2021 Heading south from boatyard

 2021

After many months of lockdown and Covid restrictions we enjoyed a wonderful time at Harry and Eimile's beautiful wedding on the shores of Crummock Water in the Lake District. 

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Our planned road trip to Greece leaving at the beginning of July didn't happen because each country we would have been traveling through had its own rules and regulations and we could have been stuck in quarantine at any point. We decided instead to fly out on 9th August which meant transporting quite a lot of parts / supplies etc in our cases. It caused some consternation at Gatwick airport when they discovered the sewing machine in my cabin bag and insisted on unpacking it to check. At that point I wished I hadn't used my underwear to pack around it!!

We had been monitoring the dreadful wildfires around Athens and on Evia online and contacted the boatyard who assured us that the fires were not near them and the road out of Athens was now open.

Back on Serenity in the boatyard. Temperatures up to 38 degrees (apparently it had been 45 last week). Very hot for working but getting up at 6.00am before it got too hot meant that we got the clutch, that we had rewound at home, fitted back onto the auto helm and it works!! Other work included  putting the sails on and replacing the starter battery having eventually realised that was what the awful smell was - no wonder cleaning the drains didn't get rid of the smell - it was the battery "gassing off" hydrogen sulphide having decomposed over the long break.

Mystery photo - what is this?

Once in the water we headed straight across to Eretria on the island of Evia - well south of the fires. We had anchored here several times last year but this time we were on the wall to make it easy to resupply and get the jobs done. Dinghy inflated, toilet serviced, electronics fitted to AIS system, cleaning, shopping, eradicated weevils from food cupboard, new parts fitted to BBQ, spray hood refitted etc etc.

Two fire planes collecting water from the bay behind us to take to the fires in the north. So sad, such devastation - 50,000 hectares of forest lost, 25 villages evacuated and numerous livelihoods lost as well as an unknown number of animals. Firefighters and planes came from Russia, Ukraine, America, Poland, Romania, Cyprus, Serbia, Slovakia, Moldova, UK, Qatar, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Kuwait, Israel......

Sunrise across the bay looking towards "Dream Island" on the right - mentioned in last year's posts.

The fishing fleet in the evening light along the wall in Eretria

Skipper enjoying a well earned pita gyros and beer........

.........followed by ice cream on the seafront, of course!

Good sail south from Eretria to Buffalo bay (also known as Voufalo). Typical sailing weather - started very calm, motor sailing then had gusts of 37 knots as we approached the bay.

Anchored in Buffalo bay - looking from the village to Serenity with the Silence yoga retreat in the background.

"Elevenses" Greek style!

We ordered two tsipouro drinks with water and got a plate of tomatoes, cucumber, olives, marinated anchovies and cheese plus a huge chunk of fresh bread for free - whole bill was 8€50 for the two of us.

The small village of Buffalo. Not a lot here other than two tavernas and a fruit and veg van and a bread van that come each morning. It was while we were anchored here one night that, at midnight, Dave had a dreadful nose bleed (unknown for him). I won't go into details but his warfarin INR level had gone up so the blood would take five times longer than normal to clot. Very worrying - it got to the point where I was packing a bag with necessary documents etc and preparing to take him ashore in the dinghy and call an ambulance. Next dilemma - do I go with him and hope Serenity holds on anchor in the predicted strong winds to come (she has been known to drag her anchor) or do I stay with the boat? Difficult decision at 2.00 in the morning! Luckily, after over an hour, it finally stopped bleeding.

Serenity on the right sporting her anchor riding sail that we made in Licata some years ago but have never managed to use successfully. With strong gusty winds she tends to swing around on the anchor so this should keep her a bit more steady into the wind. Attaching it further back on the boom seems to work better.

There are very few boats out this year - we haven't seen any other Brits - but we met Katy and Oliver on Lady Blues who had been in the boatyard with us. 

From the beach looking back to the village

The outdoor cinema - we couldn't work out what the snippets of music, loudspeaker voices and strange sound effects were one night then realised it was an open air cinema outside the chapel at the end of the beach.

