MILOS TO ZAKYNTHOS
After our short stay on Santorini, we were off again and early the next morning we set out for Milos. Milos was the island last year that we really loved.
Last year we travelled to Milos at a time when we were both feeling very vulnerable and unsure of what we were doing. We had just said goodbye to our kids, Ben & Sarah (&Ivy!) and friends Barb and Darrell and wouldn’t be seeing any more familiar faces for the rest of our trip. We also had news from home that the much loved, fifth member of our family, Frankie (our miniature dachshund was in a bad way. Grandma had been looking after her but the difficult decision to put her down had to be made. To say we were upset would be an understatement! We were devasted, but back then Milos was good for us.
The island was so different from the other islands we had visited, and we enjoyed spending time there. We were hoping to spend some more time there again this year, but the Meltemi winds, blowing from the north were starting the next day and were forecasted to blow for the best part of the following week. So that really forced us to “get out of Dodge” while we could.
The next morning, we set off around 6am and pointed our boat west, aiming for the Peloponnese Peninsula. We had the best day of sailing for the trip so far so and arrived at our chosen anchorage of Elafonisos in good spirits, to find two bays divided by a narrow beach. We chose the smaller of the bays and the water was so clear and blue when we jumped in, in the late afternoon. We ended up staying there another day as the wind was up again. We called it “our day at home” and we got caught up on some jobs we’d been delaying on. One job for me was to thoroughly clean the other main cabin so Sharon & Paddy I hope you appreciate my efforts!!
Off again the next day to a different bay, again with clear blue water and a sandy bottom. You may be wondering why we keep moving everyday and don’t slow down and build some sandcastles. We have this deadline to be in Spain to complete the Visa process and that is really dominating our decision making.
The next stop was Kalamata, situated at the head of a large bay and a major town for the area. Kalamata is named after the olive, or would it be the olive was named after the town? We tied up along the harbour wall with some help from other sailors and settled in. It was hot, hot, hot on the mainland, but we had a wander around the town. I immediately began to notice the trees and lawn and some gardens. Most of the islands we had seen last year are so barren and stark, so it was noticeable when we saw those things that we normally took for granted.
We got talking to our neighbours in the harbour in Kalamata, and discovered they were an Australian couple, Mike and Karen from Victoria. They came over for drinks on Saturday afternoon and we had a great time chatting with them. After Karen spied our Weber BBQ, it was decided we would light up the barbie the next evening but not in Kalamata. We then decided to leave Kalamata Sunday morning and sail with them to the next stop down the coast. The bay was called Phoinikounta and apparently was a holiday destination for local Greeks. The water was still the same aqua blue and white sandy bottom and so clear and where we all kept returning to as we needed to cool off during the day. We had a great night together and were sorry to say goodbye to Mike and Karen as we continued up the west coast.
There was another stop on the mainland for the night, before we took off for Zakynthos the next morning. The best side of the island to see the incredible limestone cliffs and caves and incredible blue water is the west coast and luckily for us, the wind was in our favour. We had a short lunch stop amongst lots of small tourist boats. We had seen the small boats from the distance traveling along near the cliffs and until we spied the boats, the cliffs looked big but when you saw how small the boats looked against the cliffs the scale was easier to see, they were huge.
The bay we ended up staying in for the night and eventually had to ourselves was stunning. Again, the water was super clear, the sand was white, and the water was getting warmer. It got to around 8.30pm and we thought that would be the end of the boats for the day and it would be just us. Then just before I was going to be daring and have a nicky swim, another one, two then three boats turned up. Oh well, I jumped in, keeping my bathers on.
The well-known beach on the island, is Shipwreck Beach. It has been featured in many a sailing YouTube channel, so we had seen it before. The rules have changed at the beach and boats can no longer anchor and nobody is allowed access to the beach, we believe its due to the danger of rockfalls. So it’s a slow cruise in, take some photos and cruise on out. Again, the scale of the cliffs is what makes the site feel so special and impressive. It was well worth the time to see it.
Please see the Gallery for more Zakynthos Photos
