BLOG 5: Evia & the Northern Cyclades – 20 June to 19 July 2018

We are now back in the UK at our beach chalet in Calshot, where we’ll be based for the summer before returning to Greece in the middle of September.

Skiathos Town Port

After Peter Coy had left for the UK (Blog 4), following his two-week cruise with us in the West Sporades, we found a rare space on Skiathos town quay.   There we stayed for three days – partly because of two days of dramatic thunder, lightning, wind and rain, and partly because we needed to sort out a number of UK- and boat-related issues.

         Helen at work

By then it was time to start making our way back south to Agmar Marine’s boatyard in Leros where we were leaving Island Drifter (ID) for the summer while we returned to the UK.  We had always planned to sail back to Leros via the Evia Channel and the North Cyclades islands and there was no reason to change that plan.

  Route finally taken on our North Aegean Circuit this year

EVIA

Evia chart  

Evia is the second-largest island in Greece after Crete. It is 90 miles long, but not particularly wide in places.  A north–south mountainous spine divides the island’s eastern cliffs which face the prevailing northerly wind from the gentler west coast and Evia Channel.  

Part of Evia’s mountainous spine    

Ferries link the island to the mainland, as do the two bridges at Chalkis, the capital.

One of the many local ferries plying between 

the island of Evia and the mainland      

While the outer open-sea route down the east coast of Evia would have been faster and could even have been an enjoyable sleighride, it offered little by way of safe anchorages or harbours or indeed anything of particular interest to us.

The western route (which we took) down the relatively narrow (from 40 metres to 3 miles wide) channel between Evia and the Greek mainland has many villages, bays, small ports and anchorages, with outstanding views of mountains on either side.  The only cloud on the horizon is that in recent years fish farms have started to encroach on those anchorages and bays.

 

Fish farms are beginning to encroach on some of the anchorages and bays along the west coast of Evia

              

Evia’s proximity to mainland Greece, in particular Athens, means that there are many second homes and holiday facilities for Greek mainlanders, particularly near the capital Chalkis. The island is not, however, on the main tourist route for foreign visitors.  Fortunately, Evia is so large and wild that to date second homes and tourists have not seriously affected its natural beauty.  

SKIATHOS

Our first attempt to leave from Skiathos port to commence our return to Leros was a chaotic failure reminiscent of Gerard Hoffnung’s Bricklayer’s Story!  In brief:

  

• Tony, whom we had never met before and who had only just arrived on his yacht Ithaka, dropped his anchor chain across ours when reversing into a recently vacated berth next to us on the quay.

• While we were concentrating, as we departed, on trying to extricate ourselves, our anchor tape caught around our prop, thereby stalling the engine and leaving us without power albeit still, at this stage, anchored to the seabed.

• Mike then spent half an hour or so in the water trying to untangle the tape from the prop. Although partially successful, he ultimately concluded that he couldn’t make any further progress since a small length of tape was jammed tight around the prop shaft.  He therefore arranged through a very helpful Greek neighbour on the quay for a diver to help.

• For reasons best known to himself, Tony suddenly decided at that stage to pull off the quay to raise and reposition his own anchor.

• While doing so, not surprisingly, he pulled up OUR anchor, so WE ended up unsecured without any power and therefore started to drift towards the shore.  Fortunately we were able to attach lines on to Tony’s boat and get him to propel us under ‘some’ control on to the ferry dock.  
• 

Tony trying to untangle HIS anchor from OUR anchor, which he had just picked up, thereby setting us adrift

• Theo, the diver, didn’t actually have much difficulty cutting off the jammed anchor tape, although in total it took him over two hours because he was not permitted to dive in the harbour while a ferry was on the dock – and of course four had to come in while he was trying.

ID on ferry dock with the diver, Theo, about to start work

  

• After testing the engine, which started and ran perfectly well, and then checking for any leaks through the shaft seal, Mike and Theo concluded that the incident, while unfortunate, had not resulted in any damage to ID.  Theo reported accordingly to the Coast Guard/Port Police, as he was required to do.

• WE were also required to report to the Port Authorities to demonstrate that our documentation was in order (DEKPA, Registration, Insurance, Qualifications Certificates and Passports). 

