Meltemi Moments

Peloponnese Peninsular, Greece

Nice evening view over the Kalamata Marina from Yachting Café

Having extracted ourselves from hedonistic marina life, we ambled down the Mani coast, one the fingers of land that make up the Peloponnese Peninsular.  There is no doubt that the scenery is dramatic; GS snapping away at every rock or mountain that made a promising picture. (Warning to all who suffer our slide show overkill, this year is likely to produce yet another one.) 

Punting through the Caves of Diros

We made the Caves of Diros (Pyrgos Dhirou) by lunchtime and decided, given both the Guide & Pilot’s glowing reviews, we would stop for the experience.  By 2.30pm we had walked and punted our way through 1500m of underground waterways and caves brimming with ceilings of frosted stalactites – with obligatory commentary in Greek….  We were permitted to walk through some areas of these truly memorable caves, lingering at the exit, if only to maximise time in natural air-conditioned comfort.   In some of the caves, archaeologists had found evidence of prehistoric settlement.  We could only imagine how surreal these caves must have been to them, invoking mystery and magic.  Is it any wonder that nearby Cape Tainaron is home of the mythical Gates of Hades?  And of course, where driven muscle man, Hercules captured Cerberus, to complete his twelfth and final labour!

WJ3 on the hook (behind the fishing fleet) Diros Caves

With a nasty swell coming into Caves bay we decided to round Cape Tainaron instead to seek shelter in a well-protected and cute Porto Kayio, meaning Bay of Quails.  I’m not so sure that any self-respecting quail would live in these strange, sparse mountains but it seems that plenty of brothers do.  From their perch high up, they must only wonder at the worldly goings on in the four modest beach-side tavernas lining the cove.  And laugh, as the yachts at anchor are pelted all night long by katabatic winds sweeping down from the mountains.

Porto Kayio (Quail Bay)

Our next stop was Elafonissos, an isolated island with abundant clear turquoise waters and very little sea life.  This did not stop an influx of visitors, winnebagos and seasonal resorts.  It’s high season after all!  An overnight stop here put us well up with the ways of the Meltemi too, a wind system something ordinary tourists don’t have to worry about.  We were up bright and early after one of us didn’t sleep well, to round fearsome Cape Maleas, whose reputation even Ulysses feared.  (Well, it did blow him off course for some ten years!).  We rounded it in complete calm, waving at the brothers up high in their secluded monastery and annoying local fishermen by going too close to their traps. 

Do you think the Brothers saw us waving?

Our destination was the rocky fortress of Monemvasia, a Gibraltar-like natural fortress built by the Byzantines in 6^th c.  We had great plans of climbing up to Ayia Sofia with its reputed magnificent views over the countryside and Aegean waters.  Sadly, GS had taken the fast way into the anchor locker, and in doing so had scraped a shin and twisted her ankle.  Walking was not on the agenda, so Monemvasia was added to the growing “later list”.   

Monemvasia

We reflected on the mysteries of Greek weather systems, as allusive as mythological gods, whilst holed-up in another small bay, firstly hiding from the Meltemi and then setting up the riding sail (to prevent swinging on anchor) to counter forceful katabatic blasts. All from different directions!   Little wonder then, we set off in the early morning calm for better shelter (and provisioning) at Porto Kheli (or Heli or Helios…  There are at least 3 or more ways of spelling Greek names – bear with us.).

This is water 20 feet deep (with various watery pug marks)
looking down from the back of WJ3 at Elafonissos

 

From:  Kalamata, Greece Lat/Long: 37:01.446N 22:06.327E Date/Time: 29/07/13: 0815

To: Porto Kheli, Greece Lat/Long: 37:19.409N 23:08.975E Date/Time: 1/08/13: 1400
Time Taken: 153.5nm (27hrs) Distance (this year): 1971.5nm (316hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 12796.5nm   Weather: NE (day); SW perhaps (at night) 
Fastest Speed: 7.5kts;

Internet Deprivation Indeed

Kalamata, Greece

Kalamata is the kind of place you pull in to do a few chores.  It's restful, obliging and friendly - just like Pylos!  It is also a useful base to travel into the Peloponnese Peninsula and visit assorted historic treasure troves.  Better still, it’s a repository of cruising folk (and olives!).  So here we sit, having extended for another day.  Why?  Well, it’s Sunday and even less happens here on a Sunday than any other country we’ve been to.

We’ve also decided that as a general rule we will stay a minimum of 3 nights in a marina.  (It has only taken 6 years to arrive at this float plan condition.)  Our check-in day is about accepting bureaucracy with good grace and humour (Marina, Port Police &/or Customs).  Then we must attend to the duties of setting up for marina life.  The awning, passerelle (our gangplank), electricity, water and trusty bikes are attended to & set up. 

Our next day is filled with chores.  We refuel if we can.  Greece has a system of fuel coming to you, even on the dock, in mini-tankers.  Otherwise, we re-fuel before settling into our berth on Day 1.  We take on water, do the washing, shop for groceries and find a chandler to satisfy an itch for boat bits.  We clean WJ3 inside and out, relishing in having electricity to vacuum (and run the toaster!).  We take time for “loooong” showers and, once presentable (meaning smell ok), eat out at a restaurant.  Isn’t it the simple things that give pleasure?

Another lighthouse on another impossibly rocky cape

That leaves our last day for reading, relaxing and blogging.  If we have internet….. Another of our wee challenges.  Sufficient bandwidth (for our laptops) is rare.  Uploading photos – forget it!  Hence the somewhat ill-mannered bulk posting we’ve done lately – spelling & grammatical errors included!  Post now, sort it out later…  Photos?  Still crashing the system…. 

We thought we had solved our internet dilemma.  In each country we’ve purchased a Vodafaone data dongle and it’s worked well – until now… (Yes, yes, you would think that there would be one system EU wide, but not so. We have a boat full of mobile phones and data dongles from almost every country we’ve visited!!!)  The dongle we purchased in Greece, from a reliable shop-front (not Vodafone), turned out to be HOT!  Now the company won’t touch it or refund our money – yet!!!  The Cap’n is working on solving this issue by being pleasant, persistent and persuasive.  He’s very good at driving people nuts so we’re expecting results soon….

For my birthday?  Noooo, you shouldn't have.....

Lastly, if the local area offers unmissable sightseeing opportunities we might just add on a few extra days, especially if it involves overnight stays.  The Cap'n is not good at leaving his other woman unattended, especially so on anchor.  

 

From:  Pylos, Greece Lat/Long: 36:55.324N 21:42.073E Date/Time: 26/07/13: 0700
To: Kalamata, Greece Lat/Long: 37:01.446N 22:06.327E Date/Time: 26/07/13: 1315
Time Taken: 41nm (6hrs) Distance (this year): 1818nm (289hrs)
Distance Total (since 2008): 12643nm   Weather: SW 3-5kts avg; Hot! Hot! Hot!
Fastest Speed: 6.1kts; very calm so mostly motoring. Fuel is slightly cheaper (perhaps we should consider flying instead?)