We had so little time to say farewell to Max and Celia as the family, daughter Faye, husband Guy and their two girls Rose (2 12) and Martha (7 months) arrived on board for lunch in Lefkas Marina on Monday 16^th September, with a plethora of essential luggage.  We were thrilled they had chosen to come and spend a few days aboard Déjà Vu and once again we were grateful for calm and settled conditions forecast for their stay.

Rose had her first lesson to learn to go down the companionway steps backwards. After early protestations she was soon delighted to show off her new found skills to manage it brilliantly!

Our journeys with the grandchildren on board were short, as we found regular anchorages for a swim or a dinghy ride ashore to the beach. Meal times came around with routine frequency and between us we managed to fill up the little ones when required and provide a rocking berth when sleep was needed.

Nigel had fitted an extra lee cloth in the main cabin to create safe cots for Rose and Martha. Rose took to her ‘pirate bed’ with great enthusiasm and slept soundly each night. Martha was not quite so cooperative, understandable at only 7 months, and preferred to keep Mum and Dad company in the forecabin berth, which is luckily very wide!

On board Rose enjoyed watching the sea, helping to helm, spotting other boats, feeding fish and discovering lots of thing in this new environment.

We had a wonderful time with them, visiting Little Vathi on Meganissey, longlining in Abelike Bay, messing about in the dinghy, anchoring off Ligia and Meganissey, tying up on Stavros’ pontoon in Sivota and sailing back to Lefkas Marina getting moored up just before a storm came over. Good timing!

The children were so adaptable, we loved having them on board and Faye and Guy were quite good too, they were all great company. How lucky we are to be grandparents. ­ Busy? Yes, Chaotic? Yes at times, Fun, Yes, every minute.

Thank you all for coming, we miss you but are planning a few days rest next!

We left a sunny warm England behind, glad to be distancing ourselves from the unbelievable chaotic political events  our new Prime Minister Boris Johnson is conjuring on a daily basis. We arrived in a hot Greece to find Déjà vu where we had left her, under wraps in the boatyard.

With three days before our planned launch we set about the jobs, cleaning and stowing the vast cover that had encapsulated her for 6 hot and dusty weeks and then polishing the hull which we had failed to do at the beginning of the season. There is no doubt the polish provides essential protection against sun damage, so were keen to get it on. We were grateful for an excellent staging to give us easy access so the task was accomplished with little fuss.

Once launched we went round into the inland sea and spent a couple of nights at the anchorage in Vonitsa before returning to the quay in Preveza to meet Max and Celia who were joining us for 8 days in the Ionian.

We were blessed with a settled week ahead and we were able to show Max and Celia a  little of what Greece has to offer sailors in the Ionian.  From Preveza we sailed down to Vliho Bay, had a BBQ and stayed overnight admiring the jellyfish that have invaded the bay. We think that they are an invasive species called the Upside Down Jellyfish which is a native of the swamps in the Caribbean.  From there we visited Vathi on Ithaca, Efemia on Kefalonia, Sivota on Lefkas, Little Vathi on Meganissey, Kalamos for a couple of windy days before heading up to Lefkas Marina in time for their departure.

Max and Celia were fantastic company, Max relishing the sailing and helping us out by going part way up the mast to retrieve a halyard.  Celia was brilliant and coped with all the seafaring stuff wearing a large smile most of the time. The large number of cats roaming the Greek streets and restaurants possibly presented more of a challenge!

The story of their visit is best told in pictures!

We rented a car and collected our young visitors, Thomas and Ben, from the airport near Argostoli on Kefalonia and this gave us the chance to visit the island’s south and south west coast as well as traversing the huge mountain range that forms the backbone of the island. It was a good trip and we enjoyed swimming off a south coast beach, which made a change from swimming off  the boat!

A post exam holiday for Thomas and Ben, our (great) nephews, the week beginning 5^th July was to be one of the hottest. Daily temperatures ranged from 30-35 degrees C and for the first five days there was little wind, just light afternoon sea breezes to bring some mild relief. The only solution was to hit the water, regularly, and this set the pattern for Thomas and Ben’s holiday.

From Kefalonia we visited the islands of Ithaca, Kalymnos, Meganissi and finally Lefkas, stopping also on the mainland coast at Palairos and Kefali.

We stopped regularly in a variety of superb anchorages where the water was crystal clear and a beautiful blue. Swimming was fantastic and lots of fun. It was very busy everywhere but we managed to overnight  in small village ports or stayed on anchor in a bay. We enjoyed some meals ashore and some cooked on board.

