? – Off to Cephalonia

May 10, 2016 ~ stull61 ~ Leave a comment

The sail up from Shipwreck Bay to Cephalonia was actually a sail at times, as the wind was on the beam for a change. Still had to motor at times as the wind varied from 30kts down to zero.
We were aiming for Sami but changed our minds halfway across and decided to go into Agios Eufimia as it looked prettier and was closer to the underground cave, according to Rod.

It was a good choice as the harbour had just received a facelift with a nice new wall and power and water facilities – plus a welcome sailors life-ring. Nice touch. We were happy about the water as our water pump had developed a leak; still useable but you needed to turn it off and on at the panel every time we wanted to use water. At the dock, we could simply plug in the shore water and use its pressure to supply the boat, completely bypassing our faulty water pump.

It was Easter Sunday and Roast Lamb is the traditional meal for the Greeks. We decided the restaurant straight over the road was as good as any, with the added advantage we could pinch their Wifi password for our Badboy wifi extender on board. And it was raining so no need to get wet walking far in the rain.

We’d spied an Australian Flag on a Canadian cat up the wall so we said hello and decided we could all rent a car the next day to see the island. Just as well as Rental Cars were expensive on Cephalonia – 71 euros it cost us. So off we went, next morning, Rita, Sten, Chris, Dee and I, heading for Lake Melissani. Using Google Maps, we sort of found where the underground lake should be – that was if the one and only road that goes to it hadn’t had a great trench dug through it. We got out and found we were in the mist of a bit of a neighborhood tiff. The police arrived and told us there was a hole in the road – really. Anyway we pressed on on foot, clambering down and up the hole and made it to the grotto, which remarkably was open in all this kerfuffle. You get to the Lake through a tunnel that someone has carved out and then a boatman picks you up and takes you on a short tour underground. The lake is quite beautiful and the interesting thing about it is that it’s fed by the sea that gets forced through some fissures across the mountains on the other side of the island, travelling the whole width of the island, through the cave and into the sea on the other side. Quite remarkable. Never heard of anything like it.

Next stop was the Cave of Drogarati, which was worth a stop, before we headed inland to the wine growing district, for a bit of wine tasting and stocking up. Then it was onto Argostoli for lunch and then a drive along the Western coast to check out some nice beaches there. We end up at Assos (jokes aside), which is on this amazing headland with a really cool Venetian Fort at the top. And when I say top, I’m talking “26 switch backs walking up to it” up. Having got our quotient of exercise for the day, we headed down the 26 switchbacks and then drove back to La Mischief, where a few glasses of wine were consumed over a few charts as we explained some of our highlights and where we had been.

Next morning, we headed off for Fiskardho, a cutesy little harbour, that somehow managed to escape being flattened by the 1953 earthquake that completely flattened the rest of the island. Unfortunately it was a really cutesy little harbour that everyone else had heard about, and with the flotilla season just starting, it had its Sorry We Are Full” sign out.

Assos looking down from the Venetian Fort

The good thing about the Greek Islands is that there is ALWAYS somewhere else good to go. In this case it was on Ithaca, the neighboring island. I’d stopped in their briefly on my way across to the Corinth Canal in 2013 so now I’d effectively completed my circumnavigation of Greek. Back in familiar waters. This time, we headed for Frikes, a cute little port with 5 other boats. It was a tiny town with beautiful, beautiful water and a free dock.

It had been stormy and overcast as we came across but the skies cleared leaving a beautiful day. We took a walk up the hill to a town called Stavros and called into a Homer’s Ulysses museum, Ithaca is supposedly the island of Ulysses from 800BC, but it’s evidently still open to debate.

We just stayed a night and in the morning we headed off to Meganisi – the Rorschach Inkblot Island.

Off to Zakinthos – Eventually!!!

May 5, 2016May 5, 2016 ~ stull61 ~ Leave a comment

I can’t remember how many times I have looked at a Greek weather forecast and then been unpleasantly surprised. But then again, these days I’m not really that surprised – more like p@ssed off than surprised.

So there we were, bashing away into 35kts of norwesterly, with Zakinthos looking hours away. We tried tacking out to sea a bit hoping for a wind angle change, but instead the wind kept building along with the swell. So I tacked back into the bay and this seemed to work better as the swell dropped and the wind angle improved – a bit. But there was no way we would make it to Zakinthos in daylight. So back to the Peloponnisos we went. Consulting Rod, we picked out Katakolon as the likely suspect and got in at 6pm with still a couple of hours of sunlight left.

