Kiato
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Wed 26 Aug 2009 07:30
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38 00.7N 22 45.2E
We stayed in Trizonia until Monday 24th of August
as we really got into the swing of the slow pace of life and also we were
waiting for some favorable wind to get further east in the bay of Corinth. We
met a French couple Alain and Ingrid (from Argentiere near Chamonix) who live in
Kiato in the summer and have a small Greek flagged boat which they keep there.
It turns out they too have entered for the EMYR and have a copy of this year's
sailing handbook so we are off to Kiato to visit them and get some copies of
parts of the book!
On Saturday evening there was a wedding and a
baptism in the lovely church set on the corner of the bay that faces the
mainland. All the guests arrived by ferry variously clad in smart casual to very
posh evening type dresses! In front of the church were metre high steel posts
that had been decorated with white net and fresh white Lilies and at the church
gates were swaths of cream silk on which huge circular candles had been placed.
2 trestle tables were set up in the church yard that dispensed drinks. The
church was full and many of the guests remained outside sitting on the wall
looking out over the harbour during the ceremony. It all seemed to take ages -
we had finished our meal in one of the tavernas before the guests finally
started to make there way back to the ferry berth around 2100 ( apparently going
to an hotel for the reception on the mainland!). Obviously extra ferries had
been booked and 3 of them plied their way backwards and forwards until all the
visitors had departed. The bride and groom leaving almost last with all the
lilies, nets, posts and huge candles etc.
Having had quite a blow on Sunday we finally
decided to leave on Monday as the forecast seemed to show the wind dropping off.
We left our berth at 0630 and motored through the small islands that lie on the
north side of this part of the bay. The wind did get up and we were romping
along at 6 knots all be it on the nose as usual for the first few hours.
Fortunately there was little in the way of swell or waves and gradually the wind
died so our arrival at Kiato was very straight forward. We motored in and
found one available mooring place (no lazy lines at this spot) so dropped the
anchor and reversed in successfully. No one there to help this time but we
managed O.K. Shortly after tying up Alan and Ingrid arrived to welcome us and we
arranged with them to meet for a drink in a Taverna opposite later on. Alain
agreed to show us where various things were and after spending a couple of ours
chatting we returned to the boat for a snack before getting off to bed early. By
this time we had quite a strong breeze which was sending spray over the
breakwater onto the concrete walk way - but this did not deter the various men
fishing off the wall into the harbour. They were still there at 0130 when I
got up to investigate the chatting that seemed to becoming from our cockpit! Two
of them were actually sitting on chairs fishing into the water either side of
our stern.
On Tuesday morning we got up really early and
gave the boat a really good wash down (water here on the quay is free but no
power. Alain arrived at 0930 and took Rob off on his scooter to find the
phone shop (for a Greek sim card) and the electronic shop where we hoped to find
someone to come and check out the fridge which is not working properly. I took
my bike and went to the port office only to be told that I should go back when
we were about to leave! I then rode to the opposite end of the town to Lidl to
check out what they had! Came back with some good bargains and Rob when he
returned from a successful morning decided to cycle back there for more - the
beer was really cheep as was the diet coke and he also found jars of roasted
peppers and nice butter! I in the meantime went for a swim. There are several
spots outside the harbour which seem popular with the locals and there is even a
fresh water hose to wash off afterwards. The trend seems to be to swim wearing a
sun hat (well float really)! The water was lovely and it was good to be back in
after nearly a week.
Alain has given us a new Greek weather forecast
site which is proving to be most accurate - it is only in Greek but the way it
is presented can be easily understood! We just need to get the internet to be
able to check it so my morning job today (Wednesday) is to find a WIFI cafe! The
fridge man is coming to the boat so we are hoping that he will be able to
diagnose the problem and we can either stay here if it can be ordered and fixed
or head on to Kos and get a part sent there. In the meantime I am looking to buy
a cool box to tide us over. We are using the 'freezer' box as a fridge just
now.
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