Thomas and Ben enjoyed our stay at Spartakahori, courtesy of Greek host Babis, as they had the opportunity to climb to the village high up on the cliff and have a drink overlooking the Ionian inland sea.

Wednesday 10^th July started with little wind so we dropped them off in Nidri for a fix of town crawling before they rejoined us in Vliho Bay where we had anchored in a freshening wind.

We were well anchored but not so for another boat. Picture the scene. It was 8pm, Mo was taking a shower down below, Nigel and Ben were preparing food for supper in the galley, Thomas was in the cockpit reading. There was an almighty crash and another boat had dragged its anchor, wrapping itself around our bow. All hands to the scene and we managed to prise him away and then we looked at the damage. We sustained mostly superficial gel coat scrapes and scratches, he was worse off. Nigel went to help him re-anchor and exchange details for an insurance claim!

Indeed we had a storm that night with plenty of lightning and wind. Thomas and Ben were a little non-plussed to have their phones placed firmly in the oven, our on board Faraday’s cage!  Needless to say a sleepless night ensued for Mo and Nigel as they managed an anchor watch, fearful for a repeat performance of dragging anchors.  At 3 am there were three boats circling the bay trying to re-anchor, fortunately we stayed firmly put thanks to Mr. Manson (our anchor).

It was properly windy on Thursday and finally Thomas and Ben enjoyed a proper sail. We did reef the main and the jib as we were on a beat, but still managed over 7 knots as they took it in turns to do the helming and the winching.  All of a sudden sailing wasn’t all loafing around sunning yourself, it’s quite hard work!

We ended up in Lefkas Marina and were treated to a lovely Greek meal in the town before Thomas and Ben headed off for the airport on Friday.  We had a great time with them and the week together gave us a good opportunity to get to know them both better. They acqitted themselves well and passed out with beginner’s crewing skills. Ben had taken a keen interest in knot tying, but he did have a favourite that he excelled at.

We sailed north in a very bumpy sea but had a great reach, cracking 8 knots. We now have a few days ahead to clean up, lift out, cover up and get ready for our return home Wednesday 17^th July.

Although there had been times when we had felt captive in Kalamata, when the time came to leave we realized we had grown to be quite fond of the place, especially the duck that lived beside the quay we had made our home. The sheer fun of watching him and his mate chase the cats away was worth tolerating the noise they made.

We left early morning on Saturday 22^nd June bidding a wistful farewell to the stunning mountain backdrop that had framed Déjà Vu’s home for the past year.  One thing we had learned was that the south western Peloponnese is a windy place and our familiar trip round to Methoni and Pilos was once again a testament to that knowledge. We chose not to beat 15 miles into the strong headwind that greeted us and we ploughed through the rough sea on the engine. We took the weather window of light southerlies that emerged on Monday to make the long trip north to Katakolon, close to the northern tip of the western Peleponnese. This time we had too little wind and were denied even the cruising chute to make sufficient progress in a very uncomfortable and rolly beam sea.

Katakolon was a welcome refuge from the sea and we tied up on the north visitor’s quay under three towering cruise ships docked to enable passengers the opportunity of visiting the ancient site of Olympia. Fortunately the huge, noisy vessels had gone by 6pm and we walked ashore to explore, in peace, the pretty village bursting with cafes and souvenir shops.

It was easy to catch the early morning train just next to the quay and after a very pleasant 40 minutes of chugging through the agricultural hinterland, whistling at all the road crossings, we arrived in the busy tourist town of Olympia.

Cafes, taxis, coaches, people everywhere and we navigated the short distance past orderly gardens to the archaeological site that was the birth place of the very famous Olympic games. We were surprised by the huge size and magnificence of it all and we tried hard to imagine the famous ancient Panhellenic games having been hosted here for over one thousand years. Many Greek heroes we have heard of proved their worth on track and field here in this wooded valley with the twin rivers of Alfios and Kladhios running through it. We enjoyed visiting two museums containing wonderful archaeological treasures and statues. We saw pots, ornate and decorative handles, helmets which were part of the armour and much more dating back to centuries BC, it was an archaeologist’s heaven!

From Katakolon we sailed, at last, across to the south western tip of Zakynthos where on the western edge of a nature reserve for turtles, there was a delightful anchorage at Keri which we enjoyed for a night.