It wasn’t all bad as Katakolon is the main cruise ship port for passengers visiting Olympia; Dee having called in there on a much larger version of La Mischief with her Mom and Niece in earlier times. Unfortunately, it was Greek Easter Friday so all the car rental places along with just about everything else was shut (barring the restaurants of course). We eventually got hold of Georgio’s mobile and organized a car for 30 euros. Georgio also helped us organize diesel to be delivered by truck for the next morning – we’d used a bit motoring up against headwinds a lot of the way.

In the meantime we took up the offer of yet another George to come to his house and buy some wine, olive oil, olives and eggs from his family farm. We followed him up a steep set of stairs to his house perched overlooking the harbour. Here we met his mother and father; his father having travelled the world as a Greek seaman. We sampled the wine and chatted in broken English for a while. Their second son was in Athens, an IT guy (I think) and was returning home for Easter.

Returning back down the hill, we found the car park was filling fast; and Georgio explained later, when he dropped off the car at 9pm, that a lot of Greeks were returning to the village for Easter as this is when they gathered their families together in their home villages. We could see something brewing at the church from our boat, so we wandered over and saw a lot of well dressed people gathering around – from Athens I guess. Then the procession started, lead by a whole heap of boys with staffs, followed by the local priest and then 6 pall bearers holding an effigy. There must have been 1000 people in the procession as we joined in, taking photos as it went by.

Next morning the fuel truck duly came at 8.30am and we got what we think is enough diesel to get us to the duty-free fuel at Montenegro. Then it was off to Olympia, 38kms away. Olympia has a very pretty setting, amongst olive tree groves with a stream flowing through. I couldn’t resist a dash on the athletics track – but I’m pretty sure Usain Bolt is fairly safe. The ruins are pretty ruined, but its pleasant walking through them. What is really, really good however is the museum, one of the best for Greek antiquities we’ve been through. Some of the marble statues in particular were exquisite. Whole frescos of statues – stunning. Our last stop at Olympia was the “other” museum – the museum of the ancient Olympics, which was interesting but a bit of a come down from the main museum.

Olympia done, it was off cross country to Tornese Castle built by the Franks in 1220 and improved upon by the Venetians. The restoration work is going well and it looks great, with commanding views across to Zakinthos and Cephalonia Islands. Well worth a visit.

Greek ruins and Castles ticked off, it was back to the boat and straight off to Zakinthos. We had originally intended to get to the top of the island as the weather forecast had said the winds were dying off in the afternoon; but the only thing dying off was the Poseidon Weather Forecaster – just as soon as I find him.

Hence we bashed our way to the somewhat closer Zakinthos Town, the Island’s capital. We pulled up on the wall with the help of George. I’m beginning to think every harbour guy in Greece is called George. George (the forty third) suggested we visit the supermarket ASAP as it was closing for Easter in a few minutes and we took him up on the suggestion. Then we had a wander around the town, thinking it may be a good place to see a bit of Easter action, being Easter Saturday – but it was dissappointly quiet.

Next morning, Easter Sunday (believe it or not), we left in very little wind to head around to Shipwreck Bay, the famously iconic beach that inevitably appears on all those Greek Travel Brochures. The weather was overcast but otherwise perfect for visiting the West Coast – no nasty Nor Westerlies.

As we neared the bay the water turned a wonderfully beautiful blue. It’s a spectacular setting, the white beach set amongst towering chalk coloured cliffs, with a wreck plonked neatly up the beach. We dropped anchor in 10m of water but couldn’t see the bottom. The cloudy chalk in the water was what made it so blue. We dropped the dingy and took 10 million photos of La Mischief in front of the beach, before setting foot on the iconic beach itself. There was a steady stream of day boats coming and going but it wasn’t too bad. Unfortunately it was a bit cold (for us) to go swimming so no pictures of me (or Dee) in our bikinis – so sorry!

We returned to the boat and just got our anchor up before 10 flotilla boats appeared from around the corner for a bit of anchoring mayhem in the bay.

Then it was off to Captain Corelli Country – Cephalonia.

How Do You Spell Peloponnisos?

