Another early start, 06.40 we pulled up anchor and slid gently out into the calmest of seas, barely a ripple to be seen on this perfect surface. Having had such a damp night, we took the opportunity to give Kejstral a quick wipe down to rid her of her salty layers with the lovely wet dew. The hazy horizon distorts the junction between sea and sky, colours bleed from one to the other fluidly in an orangy yellow glow, it is beautiful. Our 10 hour journey is set to be almost windless once again, but unfortunately again, we must press on. Two dolphin join our passage west, their sleek grey and white streamline bodies ease through the water in graceful undulating motions. They twist and weave beneath our hull in a fantastic display of skill and ability, crossing in front of us before dipping down into the dark depths, and out of sight. They travel quietly alongside us for 20 minutes or so, sharing these otherwise, seemingly empty seas. Alone once again the sky clears to a crisp blue summery vision, our warm winter coats, the only evidence of this sharp, finger tingling cold day. This tranquil and empty sea becomes almost eerie, no birds or boats to interrupt our journey, even the dolphin have disappeared and left us in these stark surroundings. An hour or so later a quiet humming noise alerts our senses, in this vast open water a tiny black speck can be identified on the horizon, within minutes its shape emerges, a cargo vessel. The engine noise seems to resonate through the still, windless air, another ship appears, and before long there are four. From the lonely, isolation we begin to feel part of a community, such a strange concept in this busy, traffic filled world. A small wind turbine filled island glides into view, surrounding it's coast sit four or five vessels on anchor, clearly a good depth for these enormous ships to drop anchor and rest. Cannot make out any port or commercial buildings that would attract their business on this tiny land mass known as Agios Georgios, I later found out it is uninhabited. With the excitement of a new island, now seven cargo vessels, a second pod of dolphins show up, it all happens at once! They playfully skim across Kejstrals hull, scratching their sleek itchy bodies against any barnacles and growth. No wonder we see scars and scratches on their shiny rubbery skin, they breach the surface in synchrony, not at all perturbed by our engine and propeller. Once again we are alone, seemingly empty sea surrounding us. The depth sounder alarms, we both leap to attention, according to the electronic charts, we should be travelling in 330 meters of water. Our depth sounder states otherwise, 2.4 meters, either there is something below us, or the machine is faulty. Immediately we scan the waters around us whilst resetting the machine, on our charts we notice red print stating 'submarine practice area'! With hearts racing we quickly recheck the waters and charts before gradually realising that the machine has settled into a default setting as the water is just too deep for it to register properly. This vast depth continues for a couple of hours until slowly we reach a more reasonable 160 meters, panic over, and not one periscope to be seen. It would have been quite a sight to have spotted a huge black submarine........... in the distance of course! Having travelled for a whole 9 hours with not a puff of wind, the island of Ydra or Hydra comes slowly into view. With that, the katabatic wind begins to grow just enough for our lazy sails. Unfurling those huge canvas sheets feels amazing, to rely on the pure power of this wind is brilliant, our engine is terminated as soon as the sails are full and pushing us onward. A silence fills the air, the only sound is of the sea spraying against our boat, what a fabulous feeling. The port of Hydra is on the west of this long island, therefore we take great advantage of the wind created by its shape and size managing to sail for the final hour of our passage. As most sailors do, we read and investigated our next port, Google maps provide a great visual clue as to how many or few boats use this location. In Hydra's case, it looked like a nightmare for yachties on the map! We had a plan, usually best to......... Motor into the port, have a look around, then if it seems too problematic, leave and head for the bay nearby which looks pretty sheltered. Well, what a chaotic, busy, noisy crowded little port, but how beautiful! As we entered the mouth of the port, four small red and white, sea taxis zipped in front of us at about 10 knots, way too fast for this tiny space, but what a buzz this town emanated. Cruisers moored tightly along the outer wall, vying for that extra inch of room alongside old wooden, beautifully painted Gulet style ships. Rounding the harbour wall, we see a web of anchor chains spewing from yachts and cruisers, fishing vessels and ferries. This is an anchoring nightmare, yet it was filled to overflowing with vessels. Yachts hurried past us to their, clearly earmarked space, while little fishing boats rumbled towards us. We