Kefalonia to Kalamata

Our visit to Kefalonia, en route to Zakinthos, came and went in a blur as previously described, and things were slow to improve for Mo recovering from the bout of food poisoning she had suffered. Poros was a welcome relief and we enjoyed a pleasant overnight stay, with a good walk and supper at the fish restaurant en route to the beach.

We arrived in Zakinthos as planned on Friday 22^nd May and tied up with no drama. Friends Babs and Makis joined us on Saturday for a catch up and a delicious lunch at their recommended local restaurant, Kantouni, which we are sure to revisit. Nigel got Makis to take a look at the latest boat maintenance challenge and Makis, ever willing to fix things, offered to come back with more tools!  In the event Nigel managed a temporary fix and resolved the problem when he had procured replacement bolts.

Tom joined us on Sunday, arriving late after a long wait to clear passport control, in spite of his new Irish passport, so it was food, bed and an early start on Monday morning as our agenda was to get him within reach of Kalamata airport for his return flight on Thursday. We made Katacolon on day 1 with a good amount of sailing for him to enjoy, and Katacolon entertained with its pretty town, tasty supper, stormy skies in the south and the arrival of a cruise liner laden with expectant tourists wanting to go to Olympia.

Sadly there was not enough time for Tom to see the famous historic site, but he was happy to keep sailing south, which we did the following day. We managed to get the cruising chute up, with his help, and carried it a good way towards Kiparissia, where we moored up alongside in the harbour.

Not the friendliest of places to visit, but it served its purpose and was made special with several turtles swimming around in the harbour.

Wednesday brought an early start to cover more miles south. Alas no wind, so a rather boring 30 mile motor, but we enjoyed having Tom’s good company and he enjoyed being on the boat, a long way from school! Our last evening with him was in Methoni where we anchored, went ashore and showed him the sights of the castle, organized a morning taxi and had a Greek supper. It was great to have Tom on board, alas too short a visit, but it was also a great break for him.

After he left us we decided that we had been moving fast and it was time to slow down.  We had a good anchorage and the daytime was becoming pleasantly warm so we just stayed for a couple of days to chill out.  We even managed to swim a couple of times although the water is chilly by Greek standards.

We had booked into Kalamata marina for a few days starting Sunday, so we set off with the wind behind us for what turned out to be a roller coaster sail. It was a 30 mile trip with the fresh following wind keeping us sailing at 6 knots, even reaching 7 and touching 8 at times.  As we turned north to Kalamata the wind came onto the beam and the boat flew along until the wind just died.  After an hour it came back moderately but from the opposite quarter but we still had an easy reach up to the Marina.

We are in Kalamata marina now for a few days to clean up, do jobs and stock up for our return trip.

We have met up again with Bev and Dave on Mohito of Poole and enjoyed spending a couple of evenings in their good company.

We’ve had the bikes out to make getting about easy,  revisited our favourite Greek taverna where it was lovely to be remembered by the family running it, we have done extensive laundry and stocked up at the nearby supermarket in preparation for the next leg of our journey. We enjoyed a cycle ride up into the town and Mo was fascinated to discover this solar powered public charging station in the park. How innovative!

It is disappointing that the Marina facilities in Kalamata are very poor and have not been updated in all the several years we have known them. Such a pity there has not been even modest investment here.

We met up with friends Graham and Marsha who live near Kalamata and they took us to a delightful beach cafe for a very relaxing lunch. It was great to see them and to catch up with their life on the Mani peninsular.

Good news is that it is warming up at last but it is disappointing the winds are forecast to be very strong around the Mani peninsular and look to thwart our plan to head further east for a few days. We hope to return west and add a few different stops on the way back where we have a rendevous with friend Peter in Kefalonia on 19th June.