May 5, 2016May 6, 2016 ~ stull61 ~ Leave a comment

The weather gods were behaving themselves as we pulled away from the wall at Kissamos and headed North past Kithera Island. We ducked in close to have a look see at the wreck just outside the main harbour, the result of Rum induced navigation.

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The weather window however didn’t quite last until we got to Elafonisos Island, just off the Peloponnisos mainland coast. We were aiming to anchor off one of the best beaches in Greece – according to our reliable guide, Aran, who had sailed his boat in these waters before. Nice thought except the wind was reaching 40kts and the swell was building through the narrow passage between Kithera Island and Elafonisos. So not exactly beach weather…or anchoring off a beach weather. Aran was not too perturbed though as he knew the island also had a quaint little fishing village with some good restaurants.

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We got there about 6pm after doing nearly 70nm and pulled into the town pier. It was quite a big harbour but with little usable wall, so we congratulated ourselves on finding the last spot on the wall. We then had a wander around the town and out to the cute church poking out on a spit off the other side of the harbour. The restaurant lived up to Aran’s (and our) expectations and we were all fuelled up for an early morning 5am start.

13100800_10205676163016266_3475948392331933951_n Up at the allotted hour, we were surprised to find a small cat had tucked himself in right in front of us. None of us had heard him come in. The weather was looking good so our plan was to press on as far as we could as it was Aran’s last day with us and we needed to get him somewhere close to a bus so he could get to Athens. We rounded Cape Grosso with its impressive old lighthouse and admired the interesting coast as it went by.

We ended up getting some great sailing in with the wind off our starboard stern quarter. Time to put the geneker up and chew up some miles!

We passed close by the scenic old Venetian port of Methoni with its very impressive castle right on the water

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and kept going to Pilos in the Bay of Navarinou, where the last great battle involving sailing ships took place. It effectively ended the Greek War of Independence when the British Admiral Codrington sailed into the bay and defeated the Ottoman Fleet that were stationed there. As we sailed in we spotted the very impressive memorial on top of a small island that marked the entrance of the bay.

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We parked on the town quay opposite a Finnish Coastguard vessel and next to a 48 foot Benneteau with a couple of Americans on board together with Rory, their Irish sailing coach. We were soon on their boat drinking wine and letting the Americans natter away. The six of us ended up going out to dinner to celebrate Aran’s last night with us.

Next morning Dee and I said our goodbyes to Aran and then set off to Zakinthos. Or so we thought!

El Greco Beckons

May 4, 2016May 4, 2016 ~ stull61 ~ 1 Comment

The last time I was in Crete was when I was in my late twenties and I was looking forward to getting back.

I chose Spinalonga as our first stop – Rod described it as “fascinating to sail into the enclosed lagoon watching the sea bottom slip past a few metres under the keel.”.

Equally fascinating was the large Venetian fortress that guarded the entrance. Below the castle was Greece’s last leper colony. What a picturesque spot.

You can anchor just about anywhere in the lagoon and we choose to anchor off the main town of Elounda, but found the town a little boring. In hindsight we should have anchored nearer the fortress of the cute town of Plaka (where the water was clearer for swimming) – but never mind, we had a great dingy tour of the bay and ended up at a great lunch spot in Plaka (after the obligatory girls shopping expedition!), overlooking the Venetian fortress. This was after we’d dingied over to the fortress and had a fascinating wander around the whole island. The leper colony was interesting as were the Ottoman houses that immediately predated the colony. And the fortress walls went right around the island, and up to its top, making for some great photos.

Next day it was off to Iraklion, Crete’s capital. Again, the wind was on our nose (but light) – the prevailing winds are from West to East and we were travelling West against them – them’s the breaks. We got to Iraklion at lunchtime and passed a cruise ship on the way out of the harbour. We continued to the end near the Venetian fort, where the rather full marina was and tried to raise someone, anyone to point us in the right direction. In the end we gave up and found a spot outside the marina in front of the Port Police. Very convenient, except for the ferry wash, which one high-speed ferry in particular caused havoc with our fenders and hull as we got black everywhere from the large tires that we parked up against. We put on a couple of our spring lines and that seemed to help a little.

Iraklion has a bit of a reputation as being unattractive but we actually quite liked its old city with its lively bar and restaurant scene. We even got to see a live band there that weren’t bad.

