The Greek Isles!

Sailing in the Sporades Islands, Greece

September 26- October 2, 2009

A common dream of Rani and I that we have shared since first meeting, was to charter a boat and sail in the Greek Islands. Well, that dream finally came true and we got to share it with Noah and a few of our close friends, Kathleen, Maureen, and Dan.

After much research, we decided to sail amongst the Sporades Islands and the surrounding area. Although they are located more North than the more famous and more touristy islands, we chose this area because it traditionally has less wind and calmer waters than the Southern islands.

Our trip started on the larger Skiathos Island, in Skiathos Town (real creative). Unfortunately, a cold front came through that same day, bringing with it 30-35 mph winds and large waves. They even cancelled the ferry service to the mainland. Fortunately, there was much to see on Skiathos, so we spent the first two days anchored securely in Skiathos harbor.

Our home for the week, Sophia.

In many European countries, they dock in a much different formation than in the States. In the States, one pulls into a dock slip or when confronted with a bulkhead, you tie up with your beam to the wall. Rather easy, but more expensive since you are using up much more space. In Europe, you must drop an anchor 100 ft from the bulkhead, reverse up to the bulkhead, and then tie your stern loosely to the wall, hoping through all this that your anchor is holding. Then, if you are lucky like us, you drop your "drawbridge" and cross it onto solid land. Quite complicated, but it was free every time we had the opportunity.

Noah showed his approval

Skiathos harbor

Skiathos Town


One of the great things about Skiathos was that you could rent scooters for 10 Euros a day and ride all over the island. Unfortunately, nobody told us the fine for not wearing a helmet was incredibly expensive! Here we are showing off our helmets AND our Greek Tickets.



Koukanaries Beach is the most famous attraction on Skiathos



Noah and Dan at Koukanaries


On the map there was a picture of a castle. And I can't miss a castle. Well, there wasn't much left of this one, but it was pretty neat to see. It was built in the 14th century to protect the inhabitants of the island from pirates. It remained the only settlement of the island until the 19th century.

Finally, the weather cleared and we pulled anchor and said farewell to Skiathos (and their unfair police chief) on Monday afternoon.

Noah got right into the swing of things!

Our first destination was just a few hours sail to the island of Skopelos and the very small town of Loutraki

Our first attempt at this new docking technique was a success! We happened to dock with a Sunsail Flotilla (a group of boats from the same charter company that sail together for the week with instruction from professionals).

Luckily this small town had cold Mythos beer. Our drink for the week.

Noah walking the gangplank

We were treated with a beautiful sunset as we prepared pesto chicken pasta on the boat.

The next day, with beautiful weather, we covered 22 slow miles to Platania.

Maureen did an awesome job of learning to steer while sailing

A Mythos, her Kindle, a sleeping boy...... One happy Mama

The harbor of Platania. The skipper (me!) did a poor job of choosing this location for our night's stay. It was marked on our charts as a good anchorage, but upon anchoring we quickly realized our mistake. It was open to the weather from the South and SouthWest and it had a fleet of large fishing vessels, which fish only at night! Then, without any wind all night, we were constantly rocked by rolling waves and wake from the fishing boats, spinning us in circles around our anchor! So, I was constantly waking up to check our new position and to make sure the anchor was still holding.

Our $#@! dinghy. I think that will be the name of our next dinghy because in my experience that is what you usually call them! After a struggle to get the darn thing running, we headed to shore with the first group. I returned to get Rani, Noah, and Kathleen and half way to shore, we quickly realized the bow rope was not in the boat when the motor abruptly stopped. Tangled with the bow rope. So, out came the oars!

Once again, $#@! dinghy!

That behind us, we did get to enjoy a very ethnic meal. As usual, we ordered 4 fried fetas. We couldn't get enough of feta cheese!

Grilled octopus. I didn't expect to actually still see the suction cup thingys! It was delicous, seriously.

A nice evening sail on the way to Milina.

Much of where we sailed looked much like this. Lots of rolling hills and trees, with a small town here and there.

Approaching another very small town, Milina.

Snug in our berth for the night, we pulled out the BVI hammock.

Our last day, on our way to Volos. Kathleen at the wheel

Getting Noah to nap was always a real challenge in the V-berth. We had to barricade him in the bed with our suitcase and baggage.

Noah changed a lot on our trip. He demonstrates some of his new tricks in this video with Rani.

With absolutely no wind, we took the time to take a dip. The water was beautiful.

Playing with my camera's "sport" function

The water was so clear! You can see Dan rising to the surface.

Back to civilization, Volos. Rani and Kathleen relaxing with a book on the bow.

We anchored at a boardwalk of sorts. Lined with cafes and tavernas.

It was a fun place to spend our last night.

It was sad to say goodbye to Sophia.......