What a thrill it was to see the yellow taxi
appear around the bend, and emerging from it the smiling faces of Kathy, Leonie
and bag boy extraordinaire Steve, ready for ten days of respite from the
southern winter sailing the Greek islands aboard Common Sense. Terry and I had spent a couple of days at Zea Marina
in Piraeus getting the boat ready – and I would like to give the place a plug
for its excellent services and much more reasonable rates than the marinas
further to the south-east, which appear to be targeting the superyacht market
(40 euros per night at Zea vs 175 at Glifadha!). Zea has very competent docking guys who escort
you into your slip with their dinghy, friendly, helpful reception staff, clean
showers and a list of good recommended boat services. Robert, the electrician who
finally fixed our dodgy wind generator, was outstanding.
Once everyone had settled in and started to
come to terms with our limited space, non-existent privacy and the vagaries of
gas systems and marine toilets, we took to the streets of Piraeus for the
traditional perpata, along with a few
thousand Athenians. Dinner at a small family restaurant was an introduction to
such delights as the traditional Greek salad, tsatziki dip, zucchini fritters,
cheese pies and excellent beer for 2.50 for a 500 ml glass. This was an
experience repeated many times in tavernas, with the addition of fresh
calamari, souvlaki, moussaka, beetroot salad, octopus and other fresh and
delicious foods.
The next day was spent preparing in
earnest, filling up our tanks with water and fuel and shopping for provisions
in the five storey Carrefours supermarket, an experience in itself. In the
afternoon we swam at the local beach – an unattractive setting and stony ground
(making the Elle McPherson walk down to the sea a total impossibility: it ends
up as a sort of mincing stagger), but beautiful clear cold water. Kathy noted
that some of the heftier locals gave us an opportunity to observe Archimedes’
Principle at first hand, though there were plenty of Adonis and Aphrodite types
as well. We followed this with further observations from a harbourside coffee
lounge and a sunset perpata right
around the circular harbour, checking out the luxury yachts, tiny fishing boats
and ‘ouzo palaces’ nestled together in this ancient harbour that once protected
the galleys of the Athenian fleet.
So finally it was time to head for the
islands. We had planned to do a circuit of the Saronic Gulf in a series of
comfortable day sails, anchoring out in quiet bays or docking in fishing
harbours as the wind strengthened in the afternoon. The gods of sea and wind –
Poseidon and Aeolus in these parts – smiled throughout most of our cruising
days, offering us smooth seas and at least some wind assistance if we needed to
motor. The first day took us to the nearby island of Aegina, a popular weekend
retreat for Athenians who can afford to escape the heat, pollution and crowds
of the capital. We anchored in Ormos Marathona, a quiet bay on the western side
of the island where we had a swim then rowed the dinghy in to a tavern set over
the water for a memorable sunset meal.
After coffee, a morning swim (Kathy is
actually part mermaid and needs to be hydrated regularly) and breakfast we set
off south for the island of Poros. This was a day of true Mediterranean sailing
– dodging ferries and charter fleets, constantly putting up and taking in
sails, turning on the motor when the wind suddenly died, then up with the sails
again as 20 knots appeared from nowhere. With five of us aboard to keep watch
and deal with lines and winches, this was fun instead of being stressful and
exhausting. It was also beautiful, as we sailed past the various small islands
rising steeply from the deep aquamarine waters of the Aegean. Steve did a fine
job on his first stint at the helm – he inspired such confidence that Terry
actually dozed off for a while!
The harbour in Poros is a busy place, with
ferries and hydrofoils coming and going, the local car ferry constantly
crossing between the island and the Peloponnese mainland, fishing boats both
high tech and basic wooden rowboat style, and pleasure craft from superyachts
to speedboats, charter yachts and cruisers, some of whom have settled in and
are not going anywhere in a hurry. The busiest place is the town dock where all
these boats seem to jostle for space, so we decided to stay in the anchorage on
the northern side of the strait. Because so many of the islands are actually
the peaks of submerged mountains, there is deep water right up to the shore and
it can be difficult to set the anchor – and to be confident that it will hold
in the switching winds. You need to put out more chain than we are used to - and
then there is the worry that your boat has such a wide circle of potential movement
that there is a risk of collision with other boats or the rocks near the shore.
