Volos is an interesting base to sail to the Sporades :
- Good accessibility : more & more flights to Volos-Airport (eg. Ryanair),
for every flight there’s a bus from/to Volos-city (5 Euro pp one-way).
- For provissions there’s a wide choice of supermarkets.
- We had a very good experience with MixIt yachtcharter.
- Gulf of Volos and the Sporades are not overly tourist,
so it’s much calmer and more authentic than a lot of other destinations in Greece.
Concerning the crisis ;
Volos is a long way from Athens, so there aren’t any riots or demonstrations in this surroundings, nor did we notice any strikes.
Everywhere we came the people & personnel of taverna’s or shops where extremely friendly and helpfull.
We had the impression they we’re even more friendly than other years !
The general prices (shops, tavernas,...) have not increased, most of the prices in the taverna’s are relatively cheap for a top quality !
(we never payed more than ca.17 € p.p. for a meal with starters, main course, wine, water, etc.... and always we got a treat from the house as desert !)
So don’t let the crisis discourage you to spent a holiday in Greece,
you will have a wonderfull time and the Greek people will welcome you with open arms !
This will certainly not have been the last time we sailed in this area.
NB
Underneath you find some pictures from our sailing-trip.
Grtz,
Koen
On this sailing-blog you can follow us LIVE, when sailing in the Mediterranean.
30 May 2012
22 May 2012
21/05/2012 Paleo TRIKERI - VOLOS
Wind : SE 1-2 Bf
Weather : Cloudy / Temp. ca.20 °C.
Log : 15,3 NM
In the morning we took a short walk to the Monastery on Paleo Trikeri,
the church & monastery are a beautifull place.
At 11.15h we left Paleo Trikeri.
The weather is cloudy and there isn't much wind,
but we decided to sail the entire way (ca.15 NM) to Volos.
So it was a slow sail.
At 1520h we arrived in Volos.
The people from the yachtagency welcomed us and helped us with
berthing on the quay.
So it was an evening of packing our stuff and afterwards having a nice diner.
The check-out went swift and everything was OK,
"Silver" (Bavaria 41) is a nice yacht, in perfect condition and well
equipped and maintained.
Att.
A picture of the replica of the legendary ship the "Argo" (trireme) on
which Jason and his Argonauts went on an search to find the Golden
Fleece.
According to ancient mythology, Jason left from the acient city of
Iolkos, which now is called Volos.
Yassas,
Bieke, Diane, Koerel & Koen
20 May 2012
20/05/2012 Or. VATHOUDI - Paleo TRIKERI
Wind : ESE 2-3 Bf
Weather : Sunny / Temp. ca.25 °C.
Log : 11,7 NM
Today is gonna be a sunny day.
This morning there wasn't much wind,
so we motored to Zasteni Bay.
We anchored for a swim an a relaxing day in one of the most
pictoresque bays of the Pelion,
Zasteni-bay.
At 1445h we hauled anchor and sailed to the small island of Paleo Trikeri.
We luckely got a place on the small quay.
Paleo Trikeri is a very small (ca.30 inhab.) but beautifull island.
At night we had diner at the Diavlos-taverna,
the spagetti with king-prawns was the best we've ever eaten in the Med.!
Yassas,
Silvers'crew
19 May 2012
19/05/2012 SKOPELOS - Or. VATHOUDI
Wind : N 5 Bf decreasing to N 3 Bf
Weather : Morning : clouds with rain / afternoon : Sunny / Temp. ca.22 °C.
Log : 52,7 NM
This night & morning it still rained a lot, but the wind died a little down.
At 9.45h we left Skopelos.
The first half of the trip we had a sharp reach with windspeeds around 25 knots,
around noon the winspeeds decreased to around 15 knots.
After a long trip we took up a mooring in the bay of Vathoudi (Gulf of
Volos) at 1815h.
Ormos Vathoudi is well protected bay, where a lot of yachts are moored.
There's also a Sunsail-base, attached is a taverna and a Mini-market.
We had a nice meal in the fishtaverna GAIOS, situated ca. in the
middle of the bay.
Yassas,
Silvers'crew
18 May 2012
18/05/2012 SKOPELOS
Wind : N 7-8 Bf
Weather : Stormy with dark clouds / Temp. ca.15 °C.
Today we're staying in Skopelos, due to the storm.
From 0600h the storm has reached Skopelos,
with lots of rain & wind.
We experienced gusts from 44 knots (9 Bf) in the harbour !
It rained almost the entire day.
So we constantely had to monitor our boat,
some of the neighbours had a little bit of trouble with their anchor
but so far with no damage.
We stayed on the boat today ...
...watched the boat, sleeping, reading, making toast, drinking coffee ...