But before we hit the bars and restaurants we caught a taxi out to Knossos, the ancient Minoan Palace. I remember being blown away by it in my twenties, but this time I was quite annoyed by the reconstruction effort that Sir Arthur Evans took using copious amounts of concrete and a few other liberties. Basically it lacked authenticity and you never could work out what was real and what was reconstructed. Still it gives you a good idea of what a magnificent palace it must have been and is still worth a look.

Back in a taxi, we headed to the museum, which was very impressive. Lots of good stuff from Knossos and other Minoan archeological digs. Lots of pots and urns. It was good to see some of those iconic pieces of art and sculpture from ancient Minoan times, as well as becoming re-acquainted with the myths from those times.

The museum is right outside the old city, so we made our way slowly back to the boat, via a lot of detours into the various shops that lined the marble cobblestones.

Next day, Joe and Barbara hopped onto a high speed ferry to Santorini, 50nm away. Too close to miss. They had a great time, visiting the Island’s hotspots.

The following day, it was our last sail (motor) with Joe and Barbara up to Rethymno, with its attractive old town and cute Venetian harbour. We headed for the “marina”, a glorified harbour with a few pontoons. It was reasonably expensive by Greek standards, but most of the cost was in electricity and water, so once we declined these it wasn’t too bad.

Once safely moored, we headed into town, about a 15 minute walk around the harbour and headed for the venetian fortress. We paid our entry fee and had a nice wander around. The extensive walls were the highlight, overlooking the clear waters of the Med. There were a few interesting building inside including a wonderful domed mosque.

Then it was back into the old city in time for 5.30pm opening. Joe and I lasted for a while before retiring to one of the great sea-side bars to sample some Greek beer. The girls eventually found us and we all wandered back to the boat before going out on the town for a great last meal with Joe and Barbara before they left.

For their last day, we had decided to rent a car and head off on a tour de Crete, before their evening flight to Athens. Crete is a wonderful island to drive around. We first headed for ruins of Phaistos, Crete’s second most important Minoan palace city after Knossos. Its built on a hilltop, providing brilliant views over the plains below. It was worth a wander around, seeing Minoan ruins from the first European civilization left largely as they found them.

Then it was time to head to the beach for lunch. Matala is a cool beach side town with lots of caves on a cliff face that were frequented by hippies in the good old days. The beach looked pretty good but unfortunately the weather had turned bad so no swimming today.

Lunch over, Dee decided that we should see Agios Nikolaos. Something we should have done via a short taxi ride when we were in Spinalonga. So off we went on a wonderful drive across the middle of Crete to the North East coast. Crete is very lush and green and lots of things grow there. Quite different to the other islands.

We parked by the marina and had a sticky beak at what looks like a great place to winter at. Then we walked into town and checked out the lake that is joined to the fishing harbour by a narrow channel. Very cutesy. There were some good little walking streets that attracted the girls like honey, but not quite enough time for us boys to do what we do best when shopping is mentioned – retreat to one of the great bars around the harbour and lake. Oh well.

Then it was time to head to the airport. But first, some street food at Souvlaki-opoli – what a great name. We’d been to a lot of great restaurants with Barbara and Joe but somehow we hadn’t indulged them in a souvlaki or a gyro.

Mission completed, it was time to drop them off for their flight out to Athens from Iraklion. We thoroughly abmolished them for not spending enough time on La Mischief – 2 weeks was clearly not enough. And then they were off – back to the USA.

We got back to Rethymno to find a storm had ripped through the place. Next day the security guy from the “marina” came to complain that La Mischief was too heavy for the finger jetty we were tied up to. We’d tied up there after being told it was the visitors jetty and nobody had said anything for two days. Anyway the wind started blowing in the other direction (just as hard) and everyone seemed happy.

It was clear we weren’t going anywhere for a day or so we spent the next day doing boat chores and looking for bits and pieces in town. Once we worked out we could go anywhere the next day as well, we set about organizing a trip to Samaria Gorge. George, our hire car guy talked us into hiring a car (of course) and taking the boat trip both ways, then walking in and out of the bottom part of the gorge. The alternative was to take a bus to the top of the gorge and walk down 16kms to the bottom and catch the same boat out. Anyway by the time we’d to’d and fro’d it was too late to book the organised tour so we were stuck with hire car option.

