2026 Sailing Season underway North to the Sporades
Back onboard and what a sunrise to welcome us
Katherine arrived into Olympic Marine Lavrio in August of 2021. At that time we never could have imagined that this would continue to be her base five years on. But throw in the sheer convenience of an international airport just 45 minutes away and the number of islands in Greece to explore we simply haven’t yet found a reason to leave.
Our first few days in harbour were busy as usual with preparations for the season. There was also a lot of “social” work as we reunited with sailing friends whose boats are based in the marina, acquainted ourselves with new friends and celebrated briefly the return of some old friends that happen to be sailing through. In this case it was Lydia and Tobias on Rauschkugel who we last met in Lavrio in 2023 when they and their co owners were launching their boat and heading north. Timing was perfect to catch up even if it was only brief.
Shaking the cobwebs out of the sails
27th of May and Underway
Our first run of the season is always interesting as we get the sails settled in, check all our equipment and discover what hasn’t appreciated being left alone since our last return. In this case it was George 1 - our trusty auto pilot. Thankfully we had George 2 on standby and with a little contortionist work by Andrew whilst under sail we soon had an operational auto pilot, though Martin was very happy to continue helming.
Our anchorage for the evening was in the Bay of Karystos where we were joined by Nicole and Paul from Savvy of London. Always special to have our two beautiful boats together and to share a meal.
Last year we had intended to sail to the Sporades but the winds from the North had been consistently strong - that certainly wasn’t the problem for us this year as we turned the corner of Evioa and headed North to Skyros in dead calm conditions. Just as well Katherine motors as well as she sails.
We hired a Panda, which once we determined that the hand break wasn’t that secure, successfully zigzagged our way across the island. We visited the beautiful old town with its white washed buildings and cobblestone pathways, stopped at crystal clear beaches, passed through lush pine forests and discovered a beautiful spot for lunch at the Hotel Amerissa.
On our drive back to the marina the only photo opportunity missing was that of a Skyros Pony and then right on cue there they were roadside. The Skyros Pony or Skyrian Horse as they are also known is a small horse that stands between 92 and 115cm high. A protected species that is native to Greece their numbers are critically low with only several hundred now in existence predominantly on Skyros in the wild or on welfare farms. We were just fortunate our winding road took us past a paddock in which several were happily grazing.
After enjoying Linardi marina on Skyros we headed for an anchorage off the island of Peristera in the southern bay of Vasilikou. It was definitely a bonus to have such a beautiful anchorage to our selves for the next two nights. Tied stern to the only time we encountered another boat was when a local gentleman turned up to fill his barrels with water from a well concealed onshore. We did however have to share the water with Mnemiopsis the warty comb jelly or sea walnut. It took some convincing despite the documentation that they would not sting to be convinced but after several encounters we decided they were just very odd slippery little creatures.
Katherine’s mast is 32m or 105 feet high and it was on Martin’s wish list to be taken up. So with a calm morning and relatively still waters Martin was harnessed and hoisted up the mast to capture some beautiful photos of our anchorage below. He has now successfully ticked that challenge box.
Our next island adventure was Skopelos - home to the filming of many of the iconic scenes from Mama Mia. So with the songs on repeat we headed with anticipation into the Skopelos marina. Di and I doing our best impression of Mamma Mia, Honey Honey and Dancing Queen….though definitely not for everyone’s ears!
Tucked in amongst the boats in the harbour we hired a car again to drive around the island to check out some possible anchorages for future visits and to tick off a few of the sites from the Mama Mia film - including the church on the cliff that we climbed but did not run up. The highlight was the discovery of the Kraken restaurant in Panormos where our morning coffee turned into a feast of Orange cake and Baclava and a pledge to return with Katherine to the beautiful neighbouring cove.
Beautiful water of Panormos Bay
We drifted around the island of Skopelos to the west side of the island and set anchor in Panormos Bay on Wednesday 3rd of June. A very pretty peaceful bay until early afternoon when a procession of boats began to arrive and chaos unfolded. Andrew and Martin were kept very busy assisting boats secure to the rocks to avoid impending carnage, assistance certainly appreciated by the captains of the charter boats.
Breakfast with our neighbours
After having neighbours John and James of Dublin onboard for a hearty breakfast it was decided our relaxed day on anchor was cancelled due to some interesting weather heading our way. So early afternoon we bid farewell to Skopelos and headed back to the island of Alonnisos for our last night of anchoraging in the Sporades.
Our A1 or Big Bird Sail
Friday 5th of June we turned south for our longest day sail of 92nm back to Karystos Bay. Two highlights of the day were getting the A1 out of the sail locker and flying and being greeted by several playful dolphins who actually wanted to stay and play.
A rare encounter with playful Dolphins
Our final night on anchor was in the familiar bay of Voukari Kea. Every time we come to Kea we seem to learn a little more about this island which has become one of our favourites and this visit was no exception. We visited the archeological museum for the first time in the old town of Llouida, found a lovely coffee shop to compare Orange cake and tasted a new variety of ice cream in the harbour. All important learnings.
A short run back to the marina and it was time to stamp log books, pack bags and time for one last lunch in the town of Lavrio. Anyone would think sailing in Greece was all about the food!
Heading Home
After two weeks of cruising we had covered together 322nm and added to the list of Greek islands visited of Skyros, Alonissos, Peristera, Skopelos, Evoia and Kea for Di and Martin.
Only several hundred more islands to go.