Having motored my yacht, Celestine, a Carambola 38, across the width of Europe, by river and canal, in 2019 (Boating New Zealand, January 2020 issue), leaving her up on the hard in Mangalia, Romania, I departed for New Zealand.

I was certain in the knowledge that I would be back the next year to step the mast and sail her down to Turkey, through the Bosporus Strait, to spend a leisurely season cruising northern Aegean waters.

That was over two-and-a-half years ago, my plans had turned to ash, along with millions of others around the world, as the Covid pandemic brought society to a standstill.

When the pandemic hit, I had emailed Luca, who managed the yard where Celestine was being stored, saying I wanted to extend the lease for another year. Luca, sensing he had me at an extreme disadvantage, emailed back saying the this “was possible” and that the rent would now be €600 per month. The bastard was increasing the rent by almost five times! The room swayed before my eyes on reading this, and I had to grip the edge of the desk to steady myself. Sleep was not possible that night, and I saw every hour on the clock.

Happily, ‘Team Celestine’ rallied round, a boatyard, Tsoukas Marine, was found in Porto Lagos, northern Greece, prepared to take the boat at a reasonable hardstand fee. A transport company was engaged, and Celestine made the journey to Greece by road.

 

Having a boat transported without being there, or at least being set up for transport, is the stuff of nightmares involving unsecured lockers and drawers spewing their contents onto the cabin sole.

In the event, arriving in Porto Lagos in early May this year with Dave Fisher, who had come along for the adventure and possessed significant boat building skills, spotting Celestine in a fenced paddock was a huge relief, she looked neglected and dirty but otherwise intact.

Lifting the cockpit hatch with much trepidation, I gazed fearfully inside. Nothing appeared out of place except a drawer at the chart table being half out. Hopping down into the cabin, brushing aside a forest of cobwebs, I quickly checked the state of the batteries, which were all okay. I was so relieved that my worst fears had not been realised. Also, the interior was as dry take the boat at a reasonable hardstand fee. A transport company was engaged, and Celestine made the journey to Greece by road.

Having a boat transported without being there, or at least being set up for transport, is the stuff of nightmares involving unsecured lockers and drawers spewing their contents onto the cabin sole.

In the event, arriving in Porto Lagos in early May this year with Dave Fisher, who had come along for the adventure and possessed significant boat building skills, spotting Celestine in a fenced paddock was a huge relief, she looked neglected and dirty but otherwise intact.

Lifting the cockpit hatch with much trepidation, I gazed fearfully inside. Nothing appeared out of place except a drawer at the chart table being half out. Hopping down into the cabin, brushing aside a forest of cobwebs, I quickly checked the state of the batteries, which were all okay. I was so relieved that my worst fears had not been realised. Also, the interior was as dry as a bone, and free of mould, a common problem for closed up yachts long abandoned.

Next day, Stathis, the owner of Tsoukas Marine, and his off-sider Christoffe loaded the boat onto a low-rider trailer and hauled it through the village with a large tractor to the boatyard where we had power, water, a toilet and a shower of sorts.

Possessing a small water-blaster, I gave the topsides and cockpit a thorough clean, removing the accumulated grime, dirt, lichen, and debris. This improved Celestine’s appearance immensely, and with the interior wiped down and everything restored to its proper place, she was looking sharp once more.

Drawing a breath, we took a look around us, taking in the 20plus boats in the yard of varying nationalities. Only a few boats were being worked on by their owners, as it was early in the season.

Beyond the boatyard was the small village of Porto Lagos. I hadn’t realised quite how small and remote it was, with only one small grocery store, one restaurant worthy of the name, and Tsoukas Marine being the only supplier of marine parts and services in town – and the margins were high.

However, in the overall scheme of things, we were in a good place, for which I was grateful.

Attacking the ever-growing jobs list, the next two weeks were an exhausting blur of the myriad of jobs required to get a longabandoned boat seaworthy again, including dropping the rudder to replace the bearings.

Dave enjoyed the long hours in the hot dirty, dusty conditions so much, that he sponsored me for the ship’s tender, which will of course be named Dave. Despite the conditions we were living in, some credible meals emerged from the galley, after we had enjoyed an ice-cold beer at the end of a day’s work in the 30°C-plus heat.

Having launched the boat, we moored alongside the work area on the quay, the next big mission being to lift the mast off and onto some trestles so we could assemble it, which Stathis ingeniously achieved by using a forklift with an extension to the forks and a sling.