This turned out to be an interesting option. We needed to drive over to the south coast and catch the 10.30am ferry from Sfakia to Agios Roumeli (which is inaccessible by road). George had said that the ferry would take 30 minutes, we didn’t really get there until 12 noon. Then we walked 5 kms in 2 hours up from the bottom into the gorge, turned around and walked back. The plus side of this is that we spent all our time in the most beautiful part of the gorge (evidently), but the down side was that we had to rush and spent too much time on a boat and a car and not enough of our time walking the gorge. If we had our others, we would do it with a tour that drops us at the top of the gorge so we could have a leisurely 16km walk down. Anyway the gorge was absolutely spectacular and a must do for Crete. The boat trip back to the car was good also calling in at places such as the pretty little town of Loutro, which you can only get to by boat.

With Samaria Gorge down it was time to hit the water again and head around to Hania. The wind and swell had died by now and it was a pleasant little motor sail (against the wind of course) to Hania. Hania turned out to be the pick of the harbours in Crete, a beautiful Venetian city, with cobbled walking streets and Venetian houses and fortifications, along with Ottoman mosques and minarets.

We pulled in stern to and picked up a laid line, right in the restaurant strip. Brilliant spot. Then it was off to explore the old town before Aran arrived later that evening. Aran was a friend of ours we met last year in Kasterlorizo on his boat and we’d caught up with him again in Eliat, Israel where he lives, when we did our road trip through Israel. He was sailing with us to the Ionians.

Next morning it was up early and off to the Ionian Island of Kithera, 65nms away. Or so we thought! As we made our way out of the bay, the winds gradually increased until they started to touch 45kts. Time to bail.

So we simply went out one bay and into the next, heading for Kissamos at the bottom of this bay. The harbour was three-quarters empty, a few ferries and day boats that went around to Gramvousa (an original destination until the Westerlies made it a no no), along with one other yacht.

And there we stayed for 3 nights waiting for the weather to clear up. One morning we got 61knots of wind, when we turned the instruments on. Reckon it may have been more during the night. Luckily the wind was pushing onto the wall so all was good.

Given we couldn’t go anywhere, we hired another car and drove to Palaiokhora, one really nice town on the South coast with an old castle on the point overlooking a decent harbour. Interestingly, the town had beaches on either side, being built on a headland. So we had the choice of beaches for lunch.

It’s a bit of a drive from North to South, an interesting drive, but not for Adan and I as we’d consumed a pizza each and slept it off whilst Dee drove onto Hania, as we felt we hadn’t given it justice in the day we were there. It was good to sit and people watch over a beer.

Next day, we had planned to hire mountain bikes and ride to Gramvousa on the West end of the island, but it was still blowing its mammary glands off, so we opted to keep the rental car and drive there instead. Such a beautiful bay, would have been great if the weather gods had smiled nicely at us and we’d got to sail there. It was a bit of an interesting drive there over a rather rocky road, followed by a 20 minute walk down to the beach in the wind.

Our next challenge was to find a relatively non-windy place for lunch, which we managed to do by going across to the next bay from Kissamos, where it was guarded by a bluff. And they had stuffed calamari and swordfish! The rest of the afternoon, we spent checking out the nice little bays and villages between Kissamos and Hania.

Miraculously, the wind had calmed right down the next morning as we pulled away from the dock. I say miraculously because the weather forecast was actually right.

And then it was really off to the Ionians.

Off on a Wet Safari

May 4, 2016 ~ stull61 ~ Leave a comment

After a few days diving with Panorama doing day trips out of Hurghada, we realized we needed to get on a live aboard, otherwise we would leave not having seen the Red Sea that everybody raves about.

Dee was in “let’s scour the internet” mode, as she uncovered a last-minute deal of the Emperor Superior. Less than 600 euros for the week and it was only half full. Wow. The down side we burnt 4 nights accommodation in the Marriott (at 30 bucks a night) and had to change our flights back a couple of days. But well worth it.

We moved on board on Easter Friday night at 6pm and left heading North on Saturday morning after breakfast. Our first dive was at Dolphin House on Sharb el Erg reef. Nice easy dive to make sure everyone was okey dokey. No dolphins unfortunately, but plenty of nice fish and a very nice nudibranch.

This was the start of our routine of dive eat dive eat dive eat dive eat. Anna and Sergio (soon to be Mr. and Mrs Sergio) were our two dive masters and they were loads of fun.

