Back onboard and sailing in the Cyclades
Arriving Athens
We arrived into Athens on the 31st of May. As this is now our 4th year of returning to Katherine in Olympic Marine Lavrio it really does feel a little like returning home. Well at least our water based home.
Although Katherine is under the care of the X-Yacht team during winter there is always an ongoing list of repairs or upgrades to be done. As Andrew always states sailing is really about fixing yachts in exotic locations. This year we had to replace our main sail and jib. Not bad considering this is only our third set of sails in just over 28,000nm. Weather conditions on the day were perfect for hoisting in the harbour - that was a first. Then out of the harbour the jib and main sail were successfully tested at various points of sail and reefing. The team from Quantum Sails joined in the toast to Neptune and were rightfully proud of their Carbon sails that we all agreed looked beautiful under sail.
With a few days spare before the arrival of our first guests for the season we headed out of harbour to the near by island of Kea and the anchorage of Voukari. We enjoyed three nights on anchor along with the unexpected opportunity to meet family members of English friends who happened to be staying on Kea. It is a very small world at times.




Di and Martin visiting from England
On the 9th of June we welcomed Di and Martin Koerner onboard Katherine. The last time they had been onboard was in Hamble Le Rice in England back in 2014. Thankfully we had caught up in between but there had never been an opportunity for them to join us to go sailing until now. Plans were originally set to head North to Thessaloniki but as always the winds decide where we go and once again we headed not north but west to the Peloponnesus.
Our first anchorage was again in Epidaurus - where we tied stern to the rocks to create our own back yard swimming pool.
On our second day on anchor we took the 20 minute taxi ride to revisit the Ancient Amphitheatre of Epidaurus and the ruins of Asklepios a centre for healing in its time. The amphitheatre can hold up to 12000 people and due to its perfect acoustics it is still used for performances today. Each visit to this site has left us in in total admiration for the engineering achieved so long ago.
BBougainvillea brings colour to the buildings and feels so Greece
Continuing south to familiar towns we anchored off Erimoni so that Di Martin and I could catch the ferry to Hydra whilst Andrew stayed onboard due to impending wind.
A misinterpretation of the ferry timetable saw us with a few extra hours on Hydra than planned. We walked literally kilometers up down and through the back streets of Hydra, discovered a great coffee stop with the best baklava, an excellent lunch stop and Martin managed to survive almost being run over by a horse.









Relaxed Sailing
Next stop on the Peloponnese coastline was our favourite town of Monemvasia. A perfect days sailing where we not only spotted dolphins but managed to sail with the Code 0.
Another good day on the water.
This is our third time on anchor beneath the old and ancient town of Monemvasia and it still feels a very special to visit. Our first evening we ate at a restaurant that had views of both the old town and Katherine on anchor. Perfect for watching the sunset and for watching locals fishing from the harbour side.
Monemvasia is listed as the longest occupied fortification dating back to the 6th century. At its height in the 15th century it is said to have been occupied by up to 50000 people. It has never been taken by force due to its secure position but has fallen by siege. On the 23rd July 1821 in the War of Independence the Ottoman Garrison fell due to hunger after the Greeks had managed to cut of supplies to the settlement for several months.
Today the only building that remains intact in the upper town is the 13th Century Agia Sofia church. On previous visits the church had not been open so it was well worth the climb again to be able to view inside and to see the now fading frescoes that still exist from the 14th century.
Monemvasia to Vathy Sifnos
From Monemvasia we headed back east to the Cyclades island of Sifnos in the bay of Vathy. Martin had been hoping for an overnight passage but settled for a an 82 nm (151km / 94m) sail where we reached a top boat speed of 11.2 knots and saw winds to 27knots (50km/31m). Ten hours from anchor up to anchor down certainly wasn’t a bad day on the water.
We have visited the bay of Vathy several times and always enjoy sharing the very simple but beautiful harbour where the restaurants are literally on the beach beneath trees with the water lapping just short of the chairs on the sand. The bay is also home to the Ceramic Pottery family Atsonia where 4 generations have created both traditional and now modern ceramics from a small workshop that up until 1993 was only accessible by boat. Each time we have visited a little pottery has gone home to Australia - who were we to break with tradition on this trip.






A short taxi ride away from the bay is the Kastro or old town of Vathy that is perched high on a cliff face. The white washed buildings were built with outer walls facing the sea and internal walls into narrow winding cobblestone streets to limit the access from outside and to help protect the village from pirate attacks. Throughout the small village there are still ruins of the acropolis lying around or being incorporated into building structures. Sarcophagus line the pathways. For us these items are of such historical importance they should be in a museum but then this is Greece where ancient ruins seem to be around every corner literally. No hilltop town would be complete with out its church and Kastro definitely has its own “MamaMia” look church.
From Sifnos we continued north to island of Serifos and the town of Livadi. Only our second visit to the island we were keen to visit the old town that overlooked the harbour. The precarious bus ride up was definitely better than walking and the views over the harbour spectacular. We conveniently found a Cocktail bar to hide from the wind before returning to Livadi below and discovering a restaurant that to date has served one of the most refined versions of Greek cuisine. So very pleased we returned to explore.









Secured to the rocks in Kalona Bay
Next stop on our route back to Lavrio was the very familiar bay of Kalona on the island of Kythnos. We managed to secure a stern to position between two super yachts who kindly departed on sunset. Unfortunately Martin picked up an unwanted souvenir when tying the lines to shore standing on a sea urchin - a definite ouch and one that took Di some time to extra all the spines. Still an enjoyable two nights on anchor here making the most of the beautiful water at our stern.
Temple of Posiedon
Our last night on anchor for this trip was of course in Sounion with the Temple of Poseidon as our backdrop. It had been a great sailing trip with just over 295nm added proudly to their sailing log books. There had been a lot of laughter, lessons in splicing, enjoyment of helming, and sailing. No motoring until our very last day.
Stepping out of the marina
But unfortunately with weather turning it was decided the last three days of their stay would need to be on land so we made an early start on the Saturday morning to get Katherine back in the marina and secured so that our road trip could begin.