•  Since it was by now too late to leave for the Evia Channel (and arrive at our planned destination in daylight), we ended up motoring around the headland to the south of the port where we anchored in Siferi Bay just as it was getting dark.  Siferi, a holiday resort and a suburb of Skiathos town, is only a one-kilometre-walk across a saddle to Skiathos port. It turned out to be an excellent anchorage with good holding, well protected from a strong Meltemi wind.

NORTH EVIA CHANNEL

Early next morning, we weighed anchor and left Skiathos.   We then set off for the north entrance of the Evia Channel. The wind was a pleasant F4 to 5 on the beam. For the first time, therefore, on this cruise we were able to sail with our full suit of sails (main, genoa and mizzen) working in unison. 

Main and mizzen at last flying together 

(taken from the area of the genoa)

Once we were into the more sheltered waters of the channel, the wind slowly dropped and we finally ended up motoring to our target destination – the port of Orei. 

Interestingly, the tidal range in the Evia Channel is 0.8 metres at springs, the greatest tidal range in Greece. This partly explains the 1.5 knots of favourable current we were assisted by for much of our 25-mile passage.

Orei

In ancient times Orei, on the north coast of Evia, was an important maritime city.  The remains of an acropolis that guarded the harbour can still be seen above the town. Today, while off the beaten track, Orei has a modest summer tourist trade in a pleasant location surrounded by agricultural land.  

Orei town viewed from its outer breakwater

There was no shortage of ‘parking’ space.  We therefore moored alongside the outer wall of the southern breakwater to allow us to leave quickly and quietly early the next day.  

ID on outer breakwater seen from the shoreline

The excellent shelter provided in the harbour is no doubt helped by the fact that the Meltemi does not actually blow there!  That evening we enjoyed a customary G&T while watching the sun go down behind the mountains of the mainland.

Sunset viewed from Orei quay

Volos

A visit to the Gulf of Volos to the north of Evia might have been a logical deviation from our route.  Given our time constraints, Volos’s reputation for thunderstorms, Rolf and Roz’s recent lightning strike in the Gulf of Volos and their view that the city harbour stank, we decided to give it a miss!

There are, however, said to be some very attractive anchorages in the south of the Gulf.  The city’s harbour is one of the most commercial in Greece. While the present harbour was built in 1912, Volos has always been an important maritime city. Jason and the Argonauts set sail from Volos (then called Iolkos) – a fact commemorated by a bronze statue in a square in the inner harbour.

NORTHERN GULF OF EVIA

We departed quietly at dawn from Orei on our 60-mile passage south down the northern Gulf of Evia to the bridge at Chalkis, the island’s capital.

Leaving Orei harbour at dawn

It was an uneventful but pleasant passage past a range of well-protected small villages, resorts, harbours, bays and anchorages on both sides of the Channel.  What particularly impressed us was the height and number of mountain peaks on both the mainland and Evia, all of which are snow capped well into spring.

Mountains close to the shore

Evia’s western coastline contains the bulk of the island’s resorts, surrounded on adjacent plains by grain fields, olive groves and pine forests.  The mainland coast is generally more rugged and either barren or covered by maquis. 

Chalkis

Chalkis, the island’s capital, has a population of over 100,000, making it one of the ten largest cities in Greece.  Not surprisingly therefore it has an urban rather than island feel about it. 

Right in the centre, beneath its unique 40-metre-long drawbridge spanning the channel, the gulf waters swirl by like a river at up to 7 knots per hour. Every few hours, for some unknown reason the current reverses.  Aristotle is said to have jumped into the water in frustration at his inability to explain this phenomenon.  Even today, there is no entirely satisfactory explanation for this capricious current.  

Currents of up to 7 knots flow through the 

Evia Channel at the Chalkis bridge

The waterfront and area adjacent to the bridge, where we moored to await its nocturnal opening, is a busy, modern pedestrianised area, filled with quality bars, restaurants and shops. 

