Glyfada to Pylos

This web page describes a portion of a 7 week trip with S/Y Thetis in 1996 from Greece to Malta, Sardinia, Ustica and Calabria in Italy, and back to Greece. The portion described is within Greece it is from Glyfada, to Poros, Porto Heli, Monemvasia, Yerakas, Elafonnisos, Porto Kayio, Methoni, and Pylos. It is illustrated with maps and photographs, also included are some historical and geographical descriptions of the places visited as well as several links to other related web sites.

 Overall Route 

Detailed Route

Space Shuttle Photograph of The Saronic Gulf

Friday September 13, 1996 Day 1

I took a taxi from Athens to the marina at 9:00. I unpacked my things and stowed them. This is much easier to do when there are no other people in the boat. The weather is very bad with strong South winds, the forecast from channel the VHF 86 calls for 7 to 8 Bft.

Nikos and Lewis showed up late, after 12:00. Nikos wants me to go with him to the Pisteos bank in Voula and close our old joint account and open a new one because of some not well understood advantages. After the bank we go back to Glyfada and get a new camping gaz bottle and a Maltese courtesy flag. Then Lewis and I go to the coffee store and get a large supply of filter coffee and on to the Vassilopoulos supermarket for lots of provisions. All of this consumes a great deal of time. Nikos meanwhile attends to several errands on his own. After we finish shopping we call him and he comes picks us up and we drive the provisions to the boat. We all then go for a late lunch at around 4:00 PM. After that to the (Greek Coast Guard) for the inevitable (permission to sail from the port). We are only going to Poros and I had to sign a (legal declaration that they are not responsible for any damage we may suffer) because the wind is at least 7 Bft. No time to top the fuel tanks. The main tank is 3/4 full and the jerry cans are empty. But since we are heading for Poros there will be no problem refueling there.

At last, we sail at 5:00 PM for Poros (30 nmi). The wind instruments, despite another attempt by the local Autohelm dealer still give a low reading for the wind velocity. The hand held wind meter confirms wind speeds up to 32 knots while the Autohelm shows 18! This is a problem that has been plaguing me for the last two years. We are going straight against the wind () and there is considerable spray, no chance in raising the sails in this direction and it is already too late to start tacking. We manage to install the spray hood and put on the storm gear. It is just bearable but not comfortable. Lewis declares that this is the worst weather he has been in a boat. He seems to be preoccupied with the height of the waves, he estimates them to be at least 4 ft. Wave height must be something American or Atlantic ocean sailors are concerned about because in Greece no-one talks about it.

We are averaging about 3.8 knots, maybe we should have raised the sails and tacked. The good news is that Lewis is a good sport and does not get seasick. This is something that I was very apprehensive about, because although I have known Lewis for a long time and I am very fond of him, I have never seen him in a boat before. As we come across the island of Aigina it gets very dark and there is no moon. The radar is very reassuring. Several large ships, including one from the Greek navy, are on a collision course with us and we have to dodge them.

After long hours we arrive at the main harbor of Poros at midnight. We are wet, tired, and very hungry. Fortunately we find an open restaurant. After eating I call Alice to let her know that we are on our way. Back in the boat and after struggling with the fitted sheets we fall asleep but not before we discover that the bolts which hold the head (toilet) are loose and cannot be tightened.

Saturday September 14, 1996 Day 2

First thing in the morning we made a sling for the passarella (gangplank). This passarella arrangement is new, it has wheels at one end and mounting brackets in the other. We had only used it once this summer in Patmos, but it lacked a sling to hold the wheels off the ground. Then we found Mr. Eliades, the fuel man, and we topped the tank and filled the jerry cans. After that we zeroed-in on the toilet problem. Lewis was very creative in devising a scheme where we injected epoxy into the worn bolt holes with a large hypodermic syringe, which we bought for 130 Drs. from a drug store. We shaped the holes with a bundle of toothpicks held together with scotch tape. While waiting for the epoxy to set we bought some fruits, bread etc. and had lunch. Unfortunately the epoxy was not totally set and was still pliable by 2:00 PM.

As it was getting late, we propped up the toilet bowl with an old towel and departed. Again we face strong head winds, slightly less strong than yesterday. We manage to raise the main sail but even with the sail and the motor we cannot do better than 4 knots. There is no way that with this wind and our late start we can get to Yerakas as I was planning originally. So we try for Porto Heli, but again it is getting late and the head is still lose and we are afraid of stripping the thread of the remaining bolts. So we go to Ermioni instead which is closer.