The second dive in the afternoon was at the Barge at Guval Island. Again a shallow dive at 14 and a bit metres, off the back of the boat, but the life on the wreck was exceptional. Huge morays and I mean huge. The biggest of them all was George at over 2m long. Georgette was huge as well and they had a few cousins as well. Nice looking smaller morays as well as well as Lion fish and a rather ugly Scorpion Fish.

The night dive was at the same site and whilst the wreck was a little bit lacking in new interesting stuff, the reef system was teaming. We managed to see a Crocodile Fish, some nice nudiobranches, crabs, starfish and the highlight of the night – a Spanish Dancer. Brilliant.

Next morning we were up at 6am and off to ….Moller, for our first deep dive. We went off the Zodiac and down to 34m. Nice wreck but the vis wasn’t great. There was some good growth on the wreck and Sergio pointed out some interesting nudibranchs on the way up the mast.

But the real wreck we had come to see was the Thistlegorm. Many say its in the best wreck on the planet and its certainly in my Top 3 (the other two being the Georges in Rabaul and the Japanese wreck in Gizo, Solomons). Our first dive on the Thistlegorm was around the sides, including a visit to one of the two locomotives that were on the seabed off to the side. Going back to the main wreck, we checked out where the bomb blew her to bits, with some shells and a tank upside down. We then checked out the propeller before finishing the dive on the deck. The second dive was very impressive.

By then, there was a raging current and we made our way down clinging to the line that Sergio had tied to the bollards. This was a penetration dive and we had great fun visiting all the holds, with lots of BSA Motor Bikes, trucks, aircrafts wings and rifles. There were two levels so we had lots to explore. It was only a 24m dive but we ended up chewing air in the current. Unfortunately a lot of my pictures weren’t very good as I used my flash when I shouldn’t have, and the reflections of all the particles in the water destroyed the photos. So no amazing photos of motorcycles in the hold. The next dive was a night dive on the Thistlegorm, an excellent setting for a night dive. And it didn’t disappoint. Lots of colourful life and some interesting fish. Our dive boat was attached to the Thistlegorm via 3 lines, 2 on the front bollards and one on the propeller axle where the bomb broke it open. We ended up going down and up this one, which was a little difficult to find in the dark. But the water was clear and we were able to spot it via torchlight a fair distance off. After the dive Sergio had to go down and untie all these lines, reversing the procedure he did when we got there.

Next day it was off to Ras Mohamed, a national park and another of the Famous Five. The first dive was at Shark Reef and the Jolanda. Ras Mohamed has got some of the best coral going and with the wonderful visibility, it makes for a great dive or four. There is no anchoring in Ras Mohamed so it’s a drop and drift dive with the zodiacs picking us up at the end. The Jolanda used to be a wreck but all that is left is some cargo, including believe it or not some toilets at about 12m. Interesting way to finish a dive. The next dive was a short motor along Ras Mahomed to Raz Zatar. This was one of the best wall dives I have done, beautiful clear water, nice coral and plenty of fish everywhere. The Gregorian Fans were massive and there were a few big pelagics floating by.

After the dive, we were told that we couldn’t go to Brothers, because of the 25kts winds. The Famous 5 became the Famous 4. Instead we made our way up past Sharm El Sheikh to the Tiran straits to dive the 3 Reefs there.

Thomas Reef was the first off the rack. There were boats everywhere, including quite a few day boats from Sharm. We got dropped off and picked up by the two zodiacs. The dive was good with lots of fish life including a couple of reef sharks and eagle rays, none of which I managed to see. The ride back to the mother ship was pretty chilly with the strong wind. The plus side is that there are a couple of rusting wrecks up on the reefs and we were able to visit one on the way back to the boat.

Not having to go to Brothers meant we were able to do another night dive – or so we thought. However when we checked the current, we realized we would end up in Sharm if we went. So we took the night off and drank some wine.

Next morning the wind was still up and it was cold getting into the wet suit. The boat had moved two reefs along to Jackson Reef, so at least we could start and end the dive on the boat rather than a cold and wet dingy ride. Another nice dive, the highlight being a turtle that swam by.

As usual, we had breakfast after our first dive and then a little nap as we headed back to Raz Mohamed to a dive site called Anemone City. Very aptly name as it had the biggest anemones ever. There were whole schools of anemone fish living in a single anemone. I was still chewing air like I eat chocolate cake – too fast. So I ended up being first back into the zodiac. Dee was skipping a few dives so I got to dive with Sergio and he’d wave me good-bye as I inflated my Surface Buoy for the boatman to pick us up. The rest of the divers would come up 10 minutes after me.

