Hi all

At 09.35 on 31^st July we untied our lines from the rocks at Port Polis, lifted  anchor and set sail heading south for Killini on the mainland and the intention to explore the first finger of the Peloponnese.

We headed down the Ithaka channel running downwind with a 2 m following swell…. not unlike the Atlantic. The gusts increased to 30 knots true as we neared Sami bay and then fell to virtually nothing as we entered the southern wind shadow of Ithaka.

We changed course and goosewinged the main sail and genoa sailing along nicely in 8-12 knots. The wind rose and fell on the trip, with an uncomfortable cross sea… feeling a bit jaded and (me) a little queezy, even after all our miles at sea;  we finally arrived, 39n miles at Killini anchoring at 17.00 hrs. The town houses a ferry port for links from the mainland to the islands of Kefalonia and Zakinthos.

We didn’t go ashore as the port looked like any other typical port but historically it was an important link in the trade route around the Peloponnese. Once it was a thriving cosmopolitan place with foreign sailors and merchants carrying their cargos to and from the Orient. The only remnant of this period in history is the castle fortress on the imposing hill behind the town. Built in 1220 by Geoffrey Villehardouin and later under Venetian rule named Castel Tornese and subsequently  partially destroyed under Turkish rule.

We would have liked to have visited it,  but with Tioram at anchor, although safe, and the fishing harbour too shallow for our draft…… we were near the busy ferry port.  The Castel was a motorbike ride into the hills beyond….. so sadly we missed the opportunity.

Photos of the busy, now, dusty ferry port….. no remnants of its trading history or the mystical travellers from the Orient.

Love to all

T and T x x