Avelomona, Kíthera - Nisís Gramvoúsa, Crete

Pyxis
Karen & Richard
Tue 8 Jun 2010 22:58

Tuesday 8th June – Avelomona, Kíthera – Nisís Gramvoúsa, Crete

35:36.394N 23:34.716E

 

We fell for it again.  The forecast was for a West/North West F4 - 5 quietening down over the next few days, so we thought we would carry on whilst there was some chance of sailing.  We left around 8am (the last yacht to leave). 

 

It was very quiet to start, no wind and flat sea, but not to worry, we thought, the wind will kick in later.  We had breakfast and waited.  We cleared the lee of Kithera and a 1.5 - 2m westerly swell filled in; it has been some time since we have had swell.  We motored on past Antíkithera, the island providing a lee from the swell for a while but still no wind.  A few yachts passed us motoring the other way.  We arrived at the top NW corner of Crete, with maybe a slight puff of wind.  So we had another day of motor sailing.

 

And so we came to this tiny bay on the SE side of Nisís Gramvoúsa, navigating our way through the reef and into the shelter of the island.  An isolated lagoon, recommended to us by a yacht we met at Ermioni.

 

When we arrived there was a large day-tripper boat stern to on the tiny quay and the skipper was very concerned that we were about to anchor nearby as just about anywhere would have been in his way when he left.  I signalled that we were coming alongside the quay on the south side, and he was happy.  As I approached very carefully (we had been warned that the depth was very shallow, and it was), the skipper of the boat leapt down with some of his crew to help with our lines and get us tied on safely in 2.4m of water.

 

The boat left at 5pm with its day-trippers.  This left us on our own with two local fishermen for company.  Mike (for short) sat mending nets on his boat the other side of the small quay, and his friend Babis went off snorkelling on the reef with his spear gun.  It was lovely and peaceful, and very remote. 

 

Well, it had been a couple of days since we had climbed up to a Venetian fortress and, as luck would have it, there was one on hand; so, up we went, another long climb, and wandered round this fortress that we now had entirely to ourselves – except for the large rabbits, of which there were many.  The views were stunning – it was worth the walk and it was getting cooler.

 

When we returned, Babis came back with a catch of a large fish and two small lobster-type looking things.  Mike insisted we join them for a fish supper.  So after a shower we joined them for a BBQ ashore, taking along beer, wine and nibbles.  I think we only needed the beer really as that went down best. 

 

The fish that went on the BBQ were huge in number and variety – no idea what they were.  There are only a few empty buildings on the island including a tiny church; Mike has a room ashore that we used as our dining area.  Mike served toasted bread with olive oil and herbs to accompany it and salad.  There was so much food I asked how many were coming for dinner.  Just the four of us Babis said.

 

Dinner was fabulous and it was great when another fishing boat, friends of theirs, arrived unexpectedly and joined us to help with all that food; they were on a small swordfishing boat.

 

What a wonderful welcome to Crete we have had.

 

Nisís Gramvoúsa

© Pyxis 2010