ID moored on waterfront awaiting Chalkis bridge opening

The 40-metre-wide channel at the bridge was first spanned in 411BC, thereafter being improved and replaced at intervals.  In 1896 a Belgian company built an iron swing bridge that remained in use until 1962, when the current bridge, which slides back into a recess under the road, was constructed.   The bridge opens only once every 24 hours, always at night to avoid inconveniencing the heavy traffic that uses it.

Chalkis’s 40-metre-wide bridge as seen from ID

After being briefed on procedures by the Port Authority and paying a toll of 36 Euros, we spent a relaxed afternoon strolling around the waterfront and city. 

Chart plotter showing our position 
waiting for Chalkis bridge to open

At 2200 hrs we received our first VHF call ‘to prepare to move’. An hour later we received our second call ‘to slip our lines and proceed through the bridge’ at what was by now slack water.

Together with the other seven yachts in transit, we cast off with enthusiasm.  The bridge approaches and surrounding promenades were packed – people obviously throng to see this daily spectacle.

We were the second boat through the 40-metre gap between the mainland and Evia

Once past the bridge, we motored south along the at times narrow channel through the city, under the 30-metre-high suspension bridge, and then through the Narrows at Ak Alvis and out into the Southern Gulf of Evia.

SOUTHERN GULF OF EVIA

After the sprawling suburbs of Chalkis, southern Evia becomes increasingly barren, bleak, windswept and in places very narrow.  A single road runs from Chalkis to the southern tip of the island, with spurs off it leading to holiday homes, small communities of Athenians from the mainland, who primarily cross the gulf by ferry, and also to nowhere!

Spur roads set up in anticipation of future developments

Once into the Southern Gulf, we continued to push south through the night, passing the Narrows at Ak Ay Marina, into the Petalion Gulf, just before dawn. 

Dawn – just into the Petalion Gulf

 Vlikho Bay

We eventually pulled into Vlikho, a very peaceful well-sheltered sandy bay, with a few holiday homes in various stages of construction dotted around the hillside. 

Aerial view of Vlikho bay and surrounding countryside 

There did not appear to be many people about when we arrived, although we noticed that the small beach taverna opened up at midday. 

Vlikho beach and summer homes viewed from ID

After anchoring, tidying up, having a swim and a ‘healthy’ fried breakfast, we slept until midday. 

A late fried breakfast at anchor in Vlikho Bay

Thereafter, we chilled out for the rest of the day – in so far as one can chill in a temperature of 30°C.  

In 7 metres of crystal-clear water, from the boat 

we could see the anchor chain on the sea bed

We would happily have stayed for longer, but were conscious that the light winds we'd enjoyed to date were forecast to change. We therefore deemed it prudent to keep moving southeast into the Cyclades to avoid becoming trapped on the mainland.

  

NORTHERN CYCLADES

 Chart of Northern Cyclades islands

The Cyclades are the central group of islands in the Aegean, so named because they more or less encircle Delphi, the ancient centre of trade and worship. 

We plan to cruise the islands ‘properly’ in either the autumn of this year or next spring.  Meanwhile, we used the Northern Cyclades islands as stepping-stones to Leros.

ANDROS

The northernmost and second-largest island in the Cyclades, Andros is mountainous with a summit of 3721ft.  Its peaks are capped with snow in the winter. 

It is a walker’s paradise.  Valleys with streams and ancient stone mills cleave its wild mountains.  Each village appears to have its own spring and waterfalls cascade down hillsides for most of the year. 

The island is popular with Greek holidaymakers although some overseas tourists have also ‘discovered’ it.  It has in particular become a weekend-cottage suburb for Athenians.  Their new, rather bland white holiday villas built along the coast have given the island a reputation for ‘villa pox’.

‘Villa pox’ – bland, white, Athenian 

cottages which dominate north Andros

We particularly ‘enjoyed’ our invigorating 30-mile sail to Andros with a 3-knot cross-current and Force 6 wind when crossing the Doro Straits between the south of Evia and the north of Andros. 

Sailing reefed to Andros from Evia      

Batsí

As we approached Batsí town harbour we turned on the engine and began to take down the sails, before noting that we were hardly moving. After checking the mechanics on the boat, we concluded that we had just about enough propulsion to risk entering the harbour. Before doing so, however, we organised the boat with lines, fenders, anchors, etc., to accommodate any eventuality or opportunity that we envisaged might arise!  As it happened, we decided to anchor off the beach, this being the simplest and safest option. 

