Ground Hog Day/Week/Month
“There is no harm in repeating a good thing.”
Plato
Zea Marina in Piraeus Port, Athens, was our first big marina experience since setting out on our journey from Athens many weeks ago. The marina had good security, plenty of water and electricity. Many loads of washing were done (by ‘Maisy’) in preparation for our friends’ arrival that evening. Warren and Helen (Kiwis who live in California) came in on the afternoon flight and joined us in time for a nice meal out at one of the many restaurants lining the harbour. After a quick look around Piraeus in the morning, and the purchase of few chandlery items for the boat, we caught the metro to the Acropolis in the afternoon when the heat of the day had dissipated. John and I did not want to do the Acropolis/Parthenon thing for the 3rd time so we waited at a cafe while Warren and Helen climbed and took in this most ancient and breathtaking feat of engineering. We then explored the markets and ruins surrounding the Acropolis finishing with a delicious meal in a most picturesque setting.
Less than EUR 10 – so fresh 
Street markets 
Warren and Helen making beakfast on board 
Dining under the Acropolis
What a backdrop – the Acropolis and Parthenon – street markets – another ‘Greek’ experience
The following day we rode the metro and tram to buy fruit and vegetables at the farmers market and to introduce our friends to the best pastries in Athens before departing the marina. Our plan was to head west and transit the Corinth Canal and then to the Gulfs of Corinth and Patras westwards to the Ionian Sea.
We headed out of the marina into the Saronic Gulf with 25 kt winds which made for a boisterous sail to our next anchorage, Peristeria, just off the coast of Salamina, where we found shelter from the waves and swell but spent the night with very gusty conditions. Luckily W&H are good sailors and could cope well with the conditions – it was John and I who were the seasick ones! That evening we checked the weather for the next week and it was not going to be in our favour for the north westward journey of our planned route. Knowing when to stop banging your head against the brick wall and proceed to ‘Plan B’ heading back to the Cyclades, where we had been earlier in the season.
One place I was quite disappointed to have missed a week earlier was Epidavros where there is an almost complete ancient amphitheater – now a World Heritage Site. This was to be our next stop. We sailed south to the small town of Kiparissia and caught a taxi inland to the famous Epidavros Amphitheater, the greatest of its kind (300 BC) which has acoustics considered to be perfect, reproducing with precision the sound of a coin dropped on the ground in the centre of the stage, that can be heard even on the highest of the 51 levels of seating (14,000 patrons) on surprisingly comfortable limestone terraces. A 2007 study by Nico F. Declercq and Cindy Dekeyser of the Georgia Institute of Technology indicates that the astonishing acoustic properties may be the result of the advanced design: the rows of limestone seats filter out low-frequency sounds, such as the murmur of the crowd, and also amplify the high-frequency sounds of the stage. On site there is a little museum with some interesting pieces and the in the grounds are extensive remains of the sanctuary buildings where people came from far and wide for healing and to receive messages from the oracle.
This was definitely worth the detour and the town of Kiparrisia, although lacking cobbled streets and ancient forts, had it’s own charm and the nicest restaurant recommended by our Taxi driver where we dined under a canopy of citrus trees and grape vines – good local wines and excellent greek food.
Epidarvros to Poros
We had a great sail the next day across to Poros which is beautiful small sailing town on the island of Poros separated by a very narrow shallow channel from the mainland and where a number of Charter companies are based. We returned to our previous anchorage on the Galatas (mainland) side and took the dinghy across the to Poros town to explore the tavernas, clock tower and find a yummy cake for John’s birthday the next day. Bakery found, TICK, yummy cake, TICK and excellent Baklava for Warren, TICK. Off early the next morning for the leg Poros to Fikiada Bay, Kithnos – a mere 9 hours where we had some exciting sailing enjoyed by our crew – lots of reefing and furling – we made them work for their supper or should I say birthday cake which was eaten en-route. After a few birthday drinks at the only taverna in the bay, we climbed to the church and lookout then finished the day with a swim and best omelette ever – cooked by the birthday boy!
Foinikas on Siros – twin bays 
Church above Foinikas
Next stop was Foinikas on Siros, a very pretty anchorage where we indulged in more great pastries and introduced Warren and Helen to the delights of Cappuccino Fredo (means cold) . The greeks do cold coffee like no others and after about 10 am this is all anyone drinks. Fresh fruit/vege drinks are almost unheard of – but I think they are slowly becoming available.
Four hours sailing the following day took us to Delos, the ‘must see’ ancient ruins which had visited with Kara. We were quite happy to tour this area again because we had not seen the whole area on our last visit. W&H had their map and we headed them off to explore on their own with an arrangement to meet up again later to do the climb to the temple of Zeus and Athena . John and I went off to the North East part of site which is quite a walk and therefore not often visited and, bonus, no one with a whistle telling you to keep out of certain areas. This area appears to have been the ‘sports’ area containing remains of the hippodrome (horse and chariot racing) Gymnasium, Stadium (John pictured standing under the south entrance arch to the Stadium which has a clearly discernible 200 metre track with tiered stone seating along both sides) and Stadium quarter (athletes village). We explored down around the athletes village and found some skinny stone stairs leading down into a huge underground cistern. John went down (of course) and found a completely intact cistern approximately 6 metres wide x 8 metres high. The walls were lined with bricks and two large brick arches held up the ceiling. Above ground access to the water was by lowering jugs through holes in the paved square outside. When the water levels were low access would have been via the stairs. As there is no natural water on the island the roofs of the buildings caught rain water which was channeled into cisterns like this one all over the island and explains why this particular cistern only had a murky puddle in the bottom. The water channels are still visible.
On the slope of the hill remains of a temple and behind this up 100 marble steps to the top of the hill on the highest point of the island is the Sanctuary of Zeus and Athena commanding an impressive view over the Cyclaydic islands around Delos 
Stadium walls 
Underground Cistern in Athletes Village 
Athletes village – view across to Mikynos
The wind was up again by the time we returned to the boat in the late afternoon so we up-anchored and headed for our next stop in Platys Gialos, Mykonos. This is a quiet fairly protected anchorge compared to the noisy ‘party’ place off the main town and from here we caught the local bus over to the Old Port to check out the sights. As on our previous visit (with Kara) the wind was blowing so hard that many of the waterfront bars etc had closed up and being near the end of the season the place had rather a tired look. It was rather disappointing and we were happy to depart the next morning for an amazingly brisk sail down-wind (topping 11.5 kts with just a handkerchief of sail out) back to one of our favorite places, Paraoikia on Paros. We took a tour on the local bus to the northern harbour of Naoussa and spent a lovely day there exploring the old fort and having grilled octopus for lunch. Such picturesque small streets and interesting little shops and so much quieter this time around.
When we had checked the wind it was building all week (so what’s new!) which is why we decided to get a spot on the inside of the town quay on Sunday night in preparation for W&H departure for Athens on the Monday morning ferry. It was sad to see such useful crew depart but now it was time to tidy up and plan our last few weeks sailing until we put the boat away for winter and return to our other lives …
While anchored in Paraoikia on Paros we (1) saw the bride and groom arriving at their wedding venue on a greek fishing boat (2) celebrated the full moon and my birthday (3) saw some of the Greek ‘fat cats’ looking hopefully for a meal – one very brave/cheeky one was slowly creeping closer when the fisherman was not looking!
