Update from the last post. According to the local chandlery, no people or buildings were damaged in the recent fires, so I am not sure where my building went too but it is supposed to be ok - good news. However, the fires were still burning when we left our little anchorage.

The wind eased and we decided to go back to Lavrion to get stocked up again ready for another week or so sailing and at anchor. Back in the harbour it was very hot, so we went for a swim off the nearest beach. Having left the fires behind along with the helicopters and Sky cranes, we were hoping to find a nice quiet place for a swim and cool down. We found a small stony beach and plunged into the cool water. What happened next was not caught on camera I am afraid. Probably less than 200m from us we were suddenly confronted with a seaplane making a sweep of the area obviously looking for a place to land. He circled the area and disappeared behind a low hill only to appear again just as close, land on the sea in front of us and while still moving forward took on a tank full of water and then took off again. Ten minutes later he was back for another load, and again, and again. Definitely time to move on.

We left Lavrion the next day, guess what, no wind, so we motored to Sounion. We anchored in the bay avoiding the rocks both sides of us and settled in for the night. The temple of Poseidon on the cape is easily reached after a short walk, so we took the dinghy ashore and in the heat of the midday sun we walked up the hill to the temple. Definitely worth a visit. Not only is the temple impressive, despite being re-built 444BC, but they have unearthed the village that surrounded it and you can see the ship yards at the bottom of the cliff that they built to repair their boats. This is viewed from the cliff as it is now in 2m of water, the Mediterranean has risen 2m since 444BC.

On our way back we noticed that the bay was filling up with yachts. Because it was getting towards the end of the week the charter yachts were due back in Lavrion at the end of their charter. Three of these yachts came in with battle flags flying from the forestay obviously together and settled in behind us, one of them came in very fast under sail and dropped the anchor, the main and genoa all at the same time, very impressive, but in a now crowded anchorage?? Anyway, he pulled it off this time. Unfortunately our fears of a noisy night were realised very soon and sure enough the party went on all night to about 0630 - 0700 the next morning.

Poseidon Temple.