Antio kai Geia

[Goodbye and Hello]

Gulf of Volos

It was getting time for Tony and Lynn to depart. We had originally planned to sail to Skiathos, from where they would fly back to Bristol, and from where Charlotte would arrive two days later. But we had lost a day waiting for the Chalkis bridge to be fixed. This would mean them departing for Skiathos on the day of their flight, which didn’t leave much contingency. As a result, they caught the Flying Dolphin from Volos to Skiathos the day before, and we followed more slowly by sail.

Lynn and Tony (and MB)

The Gulf of Volos is an enormous enclosed bay on mainland Greece, to the west of the Sporades islands. It is over 20 NM from its southern mouth to Volos at the northern tip. The public quays are big, although reports are that visitor berthing is limited. On the inside of the long breakwater, local “youf” hang out and apparently exchange money for strange substances. Fortunately, the local charter company, Sail Aegean, allow visitors on their quay through prior arrangement with their manager Christos.

Their website provided his email address, and he WhatsApp’d me within the hour. Yes, of-course they could fit us in. When did we want to arrive? As it was a Sunday, we allowed him to pick a time suitable for him, and there he was on the quay to show us our space and to take our lines.

It being a sunny, Sunday evening, the world and his wife [Ed – the world and their partner?] were out in force. And sometime later, dressed in our Sunday best, we joined them. [Ed – Richard in jeans as he ripped his only set of slacks]. There is a pedestrian-only prom, lined by a myriad bars and cafes. We chose the one with the comfiest seats, and, armed with aperos, watched a Greek world pass by. There were some very-dressed women in shiny stilettos, and Richard and Tony may have had to avert their eyes at times…

Quite a few tavernas were closed, so I had found one over the other side of the harbour, about 15-minutes’ walk away. We could see people inside, and it looked very welcoming. The people inside turned out to be a large group of Chinese, and one other Greek couple. It wasn’t quite the bustling taverna we had expected, but it turned out to have excellent food.

Our trip to Meteora the next day was spectacular [see blog ‘Evangeliyacht’]. That evening, back in Volos, our final dinner with Lynn and Tony was a complete meat-fest in a taverna attached to a butcher’s shop. Excellent skewers of large, succulent chunks of chicken and pork souvlaki, with hot, crisp chips. What’s not to like?

Christos, of Sail Aegean, is a genuinely nice man. And extremely hot! Even Richard remarked what a good-looking guy he was, and he doesn’t usually make such comments. He turned up on the Monday and asked if he could chat to us. Firstly, he wanted to know how we knew to email him. So, I explained that it was written up on a Captain’s Mate report (our Cruising Association resource) and also the Navily app.

But what really grabbed Christos was that Missy Bear is registered in Hamble River, because he had done all his sail training out of Gosport, and knew the river well. He had taken the 17-week course – ‘Zero to Hero’ - to get to his RYA Yachtmaster qualification, and laughed as he explained that his Yachtmaster examiner was from Newcastle, and he couldn’t understand a word he said!

On our morning of departure, Richard spent a happy hour in the company of the Volos Port Police, who had implemented a sequential procedure [Ed – each step done by different persons, who were each easily distracted and had airs of serious officialdom. Ricky Gervais would have got enough material for a new series]. One reception, another to check our papers, another to stamp our Transit Log, and another pay our port fees. All steps with queuing in-between, sitting beside captains of much bigger ships, Richard expects].

It was midday before Missy Bear could leave, and with a 20 NM journey out of the Gulf, Lynn and Tony overtook us on their ancient, albeit newly-painted, hydrofoil, before we reached the gulf entrance. At about 17:00 we anchored in a bay overnight to rest, before setting off for the island the next morning.

Christos, lovely man that he is, had given us a contact at Skiathos to get a space on the quay for us. And when we went up to the Port Police to check in, they did in fact ask us if we had had permission to park up. We also made a point of meeting Panos, the young harbour master, and also got his telephone number for when we returned to drop Charlotte off.

My lovely friend and ex work-colleague Charlotte arrived early afternoon on the Friday. It was Easter weekend for the Orthodox church, and we had decided to stay in Skiathos to see the festivities. At midnight on the Saturday night, we walked up at the hill to the church in the old town, and mixed with a huge group of people.

Easter candle-lighting at Skiathos town

Midnight Mass ended and the priest came out with a lit candle, from which he lit his neighbours’ candles, and the flames were passed from the congregation to the crowds, who used them to light their own. The procession went back down to the front, where young lads were throwing very loud firecrackers.

We hired a car on Skiathos, and Charlotte drove around the island. There are a couple of red roads (main and metalled), but the rest are mostly yellow (not so) , which ranged from narrow roads with not much tarmac, to cobbled stones, to compacted, rutted dirt tracks. It was interesting and we got out and explored a little bit. The islands have a lot more pine forest than you might expect.

Kastro: north of Skiathos island

Missy Bear was eager to leave, and we spent a couple of nights in absolutely beautiful anchorages on Alonnisos island. On Wednesday night we headed back west and went stern to the quay at Nea Klima on Skopelos.

Anchorage on Alonnisos

We knew that strong winds were coming in on Friday, and the intention was to get over to Skiathos town on the Thursday for Charlotte to catch her flight. Richard was concerned about the expected beam-on wind direction on Skiathos quay, and Charlotte very kindly offered to get a ferry across to the island, so as not to risk us or the boat. She was to stay overnight in a hotel before her flight.

We would stay put in Nea Klima. As we had a hire car to do some errands (new gas bottle, laundry) and some sight-seeing, we dropped Charlotte off at the port of Skopelos town, and waved goodbye to her as the ferry departed.

As it was, the winds were so strong that all Skiathos flights were cancelled. But that’s another story [blog – Mann Tracht]