August, 1st-3rd, Finikounda–Koroni
Koroni-Cats
August has arrived. New month, new direction. From now on we are heading east.
Our first stop, after only 7nm is in Finikounda. A picturesque little fishing village, clear warm water and good anchorage invite us to swim and relax. Yet, a short trip to the mainland is enough, because on the next day we will continue to Koroni. The weather currently determines our schedule.
Chair-braiding
After a pleasantly quiet night we cover the 15nm to Koroni. Here is the secret capital of the Greek stray cats. Everywhere you take a glimpse you can see nursing mothers, playing kittens and as usual for this country, not shy at all. But you can see that there is not as much to eat here as elsewhere. You can also observe how new seating areas are created on chairs. With skilful and visibly trained movements for years, the traditional bins braid quickly becomes a new seating area. We are not the only ones who stop here and watch these men at work.
August, 4th-5th Gerolinemas
33nm we will be leaving behind today, with good wind and, well, at least a bearable wave, we head towards Porto
Boom came loose
Kaglio. We are, by our standards, quite fast and plan to sail the 40nm to Porto Kaglio in one go. It is summer, the days are long, the wind pushes us well forward, no problems in sight. Then how come we only got 33nm? Well, why should everything work smoothly on the south side of the Peloponnese? That would be very kitschy, wouldn’t it?
Aeolus, the Greek god of the winds, must have thought the same of us and turns the wind off without further warning. Now. Regardless of losses. What a clown…
As a result, Tiki is suddenly no longer pulled by the sails, but hanging them down uselessly, while everything is shaken by the still unappealing waves. Fractions of a second later, a bang. Something is different, our eyes scan the boat in shock until I shout “the boom” in astonishment. Fact. The boom has “come down”. The rivets which should connect the boom with the gooseneck, simultaneously handed in the resignation. Not nice. (For the non-sailors: The long, vertical asparagus on the boat is the mast, the (usually shorter) thing, towards the cockpit is the boom. The two parts are connected by a movable fitting, the “gooseneck”).
Well, only five seconds have passed since the wind dropped, but it’s about time to pack away the sails and secure the boom. Let’s go. Well secured Eric, as the stronger one of us, proceeds to the mast. We decide to secure the boom first. At the moment it clings to the back of the topping lift (non-sailer translation: just another rope) and in
Gooseneck
front, on the mast side still on the mainsail. After some more waves, which show how important it is to be secured, this is done. We generously reduce the headsail, the engine is now running. Our new goal is Gerolinemas.
After what feels like an eternity of fighting against the waves, we can finally see Gerolinemas. Through the bay now wind is blowing on our nose, here he is hiding. Dorothy, our brave 50hp engine, we have to credit it that we arrive against the approx. 40kn wind and can drop our anchor soon.
On the next day the boom is quickly repaired, one has for safety’s sake always a decent assortment of rivets on bord. We stay another night and wait for Daniel, whom we also know from Vonitsa and want to meet again since Kyparissia.
August 6th-7th Porto Kaglio
Porto Kaglio
together we set off and sail about 13nm to Porto Kaglio. A small bay, 18 houses, including taverns, no shopping
possibilities except for the vegetable dealer, who comes sporadically with the pick-up, no public rubbish bins. Again crystal clear water, good sandy anchorage, fish, nature, very idyllic. Daniel unfortunately has to continue soon, his friends, whom he has with him, have to catch a plane. His route goes to Crete, we continue sailing along the Peloponnese.
8-13 August Elafonissos
we really have to talk to Aeolus, again he doesn’t stick to the predictions and the last part to the anchorage turns out to be a test of patience. The closer we get, the stronger the wind blows against us. This time he was also able to convince the waves and they also want to push us back in the other direction. For the last 4, from 24nm we need more than 2 hours. Completely done we sink the anchor in the almost white sand. One would suspect this sight rather in the Caribbean. Gorgeous. Nevertheless, first check the anchor, something to eat, some rest.
We set off on foot, want to walk across the island, 5km to the next village. Equipped with water bottles, we leave at 38°C. We are very grateful that after a 2km walk a car stops and gives us a lift 😀 – But that’s not quite enough, our hero of the day proves to be an absolute jackpot. He settles his things in town and then patiently waits until we have settled our things quickly and brings us back to his tavern, less than one kilometre away from Tiki. He refuses any attempt to give him money for gas, so we decide to at least eat at his place and contribute something to the turnover. A good decision, the cuisine is excellent!
Well strengthened and provided with some provisions we come back to Tiki. We were lucky to go shopping today, almost two weeks after the last, reasonable possible supply. From August 10th it will be turbulent again, but we don’t know anything about that yet.