Entrance to Batsí town port, 

which we decided not to risk entering    

When Mike went over the side to inspect the prop he found a woven plastic sack wound around it. It came off with relative ease and had clearly been the reason for our loss of power as we approached Batsí.

Mike holding up the offending plastic sack 

he had removed from the prop     

Since by the next day the wind had increased, was forecast to continue to build and we were too close to the rocky shore for comfort, we raised the anchor and repositioned ourselves in a more central location in the bay. 

Rocks aft of the boat

Even though we appeared to have resolved our power problem, we were not tempted to go into the harbour since clearly the boats in there were getting a very rough time. 

Batsí looked as pleasant and attractive a location as the pilot book had indicated – very Greek, quiet at night, a good town beach, clear water, no ferries or tripper boats.  It was a great pity therefore that it was so rough and windy that we didn’t risk trying to get ashore in the dinghy for the two days we spent there.   Fortunately, with our Rocna spade anchor well bedded in and with a long chain we were quite safe and comfortable at anchor. Indeed, some of the boats in the harbour moved out into the bay to avoid being bashed against the quay.

Batsí beach viewed from ID

TINOS

On the morning of our third day in Batsí we left for Tinos as the forecast indicated that the wind was due to drop to a Force 4.  As it happened, the wind got stronger during the day as we progressed southeast down the west coasts of Andros and Tinos.

We therefore spent most of our 30-mile passage in a Force 6–7 on a broad reach with two reefs in both the main and our new genoa. 

Sailing southeast with two reefs along the coast of Tinos

By keeping close to the islands, the fetch was significantly reduced. However, through the 3-mile acceleration zone between the islands of Andros and Tinos the wind increased by two forces and the sea was very confused.

Since a very strong Meltemi wind was blowing, it ruled out the possibility of stopping at any of the anchorages in Tinos. We therefore headed for Tinos town port at the bottom southwest corner of the island. The harbour has a good reputation for all-round shelter.

Tinos town harbour seen from adjacent hill

As we approached Tinos harbour, the Port Authority told us on the radio to wait before trying to come through the narrow harbour entrance, since two large ferries were imminently due in.  We therefore heaved to (on the main only) and immediately, even with 30 knots of wind, everything quietened down considerably, enabling us to finish getting organised before entering the harbour.

Heaved to off Tinos port waiting for ferries to leave

When we were finally authorised to enter and after doing so, the wind and waves dropped almost totally as the harbour is so well protected from the prevailing northerly wind.  We were therefore easily able to anchor-moor bows-to on the Visitors’ North Quay in the inner harbour.

Anchor-moored bows-to on Visitors’ North Quay, Tinos

Tinos is a rugged island lying to the southeast of Andros across the Straits of Dhisvaton.  The island’s summit (2340ft) lies at the south of the island, providing good shelter to the capital and port.

Rocky summit of Tinos which can be seen from the port

We hired a car to view the island – quite the best way of doing so.  The standard rate in the islands appears to be 30 Euros a day, although that only includes Third Party insurance.  

Hire car – the best way to view the interior

The interior of the island is extensively terraced and cultivated.   The swathes of oleander bushes and other colourful shrubs in full flower particularly impressed us.

Much of the island is terraced

 Oleander bushes – some of the many flowers 

then in full bloom

There are sixty small local villages peppered throughout Tinos where the water is reputed to be the best and most plentiful in the Aegean.

One of the many small villages spread around the island

By car we were able to follow part of the ‘Dovecote Trail’.   These ornate dovecotes were built by the Venetians who kept doves for their meat and the guano they produced.  Most dovecotes have been renovated and are part of the island’s heritage.   Some are as big as a detached 2-storey house.  

A palatial dovecote; one of many on the island

We also visited Pyrgos, the centre of Tinos’s marble quarrying area.   The district is renowned throughout Greece for its marble sculptures.  Many houses, structures and walls on the island are built with marble, including in particular the Church in Tinos (see below) and an impressive bus stop in Pyrgos.  Even our water tap on the quay had a magnificent marble surround.