carefully picked our way through the turmoil and disarray trying hard to avoid chains and hulls, then turned around in the tightest of spaces, before motoring our way out again quickly. What an alarming yet vibrant pretty place, we want to stop and see more, however, we couldn't risk it. Feeling a little bereft, we travelled the few minutes to the neighbouring bay of Mandraki, at that very moment a rather large hydrofoil trundled around the harbour entrance towards us, quite relieved to have escaped the port unscathed, to where a calm serene lovely bay awaited us. Dropping the anchor in 10 meters of sand, we ate, showered and readied Zoe for a shore visit. The bay is quiet, not too large and with only two other boats nearby a perfect place for a settled night's sleep, hopefully.On shore, Zoe is secured to a rusty, makeshift pontoon then abandoned for the next few hours. A quaint restaurant nestles into an edge of this beach, a set of steps take us past this pretty wooden decked building. Waiting staff dress tables for their evening guests, not that there are any at this moment, napkins are carefully placed alongside sparkling cutlery and dishes. Aromas drift past our noses as we reach the roadway above this bay. From the road a concrete path has been very tidily layed which carries around the headland, for about a mile and a half, (about half an hour walk) into the port of Hydra. The sun is warm on our skin which is great apart from the fact that, with this exertion, we begin to sweat, well Kevin does, I of course glow. From the cold air experienced on our journey today, this is a very welcome feeling even at 6pm. The path climbs a little therefore the views of the sea are fantastic, with boats everywhere, a great place to just sit and take in the evening. We however, are on a mission, we want to reach Hydra. Some fabulous houses line the waters edge and hillside around us, amazing landscaping is also begining to take shape in some of these massive plots of land. Flowers surround the pathway, encouraging loads of bees to buzz past and around us, not that they showed any interest in our perspiring limbs! Passing quite a few people walking from Hydra to Mandraki, we realised just how well used this pathway actually is. As we round the hillside some very old sandstone buildings come into view, snuggled into the contours of the land, these houses look spectacular. Winding pathways sneak around trees and shrubbery leading to these homes which stand grandly in their sculptured gardens. Gently the houses increase in number, yet decrease in size as the town unfolds, stretching into a perfect arc around the port. Terracotta roofs, yellow painted buildings and pink vivid flowers accentuate this bustling bright busy harbour, we cannot wait to delve into this energetic atmosphere. The town is buzzing, as we make our way into the hub of this pretty, place, we notice the difference in feel of this enchanting town compared to our previous experiences elsewhere. It takes us quite a while to recognise what is so different about this place. Healthy looking donkeys stand in line next to the sea taxi and ferry port, which shuttles guests to and from the Greek mainland and various bays around the area. Huge wooden trolleys are pushed by young strong locals, carrying suitcases and baggage. Trolleys also carry fruit, vegetables and goods for delivery towards restaurants and bars. The most surprising thing is that there are no motorised vehicles of any description on this island! What an awesome concept, everything is transported onto the Island by sea, then delivered locally by either trolley, donkey or on foot. When walking around this busy area, we pick up huge variety of accents from all around us. American, Indian and Asian people are all visiting from their home countries. Ferries bring hundreds of people each day from both north and south of this Island. Athens is only a couple of hours away, and with such a fabulous ferry service in Greece, we can appreciate why so many tourists can enjoy these Islands. We have a meal in what seems like a very chilled, reasonably priced restaurant. For €30 we have bread, water, spaghetti bolognaise and a litre of red wine. It is great, we assumed it would be more expensive, service charges can occasionally sting us if we are not careful. The atmosphere is brilliant, music of all types drift from the designer bars, waiting staff greet us with Kalispera as we smile our good evening to them. Very high class shops line the harbour from one end to the other with some equally high class shoppers taking advantage of the shiny bright and pretty goods.
We stroll back to Kejstral as the night turns chilly wrapped in our jumpers we speed up our pace as the breeze changes direction. Zoe is waiting patiently for our arrival. Back on board we settle for a quiet evening read. Bedtime.
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Sailing Kejstral AdventuresRetired and following our dream of sailing around the world Archives
April 2019
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