We stayed put, but needed to check constantly as our position changed relative
to the land and our neighbouring boats.
We decided to take the dinghy over to one
of the tavernas on the nearby shore, but that was before Matina, the persuasive
owner of Matina’s Taverna, intercepted us from the dockside. Matina’s Taverna
it was. And the food was wonderful: fresh, tasty and so generously portioned
that the mermaids decided to swim back to the boat to work it off.
Over on the other side of the strait, the
Peloponnese side, we saw Hephaistos
at anchor and had a chance to catch up with our old friends Lauren and Olivier.
It was good to share stories and to hear about their adventures over the past
couple of months, since we were in Malta together.
In order to explore this rather wild and
rugged island properly, we decided to hire scooters for the day. Steve, Terry
and Kathy had had enough riding experience to convince the proprietor that they
could be trusted in charge of a scooter, but Leonie was required to demonstrate
her competence – a test she passed with flying colours. As for me, my lack of
experience and famous lack of coordination saw me relegated to the back of
Terry’s scooter – much better than ending up splattered and broken on a
mountain road somewhere. It was a fantastic day. We climbed ever higher, taking
in awesome views over the Aegean islands, stopping to pay homage to Poseidon at
the ruins of his temple and stopping for a dip and a drink at the beautiful but
unfortunately named Vagionia Beach. Terry
located a couple of geocaches to add to his tally, one of them taking us up to
an ancient windmill high on a hill overlooking the old town. Drinks with
Olivier and Lauren, a barbecue aboard Common
Sense and a general exhausted collapse into our bunks, rocked gently by the
swell. I only had to get up once to check if we’d dragged anchor.
Our guy on the dock served good coffee and
cheap beer, so we were quite comfortable despite the wind kicking up a bit of
chop from time to time. We stocked up on excellent fruit and veges, including
those huge tomatoes, ripened on the vine, that smell and taste like the essence
of summer. Swimming in Ermione involved a steep climb down a rocky path and a
stagger over the stones, but the crew were undaunted and the perfect water was
its own reward.
So where to next? We had five days left,
and it looked as though the final day, Thursday, was due for strong Melteme
winds – a good time to be back in the marina and maybe do a day trip to see the
sights of Athens. So, working backwards, we wanted to spend Wednesday sailing
back; Monday and Tuesday we decided to spend in the town of Ancient Epidhavros (not to be confused with New Epidhavros in a nearby bay) which
would enable us to see the amphitheatre there and perhaps get to the ancient
city of Mycenae quite close by. So, Sunday was a pleasant enough sail -
surrounded by hundreds of craft out for the weekend - back up to the Straits of
Poros where we found a quiet anchorage near Ormos Vidhi at the far western end
of the channel and enjoyed another on-board barbecue accompanied by Steve’s
G&Ts, ouzo, and supermarket wine that comes in big plastic cordial bottles.
After the obligatory morning dip, we were
able to sail most of the way to Epidhavros , heading north and then west around
Methana (named for its smelly sulphurous volcanic fumes) aided by a moderate
north-easterly wind. We managed to find a good spot to anchor, on a shallow
bank (4 metres) that kept us just clear of the swimming beach in Palaia
Epidhavros. We had dinner that night in a hotel restaurant that happened to
have the ruins of a temple to Artemis in the garden (ho hum, another 5th century
BC ruin!) so we offered a libation to the goddess. Virgin sister of Apollo and
protector of young women, Artemis is known to be particularly vengeful and
creative in her punishments, so it pays to stay on her good side. The
restaurant owner was quite a character. He had travelled extensively, lectured
on Greek culture and had strong opinions on most things, his native land
included. This is a joke he told us that he said captured the Greek national
character:
Jesus
Christ returned to earth and granted a miracle to three men. To a German he
said, what do you want and the German said, my neighbour has a beautiful house,
I would like a house like my neighbour’s. And it was granted. To the Englishman
Jesus said, what do you want and the man said, my neighbour has a fantastic
car, I would like a car like my neighbour’s. This also was granted. Then Jesus
turned to the Greek and asked, Spiros, what do you want? Spiros thought
carefully and said, my neighbour has an excellent goat that provides milk,
cheese and kids for meat. Do you want a goat like your neighbour’s? asked
Jesus. No, I want my neighbour’s goat to die, said Spiros.
