In pre-dawn darkness on September 1st, we made an 0500 departure from Methoni, motoring north through a small roll-y swell with a sliver of a crescent moon rising in the east. We got the mainsail up shortly after daybreak, as the southerly breeze began to fill in and the swell subsided, and we soon raised the headsail then the mizzen sail. By noon we’d killed the engine, and were reaching along in sunshine and calm seas, making 4 knots under full plain sail. We both agreed that THIS was what we signed up for!
At 1530 we dropped the hook in the anchorage at Katakolo, a scenic little spot whose beach stretches for 54 miles.The town is primarily a cruise ship destination where visitors can get a bus or train to the ancient site of Olympia, 25-miles away. In an effort to latch onto some of that tourist money before it gets away, local businesses have packed the town’s two streets with shops and tavernas. The visitors must run the gauntlet enroute to the tour busses, but they all seem happily eager to eat and drink, shop and spend.
Shopping in Katakolo can actually be quite entertaining. Olive wood items, Greek wines, and other locally produced products are everywhere, and even in the souvenir shops there are bottles of ouzo (the licorice-flavored cordial) tucked in amongst the post cards and hand made (or not) crafts. Most places insist that you try a sample. (What a country!) And you can practically have a meal at the wine shops, where a wide variety of local goodies are sold: olive oil, wines, cordials, nuts, olives, and traditional sweets, and shoppers are urged to sample them all. We bypassed these snack-a-thon shops in favor of a small family-owned backstreet taverna, where the harbor master and other locals come to eat. The homemade wine and the pita gyros were cheap and absolutely delicious.
We did the tourist thing one day and took the little tour train for a 30-minute ride on a tiny narrow road through the countryside. It was quite charming, winding through fragrant pine forests, past vineyards and groves of olive trees, and we stopped at the small Mercouri winery, where peacocks roam the yard. This old Greek family-owned estate has a 150-year history in the production of wine and olive oil. Although there was no tour and no signage at this working winery, the old furnishings, photos, and paraphernalia in the main building gave us a sense of the history of the estate.
We also took a bus to the historic site of Olympia, where the games originated in 776 BC. In ancient times, ships bringing athletes to compete in the festival would anchor in Katakolo’s big bay.
Thanks to various earthquakes and to a 5th-century emperor’s order that the temples be destroyed, little remains of the magnificent buildings of Ancient Olympia. But extensive ruins spread throughout the leafy groves give a wonderful feeling of the history. In the huge open stadium you can stand on the ancient marble slab that marked the starting line for the races, and know that over 2700 years ago, an athlete put his foot on that same slab. Although our visit was a bit abbreviated when the captain suffered an attack of gastroenteritis, we still came away with an appreciation of Olympia’s impressive history.
After a pleasant two weeks on anchor in Katakolo, we made an 0600 departure for the island of Zakynthos, 24 miles to our NW. An initially uneventful motor-sail, assisted by light southerlies, became more lively as the day wore on and the weather became unsettled. We put a reef in the mainsail, and we hoisted the jib as wind and seas began to build. Conditions deteriorated as we neared our destination, with ugly dark clouds looming overhead and lightning flickering in the distance. We finally had to douse all the canvas as we approached the harbor, and with no anchorage here, we tied up at the quay a mere 30 minutes before a serious squall bore down on us. We were berthed bow-in, and Ken spent the better part of an hour in a howling wind and cold rain, adjusting the dock lines and stern anchor to keep SD’s bow safely clear of the stone quay.
Our on-board entertainment in the evenings was to retire to the cockpit with our sundowners and watch the arriving boats du jour in their efforts to dock. Some crews took their berth like pros, while other unfortunates required multiple attempts, which was comical to watch, but certainly no fun for those on board.
After a week at Zakynthos, we had a favorable weather window for our passage to Messalonghi, where SD will spend the winter while her crew flies home to America. Our passage followed our usual pattern of a pleasant start, with wind and seas increasing as the day progressed. We began with a single reef in the main, but by the time we’d completed about 2/3 of the 40 mile passage, the wind was on our nose and SD was banging into a steep chop that threw sheets of spray all the way aft to the helm. We tucked in a second reef, but we were very happy to have those last wet 15-miles behind us as we entered the calm waters of the canal that leads to Messalonghi marina. The channel passes quiet marshland where wading birds poke around in the grasses on the tidal flats and little wooden shacks on pilings line the marshy shore. Two miles later we arrived at the serene lagoon beside the marina, where we dropped the hook.
We took a berth at the marina the following morning, and so began a week of prepping SD for storage. Sails were raised so they could be hosed down before folding and storing in the cabin. All cordage was washed, and SD herself was washed and waxed, and her rigging and hardware cleaned and detailed to remove any spots of rust. Inside the cabin, bulkheads and flooring and linens and lockers were washed, and most of SD’s on-deck apparatus will be stowed inside. Bicycle trips along the marsh and into town provided recreation and a break from the chores. The marina itself is extremely well appointed, and although busy, it’s quiet and very attractive. With Messalonghi’s reputation as a safe marina with an historically mild winter, we feel happy that we’ve chosen this spot for our little ship to hibernate. We bid a readers farewell until May, 2014.
“SD” lookin’ good!
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