Space Photograph of Peloponnesos
More Information on Peloponnesos

We arrive to Ermioni at 8:00 PM after 24 nmi. We anchor off-shore without any problem. The epoxy is now quite hard, the toothpicks come off easily and the bolts re-thread the epoxy. The repair is a great success! We then start assembling the zodiac so that we can go ashore to dinner. Alas the electric air pump does not work, so we inflate it the hard way with the hand pump. The outboard is working fine. At the end of this exercise, we go out and have a nice meal of fresh fish. Lewis is very pleased with everything.

Sunday September 15, 1996 Day 3

We depart at 8:00 AM for Yerakas. The wind is down and we motor-sail with both sails up. The watermaker gives us a hard time: it does not prime. But after several raised buckets of water fed into the cleaning line it promes and works well and it now begins to replenish the water tanks.

We stop at a nice cove North of Yerakas for a swim and lunch. Lewis is not much of a swimmer and while we are under way he wears a life belt which inflates from a CO₂ cartridge. So although he enjoys the cove and the lunch he does not fancy the swim all that much which is a shame.

Lewis repairs the compass whose lens over the years had become scratched and hard to read, especially at night. He polished the lens with toothpaste! Now the compass is almost as good as new.

We enter Yerakas at 5:00 PM after traveling 41 nmi. Yerakas is located in a deep inlet and had been used over the centuries by pirates. It is a spectacular site. Over the cliffs there is an old Byzantine fort. We anchor (off-shore) without any problems. We then install the EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon) on the bulkhead of the front cabin and the wind generator switch that I had brought with me from the US.

We than go ashore and take a nice walk to up the Byzantine fort. Lewis, it turns out, has acrophobia and as a result cannot really enjoy the spectacular view. Back to the boat we take lukewarm showers and go ashore to dinner. We eat at the (mazedes, tasty snacks, maker) the same restaurant that Corinna and I had dinner two years ago. Amazingly they still remember us and indeed have very good mezedes.

Later onboard Thetis Lewis is very distressed because he cannot find his electronic address book. We look everywhere! I called Nikos to see if he has left it in Voula but he is not in so I left a message.

Monday September 16, 1996 Day 4

We left Yerakas for Monemvasia (8.5 nmi) at 7:20 AM. Monemvasia is a Byzantine town build on a small peninsula separated from Peloponnesos by a narrow neck. The town is built by the sea and is enclosed by fortifications. A large fort is at the top of the peninsula. The castle of Monemvasia was famous in the middle ages because it was never sacked. The famous Madeira wine comes from here and its name, Malmsey, is a corruption of the name Monemvasia. Today there are many people from Athens who have bought old houses and have restored them and Monemvasia is a fairly fashionable place. As there was no wind we motored.

At Monemvasia we tied sideways and went ashore visiting the town and lower fortifications. Lewis took one look of the upper castle and the path leading to it and declared that he had no interest whatsoever in going there. As we walked at the ramparts of the lower fortifications his acrophobia took hold of him and deprived him from any enjoyment. The visit of the fort was not very successful! At the town we bought some supplies, and left a message for Nikos to check the Glyfada restaurant where we had lunch before leaving to see if Lewis had left his electronic address book there. It is very hot at the town.

We left Monemvasia at 1:30 PM heading for Elafonnisos. Still no wind so we motored all the way to Cape Maleas. Near the cape the wind increased to 25 knots and changed direction to SW. So we manage a nice sail for a while. The sea became quite rough near Elafonnisos. Lewis said that this was the roughest sea he has ever been in. We arrived, after 31 nmi, at 7:45 PM.

Elafonnisos is a small island NW of Cape Maleas. It has a small village at the North end but the rest is uninhabited and has a good number of lovely coves many of them with large sand dunes. We anchored (off-shore) at the NE cove, however it was already too dark to go ashore. I cooked spaghetti "ala Thetis" which was eaten with great interest. After dinner we watched the new moon setting over the island, it was very beautiful.

Tuesday September 17, 1996 Day 5

We woke up early. The sunrise over Cape Maleas was fantastic. On the west were dark ominous clouds moving quickly SE, we could hear distant thunder. Lewis was very scared that we may encounter a thunderstorm, and I must admit I was not too thrilled at that prospect either. We waited for the heavy storm clouds to move over the island of Kythera before departing at 8:40 AM for Porto Kayio.

