38:19.762N 20:44.658E
Muskrat
Chris and Alison
Thu 20 Jun 2024 18:41
12/06/24 to 17/06/24 We left Katakolon at 0916 under engine for 2 hours then put the sails up and managed to sail most of the rest of way downwind under main and Genoa. Arrived in Zakinthos (Keri Bay) at 1409. Anchored in sand in a Southerly breeze. The wind soon turned round to the North and we dragged a bit but the anchor re-set on its own. Myth Artemis and Apollo’s preferred holiday destination. The island was first colonised by a man called Zakynthos, son of Dardanus, who founded Troy. He was a long way from home but somehow landed on the island and drove all the snakes out of the place. As a result, he is often represented on old coins found in the area, strangling snakes. Some time later, the island came under the power of Odysseus’ Ithaca. Indeed, Homer notes that 20 of the suitors for Penelope’s (Odyssey’s wife) hand in marriage were from Zakynthos, they were subsequently massacred by the returning king, the suitors having thought that Odysseus was long dead fighting in Troy and were therefore trying to take the beautiful Penelope. The only site of mythical happenings is the Temple of Artemis and regular references to this being a favourite hangout for the goddess and her twin Apollo. “Artemis, Goddess of Hunting, used to wander around the green woods of Zakynthos. Her brother Apollo would play the lyre under bay trees to chant the beauty of the island”. Homer. Jefferson S (2022) In the Wake of the Gods. A Cruising companion to The World of The Greek Myths Left Zakinthos (Keri bay) at 0900 and put the sails up soon after leaving. We had a lovely broad reach in a F3 until we reached Ak Yerakas. As soon as we rounded the cape the wind increased to F4, then F5 gusting F6 with a lumpy sea that slowed us down. Tacking up the East side of Zakinthos took us 4 hours as we reefed steadily down until we had 3 reefs in the Genoa and 2 reefs in the main. We arrived in Zanti at 1455 and dropped the anchor in 8m of sand with 50m of chain out because of the wind and the swell. The wind finally started to drop late afternoon but the swell continued through the night making the anchorage very uncomfortable but not dangerous. The next day the wind and swell continued so we didn’t managed to get ashore. We decided to move on to Agios Nikolaos on Zakinthos the next day so left Keri bay at 0819 and started to motor. Got the sails up at 0859 and sailed the rest of the way to Agios Nikolaos on Zakinthos. A very small harbour. The local restaurant owner put us on a buoy and then took our anchor and dropped it about 35m away from the buoy. The harbour was very full with day trip boats moving very fast among the moored yachts making it very difficult to manover. Once tied up, we found ourselves tightly packed in as a succession of yachts kept appearing wanting a mooring buoy. The restaurant owner was expert at packing everyone in the small harbour but were left to our own devices to get ourselves out again. Agios Nikolaos is very small village that only appears to support the visiting yachts and the many tourists that take a morning or afternoon boat trip out to the nearby caves. Consequently there is nothing else there except for tourist shops, a couple of mini markets and a “laundry”. I was in desperate need of a laundry, so I asked, on spec, if there happened to be one. I was shown to a locked box in an outside courtyard behind the local shop. In the box was a washing machine - the laundry!! The machine worked and I got two loads washed ready to be hung up in the rigging and they didn’t charge for its use:) Eating at the taverna who’s buoy we were using for our stay in Agios Nikolaos  The laundry at Agios Nikolaous. It was a new machine.  Approaching Ithaca from the South. Our next destination.  Sent from my iPad |