April 29, 2025 – Porto Heli, Peloponnese, Greece
We arranged for a rental car for the next two days and
picked it up in the morning. It was a bit warmer and sunnier, but still windy.
First stop was the laundry to clean up sheets and towels from our guests. We
brought them back to the boat damp and hung the laundry up in the boat. The
relative humidity was 35% and the sun was warming the cabin. We packed an
overnight bag and headed out to Nemea wine country, about an hour and thirty
minutes northwest in the mountains of the Peloponnese. The trip was precipitated
by the desire to find this wine that that we discovered her in Greece, 2019
Estate Papaioannou from Nemea. .
The scenery was fabulous as we traversed the green mountains
into the fertile valley of Nemea. We knew we were in the right place when the
olive groves were replaced by vineyards. The red poppies were pervasive,
nestled in fields of yellow flowers. We tried to go to a couple of wineries,
but they were either closed or inaccessible due to road work. We finally landed
at Barafakas Estates. This was a small family run winery with the tasting room
behind their home. There was a Canadian couple there tasting wine and enjoying
the day. We were relieved that they would talk to us despite learning that we
were Americans. Their election was being held today, and they were looking
forward to the results and a new government that would continue to be anti-Trump.
Our host for the wine tasting was very informative and gave
us a very nice hardcover book about the region’s history and wine industry. She
paired the wines with a charcuterie tray that was equally delicious. We liked
the wine, Agiorgitiko grapes, and we bought a few bottles. We told her that we
were looking for a nice place to stay for the night and she volunteered to call
and make a reservation for us at a nice hotel in town, done.
The hotel turned out to be a modern gem in the middle of the
older buildings in the town of Nemea. The courtyard was amazing with cool
furnishings and an interesting water feature. Our room was comfortable with a
great balcony overlooking the town. We relaxed for a while and then moved on to
dinner. We went to a taverna around the corner and order a few Greek dishes;
Lamb Slouvlaki, Eggplant and Feta in Fillo, Greek Salad and a tzatziki Sauce
with bread. It was delicious but there was too much food, hopefully we did not
offend the chef with the food we left behind.
Back in our room we took advantage of the TV. They had several selections in English since the movie industry does not tend to translate films to Greek, they just add subtitles. We have been told on several occasions this is how many people learn English in this part of the world.
April 30, 2025 – Porto Heli, Peloponnese, Greece
A very pleasant start to the day sleeping in and luxuriating
in a hotel room. They served a delicious breakfast with some fresh takes on
fruit salad and yogurt with granola served in individual glass jars. We needed
a little base as we headed to our first winery at 1100, Estate Papaioannou. The
grapes here in Nemea are Papaioannou Agiorgitiko, named after Saint Joseph.
There is an original Church of St Joseph, but we were unable to find it, not on
Google. There are about 100 Church of St Joseph in the Peloponnese, but not the
one we wanted. Wine tasting it will be. We were drawn to Nemea for this
particular winery. It was just a little store front in Ancient Nemea, easily
missed if you drove through town too quickly. The tasting room was simply a
folding table with about 15 varietals. We were interested in the Agiorgitiko so
we only tasted 4 of the 15 bottles. The wine was delicious, full bodied, dry
with enough tannins to make me think that this wine might stand up to some
aging. We bought a case split between two versions of the Agiorgitiko grape.
From here we checked out the Temple to Zues, the old cemetery and the ancient stadium where the games were once played. They claim that Heracles slayed a lion here that was terrorizing the people. There is a bronze statue of Hercules fighting the lion in the town square. We drove further west to see more of the countryside and stumbled onto the Temple to Heracles in the middle of a vineyard. The countryside is beautiful in full bloom and very green.
Coming full circle back to ancient Nemea we stopped at Direza Winery to taste their wine. They turned out to be more of a bulk wine producer, we found nothing great there. It was mildly entertaining that the tasting room was being run by kids, mom and dad must be working elsewhere. The young man that served us was probably 16. His brother and sister, 14 and 12, were working behind the office desk. It was interesting to talk to them about their school, it is not so different from ours.
Our last winery, Ktima Palivou, turned out to be an excellent stop. The wines were great and well paired with a paste tray. We particularly enjoyed their merlot and bought a couple bottles. This was probably the nicest tasting room and setting that we enjoyed. It was fun watching the winery dog laze away his afternoon in the yard.
Driving home we enjoyed fabulous views of the valley and the
sea. With the sun low in the sky the valley was gorgeous with long shadows. As
we arrived back in town, we decided that since we had a car, we should run some
errands. Plus, tomorrow is Labor Day, and we expect everything to be closed.
Suzette was looking for a makeup mirror, need to keep those eyebrows tidy. We
headed to the Jumbo, an everything store. It turns out it was a Jumbo inside of
an AB Grocery store, big none the less. We did not find a mirror, but we did
find some other things. We had been looking for a Captain’s Chair to allow
seating at the open end of our square table, better for dining and card playing
with 4 people. Ironically, we found the wine and vintage we went looking for in
Nemea, 2019 Papaioannou, and bought 8 bottles.
