Yes we were here for 6 nights!
We left Anavissio Bay knowing that there was going to be a fresh wind from the north, so we had a good sail down to Sounion where the temple of Poseidon stands majestically overlooking the sea, before turning NE towards Kea. Here we opted to motorsail close to the wind , making about 6 kts in what turned out to be a challenging sea state with waves between 6 and 10 feet and winds gusting 34+ knots. Fortunately we had a bucket ready for Fern 🤮, although Ann did then empty it over my bike seat! Jacana took the conditions extremely well, which were actually the most challenging we had experienced in her, generally cutting through the waves, rather than riding up and down them.
Once in the shelter of Vourkari Bay, we made one attempt at a stern to mooring onto the quay but gave up because of the cross wind and getting our anchor hooked in the chain of a motor boat. Instead we anchored in the middle of the bay in about 18m of water with about 65m of chain.
The plan had been to stay here for one or two days, but with northerly Meltemi winds building we resigned ourselves for a longer stay.
The Tavernas on the Vourkari side of the large enclosed harbour tended to cater for Athenians popping across in their large motor yachts and were thus very expensive and pretentious, so on the second night we walked round to the port of Korissia and had an excellent meal at Rolandos, being served by the very welcoming Nikolas. The following night, without wind we took the tender round rather than the 35min walk. Big mistake! By the time we had eaten, the wind had picked up and we got very wet and cold getting back to Jacana.
So the plan now was for Fern to get the Saturday 6am ferry to Lavrio, and then get a taxi to the airport. So on Friday we hired a car to see some of the sights of Kea. The main attraction is the old town of Ioulis, locally known as ‘the chora’ and the nearby ancient unfinished carved lion. We also tried to get to a temple on the SE side of the island, however Google let us badly down when the made up road turned into a dirt track which then turned into a footpath with a 45 min walk ahead of us. Needless to say, we did a 10 point turn on a very narrow track and gave up on the temple.
While we exploring the narrow streets on the chora, Fern had a call saying that, because of the building wind, her Saturday ferry was cancelled and she was being put on a ferry later that evening on Friday. So another change of plan, dropping off the hire car, eating again in Rolandos, waving farewell to Fern on the 2145 ferry, and walking back to Vourkari.
As per the forecast, the wind started to kick off at about 4am and continued with gusts upto 38kts until the evening and then again to a lesser extent on Sunday. Fortunately the anchor held firm. Our entertainment whilst stuck on board was watching yachts trying to do stern to moorings – some of them up to 12 attempts before they got it right!
Finally the wind and sea state dropped off significantly on Monday. So off we go again.
We left Anavissio Bay knowing that there was going to be a fresh wind from the north, so we had a good sail down to Sounion where the temple of Poseidon stands majestically overlooking the sea, before turning NE towards Kea. Here we opted to motorsail close to the wind , making about 6 kts in what turned out to be a challenging sea state with waves between 6 and 10 feet and winds gusting 34+ knots. Fortunately we had a bucket ready for Fern 🤮, although Ann did then empty it over my bike seat! Jacana took the conditions extremely well, which were actually the most challenging we had experienced in her, generally cutting through the waves, rather than riding up and down them.
Once in the shelter of Vourkari Bay, we made one attempt at a stern to mooring onto the quay but gave up because of the cross wind and getting our anchor hooked in the chain of a motor boat. Instead we anchored in the middle of the bay in about 18m of water with about 65m of chain.
The plan had been to stay here for one or two days, but with northerly Meltemi winds building we resigned ourselves for a longer stay.
The Tavernas on the Vourkari side of the large enclosed harbour tended to cater for Athenians popping across in their large motor yachts and were thus very expensive and pretentious, so on the second night we walked round to the port of Korissia and had an excellent meal at Rolandos, being served by the very welcoming Nikolas. The following night, without wind we took the tender round rather than the 35min walk. Big mistake! By the time we had eaten, the wind had picked up and we got very wet and cold getting back to Jacana.
So the plan now was for Fern to get the Saturday 6am ferry to Lavrio, and then get a taxi to the airport. So on Friday we hired a car to see some of the sights of Kea. The main attraction is the old town of Ioulis, locally known as ‘the chora’ and the nearby ancient unfinished carved lion. We also tried to get to a temple on the SE side of the island, however Google let us badly down when the made up road turned into a dirt track which then turned into a footpath with a 45 min walk ahead of us. Needless to say, we did a 10 point turn on a very narrow track and gave up on the temple.
While we exploring the narrow streets on the chora, Fern had a call saying that, because of the building wind, her Saturday ferry was cancelled and she was being put on a ferry later that evening on Friday. So another change of plan, dropping off the hire car, eating again in Rolandos, waving farewell to Fern on the 2145 ferry, and walking back to Vourkari.
As per the forecast, the wind started to kick off at about 4am and continued with gusts upto 38kts until the evening and then again to a lesser extent on Sunday. Fortunately the anchor held firm. Our entertainment whilst stuck on board was watching yachts trying to do stern to moorings – some of them up to 12 attempts before they got it right!
Finally the wind and sea state dropped off significantly on Monday. So off we go again.
