Khalkis Yacht Club and Karastos
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Wed 31 Aug 2011 09:13
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38 27.4 N 23 35.4 E
Although a bit dusty and noisy from the road just
outside the entrance we had a good 4 nights at this Yacht Club. There was no-one
official to
get advice from but the local boat owners were
friendly and eventually we established access to an electricity supply which we
think was on a timed
meter as it lasted for about 12 hours and then went
off. We were also able to connect 3 hoses together to get water. We were
alongside the wall just east
of the Coastguard berth and had intended to move to
the normal visitors pontoon - the first one as you come into the harbour but
with the wind blowing
strongly and no lazy lines available we decided to
stay put until someone asked us to move which didn't happen! There were a couple
of spaces where you could have used
your own anchor but the risk of tangling up with
laid mooring chains etc. out-weighed the dust we had where we were. Although all
the pontoons have power and water pillars
none of the services work properly although we
noticed that some of the local boats had tapped into the main supply under the
jetties- very hazardous!
Khlakis is a large city - the 6 biggest in Greece
and has shops and restaurants to match this. The water front hums all day but
especially at night when everyone parades along
before settling down to eat at one of the numerous
tavernas, ouzeris etc. Further back from the front are myriad alleys and
pedestrianized streets where shops abound. I eventually found a small dry -
cleaners
that also had washing service so managed to get the
bedding and towels done for 12 Euros. It was in a small one way road behind the
Museum.
We had a lovely evening with Sylvia a Greek teacher
of English whom we had met in Orei. She came to the boat and took us for a drive
(including collecting the laundry and a supermarket shop) before we had
supper at the north end of the quay sitting outside
at the Italian Restaurant.
Vicky from Sarenity called round one afternoon to
say high - they were anchored off the west side of the town and came ashore
in the dinghy most days.
The harbour including the Yacht Club area was
swarming with large dark red jelly fish - I had never seen them like this before
and we were surprised that we continued to see them
while sailing down the Evia channel for several
miles although we didn't see any in Karastos.
We left for Karastos on Sunday 28th August are
there appeared to be a bit of a lull in the wind force. This proved to be so and
we had a pleasant passage to our next port except for the last 4
miles.
We had been sailing with a full genoa but ahead was
what appeared to be a tide rip/ white water stretching all the way to Karastos.
The wind went ahead and so we furled the sail and just motored into the wind and
seas.
Had to close all the windows and hatches and put
the spray hood up something we rarely have to do in these parts! The wind was at
least a I.6 with stronger gusts and we made slow progress - however once we had
got inside the
mole at Karastos we were in sheltered water and
though the wind was still gusting in the lulls we managed to get the boat
alongside the town quay. There is a ledge that juts out below the water and it
is widest at the north end
so we were on the south end near to the very small
fishing boats that were on lazy lines. We could have anchored inside the
harbour too - there was another UK flagged boat doing this, but Gully B was
already alongside so with Graham and Gillian's assistance we felt able to berth despite the strong
winds.
Karastos is a sleepy village with a few tavernas -
it comes alive at night when folk come to parade along the quay and eat out.
There is a LIDL and Carefour plus a good Greek supermarket all about 15 minutes
walk out of town.
We stayed 2 nights here and on the second night Rob
witnessed a rat creeping along our stern line and get onto the after end of the
boat!! Needless to say he sent it packing - but boy was I glad we had thought to
put all the mosquito
covers in the windows and the hatch covers on the
main companionway! We will have to get our ant-rat discs out of the after locker
and deploy them next time we are in a port.
We left on Tuesday 30th heading for Port Raft on
the mainland side of the channel only a few miles east of
Athens.
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