6th May to 10th May

If we mention again that we are going to order something and have it sent out to Greece please stop us. After being promised that our replacement shaft would be delivered on Tuesday after Easter Monday, we found out that Tuesday was Labour day, so it was a public holiday on top of the Easter holidays. So our delivery was put back to the 10th (Friday). Unfortunately we only learnt this once we had moved from our nice quiet anchorage to the pontoon on Poros town quay. 

What we hadn’t appreciated was that this is the place where the RYA do their stern to morning practice with the charter yacht crews. All day they were in and out while all the crew onboard took it in turns to have a go at mooring stern to. Of course with a yacht nicely moored on the pontoon, we were well placed for them to aim for the cleats. Several times we had to fend them off to save our topsides from potential damage. Not to mention the continual disturbance of engines being thrown into reverse then forward, then bow thrusters being used and instructions directed at the line handlers. Not a very restful place to be and confirming why we don’t like mooring in town quays. My other gripe about mooring in town quays is that I can’t have my daily swim off the boat. On the plus side though, I could do the shopping without having to get into the dinghy, walk a few miles to the shop, then walk a few miles back loaded with the shopping, get it into the dinghy and then get it onto Muskie. Here, the supermarket was just off the pontoon across the road and there is a laundry:)

With the shaft not due until Friday and we had already paid for the mooring, we decided to stay on the quay, despite the charter yachts, and have a few days walking into the hills and doing more jobs. I could always walk to the nearest beach to have a swim after all. 

Now we were alongside a town quay, we had to get our Transit Log (TL) stamped. This meant we had to face the dreaded Port Police (PP). As we had been hauled out of the water for the winter this meant we were not been in Greek waters from November 23 to February 24, so our TL had not been stamped in Chalkoutsi, added to this, there is no PP in Chalkoutsi, so we couldn’t anyway. However, this meant we hadn’t got a stamp in the TL since we left the bridge at Kalkis. Oh dear, the policeman in the office on the day we visited was not impressed, and after talking to someone on the phone he told us, in no uncertain terms, that we needed to go back to Oropu, that is a few miles south of Chalkoutsi, to get our TL stamped in and then stamped out again before he would give us a stamp for arriving in Poros. Going all the way back to Oropu was not something we could, or wanted to do, plus there was no guarantee that the PP in Oropu would stamp the TL, so we decided to forget it and try the next port of call for a stamp. But it did rather spoil the rest of day as we pondered our predicament.

The next day was sunny and warm, so to make us feel better we decided to go for a walk into the Lemon groves, up the mountain to see ancient water harvesting tunnels, Mycenaean tombs and a Mycenaean castle. We covered about 10 miles that day but it was a lovely walk and not too hot. In the evening, we joined another couple, Andy and Sue, fellow sailors who also belong to the CA, for a meal in a rooftop taverna, just a perfect end to a relaxing day.

Friday arrived, with winds F6 gusting F7. Funny old thing the RYA and charter yachts had disappeared and we were only one on the pontoon! Our shaft arrived late morning and at last we were free to go when we wanted, or when the weather lets us.

Water Harvesting Tunnel

Poros in bloom for Easter

our walk around the Lemon groves, water harvesting tunnels and Mycenaean Tombs

Mycenaean Tomb