The sewing machine has been put to good use while we have been sheltering in the bay here - new mosquito net for the companionway.

Adjusting the anchor riding sail to get the maximum effect.

David S Chalkis to Chalkoutsi

Dave S flew out to Athens and met us in Chalkis on Evia island

Rather steep, haphazard steps down to the stone beach in Chalkis

Veins in the rocks look like spider webs.

A climb up from the town to the old castle rewarded us with a view down the Evia channel. The suspension bridge in previous blog is just around the headland in the centre so the land to the left is Evia island and the land to the right is mainland Greece.

Dave checking out the build quality!

The castle was built by the Turks in 1684 to protect the town against the Venetians but, strangely, it was designed by a Venetian?

Strange building at the bottom of the hill - old and new in juxta-position

After passing through the Chalkis bridge at midnight and anchoring on the other side, we then sailed south, under the suspension bridge and on to Eretria. Here we anchored in the bay and took the dinghy across to walk around  "Dream Island". This used to be a holiday complex with hotel and 42 holiday bungalows but fell into disrepair and is now derelict. Reading up about its history it is a catalogue of Greek red tape. A billionaire who used to holiday there wanted to restore it but so much red tape meant that he couldn't do this. Such a shame to see it abandoned now when someone was prepared to revive it.

Along the shore here there are huge boulders of local pink marble.

Time for an ouzo meze after visiting the ancient ruins and museum at the top of town. 

From Eretria we continued along the coast of Evia to the port of Aliveri just outside the town of Karastos

A modern piece of stone wall building - love the way they made the niche to fit the pot exactly.

Detail of an alcove in the wall displaying beautifully marked local marble.

Local church on the way to Karastos with small chapel at the side.

Enjoying a freddo expresso at the rather smart beach bar just outside the harbour.

Walking around the bay out of Alive, mainland Greece in the background.

Roadside shrine - lots of these around, usually well looked after and often with an oil lamp burning inside.

Looking back towards the harbour

Evening music session on board 

Looking back along the harbour wall. The pale grey is the top of the wall, dark grey to the left is a track wide enough to drive down and the grey to the right is the walk way. We sheltered in here the next night from strong winds which actually whipped the sea up and right over this so it sounded as if someone had thrown a bucket of water over the boat.

The power plant outside the harbour. We followed signs to the "ancient tower" which we eventually realised was the stone tower between the two red and white chimneys - they had built the power plant around it!

Continuing south to Voufalo and called in for coffee at Stella's bar - where we had the music evening with Chris and Desi.

The view looking the other way out into the bay where Serenity is the only boat there.

The view from the other side of the bay looking back towards Stella's and the tiny village of Voufalo.

Afternoon treat - cocktails at the "Silence" bar - a yoga retreat overlooking the bay.

Meeting the locals on our walk up into the hills out of Panagia in Almiropotomus bay.

Photo opportunity - another shrine at the side of the track - a long way out of town.

On our way back into the village we wondered what was in the road ahead .........

..........a tortoise!

Statues in the sea on our walk around the bay from Panagia.

We walked to a small family taverna for coffee and cold drinks. While we were there the lady had just made a huge pan of apple cake and gave us three large chunks - typical Greek hospitality!

Colourful gardens and giant cacti around the bay.

An evening walk in the other direction around the bay to capture the sunset on camera

David at the helm on the way to Chalkoutsi where he left us to fly home and we prepared the boat for being lifted into the Petros Boatclub boatyard round the corner.

The method used to lift the boat out of the water - very different to anything we have met before! We had to be ready at 07.00 just as it got light and before any wind or swell came up. A very skilful bit of helming by Dave positioned Serenity in the red cradle in the water. A rope is then thrown to me on the bow and we are winched onto the trailer. This is then towed to our place in the yard.

A very well kept boatyard - Sia is very keen on her garden

Serenity up on her props - a bit like Jenga underneath!

The view from the taxi on the way to the airport - looking back to the boatyard and across to the island of Evia.

Going home!