From here we moved around to the Dunraven wreck site. The Dunraven sank when the Captain went on a drinking binge following news that his first mate was sleeping with his wife – or so the story goes. Anyway it’s an interesting upside down 19^th Century wreck that you can penetrate via a couple of holes in its side. Its not that big so the second half of the dive is up on the reef, where we saw a giant Napoleon fish and some more giant morays.

For the night dive, we dove where we parked the boat around the corner from the Dunraven. Nice shallow night dive with some trevally who followed us looking to hunt in the light of our torches. Nice lion fish, a moray that was out and about and some interesting terrain.

After dinner, the Captain pointed South and we had a very rolly night heading down to the Salem Express, a car ferry wreck with a very tragic story. Over 1000 people died coming back from a Mecca pilgrimage when the Captain tried to take a shortcut on a stormy moonless night. It took us all night to get there in unexpected really windy conditions.
And it didn’t let up in the morning when we hopped into the zodiacs to find the wreck. Normally they tie the boat to the wreck but the swell and the wind meant we had to tie up on a reef that was a way away. So we needed to use the Zodiacs to find the wreck. Or try to find the wreck, as without GPSes on the Zodiacs and with a big swell running, we spent a good 30 minutes getting sprayed with salt water searching to find it. In the end, Sergio had to return to the mother ship to get better directions. Our adventure on the high seas ended successfully and it was a relief to get into the water and out of the wind. The wreck was on its side in 30m of water, the top being at 10m. We swam around the outside of the boat, visiting the propeller and then through the loading doors that sprang open when the boat hit the reef. We only went in a little way as the Egyptians consider it to be a sacred place given the large loss of life. We got some nice pictures of the (unused) lifeboats, masts and port holes.

Back at the boat we headed for Panorama Reef, which had some nice corals and fish life but nothing special to report. After lunch we moved again and dove on Middle Reef, which was an interesting shallow dive those potato coral bommies with nice swim throughs. The night dive was at the same spot and that was really good. We descended right on top of a large moray that was swimming around looking for a meal. We then got followed around by a couple of Trevally, who hunted in our torchlight. The lion fish also got in on the act, which is a bit disconcerting to find one right next to you as you try to take a photo of something else. We also came across a Slipper Lobster and a giant Napoléon Wrasse asleep (well trying to) in a hole in the reef. I don’t think he was that impressed with all these divers rolling up to his front door taking photos. Then to top it all off, we had some neat squid swim past at the end of the dive.

The next morning, our last, we headed for Gifton Island for our 6.30am dive. Nice but nothing to write home about. The last dive (for us) was Gota Abu Ramada, which with the wind, had drawn a crowd. A couple of nice bommies rounded out the last of my 20 dives on the Emperor Superior, to add to the six I did with Panorama as day trips.

Whilst I love diving and it was great to be in the water doing all those dives, I have got to say that the Red Sea didn’t really live up to its hype for me. I expected a lot more big fish and I didn’t sea a single shark or dolphin. This would have changed if we’d been able to dive Brothers of course, so that was a bit disappointing. On the plus side, the water on most of the dives was clear and the visibility was very good (but I’ve had similar or better elsewhere). The Thistlegorm was one of the best wrecks I’ve dove on so that a plus. The biggest plus was Anna and Sergio, a lovely Spanish couple who really looked after us and worked their buts off doing it. The food was good and the crew were great but the boat needed some TLC.

The last dive of the day was the wreck that lay in Hurghada Harbour, a Russian made minesweeper that was sunk by the Israelis in the 60’s. We couldn’t go because we were flying the next day, so we had a wine or three whilst everyone else went down to 30m. The others soon caught up as we sat on the top deck and enjoyed the Sunshine with a group of Poms, a Hungarian, a South Korean, 3 Spanish and a couple of Swedes. The boat caters for 25 divers, we had a nice group of 12 on board, which made things very comfortable. We had our last dinner on board and headed off to the Marina for some more drinks. By 10pm I was done and dusted so off to bed I went. Dee and the rest carried on in my absence upstairs on the top deck as I slept like a baby.

Next morning it was up at 7am for breakfast and then off to the airport – Egypt done and dusted!

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