Sailing Calista2 June 2023 – 7 June 2023
We had collected our rental car the previous afternoon so we were able to get up early and leave the marina shortly after breakfast, (around 7.30am) to drive into Athens to collect our friends from New Zealand. As we were early we were able to call into Leroy Merlin and pick up a few things. We drove into the centre of Athens and it was bedlam, lots of narrow one way streets and so congested. Eventually we arrived at the hotel and luckily our friends were waiting outside. We didn’t hang around and drove straight back to Chalkida.
We drove the long way around the bay to where the old bridge was to show our friends where we would be crossing later that evening/early morning. We stopped and could see where the marina is located and the bridge in the distance.
The electronic sliding arched bridge was built in 1962 to connect the island of Evia to mainland Greece. The bridge only opens at night of selected days of the week.
Back at Chalkida we walked up to Yanis restaurant for a late lunch. The Paul and I called around to the Port Police to get our Transit Log stamped out, then to the Port Authority to pay for a few extra nights as we had stayed longer than anticipated. We also called into the Sailing Club to square up for the marina berth.
Around 8.15pm we untied the lines and motored away from the berth, heading around to the anchorage to wait for the bridge to open later that evening.
Luckily we had gone out to the anchorage in daylight as we encountered the chain was twisted. Dam! Paul discovered that the chain had also bunched up inside the windlass tube and was jambed. It took some time to free it and untwist the chain.
Once the chain issue had been resolved we were able to sit and relax waiting in anticipation for the Port to call us on Channel 12.
It was a beautiful evening and there were about 8 other yachts waiting.
At 2.30am we got called up on the VHF and told be be ready in 10 minutes.
We lined up behind one of the other yachts and kept a safe distance and proceeded to follow.
Near the left hand side of the wall the waters were still a little turberlent and took some control to keep Calista in the centre of the channel. We kept motoring up the Gulf and finally dropped anchor in the bay of Nea Ataiki and fell into bed around 3.30am. We were all so tired.
The following morning after a good sleep we left the anchorage just after 10.00am. I made some raspberry and chocolate muffins on the way for a late morning tea.
We anchored in Skarponeria bay for lunch and a swim. The water was still a little cool at 23.4 degrees, but still alot warmer than New Zealand waters.
There were several gorgeous properties with well manicured gardens.
Malcolm trying out the helm. He was instrumental in introducing us to the Yachting Magazine which featured the new Amel 50. After reading the article Paul was keen to see the boat in person, and suggested we go to France on Holiday, which in turn resulted in us visiting the Amel Boat Yard and Cannes Boat Show in the South of France. We were both very impressed and could imagine ourselves living onboard such a lovely boat. After also visiting the Southhampton Boat Show in England and looking at several other yachts we ended up placing an order for our very own Amel 50.
Late in the afternoon we headed over to the other side of the Gulf. There was no wind so Paul and Malcolm decided it was a good idea to stop half way, and drop anchor and chain down into the 80 metres of depth to try to get the twist out of the chain.
Not a good idea, as it was quite a strain on the windlass to pull it up again.
We anchored in a pretty bay at Melouna Beach – not a soul in sight. We had to pull up anchor and move slighly south as Paul and the others had noticed an enormous cable in the water rising up in a big loop from the sea floor. We didn’t want to run the risk of getting hooked up by the cable.
As we were leaving the anchorage the following morning Paul noticed that we didn’t have any power with the throttle. (I had also been trying to turn the bread maker on at the time, but I’m sure it had nothing to do with the trottle issue) Paul quickly furled out the sails to get Calista away from the coast. We initailly motorsailed with little wind and minimal engine power and wern’t making very good progress. Luckily the wind picked up and we managed to sail into the next anchorage and drop the anchor well out in the bay.
We dingied ashore the following morning for a coffee and walk around.
After some research on Google and responses from the Amel Technical Group, Paul shut down all the power on Calista to enable a reboot of the systems. Seemed to have done the trick as we had full throttle power again. Fingers crossed …
There wasn’t alot of wind so we motored back over to the other side to Loutra Spa Bay where the hot pools were in the rocks on the foreshore.
We dingied ashore but had second thoughts of venturing into the hot pools as it was crowded and so hot and we decided to swim off the back of Calista instead. Trish being a strong swimmer swam back to Calista from the shore.
The anchorage was only suitable for a day stop and so late afternoon we lifted anchor and motored a little bit further along the coast to Aidipsos.
We anchored in front of several tavernas and dingied ashore to one of the tavernas for dinner where we could keep an eye on Calista out in the anchorage.
With the sun starting to go down we headed back to Calista.
After leaving the anchorage of Aidipsos we anchored off Lichades Island.
We had some lunch then enjoyed a refreshing swim off the back of the boat in beautiful clear waters.
With perfect sea conditions, we circumnavigated the small island in the dingy, .
The houses looked pretty desserted so not sure if anyone was living here permanently. Probably weekend houses for the local fishermen.
After our swims we left the anchorage and motored up to Oreoi to where our friends on Tipheret were anchored out from the marina. As we approached the anchorage we had issues with our thottle again and the engine went into limp mode again. We had to creep out a little bit into deeper waters away from Tipheret and drop the anchor.
We dingied ashore later for dinner.
We went ashore again the following morning. Paul had left his sunglasses behind at the taverna the night before. Unfortunately they weren’t open so he has lost his good sunglasses.
In 1965 the large marble statue of a bull was found buried at the beach of the modern day village of Oreoi. The monument with a height over 3 metres, dates back to 290-280BC. Despite a few missing limbs and horns the statue is now preserved from the elements.
We all met up at the cafe for a coffee before heading up to the Sporades Islands.
