We were not quite finished with Kalamata and ended up spending a fourth day in the Marina so that the engineer John Vardikas could come and do the work on the engine alignment. He had finished by lunchtime so thereafter we cycled our bikes north to the top of the town to visit the cathedral and the castle, which had eluded us on previous visits. It was worth it for the spectacular views and some of what we found is evidenced in the pictures that follow. There is no doubt that Kalamata Castle was somewhat inadequate over the centuries and changed hands regularly. Little remains now but the town has built a fine amphitheatre among the ruins and we hope they manage some good events here.
Friday 5th June and time to leave and our plan to make Koroni was thwarted by the strong headwind. Instead we tacked across to the western coast and anchored in Petalhidion for the night which was pleasant enough but a bit rolly. We continued south next day and sailed most of the way round towards Methoni but sought the quiet anchorage on Sapienza, the island just to the south which we had not visited before. With 2 days of strong west northwest winds ahead we planned to spend our time in the remote bay of Porto Longos which afforded good shelter. Slightly anxious about our anchor holding, as the wind was promised to start over night, we weathered the battering winds and held firm, good old Mr Manson. Our excursion to the beach area and thoughts of a walk to the lighthouse came to nought when we discovered the state of the path; not for us; too much risk of jarred hips or twisted ankles! We must be getting old and in any case we should not have been there, the island is a nature reserve.
Next stop was to be Pilos, but the marina we attempted to tie up in was very much closed to visitors. Those that were there had made it impossible for other boats to moor alongside, altogether unwelcoming, so we sailed to the top of Navarino Bay and anchored off the beach in delightful surroundings; again a first for us.
Its no fun going north up this coast as we are going against the prevailing wind, so motoring was too much a feature of the days ahead, but we did have some westerly winds that enabled some sailing.
We called in at the new, still under construction port of Marathopolis and went alongside with a Polish and Swedish boat already there. It was an extremely sheltered location and worthy of a stopover. The town was tired but functional with some nice coast front cafes and restaurants which we visited on our 2 day stay here. Panorama restaurant was our favourite for salad and sardines!
A long day north again to Katacolon to rest over for more strong winds to blow through. Lots of cruise liners were in; one alongside the dock and one moored outside the harbour ferrying happy cruisers in the boats to the shore for their visit up to Olympia. As we have visited there a couple of times we decided to take the train and get off at Pygos, the regional capital, to have a look around. Busy and bustling, definitely not for tourists, but an interesting visit and we returned with all sorts of boat supplies. The high spot was a visit to the archaeological museum which contained some very good relics from the Olympic era.
On Sunday 14th June we made it north again to Zakinthos and chose the southern anchorage of Keri Bay, where we still are some 4 days later. An excellent anchorage with good holding which is just as well as the afternoon winds lash down the hills and across the bay, definitely precluding swimming, but the mornings have been beautiful and the swimming a joy. We are close to the turtle nature reserve and the harbour here is full of rental boats for holidaymakers to go out and explore the bay, so it is pretty busy. Not much ashore to spend time there, but a useful shop supplied bread and milk to supplement our supplies. We are staying one day longer than planned whilst Nigel recovers from an unfortunate bout of diverticulitis, so all fingers are crossed that he will be stronger and better enough tomorrow for the trip round to the town and then north to Kefalonia to meet Peter who is joining us for a week.
Deja Vu 
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