We had been warned off visiting the main town on the East coast due to crowds and noise, so we gave it a miss and sailed north to the mainland coast above the Gulf of Corinth, finally crossing our transit one year previously and so completing our trip around the Peloponnese. No fizz on board, but a beer was welcome to celebrate with. We did manage the cruising chute on this trip!

We discovered a big, largely deserted anchorage, Limin Petalis, on the mainland coast south of Astakos, and ended up spending three happy days on anchor to swim and wait for weather.

Our planned trip to Astakos was aborted as the strengthening winds were blowing right into the quay and instead we turned around and had a brisk reach across to Vathi on Ithaca.

Here we were suddenly reminded about how crowded the Ionian is. Boats poured into the quay, filled the anchorage and no longer were we alone!  The temperatures had been climbing steadily since Katakolon and by the time we reached Vathi being in a breeze was essential to remain below boiling.  Fortunately Vathi has a reputation as a windy place and it did not disappoint.

Close now to our destination, we tried a couple more anchorages for swim stops in the searing heat, spent a great night on the quay at Sami on Kefalonia before heading up to Ag. Efimia to await the arrival of our (great) nephews Thomas and Ben, who will arrive on Friday, forecast to be the hottest day so far.

We are planning the next week to take us up to Lefkas and hopefully visit some good places en route in spite of the competitive mooring up we will be forced to join in with!

5 days after Peter’s departure from Kalamata we had a weather window to head out once again. The strong southerlies had abated but they had left an uncomfortable sea which we encountered on our 30 mile trip to Methoni. Every way our course took us, so the moderate wind veered round to head us, we encountered a 120 deg wind shift on the trip! Murphy was out there! We beat some of the way but had to give up and motor more than half the distance to make our port in reasonable time. Anchoring in Methoni  became a new experience. The anchor held well but the swell coming into the bay made for rock and roll. We moved further in when space became available which was an improvement.

We made the 7 mile trip round to Pylos ahead of a forecast of more strong winds and had just got tied up alongside a large catamaran in the ‘marina’, when the weather came in. Pylos is situated close to the entrance on the south side of a large inland sea, Navarinon Bay, surrounded by land on 3 sides with a relatively narrow entrance open to the south west which we had expected to afford some shelter from the prevailing north westerlies.

Not a bit of it, the bay became a white frothing mass and all day boats were coming in to the ‘marina’ looking for a secure place to tie up. Space was at a premium as the useful, deep but dysfunctional marina is a mess of abandoned ships and boats, many small local boats, tangled moorings and lack of bollards to tie up to!  It was so sad to see this safe harbour fail to accommodate the demand simply due to a total lack of organization, and several large boats were forced to go outside and anchor bow into the breakers.  Sadly it is very Greek.

We arrived Thursday and knew we would be staying until after the weekend, so we planned time ashore. Our first visit was to the Niokastor Fortress of Pylos. It had been built by the Ottomans in 1573 to control the sea routes from east to west in this part of the Mediterranean. From 1686 the fortress was under Venetian rule, but fortunes and occupants changed regularly until 1830, when the town of Pylos was established outside the fortress walls. The fortress was abandoned and its acropolis used as a prison but reoccupied by the occupying forces during WW11.The fortress was huge, a large enclosure protecting the main core of the settlement and a second hexagonal enclosure around the acropolis. There was lots to see including a well restored church of the Transfiguration of Christ that had originally been built as an Ottoman mosque.

Apart from all this the fortress housed some wonderful museums exhibiting the archaeology of ‘underwater antiquities’ which was a magnificent hands-on display of the spoils from various shipwrecks around the Peloponnese dating from several centuries BC! We learned quickly that the most important commodity being shipped around throughout history from very early beginnings was wine, safely transported in large clay vessels or ‘amorphora’. There were many on display and it was amazing to touch a clay pot from 2^nd century BC, complete with a ‘hall mark’, a process of marking invented a long time ago.

One evening we were returning to Déjà Vu after a coffee ashore and in the darkness on the concrete walkway well away from the main part of the marina where we were moored, we came across an unnerving and eerie scenario. A black car had reversed a long way along and was parked hidden, with two men dressed in black standing looking out. We crept passed and climbed aboard Déjà Vu, just a few metres away feeling the need to watch ourselves but more importantly batten down the hatches and turn off the lights! We maintained high security all night and have no idea what, if anything, took place, but our imaginations were working overtime.