Yassas,
Silvers'crew
17 May 2012
17/05/2012 KIRA PANAGIA - SKOPELOS
17/05/2012 KIRA PANAGIA - SKOPELOS
Wind : SW 2 Bf
Weather : Morning : sunny ca.25°C / Afternoon : sun & clouds, from 1600h : rain & thunderstorm
Log : 24,7 NM
At 1000h we left Planitis-bay.
Because the weatherforecast for this afternoon wasn't so good,
we motorsailed our way to Skopelos.
At 1400h we arrived in Skopelos-harbour.
Around 1600h it started to rain bigtime !
Afterwards a stormfront with a lot of wind came over Skopelos,
it was rainy untill 2000h.
Luckely our anchor was well dug in,
so there was no problem with the boat.
NB
Tommorow the weather will even be worse !
Yassas,
Silvers'crew
16/05/2012 ALONNISOS - KIRA PANAGIA
16/05/2012 ALONNISOS - KIRA PANAGIA
Wind : SW 2-3 Bf
Weather : sunny ca.25°C
Log : 18,1 NM
At 9.45h we left Steni Vala.
We had a nice broad-reach sailing.
At 1230h we anchored in the Monastery-Bay on Kira Panagia,
a wonderfull bay, but only useable in calm weather.
Some of the crew visited the Monastery.
Afterwards we went to the Planitis-bay for an overnight under anchor in this remote bay,
some of us ventured a swim in the sea (the water is pretty cold ca.19°C)
Diane cooked us wonderfull diner on board.
Yassas,
Silvers'crew
16 May 2012
15/05/2012 ALONNISOS
15/05/2012 ALONNISOS
Wind : SW 2 Bf
Weather : sunny ca.25°C
Log : 5,15 NM
In the morning we took a taxi to the Old Chora, on top of the mountain.
From there we walked back to the harbour,
it was a nice walk through olive-groves.
At 1210h we left Patitiri for the small fishingharbour of Steni Vala, 5 miles North.
At 1330h we anchored in Steni Vala,
it's clearly offseason, there are only 4 yachts and only 2 tavena's are open.
Steni Vala is a nice peacefull harbour,
but beware when mooring, the depht close to quay can be less than 1,50m in places !
At night we had a nice Greek diner at Tassias.
Yassas,
Bieke, Diane, Koerel & Koen
15 May 2012
14/05/2012 SKIATHOS - ALONNISOS
14/05/2012 SKIATHOS - ALONNISOS
Wind : E 3-4 Bf
Weather : Morning : sun / Afternoon : mostly cloudy ca.22°C
Log : 33,7 NM
First some bad news,
Nadine & Dirk took a Hotel and stayed on Skiathos.
Nadine couldn't stand being seasick all of time,
she was almost constantely feeling sick, altough the weather and sea wheren't rough.
So now she can enjoy a few days of relaxing.
At 1130h we hauled anchor and set sail.
Because the wind was Easterly, we had to tack a lot to get to our destination,
it was an very nice sailingtrip.
At 1830 we arrived in Patitiri, the main harbour of Alonnisos,
there is a lot of swell entering the harbour, so it isn't a quiet overnight.
There are only 3 yachts in the harbour.
At night we had a tasty dinner at Archipelagos,
excellent food, excellent priced.
At night there passed a small thunderstorm.
Yassas from Alonnisos,
Silvers'crew
14 May 2012
13/05/2012 VOLOS - SKIATHOS
Wind : NE variable 1-3 Bf
Weather : Sun 26°C
Log : 41,6 NM
Our first sailing day was a nice one,
at 9.40h we left Volos.
It was a long trip to Skiathos,
we had a nice mix of sailing and motorsailing.
Just before Skiathos we were accompanied by 3 dolphins,
always magical !
At 17.00h we moored in Skiathos-harbour,
there aren't many yachts here, it's still off-season.
Some of the crew even took a swim.
At night we had a wonderfull diner at the Amfiliki-restaurant,
it's a 20min. walk out of town.
They served a lot of local specialities,
the view and the food were very very nice !
www.amfiliki.gr
Yassas from Skiathos,
Silvers'crew
13 May 2012
VOLOS 12/05/2012
12/05/2012 VOLOS
Weather : Sun and clouds 25°C
After a 3-hour flight we landed at 1700h at Volos-airport.
There's a bus into town (5 Euro/p)
Phil from MixIt picked us up at the Busstation.
The ladies went to the supermarket and we did the check-in of the boat,
"Silver" a Bavaria 41.
The service and reception of MixIt was perfect !
Afterwards we went for a nice dinner at the "Romeo"-taverna.
Tommorow our destination is Skopelos.
Yassas from Volos,
Nadine, Dirk, Bieke, Diane, Koerel & Koen
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