Sailing CalistaJune 2024
It is getting rather depressing just hanging around waiting for the transmission issue to be resolved. At the moment we are waiting on delivery of a new transmission from Volvo Penta in Nantes and expected delivery is supposedly 8 – 10 days.
In the meantime we are practically doing nothing but wait and wait … Highlight of the day seems to be focused around morning tea when we look forward to our coffee and cake. Then it is usually a trip to the shipyard to check on any deliveries and then a trip to the supermarket. It is just too hot to go on any walks.
The Sailing Holidays flotilla came into the anchorage again and decided to anchor near to us. There were 13 yachts and the lead boat was ensuring that all the flotilla yachts were nicely spaced in the anchorage.
Once all the yachts had arrived and were settled, they went ashore to the beach for a few drinks. It was lovely to have some company nearby and something for us to watch.
The weather is warming up quite considerably and there doesn’t appear to be any rain forecast, so Paul removed the winter clears to enable more air flow into the cockpit area.
We do have some summer screens but decided to leave the area open for the time being.
Paul got the paddleboards out and inflated them, firstly with the electric pump then hand pumped the last of the required PSI. We went for a paddle over to the beach at the base of the Franchthi Caves then I headed back to Calista, but Paul couldn’t help himself and paddled further over to the private island nearby for a look.
The anchorage is settled most evenings and there are lovely reflections from the Church and town.
We are anchored next to the Franchthi Caves and at night the caves are illuminated.
The weather across pretty much of Greece has ramped up and there seems to be a heat wave.
So far we haven’t had the desire to swim in the anchorage as the water hasn’t looked that inviting. We did however check the engine and transmission again by lifting anchor and motoring a short distance before the hoses got hot again and we had to drop anchor. This time we are anchored further out near the caves but closer to where the taxi boat trips backwards and forwards from the private island. The water looks to be much better.
We could even see the rudders which we hadn’t been able to see for awhile. The water was 27.9 degrees and one evening we were tempted to have a nudie swim to cool off before retiring to bed. The temperatures during the night were still up around the mid to late 20’s.
We took the new dingy for a trip around the private island of Koronida. The island was owned by the late George P. Livanos. He was a Greek shipping tycoon who use to own the Greek Shipping Company Ceres Helenic Shipping and also a smaller ferry line of Russian made hydrofoils that service the Greek Islands.
The son, Peter Livanos inherited Ceres Shipping after his father passed away in 1997. His net worth in 2015 was $1.7 billion and ranked amongst the wealthiest Greeks. There is a regular stream of taxi boats and barges travelling to and from the island with trade vehicles and work people.
With the heat over Greece and outer Islands there had been some drama out on Symi this week where a famous British Doctor, Michael Mosely died while hiking a track back to his accommodation by taking a wrong turn. The island is very barren with no trees and the heat in the afternoon was around 36 degrees, unfortunatley his body was found four days later. We were familiar with the Island as we had visited the island a couple of seasons ago.
With all this hot weather we noticed one morning that one of the paddleboards had deflated due to the heat. On investigation, one of the seams on the paddleboard had blown apart with the heat. We’ll have to buy some glue and try to make a repair.
After being told that the parcel would be at Kilada in 8-10 days, and still no delivery as at the 13th June, Paul fired off an email to Maud at Amel to follow up on the delivery. Remarkably Kevin replied to say he had finally got a tracking notice. It appears the parcel has finally reached Athen’s airport on the 13th June and the broker has been notified. It seems to be back to the waiting game again. I am so over this.
We dingied ashore on the morning of the 15th June and to our surprise the package was sitting underneath a yacht not far from the Chandliery shop.
We unpacked the crate and there it was – the gearbox. BUT no heat exchanger or wiring harness which we believed was to be included. We think, when we checked with Amel and they spoke with Volvo in Nantes, the discussion somehow got lost in translation.
Patrick from Tropic Sailing and our friend Claire who was on Patrick’s charter come over to Kilada to see us one afternoon. They were currently stern tied in Ermioni, just over the hill and caught a taxi to come and see us. We had a nice catch up over lunch and they gave us much needed moral support.
Not long after they had left, there was a fire in the direction of Ermioni. We had the excitement of watching the planes and helicopters fly over the anchorage after collecting water from the sea to douse the fire.
We decided to fit the summer shade covers to the cockpit as it was sweltering. It made a big difference and blocked out the strength of the sun while allowing air to still flow.
The next day, after the fire over in Ermioni, we witnessed another fire. This time it was very near to the township of Korindi and we could see the flames roaring up the side of the hill towards houses. Eventually the fire was doused and in the evening we could see the red hot embers still glowing.
The full moon, also known as the Strawberry Moon was a stunning sight on the evening of June 21st, 2024. The strawberry moon rises one day after the summer solstice in the North Hemisphere. There was so much clarity in the moon, photos don’t do justice.
A few days later when the anchorage was calm we hired a rental car and we dingied over to the Shipyard and loaded the crate into the back of the rental car.
Between the two of us we managed to lift the crate carefully into the dingy and we transported it back to Calista.
We got the crate safely onto the transom then we carried it up to the top deck where we left it in readiness for the mechanics.
With the weather settled, we decided to go exploring in the comfort of the air conditioning in the car. We arranged to catch up with some friends, Chris and Melissia who were currently in Porto Chelli and we met up over lunch.
We checked out where the fire had raged through the countryside at the base of Korindi. It was amazing to see some of the olive trees and been burnt to the ground while others were left unscathed where the fire had gone around them.
After leaving our friends in Porto Chelli we drove around the coast. With a strong breeze blowing through the straight between Dokos Island and the mainland there were quite a few yachts out sailing. We ended up in Ermioni where we stopped for a stroll around.
We found a lovely bar overlooking the water.
Over a refreshing G&T we reminised how we had sailed along the passage.
After our drink we drove up to the lookout at the top of Ermioni. We think it was previously a restaurant but perhaps wasn’t successfull, because just down the road a short distance is a sewage treatment plant.
There were quite a few boats in the harbour.
The following day we took a drive up to Poros. Along the way we stopped and checked out the Hydra Beach Resort. The gardens were kept immaculate and were very colourful.
The resort looked out across to Hydra. It was a long weekend, with Monday being Labour Day, the resort was very busy with families enjoying the holiday weekend.
We came across a crumbling seaside cottage which would have been awesome in its day with it’s own jetty that has since been destroyed by the sea except for a few remaining piles.
We stopped off at Plaka Beach Bar & Resto for lunch. The restaurant overlooked the entrance of Poros and boats were coming and going.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch, baby calamari and a green apple salad.
After lunch we drove around the waterfront and looked back across to the Poros township where we had visited last season.
From Poros, we decided to drive on out to Methana Island, a volcanic pennisular. In one of the bays there were several different types of fish farms.
The sulfer springs at Methana possess the richest source of silicic acid in the world and has therapeutic qualities. The waters reach up to 41 degrees and would be rather pleasant during the winter months, but there were a few bathers still swiming in the waters even with the heat of today.
At the end of the road we came across a small secluded village.
Arriving back in Kilada late afternoon we took a drive out to the coast to Paralia Lepitsa, a popular beach for the locals.
There was still alot of heat in the sun so we found a spot under cover and enjoyed a cool G&T to end our busy day.
From the top of the hill in Kilada we saw the Basimakopoulos Shipyard below, the yard occupying a vast area of land. Apparently the Basimakopoulos family own a lot of property around the town.