The wind is favorable, from the SW and we had a very nice fast sail with the first reef. Soon we were caught by the next heavy cloud but we only received some rain, with no problem other than some water leaking into the left side of the main cabin. Later the wind died out completely and we had to start the motor. I noticed that the nut which holds the main bolt of the boom is missing, fortunately I had a spare and the problem was fixed right away.

We arrived at Porto Kayio (26 nmi) at 1:20 PM, and we anchored aro;do with out any problems. Port Kayio is a natural port, near Cape Matapas, protected from all directions except from the SE direction, the dreaded Sciroco (). Porto Kayio is surrounded by tall mountains and has a few tavernas. It is a very beautiful anchorage. After anchoring we attended to several maintenance chores while watching an occasional new arrival having great difficulty anchoring. We replaced several spray hood snaps that were broken and also caulked the left main cabin window to stop the water leak. We then started installing the new radio/CD player that I had brought from the US. This took forever although Lewis had done something similar before, otherwise we would have spent the rest of the day at it. The radio works except for the left speaker which seems to be out of commission.

After a hot shower we had a nice ouzo while listening to several CDs that Lewis brought with him. Among them are: Hanza El Din's music from Nubia, and Miles Davies' Echoes from Spain. These we used to listen to when we were sharing an apartment in Thompson street, in the Greenwich Village of New York back in 1964. Later went ashore to eat. We had a most delicious meal with (tiny fried fish), octopus, and grilled (a thin long fish) which is a local specialty. The very pleasant young man who served us told us that he had heard a weather forecast which called for increasing SE wind reaching 7-8 Bft by Thursday. He then went on describing the effects of similar Sciroco winds last year and the number of boats lost etc. We, being in a rather susceptible state, were suitably alarmed.

Wednesday September 18, 1996 Day 6

First thing in the morning we listen to the weather report which is broadcasted every day at 6:30. The forecast says for today 4-5 Bft from the SE, and for tomorrow increasing to 5-6, a far cry from what the young man was saying last night.

We left Porto Kayio at 7:40 AM, but before leaving just to be safe we siphoned 22 lt of diesel fuel to the tank. We then rounded Cape Matapas without any problems. These two capes, Maleas and Matapas, are notorious for their bad weather. So far so good! I was planning to go, weather permitting, to Dyro so that Lewis could see the famous cave, but if we were to do so we would reach Methoni late at night and should the SE weather deteriorate and make Methoni undesirable we would not reach Pylos before 11:00 PM. Since I have never been to the Pylos harbor, I decided to skip Dyro. So we headed straight for Methoni. The wind is favorable and we are sailing downwind with both sails up, the genoa poled out and later wind to wind. This was nice while it lasted but when we were 3/4 of the way to Methoni the wind died out and we had to motor the rest of the way. The sea is very calm now with very light wind 1-5 knots.

We arrive at Methoni at 4:45 PM, total distance from Porto Kayio 52 nmi. During anchoring offshore, the boat touched lightly the bottom although the depth gage was showing 3.1 m (Thetis draws 1.85 m). It was a local sand bump not shown on the chart. We easily reversed away from the bump. Other than that there was no problem with our anchoring. Methoni is the site of a large Venetian castle and has a large natural harbor surrounded by the castle on one side and large sandy beaches on the other. Like Porto Kayio, it is only exposed to the SE winds. Again it is a spectacular site.

Since we have arrived early, we take the zodiac to the beach and have a nice swim, at least I did. Either way it was very refreshing. Back in Thetis we take nice hot showers, plenty of hot water this time, and have a sip of the special Scotch whiskey that Lewis has brought. Later we go ashore and I call Nikos from a card phone. He is not in. I then called Pitsa and asked her to call Nikos and ask about Lewis' address book. I also asked her to see if Nikos can get an extended forecast for the sea between here and Malta from the Internet.

We then walked to town looking for Harilis. Harilis is an old friend from the underwater excavation in Kenchriai, in Corinth that Alice was working for several summers and I participated in the summer 1968. He started his carrier in underwater archaeology in the early 60's when the pioneer of underwater archaeology Peter Throckmorton hired his caique as a diving platform during his exploration of the Methoni harbor. Harilis, after watching the divers come and go from his anchored caique got bored. One day, the divers noticed that there was an extra diver swimming with them. It was Harilis who after donning the wet suit and the scuba gear dove of the boat to join the fun. After this he became a bona fide member of the diving crew. When the excavation in Kenchriai was planned Harilis was asked if he wanted to participate with his caique. He accepted but did not know how to get there. His grade school son, however came to the rescue. With the school geography map they navigated around the Peloponnesos to the Corinth canal and finally to a triumphant arrival at Kenchriai. During our dives to gather Harilis had taught me how to eat oysters underwater.