Fortunately we have only encountered the
generous side of the Greek character so far. Despite economic hardship, people
seem to know how to enjoy life. As one man told us, “We have the sun, the sky and the
sea. Even the Germans can’t take that away from us!”
So, back to the journey. We arranged to
hire a car – a Volvo – to be delivered the next morning so we could visit
Mycenae and the amphitheatre. Steve was the driver, giving the Captain a break
from the helm for the day, and he did a sterling job, especially on the second
leg of the trip where we managed to choose the ‘scenic route’ that wound
through the mountains and offered some very exciting switchbacks and unexpected
potholes.
Mycenae was once the centre of the Greek
world, home to Agamemnon who commanded the united Greek forces in the siege of
Troy and was then murdered by his wife and her lover on his return home. His
son Orestes avenged the murder. The palace site occupies a high, barren peak
with a commanding view of the surrounding farmland all the way to the sea: it
would have been almost impossible to attack, but also quite a march to get to
anywhere else. I could just imagine a messenger struggling to the top then
being told, OK, now here’s my message back to him. Tucked away behind the car park is a huge stone vault, long
ago robbed of its treasure, that is purported to be Agamemnon’s tomb.
The exciting drive mentioned earlier took
us back to Epidhavros to the sanctuary of Asclepius the healer and the amphitheatre,
one of the largest and best preserved in Greece. The acoustics in the theatre
are remarkable. Sounds made at the ‘sweet spot’ at centre stage can be easily
heard in all 1400 seats, including the cheap seats way up the back. We tested
this successfully despite quite a lot of ambient noise, then Leonie, Steve and
I treated the scattering of tourists to a rousing chorus of Advance Australia Fair. At least the
Chinese girls applauded politely. Apparently the theatre design filters out low
frequency sound (crowd mutterings) and amplifies high frequencies like music
and the voices of actors. Once again, some ancient technologies were quite
astounding.
Next in a packed itinerary was a snorkel
over the ‘sunken city’ at Kalymnios Beach, just around from our anchorage. Well
it was more of a sunken villa than a whole city, but still very interesting and
a great way to relax and cool off after a day in the car. The walls, a paved
road and the remains of large terracotta storage vessels were still clearly
visible in the shallow water. Back to town for a few cold beers, dinner and a
slightly bumpy unsettled night at anchor.
We must have scrimped on prayers and
sacrifices somewhere along the way, because the wind next day was blowing
strongly from the north west, right on the nose. As we headed out of the bay, a
moderate swell was also evident. So, it was a long beat back with the winds
gusting up to 45 knots as we threaded our way through the big ships at anchor
outside Piraeus harbour. Back at Zea, there was far too much wind to back into
a tight slip so Terry skilfully manoeuvred us in bows-to. Phew! The crew looked
surprisingly chipper, and after a shower and a bit of a clean up we were all up
for a night on the town.
The Monastiraki district is the place to be
in Athens in the evening, with hundreds of shops, restaurants and bars. The
illuminated Acropolis and Parthenon shine like a beacon above the lively scene.
Kathy exercised her advanced shopping skills while Leonie seemed to win the
heart of every shopkeeper and restaurateur we met. Another great dinner
accompanied by traditional music and an opportunity to watch hundreds of people
pass by on their evening perpata.
Our final day was to be a tour of Athens on
a hop on hop off city bus. The trip up to see the Acropolis was fine; though
predictably hot and crowded it is still an awesome place. Phase 2 was not a
success, with a demonstration in the city centre meaning that the bus was
diverted through the grimy dilapidated residential quarters of Athens, missing many of the highlights and prolonging a hot,
uncomfortable ride to the point where we started to get anxious about being
back on time. It meant that we couldn’t enjoy a relaxed farewell meal together
– just a final shower, pack and a quick coffee – but maybe that was just as
well, as I for one was feeling pretty emotional at having to say goodbye.
Thanks Kathy, Leonie and Steve for making the LONG trek from Bunbury, Western
Australia all the way to Piraeus and back, and for being such an awesome crew.
We hope you have some happy memories of life aboard Common Sense, and remember that those T shirts entitle you to join
us any time, anywhere!