Pottering round the Saronic Gulf

Little boxes made of Ticky Tacky

The trip from Eveia down to cape Sounion was calm and uneventful. We were able to fly the spinnaker almost all the way. Poseidon must have been smiling on us as this often a very windy and thoroughly nasty stretch of sea. The mainland shore is heavily developed with lots of little concrete boxes. The temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion is a welcome reminder of an earlier, less aesthetically challenged age.

The temple of Poseidon - Cape Sounion

We anchored in O. Anavissou with excellent holding although when I snorkelled to see the anchor it was right by a huge abandoned mooring installation with three huge fisherman anchors. To our surprise, it turned out that the small cove by us was a nudist beach - so skinny dipping was in order. Excellent!
From there, we crossed the shipping lanes to Poros - Poseidon was again on our side as there were very few ships.

Fishing boat neighbours

We decided to go to Idhra but knowing how crowded it would be, decided to arrive at about 10.30. That's difficult from Poros but Heikel says there is a nice bay on the South west corner of the island so we decided to anchor there overnight then scoot up in the morning. The bay is nice, and reasonably sheltered but all the good anchoring places are buoyed off for swimmers. The only access to the beach is by tripper boat and water taxi so these fly in and out all the time. We tried to get the anchor in well but it was very deep and we never got a hold we could rely on. In the end, we waited until the beach emptied then anchored inside the buoyed area next to a fishing boat doing the same. No problem with the goon squad as we were well away before anybody turned up.

So we turned up at Idhra port at 10.30 to find a flotilla of 30 boats coming in of which 10 were already milling around outside. We weren't allowed in until 11.30 because of ferries and people coming out and by that time the wind was getting up. Anyway we slid in among the first few boats to find a large catamaran stuck in the middle of the tiny harbour and 3 other yachts (not all competently crewed) sliding all over the place - and at that momemnt our bow thuster failed. Panic! I just managed to turn Rosa and get us out unscathed by the skin of our teeth. We went to Russian Bay - much more civilised.

We killed a few more days in Vathi,  N. Diapora (south end of Angistri), and Aegina waiting till L left for England. I had intended to stay in Aegina looking after Rosa. On the way however, we called into Angistri yacht harbour for a look-see. To our surprise, it has a pontoon where you moor side-too so I wouldn't have to use the anchor (with all the risks that someone will pull it up) and so wouldn't have to stay with the boat all the time. After a noisy night in Aegina, we decided to give it a try the next day and ended up staying there for nearly 3 weeks. L caught the Dolphin to Athens While I stayed behind.
While in Angistri, I made friends with several flotilla skippers - all trying to do their jobs and get their unruly charges into and out of the crowded harbour. Also spent a couple of days talking to Eric - a Swiss chap who speaks mostly French and his cat Cumulus - who doesn't speak anything. Had a thoroughly enjoyable (and quite boozy) couple of evenings but then found that I had forgotten most of my Greek and could only remember French!

The family Dunn

A few days later, I made friends with a lovely couple called Caroline and Andy with their two boys - George and Tom. The boys spent much of their time netting unsuspecting fish and shrimps including a rather interesting small gar fish that only just escaped suffocation by being dropped back in the sea.

First try - jib only and a rescue boat with brother and dad

George sailed the Tinker amazingly well having sailed a laser just once and is now going to take up sailing at school - I was very chuffed. They went off for a day but then came back for another two only leaving just before L came back on the Dolphin. An excellent way to pass a few days.

Full sail and (almost) complete control

Angistri Harbour - Bye Bye Dunns

We're now waiting a week for Rob to come out to join us for a sail when we expect to re-visit several of the same haunts again.

I'm going to take a blog holiday until we set off down the Peloponese towards Crete in 3 weeks time.