Greece August 2016

We were pleased to leave Turkey without any mishaps after the failed coup. We took a bus back to Thessaloniki from Istanbul, both to see the countryside of Northern Greece and also to avoid Istanbul airport during these troubled times.

Young lad selling bagels on the freeway

 We were happy to find  Artemis V as we had left her a month earlier. We had left our bimini with a sailmaker for repair and when we arrived, he was there to return it to us and refused payment! We insisted he left us with a handful of toy koalas for his kids.  It didn't take us long to set off once again, now, for the first time going south.

Sunset northern Greece

 This effectively marked the start of our journey down the east coast of Greece, back out of the Aegean and the Mediterranean. We again saw few other boats,

Gulf of Volos

Chalkida

except when we stopped on the island of Skiathos which is the home port for a charter fleet.  Most of these boats head for the beautiful northern Sporades islands which, sadly, we had no time to visit.

Skiathos Island

We visited the Volos Gulf, stopping at delightful little fishing villages and taking advantage of their sweet tavernas lining the waterfront.

There was a very strong Meltemi blowing down the central Aegean at this time and we were pleased for the shelter the gulf afforded us. In fact, this year there was one strong Meltemi after another. Friends of ours who planned to meet us in the Gulf of Evvia had to turn back to the harbour in Paros when they found themselves sailing into the jaws of a Force 8 blow!
We sailed between the Island of Skiathos and the mainland, into the Trikeris Strait.  In the middle of the narrow mouth of the strait, is the Lefteris reef. Here, in ancient times, two of the ships of the Persian attacking fleet were sunk. Thereafter, the Persian king, Xerxes ordered his ships to carry one ton blocks of stone to the site and he built on top of the reef  a column as a navigation warning.  This was the world's first navigational marker, build 250 years before the first lighthouse, at Alexandria in Egypt.
We travelled down the Gulf of Evvia, and had a pleasant stop-off at Chalkida where we caught up with friends. The Gulf narrows dramatically at Chalkida. There is a very strange phenomenon here, where the current changes direction every six hours, running at up to 8.5 knots at peak flow. At the change of direction, the water is still for only 2 mins.  The width of the gulf is only 40m at this point with an opening bridge. The bridge is opened only at night, during slack tide.  Our turn to cross was at 3a.m.  Fortunately there is a lovely, shallow and sheltered bay just south of the bridge where we could grab a few hours sleep until daylight. We picked up friends just south of the bridge and went to the little island of Kea where there is an ancient carving of a lion, perched high above the mountainous village, in a field all alone. On our walk up we met a local

and found some sustenance.

Picking figs

 The lion is carved out of a huge 6m. rock and has an enigmatic grin which faces the village. The artist is unknown and it is unclear when he was carved. Dating puts him anywhere between 6th and 12th century B.C.   

Lion of Kea

Appeasing Poseidon

As we travelled south, we passed Cape Sounion.  It was quite a thrill to be sailing just under the temple of Poseidon. We offered him a sacrifice, pouring some of our precious alcohol into the sea for him. Hopefully that will portend calm seas for our next year at sea.



We stopped off at Athens, where once again Artemis V was left in a marina while we travelled overland to Peloponnesus with Aussie friends. After visiting the beautiful ancient sites of Epidauvros, Nafpleon and Monemvasia,

Theatre at Epidauvros

Ancient town of Monemvasia

it was back to the boat for the last leg of our summer trip, to the Bay of Kilada, where there is an excellent shipyard. On our way into the bay, we sailed past  beautiful little Kilada Island, owned by the shipping magnate Lavranos.

Kilada Island

Well earned rest

Kilada  is now home for Artemis V for the next year..While there, we met an Australian/Greek kayaker,  pulling her kayak up onto the beach.  She runs kayaking tours in the Ionian Sea but she was in the process of completing a 1,200km. trip from Corfu, through the Corinth Canal (special dispensation to do so since she was herself a Spartan by birth) finishing her trip in Nafplion.  When we met her, she had just completed a long day of paddling, against a strong headwind. We salute her.
After a busy two weeks of maintenance, we bade "goodbye" to Artemis V, to drive through the Greek countryside, full of beautiful old olive trees with their gnarled old trunks, oleander and fig trees, across the Corinth Canal, to Athens and to our plane to take us home to Australia. En route we stopped for a night in Doha, an interesting juxtaposition of new and old..

Market in Doha

Outdoor airconditioners at a restaurant

Modern Doha