We had met Harilis again 2 years ago when we were at Methoni with Thetis. Since I could not remember his last name, I asked in his favorite (bar/coffee house), "he has just left but the lady at the store across the street maybe can help you". Indeed, the lady turned out to be his daughter, the pretty little girl that was in Kenchriai on 68. When she heard who I was she got very excited, asked about " " (Mrs Aliki) and telephoned Harilis. He came right away and insisted on taking us to dinner, although he had just eaten. He has had an operation but he is now recovering. After several glasses of (retsina wine) and many reminiscences we parted.

When we got to where we had left the zodiac we found that the SE wind had increased a lot. A French gentleman with a large inflatable was very excited and angry because our zodiac was bumping onto his. I offered my apologies but he kept on yelling so I just ignored him. Thetis fortunately was well protected by the jetty so we had a peaceful night.

Thursday September 19, 1996 Day 7

We woke up at 6:20 to listen to the radio weather forecast but we could not receive it because another station was blanketing the AM transmission from Athens. There were many black clouds and thundering from the north. I managed to raise Hellas Radio and they gave a weather report: 4-5 Bft from SE. We leave at 7:00 for Pylos, motoring all the way and we arrive at 8:45 after 9.3 nmi. Pylos is a fairly modern town located in the deep bay of Navarino where there was a very famous naval battle of the British, French, and Russians against the Ottomans in 1827. This battle devastated the Ottoman fleet and led to Greek independence since the Turkish-Egyptian troops were totally cut-off and at the mercy of the Greek rebels.

The marina is very new and not quite finished yet. It has no water yet but also, thank goodness, no lights either so we should be able to sleep well tonight. There was plenty of room but it is dusty and a fair distance from the town–which other than a rather nice (town square) is not very attractive. Next to us is a large sailing boat with the French flag which looks very familiar to Lewis. After inquiries he ascertains that it is indeed the very same boat that he, Joshua, and Inga had charted few years ago, under different owner, in the Caribbean.

Later we go straight to the (cost guard) for the paper work. Their weather forecast is 4-5 NW! Not sure who is right, they or Hellas Radio—we had no wind coming here. At the we met a Swiss gentleman who is single handling to Messina. He was charged a docking fee at least 5 times more than we were. The explanation given was that Thetis is a Greek professional boat while his, under Swiss flag, was from a non-EU country. I called Pitsa but she was unable to find Nikos. I called Voula and got Mary (Nikos' Philippine housekeeper) who said: "Sir, sir is not here; he is in Ameriki"??? I must say I was totally puzzled. I then called for fuel delivery following the instructions posted at the marina. Back at the boat we get 86 lt of fuel.

Back in town I manage to telephone to the Greek weather service and get an extended forecast for the Southern Ionian sea and the Malta Channel. They predict 4-5 SE today turning to 4-5 NW tomorrow and increasing to 5-6 NW after 2 days. We decide to go. Since we have the rest of the day we look to rent a motor scooter, but it seems there are none to be found in Pylos. It is a strange place. We find a dry-cleaning place that agrees to do our laundry and have it ready by tonight. Back to the boat, we get the laundry, back to town, give the laundry. I call Alice, she is having problems with e-mail, cannot find the password, and she sounds a little wearied. I think I told her where the password is, I promised to call her as soon as we are in Malta. She too has no idea what in the world Nikos is doing in the US and why he went there so suddenly. Lewis tries calling Joshua, who is not there; he leaves a very long message. He then calls Inga -he must have been on the phone for over 3/4 of an hour.

n the afternoon we went with the zodiac out of the marina for a swim. The water in the bay of Navarino was not very attractive, however. Later we filled the shower bag with water and bought groceries for the trip. I disassembled the zodiac and stowed it in the sail locker. We walked to the town and got the laundry back and after a very nice dinner called Pei at the office. So far, no problems reported by EUTELSAT.

We are ready to go! I AM very excited. I have been waiting for this for years. I am also a little scared, but mostly excited. Tomorrow will be a pivotal day!