When we arrived back at the marina, we went looking for a
dock cart, the security guard did one better. He had the marineros pick up our
bags and boxes in his golf cart and drive them out on the dock to our boat. We
had a lot of stuff, but it was quickly loaded on board. Entering the saloon, we
were reminded that we had laundry hanging everywhere that needed to be folded
and stowed. It had dried nicely in the 35% humidity we had here. Next was
stowing all the wine we bought and finally a bit of food and one of the new
bottles of wine we had purchased.
Suzette had read recently that Deer Hunter and Apocalypse now were 2 of the greatest movies ever made. We queued up Deer Hunter and watched it into the wee hours. I can see how poignant it was at the time and how it is preserving a sad part of our history, but I am not sure that it is the greatest movie ever made.
May 1, 2025 – Porti Heli, Peloponnese, Greece
It was a lazy morning as the sun shined, and the wind
continued to blow. We had decided to stay another day and hope the wind would
slow down for a Friday departure. The marina was happy to have us stay. That
said, the ladies in the office did not seem to be happy about anything and were
not very cordial. It feels like the
Greek people are not very happy or joyful or maybe it is because we are Americans.
The marineros on the hand are very cordial and seem to be pretty happy.
We returned our car and walked back to the boat to enjoy
this Labor Day holiday catching up on paperwork and doing some trip planning.
With the wind gusts under 30 tomorrow, we figured we could get underway and
start working our way south to Crete.
Suzette went for a massage at the spa in town and I worked
on a couple boat projects in the afternoon. I installed the new blower in the
generator compartment and adjusted some rigging. As usual the day passed quickly,
and we were able to relax in the evening. Despite the wind it was a pleasant
day, warm, sunny and dry.
May 2, 2025 – Port Heli, Peloponnese, Greece
A slow start as we were timing our arrival at the next
anchorage for when the winds lowered. Predicted winds for the day would be
under 30 and behind, the swell would be on our port quarter but tolerable. We
walked to the Port Authority and checked out quickly. This has been one of the
most convenient and amiable Port Authority offices yet.
On the way back to the boat we stopped at the bakery for
fresh bread and baked cheese sticks, yum. A stop at the grocery store for the
all important toilet paper, this is trickier than it seems. Everywhere we go
the brands are different, so we buy a small pack of TP and take it back to the
boat to test it for disintegration. Put one sheet in a container of water,
shake for a moment and see if it dissolves immediately and completely. If it
passes the test, then we stock up with a jumbo pack. Our last stop was the Marina
office to close out our account and pay our bill.
With the wind behind us we untied the dock lines and we were
spit out of our mooring and on our way. We motored out of the harbor and headed
east to get around Nesos Spetsai and to give ourselves a better course relative to the swell. We unfurled
the main and jib for a dead downwind sail south. The wind shifted enough to go
to a more comfortable broad reach to Ormos Est near the southeastern tip of the
Peloponnese. It was great sail with wind gusting to 20-25 knots from behind and
the sea pushing us, this was the last of the Meltemi wind and its confused
swell. We sailed into our first choice for an anchorage, but we could see that
it was not going to be comfortable, so we moved on. Rounding point Kremmidhi we found ourselves
the huge calm bay of Monamvasia. We headed to the well protected Northeast
corner and dropped our hook in about 7 m of clear water about 100 m from the
beach.
The sun was shining into the cockpit, and the wind was light as we settled in. Suzette uttered the words “bathing suit”, ready for sunbathing, but not quite ready for a swim in the 18 C water. It is always a good day when we can sail our rumb line to our destination.
May 3, 2025 – Ormos Est, Peloponnese, Greece
It was a gloriously quiet night and a sunny morning with the
breeze picking up. We got underway at about 1030, again timing our arrival at
the next anchorage for after the wind settled. With the wind at 12 – 15 knots
we unfurled the code zero and main for a broad reach to the southeast end of
the Peloponnese. The main was slapping as we rounded the point, so we rolled it
in and continued under code zero only to the south end of Nesos Kathira and an
anchorage called Kapsali.
Entering the anchorage, we could see a catamaran at anchor and a 70’ monohull moored to the quay. We dropped the hook and settled in behind the Cat. The cove was well protected from the swell and the wind was tolerable off the shore. We were surrounded by a beautiful beach and beach front village of tavernas and homes. Another cat came in and side tied on the quay. At the quay there was a Port Authority/Customs office so I guess we will have to check in. Since it was Saturday and after 1630 I assumed they would be closed. We will check tomorrow. On this island we were technically in the Southern Ionian Sea, though it was managed out of Athens.
May 4, 2025 – Kapsali, Neso Kathira, Greece
Up with another warm sunny day. The breeze was filling in
and we were looking at the weather. Do we make the long run to Crete from here,
make a short run to an island halfway to Crete or backtrack a little north for
a more protected anchorage for the night. We knew that we needed to leave this
place due to wind and swell. First things first, go to shore and see if the
port Authority is open on a Sunday. They were not. I did talk to the crew on
the 70’ monohull, Val. They were heading to Crete today and felt like it would
be a good day to do it with a favorable wind and sea. The Admiral said “lets
go!”
