Today the winds favoured us and we were
able to sail much of the 30nm journey – what a pleasure it is to have no engine
noise and just the rustle of the sails. The only disadvantage to sailing with
both the main and genoa raised is that many of the solar panels are covered and
so our ability to generate electricity is hampered somewhat. It wasn’t a problem, however, as we did have
to motor at the end to reach our anchorage – this was sufficient to top up the
battery to 100%.
Pylos is a small town that sits at the
south end of a large bay, Ormos Navarino, the site of a famous sea battle that
was part of the Greek War of Independence.
The bay is still littered with shipwrecks although since the ships were
mostly wooden, not much remains. We
anchored at the north end of the bay which is well-protected from the
prevailing winds and is blessed with a sandy bottom, isolated beaches and a
fabulous castle to climb to for views.
The area has been inhabited since Mycaenean times and reeks of history.
Just north of the bay in which we were anchored is a lovely crescent bay, Ormos
Voidhokoilia, which we accessed with the dinghy one morning. There is also a magnificent cave a short hike
from the beach in which it is said that Hermes hid the cattle he stole from
Apollo. Having used the ‘goat track’ to climb to the cave, I seriously doubt
any cattle made that journey!
With the winds building from the northwest
we decided to stay in Ormos Navarino for several days, visiting the town of
Pylos the small village of Yialova on the northeastern side of the bay and
enjoying swims and walks on the beach.
The entrance to Ormos Navarinno
The 'neo kastro' at Pylos
The 'paleo kastro' at Pylos
The view looking south from the paleo kastro
Ormos Voidhokoilia
Our anchorage at Ormos Navarinno
Taking the dinghy around to Ormos Voidhokoilia
One starts to feel rather settled after
spending several days in an anchorage, and it almost becomes difficult to move
on. Knowing that there may be (and
probably are) more interesting and lovely places to visit, however, is enough
of an incentive to keep going.
Our next stop was Methoni, on the
southwestern tip of the Pelonponnese.
This ancient town comes into view from a distance due to its magnificent
fortifications along the length of a peninsula and tipped by a wondrous tower
built by the Turks for both protection and as a lookout. The harbour is small but well-protected and
the bottom is sand (which we always love as it makes for a secure anchorage) and
relatively flat, tapering slowly to shore.
Once we were settled in, we went ashore to explore the
castle/fortress. Many of the outside
walls are still well-preserved, originally built by the Venetians as one of
their “Eyes of the Republic” – a lookout to protect their trading route to the
Levant (as the Middle East was known in the Middle Ages). The fortress was then later reinforced by the
Turks and you can see the different building methods and materials in the
walls. There is not much to see now
within the old walls but it is a pleasant walk with some lovely views,
particularly from the Turkish Tower at the southern end of the peninsula.
The castle at Methoni
The Turkish Tower at Methoni
A steeple and bell at the small church in the castle precinct
As it was a Sunday afternoon, there were
very few people around and everything was closed, but we enjoyed a pleasant
walk through the back streets, picking ripe figs and blackberries from
overhanging trees and brambles and peeking in at some beautifully restored
stone-built cottages and their well-kept gardens. Coming from suburban life in Australia, it is
wondrous for us to see the amount of space the Greek people allocate to their
gardens – filled with olive and citrus trees, as well as the ubiquitous ‘veggie
patch’, there are usually flowers and other greenery as well, but no grass lawns. The water supply, and no doubt the soil and
weather conditions simply do not allow for them. There is almost always a stone, tiled or
concrete patio with a table and chairs to take part in long family lunches, and
often a bench under a shady olive tree for the elder members of the family to
sit and ponder life. Really, a very
enviable lifestyle.
The next day we headed around the coast to
Kironi – also known as ‘Neo Koroni’ (or new Koroni) since the original town is
about 15km north of the present town.
Kironi boasts another fortress high on the hill and this was the second
of the Venetian’s two “Eyes of the Pepublic”.
Although the fortifications themselves are less impressive, they are
still very visible on the approach to the town.
We chose to anchor in the little bay to the north of the harbour in
sand, as it was a good choice at the time in the prevailing wind. It also was the closest option to getting to
the fortress, and doing a little grocery shopping. We climbed the steps and the narrow cobbled
road to the grand Eastern Entrance of the walls, and entered the most peaceful
and sublime area we have yet encountered within a citadel. There are still a few cottages (supplied with
electricity, and one imagines, town water) with their gardens and olive groves
inside the fortress walls, as well as a charming monastery of St John, upon
which we stumbled quite by accident. We
entered the monastery grounds, resplendent with colourful blooms including our
native grevillea (red), hibiscus and bougainvillea, and discovered that there
was a small chapel and an area atop a wall for viewing. The local nuns were rather clever, having
placed a number of ‘wraps’ in the vestibule so that visitors who were
‘inappropriately dressed’ (shorts, sleeveless tops, etc.) could drape
themselves modestly for a visit. The
nuns had also realised that there was money to be made from visitors and had a
small gift shop in the grounds where they sold handmade rosaries, icons and
homemade myrtle liquor and organic cold-pressed olive oil among their many
goods. No donations were required and
the chapel was beautifully painted (built many centuries before but recently
restored in 1984) but after being offered a cold drink of water and some
‘loukoumi’ (Turkish delight) we felt rather compelled to make a small purchase
from the smiling nun!
The view looking north from Koroni castle (you can just see Bisou in the centre left of the photo)
The East Gate of Koroni Castle
The bells of St John's monastery
One of the cute streets in Koroni
Walking around the area within the walls,
we found the remains of an old Byzantine church, as well as several chapels and
churches – some in ruins, some less so.
The views from the various points around the ancient walls were really
breathtaking – we keep thinking we have seen the best until we see the next
one! Walking back through town, we
discovered the shops to still be closed until early evening and so went back to
Bisou for some ‘siesta’ time before heading back into town later in the evening
for a gyro dinner and some grocery shopping.
By the time we returned to the boat, the wind was rising again (unusual
for the evening as it normally lays down by about 8pm or a little later). It was also tending more northerly and a
swell was developing. I went to bed
about 10:30pm but Tad woke me around midnight to suggest that we weigh anchor
and go around the peninsula to the south and anchor off Zanga Beach just south of the fortress. In the dark, and half asleep, bouncing with
the chop we raised the anchor and headed south.
It is very difficult to see a shoreline when you are somewhat blinded by
the lights on shore and also difficult to see any boats that may be anchored
along the shoreline. In any case, we
were able to nose our way into about 6m of water and drop the anchor, and
settle down in much calmer waters with better wind protection for the
night. We slept soundly until late the
next morning.
On waking we were thrilled to discover the
beauty of our anchorage – although we had passed it the day before and knew it
to be a good one in the prevailing winds, when we had gone through earlier, the
winds were from the south and it was unprotected. In hindsight, we should have gone back there after
returning to the boat in the evening, while there was still light, but through
a miscommunication of headings and weather forecasts between Tad and myself, we
thought that we would be fine where we were in the harbour bay. Imagine our joy when we jumped in the water
for our morning swim to find the clearest, most beautiful water we have seen in
Greece so far – clear, clean, flat sand bottom with no sign of life (not good,
as we do like our fish swimming around us) and the anchor well dug in. We were sorely tempted to stay another night
but the weather forecast was urging us on northward and we had other plans for
the next few days.
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