Impressive marble bus stop in Pyrgos

Pyrgos’s marble products were originally extensively exported from the small northern port of Panormos, where we incidentally enjoyed a very pleasant lunch.

Lunch in Panormos

The word Tinos is derived from the Phoenician word for snakes, which once lived in huge numbers on the island – until the Venetians imported storks which ate them all up!  

The Venetians occupied and managed to hold Tinos for 500 years until the Turks eventually took it over in 1715, long after the rest of Greece had been conquered by around 1590.  The island was subsequently handed over to the Greeks themselves after the War of Independence in 1830.  The long Venetian occupation established a strong Catholic legacy in the island.

In 1822 a Greek Orthodox nun, now canonised as St Pelagia, the patron saint of Greece, was directed in a dream how to uncover an icon of the Virgin Mary which subsequently ‘proved’ capable of effecting miracle cures for the sick and disabled.  The Church of Panagia Evangelistria, a grandiose shrine, was erected in local marble on the spot where the icon was found.  Today, the icon is housed in the church.

       Icon smothered in jewels               

Ironically, this find transformed the then very Catholic island to a major place of pilgrimage for the Greek Orthodox Church.  There are now two major annual pilgrimages when Tinos is inundated by the faithful and desperate.  If you haven’t booked accommodation at least two years in advance, then expect to sleep on the streets with the pilgrims.  

Church of Panagia Evangelistria in Tinos

The streets leading up to the church are lined with shops crammed with tacky souvenirs and religious wares.  A rubberised strip of mat has been laid all the way up the main street to the church for pilgrims to crawl along.  

Matting laid on the street up to 

the Church for pilgrims to crawl up

Even so, the town still hums with the vibrancy of a Greek island port.  Tinos itself is considered to be the most Greek of the larger islands in the Cyclades.   A few foreign tourists appear to have discovered its beaches and unspoilt villages, but the vast majority of visitors are Greek who come to see the church and shrine.  

Since another weather front passed through the island, we were stuck there for an additional day.  During that time, even the large ferries had to come into the inner harbour to dock, causing chaos with their wash to visiting yachts such as ours on the quay.

Hydrofoil ferry reversing on to our quay, 

causing turbulent back wash (this is not our yacht!)

Altogether, eight large ferries docked on the quay during the day, thereby emphasising their importance in keeping both tourist and commercial industries operating effectively in the islands.

Hordes of passengers entering ferry

Because an unusual 24-hour weather window of favourable (for us) WNW winds was forecast, we decided that we would take advantage of it and depart slightly early (by two days) for Leros, some 90 miles away.   The F5–6 winds forecast were perfect for a Countess yacht (not the fastest yacht in the world). 

We ended up enjoying probably the best passage we’ve had in Greece:  on a broad reach with two reefs in the main and genoa and with the mizzen up.  

Sailing downwind towards Leros

On the way we passed between Mykonos and Naxos. It made us realise yet again how close the Greek islands are to one another. A 90-mile sail is a long passage in Greece!

We made the most of our overnight sail, by allowing our third member of crew, the Hydrovane, to steer, and by running the towed generator for only the second time since we arrived in Greece.  ID happily bowled along at 6 knots on a very stable platform. 

The mizzen, Hydrovane and water generator 

enjoying a good workout

LEROS

Before sorting out the boat in Lakki and having it lifted out into Agmar Marine’s boatyard in Partheni, we took a break for a couple of days at anchor off the island of Archangelos.

Bay from Taverna

The only inhabitants living on the island are the taverna owners and a herd of goats.

Colourful Taverna Stigma on Archangelos island

We enjoyed lunch at Taverna Stigma where we met Simon Bain and Brenda Corrie from Perth, Australia.  Subsequently we joined them on Simon's boat Helios for an excellent BBQ supper of local sausages and a Greek salad.

Simon, Brenda and Helen on SY Helios  

UK

After a fairly hectic week decommissioning ID we caught a ferry from Leros to Piraeus port in Athens, the public bus from the port to the airport and from there an EasyJet flight to Gatwick, where we hired a car (ours having died in April). 

We now look forward to two months in the UK.