We quickly pulled anchor and set sail with a main and code
zero for a broad reach with the sea quartering us. It is 50 miles from here to
the anchorage in Crete, a long day’s sail for us. The ride was smooth, and we
were making good time. Val passed us after about 4 hours doing 10 plus knots.
The wind was clocking and rising to 20 so we adjusted sails but finally had to
furl the code zero. We unfurled the little jib, but it is not a broad reach sail,
and the wind was rising now to 25. We furled the jib and trimmed the main to
motor sail the last hour to our intended anchorage.
Expecting to be sheltered from the wind when we turned into the bay but surprised by how fierce the wind was at 30 knots, we rustled the main in and motored into the very small cove, but found another boat already anchored and the wind howling out of the cove. We moved on to option two, a small cove further south, and it was empty. We nosed in to check it out. The cove was only about 45 m wide with a rocky beach and wind blowing 20 knots out of the cove. There was one mooring ball inside but reports on Navily said it was not very substantial and not to rely on it. Clearly, we will need to run a line to shore, and anchor bow out. We backed out and launched the dinghy with our shoreline hawser on board. Backing in Suzette boarded the dinghy to take a line to shore. While she worked on that I dropped and set the anchor in about 9 m of water, it took two tries to land my stern at the mooring ball and snag it to temporarily stabilize the boat. Suzette rowed the hawser back to the boat and we were connected and had a moment to breathe and assess. The wind was blowing about 20 knots straight out of the cove. Checking the mooring buoy, it was a 1” plus line shackled to ¼” chain secured around a good sized rock, helpful but not reliable for the full load of the boat. Lack of planning on my part had me in the dinghy with chain to place on a different rock on shore and then reattaching the hawser to the chain. We snugged everything up and felt satisfied that we were secure.
Next, we did everything we could to reduce the windage on the boat and secure the lines to minimize the noise. The sun was setting, and we had been working hard for a couple hours now but reasonably satisfied that we were safe. It was Sunday night, and we had prepared a pizza crust, so it was pizza and wine for a late dinner. The wind blew and made a lot of noise, but it did not seem to move the boat much and there was no swell. I slept well until about 0330 when the wind began to blow violently, we monitored until it moderated at about 0400 and went back to bed.
May 5, 2025 – No Name cove, Crete, Greece
Up late, 0800, with sunshine and moderate wind. There was a
big commercial fishing boat hanging out just outside our cove. He lingered for
a long time making me think this was his cove and mooring, but he was way too
big for this mooring ball. We put away the code zero, which should have been
done the day before, but we were out of energy last night. We made some minor adjustments
to the anchor and mooring to reduce the chafing. While working on deck we were
visited by 3 wild goats climbing the rocks on the shore. It’s amazing how they
can negotiate the steep cliffs. The wind was calm and lulled me into thinking I
could relax with a beer and a book on deck. Just about the time I settled in a
big gust of wind came and lifted the dinghy clear out of the water and blew the
seat out of it! Fortunately, the seat floats and I was able to retrieve it, and
we secured the dinghy back on the boat. This was the start of an afternoon of
higher winds, as predicted.
Around 1700 a catamaran nosed into the cove and decided to
anchor in with us. They were a New Zealand couple on a 53’ cat. They had
weathered 40 knot winds coming down from the Peloponnese. They did a masterful
job of anchoring and tying to shore. We offered to help but they were confident
in what they were doing. They quickly settled just next to and behind us in
this tiny little cove.
The wind settled later in the
evening, and we enjoyed a quiet night in our little hiding place.
May 6, 2025 - No Name Cove,
Crete, Greece
It was refreshingly calm
overnight and in the morning. The catamaran got underway about 0830 and we were
alone again. We debated staying or going but decided to cross the bay and find
a new anchorage closer to Chania. Also, the wind was shifting to the east so
being on the east side of the bay would be more comfortable. We were underway
by about 1100 and enjoyed a beam to close reach with the main and small jib
out. We were entertained by a few military jets doing multiple flybys. Arriving
on the east side of the bay we had several choices for anchoring. The first was
tight and shallow so we moved on. The next one was a port for ships delivering
gas to the island. We nosed in past the ship and its tug and found a snug
little cove with a beach at the end. We put our anchor down in about 4.5 m of
clear water over rock and sand. We tried to tie a line ashore, but the win came
up and we abandoned the effort. In the dinghy we used the looking box to site
our anchor and chain. We realized we were at the edge of the rocky area and
could potentially snag our anchor chain. We moved further into the cove and
reset the anchor in sand with no rocks in the way. It was a hot day, 85! We opened
the hatches and let the breeze refresh the cabin. The wind had settled by
dinner time, and we relaxed on our single hook. The ship moved out sometime overnight,
but I was not disturbed.
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