GREEK ISLAND HOPPING SAILING HOLIDAY from Athens | GREECE, 2022

A detailed route within a custom layer on Google Maps

Visual interactive map of the voyage

One day on a catamaran

- 1-
The route

I discussed a few ideas about where to go sailing with three of my skipper friends, and all mentioned different options and potential overnight stays. It was hard to narrow all of them down as we had only 6 days to spend at sea, and I wanted to see everything.

My general thinking about the itinerary:

• If we stay close to Athens in the Saronic islands - there will be plenty of charter boats around and we will feel crowded
  
  
• If we go south-east to the North Cyclades - it's great to reach the island of Milos (which has a natural paradise bay, accessible only by boat, one of the most remarkable islands mentioned by the skippers) ⇒ but there is a danger of Meltemi – a strong Northern wind, which makes it hard to come back to Athens against the wind and swell
  
  
• We could go further south-west by crossing the Saronic gulf and going round the Peloponnese - we could reach the Argolic Gulf. Charter boats rarely come that far from Athens.
  
  

In the end we decided to combine the first two options and settled on the following route: Athens-Kea-Kythnos-Ermioni-Hydra-Poros-Athens.

- 2 -
Catamaran

This was the first time I had a 45ft large and comfortable Bali 4.5 catamaran.
Everyone enjoyed the spacious saloon and cosy cabins. The extended foredeck could accommodate everyone who wanted to take the sun or just feel the breeze at sea.

The boat was fully autonomous with a water maker (reverse osmosis technology to make fresh water from sea water), a diesel electricity generator, and solar panels. So we didn't have to arrange water and electricity every second night, and could enjoy total independence from the mainland.

- 3-
Athens

We checked in at the Alimos marina – one of the biggest marinas in Greece, which is home to 1000 boats. A big part of it is occupied by charter companies, whose business is to rent boats out - which is good and bad at the same time. Good because I had a big choice of boats to choose for any preference and budget, bad due to the resulting congestion : every Saturday hundreds of boats do the check-in and are ready to sail.

- 4-
Kea

We left the marina early in the morning at 6am when most of the other teams were still sleeping. I wanted to test the boat with no stress and interruptions - it was a heavy 20-ton catamaran, so any mistake could lead to serious consequences and damage. Luckily, there were no mishaps and we enjoyed the sunrise at the beginning of the 7-hours passage from Athens to Kea.

Kea is the most northern island of the Cyclades, and lies about 30 miles south of the mainland.

We made a short stop on anchor to swim and cook a dinner, and immediately broke the lazyback rigging when taking in the sails. It was a lesson for the team and the skipper to spend more time on the instructions and practice, so that everyone knew what to do and how.

In the evening we berthed a catamaran in Vourkari - a small village north of the main port of Kea - Coressia. The team was excited with the new city (and restaurants) to explore, while the skipper stayed on the boat to chill out.

- 5-
Kithnos

Next morning we were awake at 6am again and started the crossing to Kythnos - another island from the Northern Cyclades group.

But first we motored to the remote part of Kea - a small bay in the south-west of the island with the ruins of an ancient temple (Archaeological Site of Carthaea). The team didn't know that the place is unique because there is no one looking after the site - any tourist could touch, hug a column, and sit undisturbed by wardens and tour guides at any place of the site, soaking in the history. It was very different when we went to the Acropolis and other historical places in Athens one week after.

The passage to Kythnos didn't take much time - we dropped an anchor at one of the most remarkable places of the whole week after a couple of hours of motoring between islands. The beauty of the place is in the west-facing view of the sunset from the sandbar between two bays.

By that time, we'd learnt that in Greece you can eat only Greek salad (the most delicious meal for me - I ordered it later by default every day) and some starters (bread and olive oil, tzatziki - yoghurt and cucumbers) and be full.

Next morning we woke up even earlier than usual at 5am as we wanted to experience the hidden thermal bath on the beach and also be on time for the long 8-hour passage across the Saronic gulf to Ermioni.

It was quite easy to find a small bath from stones just on the neighbouring beach - so we enjoyed the warm water springs alone with no one around. The place is open to anyone, but it is not marked on Google maps or most of the sailing maps - only one of my skipper friends and locals recalled it and advised us to visit. The time I'd spent on preparation for the trip had finally started to pay off.

After a short break early in the morning we went to the open seas - literally no one could see our final destination on the horizon and it felt like going on a real expedition trip far away from home.

- 6-
Peloponnese (Ermioni)

We arrived just about right - it was enough time to explore the natural park and inner bay:

Eventually everyone was used to waking up very early to set off and to go back to sleep just ten minutes after that. A few of the team were even grateful for the opportunity to see the sunrise on the water.

We entered the calm waters in Kolpos Idras, as it was surrounded by the land and islands from all sides.

This time we were serious and started fishing early hoping to catch tuna or another local type of fish.

We knew it was not Seychelles in the Indian Ocean with fish jumping out of the water on your boat, but still hoped to be lucky.

Just were slowly motoring at speed 3-4 knots early in the morning, while everyone else was sleeping.

- 7-
Hydra

There was not a single bite, but we were still excited to visit the pearl of Aegean Sea - Hydra. As usual, the main port was enchanting, quite crowded and noisy. We decided to stay for a night in a neighbouring Mandraki - a well protected and quiet bay with a tricky mooring, as it is quite deep in the middle. We did ten attempts for stern-to-rocks parking until eventually we managed to find a perfect shallow spot and to secure a boat.

Everyone was tired and happy that it was over after three hours of work. Part of the team went to the city along the scenic road along the cliffs.

We spent more time exploring the city the next day. There are no cars or bikes on the island, but a tourist can choose a donkey as a means of transportation. We were amazed to see them dashing up the steps of narrow streets, carrying heavy burdens or people.

- 8-
Poros
The next day we had to head back to the home marina in Athens. It was decided to stop near the island of Poros, which is loved by many sailors because of the large number of moorings. We were more experienced in mooring after Hydra, so it was smooth and painless. The team set out to explore the new city of Poros, while Ivan and Dasha were left to guard the boat and have dinner under the stars at night.

- 9-
Moni
This small uninhabited island near the large island Aegina is famous for wild deers and peacocks.

- 10-
Hunting for octopus
One of the swimmers spotted an octopus - we decided to catch it. It is almost impossible to do that with bare hands, so we constructed a hook from the mop and a fork. Still, the octopus knew the sea bed better than us and managed to hide under the rocks.

- 11-
Check-out final
With a bit of sorrow, but ready for the next 3 days of suprises on the land