With the mast assembled, it was hard to pin Stathis down as to when the crane would be available. In the end he said, “not this weekend, perhaps Monday?” As we had been working in less-thanideal conditions for two weeks, we were ‘over it’ and getting a bit scratchy with one another, so we made the executive decision to have the weekend off, visiting the seaside town of Keramoti, where we luxuriated in two-star comfort with aircon, and generally relaxed.

On our return on the Sunday, we found the mast had been stepped in our absence, which was not an entirely bad thing, as it was another big job completed.

At last, on Thursday June 2, we motored out of Porto Lagos, 25 days after we had arrived, bound for Karariotissa on the island of Samothraki, 34nm distant, and it felt wonderful. I was hugely grateful to Dave for the herculean effort he had put in, and as he was departing in 12 days, I let him decide the cruising itinerary until then.

Many hands took our lines on the harbour quay when we arrived, including Kyrkos who wanted to rent us a car or scooter, and anything else we needed – “water, electricity, diesel, no problem”. In the end we hired a car off him, just to shut him up. That night he insisted we have dinner with him and a couple of his friends. A most enjoyable evening, and one of the things I value most about cruising – the random people you run into, and the slight insight it gives into other cultures and lives.

In the event, it turned out Kyrkos himself was running for the Greek parliament in October, another friend was a well-known TV actor and producer in Bulgaria, and the last member of this cheerful band of brothers had been a major in the Greek army, then spent 10 years running security on tankers off the Somali coast, being attacked by pirates on five occasions. He was now in the much safer role as Kyrkos’ mechanic at the car rental business.

Samothraki was a delight, and we spent a few days travelling around admiring the sights, and an enjoyable bush walk to a series of cascading waterfalls and swimming holes.

Next on the itinerary was the picturesque bay of Aliki at the south end of Thasos. The bay features a fascinating marble quarry dating from Byzantine times (600 AD). As we did not have the ship’s tender yet, we had to swim ashore, pushing a dry bag with our clothes inside, which was actually rather enjoyable.

What wasn’t enjoyable was dragging the anchor twice in one evening, as thunderstorms passed over, the 20kg CQR not being up to the job.

After we visited the main port on Thasos, we headed over to Kavala on the mainland where Dave would be departing for the UK to crew on a turn of the century tax cutter in a classic boat regatta.

My mate Leo from Wellington, who was to be my crew for the passage to Turkey, unfortunately wrecked his back on the way over, and had to spend a week in Athens further enriching a chiropractor before joining the boat with his sister Oonagh. During this time, the Meltemi (a seasonal northerly wind which creates difficult sea conditions), had started to blow along the Turkish coast, and as I was rapidly running out of visa, I decided to make a run for Orie on the island of Evia off the east coast of Greece instead, where I planned to store the boat, then fly to Turkey. This was disappointing, but the main aim of the season had been achieved, which was to get Celestine in good shape for a more ambitious cruise of the eastern Mediterranean next year.

It was an enjoyable four-day passage with some beautiful anchorages. The highlight was a day spent cruising along the length of the Mt Athos peninsula, an autonomous region, home to numerous Christian orthodox monasteries from churches all around the world. Fascinating area, no women permitted on the peninsula, and we were not allowed closer than 500m to the shore.

All too soon we were moored Mediterranean-style to the seawall in Orie harbour, with friendly fellow yachties happy to give us a hand and information, resulting in a tanker replenishing Celestine with diesel within an hour of tying up.

Dimitri from the boatyard turned up after I messaged him, saying he would pull us out next morning early before the wind got up, which he did, on a trailer, swimming round the boat calling instructions and heaving the boat into position.

The season is over for me now, prematurely, but I will be back next year for the whole six months … hopefully. BNZ

ROUTE TAKEN

Launched at Porto Lagos, Greece.
• Sailed to Kamariotissa, Samothraki, Greece
• Aliki Beach, Thasos
• Thasos Port (Nth end of Island)
• Kavala on mainland
• Did a side trip to the above islands and to Mirana on Limnos as a side trip with a crew not mentioned in the article before returning to Kavala.
• An anchorage called Ormos Plati, visible on Navily but not Google maps. Closest was Kolpos Lerissou.
• Next cruised down the Mt Athos peninsula then across to the tip of the next peninsula and around the corner to anchor in the perfect Alina Beach, marked on the map as Porto Koufo
• Across to Loutraki Harbour on Skopelos
• Down to Orei Harbour on Evia
• End of passage

FURTHER INFORMATION

www.visitgreece.gr
www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/greece/travel-guide/sailing-in-greece
www.goturkiye.com