We had been told by some locals of recent cases of people smuggling and there were abandoned boats in evidence that reputedly had been impounded by the port police. This was in our minds and it was quite chilling that we decided we did not want to be witnesses to any similar activity.

The next day we decided to take a taxi round the bay to the new town of Yialova.  This is a completely new resort town, with a promenade featuring up market shops and restaurants, overlooking a sandy beach.  A very pleasant spot.  We lucked out and chose what turned out to be the best restaurant for a long lunch with plenty of chilled Rose.

Glad to be departing from the marina we sailed around Navarinon bay before heading back to the anchorage at Methoni for a couple of nights. We were able to get water ashore which enabled a few more showers on board but having lugged 50 litres back to the boat we were conscious of the weight that  the 450 litres in our tanks represents . We made a day sail of visiting Port Longos on the adjacent island to the south, just an anchorage with nothing but nature for company, before heading up to visit Finakounda  to the north. We anchored offshore in a bouncy sea keenly expecting it all to go calm once the afternoon sea breeze died down, which true to form it did. Finakounda is a pretty seaside resort, quite touristy and noisy with music late at night, but it did have good beaches.  It is unfortunately not very sheltered and we decided it was not the place to be for the next night with stronger winds once again in the forecast.

We backtracked to the safe anchorage at Methoni simply so that we could return to a very good restaurant that we had visited with Peter on his birthday a few weeks earlier!

With calm winds at last on the horizon we set off East and had an overnight stop in South Koroni before heading further east to the bay of Limeni. Limeni has eluded us many times as it is open to the prevailing westerly winds and therefore not a great place to go in fresh conditions. We had a calm and quiet visit which was very pleasant and as, at last, the air and sea temperature were on the rise, we enjoyed plenty of swimming. The air temperature went from 22 Celsius to 32 Celsius in one day and is now set well into the 30’s for the foreseeable future. It is very hot but fortunately the sea temperature is now an enjoyable 22 degrees. Being on the Mani peninsular there were lots of fascinating examples in the bay of the very particular Maniote architecture, mostly modern builds in the picture we took, but as you can see quite Moorish and very un-Greek in style.

From Limeni we made the final trek back to Kalamata as we have a flight booked home in a couple of days. It is sweltering hot now and it is not pleasant being in a Marina, but the laundry will get done and the boat will get a spring clean. We have refuelled and will revittal when we return in just about a week to start the next phase of our journey which will be to complete our circuit around the Peleponnese.

It is Monday 27^th May and a good day to update the blog because as I write it is raining and not a day for sailing. We have done the boat chores and the shopping so will be off as soon as this depression passes through, hopefully tomorrow.

Filling in some detail for the last couple of weeks with friend Peter on board, look what he came back with when we sent him to the bakery for the morning bread! We did try them, but they tasted much as they look and he was banned from making a repeat purchase.

Together we explored old town Kalamata, visited the underwhelming castle and what is left of the old buildings and streets to the north of the town but were disappointed not to find the museums open.

We walked the harbour pier which was an impressive construction about a mile long protecting the town harbour quays. It is hard to imagine that in the southerly winter storms these walls are under attack and are often breached by the pounding seas.

We had a good sail south to Methoni, a sheltered bay on the south western tip of the Peloponnese, where we anchored safely sheltered from the strong north westerly winds.

Methoni was very interesting with the ruins of an impressive Venetian fort and a Turkish tower straddling the north south peninsular below the town. The fort guarded the shipping route around the Peleponnese. When the Turks captured it and it is told that Cervantes was a prisoner here and the tale in his Don Quixote of the captive may well relate his experience as a Turkish prisoner.

We enjoyed exploring the whole area for the princely sum of 1 euro each for OAPs!

We celebrated Peter’s birthday in Methoni at a splendid restaurant and Peter manned up to do some serious swimming, perhaps to burn off the indulgences of avocado on toast for breakfast and lamb kleftiko for supper!  Credit is also due to Nigel though who swam with him for a few minutes!

We had a brisk sail back to Kalamata for Peter to make his flight home.

It had been disappointing that we did not make the trip to Crete and back, but it was not meant to be. It is clear that Kalamata is a transit stop and not good as a cruising base due to the dominant strong wind patterns in the area.  This basic problem has certainly been exacerbated by the truly strange weather we have experienced.  It has been much colder and cloudier than normal with frequent low pressure systems passing through giving strong winds and rain.  We thought that last year was unusual but this year is shaping up to be worse; could this be the reality of a changing climate?