Greece 2025 - the return leg from Halkidiki back to Israel
- sailinginisraelcha
- 3 days ago
- 12 min read
Forward:
I left off last time with Gil, his wife Hadar and myself, flying back to Porto Carras for a week's sailing by ourselves in the area before Hadar returned home, and I continued alone with Gil for a few days, beginning the journey home, and then me flying back home. Gil was supposed to have been joined by his non-sailer brother, Yuval, and another of our partners, but it did not work out and now we were stuck with a boat to deliver and no crew!
As luck would have it, my kids were in the middle of switching schools and there were some bureaucratic delays, which meant that they were not going back to school immediately, so the decision was made that I would stay on and the kids would fly out together with Yuval, and the five of us would complete the delivery.
For the record I will state that it was an extremely hard decision to make - yeah right..!
Northern Greece - usually October is the month for those "in the know" to sail in Greece. It is the final month of the sailing season, the weather is generally still good and the crowds are a lot thinner.
This year was not the case.
The three of us arrived back to cold weather and cloudy skies and although the seas were calm, it was not exactly what we expected, so instead, we hired a car and for three days we toured northern Greece, visiting towns and sites that we would never have seen had the weather been good. It was well worth visiting the impressive waterfalls at Edessa, the hot springs at Pozar, the beautiful lake town of Kastoria and of course the mountain monasteries of Meteora.
Luckily for us, the same plane that brought Yuval and my kids to Saloniki was the same plane that took Hadar back to Israel, so we accomplished the crew change in one day and all of the "boys" returned to Porto Carras for the night before beginning our journey home.
Our plan was to head south-west through the Sporades islands and then sail southwards through the channel separating the island of Evia and the Greek mainland, hugging the western coast of the island and eventually exiting in the direction of the Cyclades islands.
We left Porto Carras at night and arrived at the harbor of Loutraki on the island of Skopelos. The town has a renovated promenade with lots of cafes and tavernas dotting the length of it. We rented a car for the day and toured the island. The island's claim to fame is that the movie Mama Mia was filmed there.
From Skopelos we continued westwards, past the island of Skiathos and entered the northern channel separating the island of Evia and the Greek mainland.
When one looks at the map of the area it is difficult to see that Evia is an island and not part of the mainland. In fact it is the second largest Greek island after Crete. Its furthest point from the mainland is most probably less than 10 nm and its closest point is 40 meters! This is at Chalkida where there are 2 bridges connecting the island to the mainland. More on that later.
Our first stop after entering the channel was the harbor at Oreoi, the quay apparently built on the wreck of a WW2 German ship made of concrete. There is a 4th century BC marble statue of a bull in a glass display cabinet next to the coast guard and port office. On the quay there are a couple of large anchors that were used for holding the anti-submarine nets in place during the war. On the one side of the quay is the harbor and on the other side a sandy beach - a beautiful place if only the weather had been better.
From here onwards we would be sailing along the western coastline of Evia, stopping each night in small fishing villages.
This is a good time to mention how we navigated the islands. Before the advent of the internet and all kinds of apps, we used paper charts and basic chart plotters and pilot books which described in detail the different areas of interest, anchorages and other useful information. Today of course we have modern chart plotters with multiple functions and AIS (Automatic Identification System), and of course the Navionics navigation app which is invaluable. Another app worth mentioning is Navily, which is a community-based cruising guide where members rank and comment on locations worldwide. Cruising is certainly a lot easier now.
The small port of Loutra was our next planned stop but it was full, with no option to get a spot, even on the outside wall of the breakwater as it was too high. Luckily for us, we always made a point of having a "plan B" and so we headed for our next port of call, Ilia, only about an hour away.
Ilia, is a small fishing village with a very small harbor and limited space, but we docked long side at the entrance and nobody seemed to care. Lots of locked up Airbnb's on the slope and I could imagine in the season this could be a busy village. But now it was deserted, with a single open taverna, overlooking the harbor. About 400 meters from the harbor, along the shore was a hot spring, with very hot spring water running into the sea. This was quite a common phenomenon in many islands we visited but it was never exploited by the locals as a tourist attraction for some reason. Had dinner in the taverna and bought some local Tsipouro, the Greek version of Grappa. Not for the fainthearted!
The next day we departed for another fishing village, Limni - larger than Ilia and with more activity along the main road opposite the sea, filled with tourist shops, bakeries and coffee shops. We berthed here as well longside and did our usual search for a coffee and pastry shop selling "Bougatsa", a custard filled pastry sold all over Greece with different variations in each island. Another favorite of the kids was what the locals call "orange pie" - a sweet sponge like cake soaked with sugar sweetened orange juice. While on the subject, another favorite of ours in the mornings was the spinach and feta pastries.
Our final port of call before exiting the channel was Chalkida - a city located both on the island of Evia and also on the mainland, connected by a drawbridge inaugurated in the early 1960's. The channel, known as the Evripus Channel is famous for a unique natural phenomena - strong currents of up to 6.5 knots that change direction every 6 hours. Due to this, the bridge opens only once a day, 4 days a week at this time of the year, and in the middle of the night - when city traffic is at a minimum and the powerful and unpredictable currents are at their weakest. In order to pass through the channel you need to book and pay in advance, and arrive before 9:30pm on the night of the crossing. You then need to be ready and listening on the VHF and the port authority will contact you and inform you to prepare for passage. We were lucky and at around 10pm we got the go ahead (we have heard of stories of boats waiting until 3am), and within 15 minutes we were on the other side, preparing to anchor for the night before continuing our passage in the morning. We did not experience unusually strong currents during the passage and the whole experience leading up to it was well worth the effort.
In the morning we were on our way again, a ten hour passage passing under the modern Euripus Bridge and arriving at the island of Kea, the first of the islands in the Cyclades.
Unfortunately I don't have much of a recollection of Kea, nor photos, except that there was no space, and luckily a German group on a charter boat offered us to tie up long side to them. We only spent the night there and next morning we freed lines and continued.
We berthed at Loutra (which means 'hot baths' in Greek) on the island of Kythnos - a picturesque harbor with quite a few boats and a hot spring that runs off into the sea (hence the name) - it was certainly exhilarating to lie in the really hot, fresh water and then jump into the sea to cool off. We rented a car and toured the island, visiting the Chora (the word for the main town in Greek), located high up in the hills overlooking the island. It was quite deserted at this time of the year and I could only imagine how crowded this place, and the islands in general, are in season. There is a large cave, partly manmade and partly natural, located in the village. Not very impressive, but the islanders seem to think so. Kolona Beach is a beautiful bay with a sandbar leading to an island with a chapel on it. There were boats anchored on both sides of the bar and a taverna overlooking the bay. A really magical location - the kind kind that you say to yourself we have to come back to visit again.
Serifos - the last island on the southward leg before turning eastwards. I had adopted the habit of, wherever possible, booking a berth in advance of our arrival, using Navily for gathering information. Even this late in the season, it turned out to be a good idea. This well organized harbor was packed with charter boats, including huge motor catamarans (63 feet!) , but our spot was reserved and we docked in the busy harbor with the help of the harbor master. The white buildings of the Chora really stand out against the barren hillsides on this island. As was the case with some of the other islands, we did not have the time to explore with a car and the next day we were off to Naxos.
Naxos - an impressive and bustling port with lots of ferries coming and going at all times of the day and night, causing heavy swells for all the boats in the harbor. I also booked a berth here in advance and the guy that greeted us and helped with berthing told me he had kept this spot for us the whole day and even turned back boats. Lucky for us! I saw a couple of yachts tied up on the outer wall of the harbor and they were literally nearly being tossed in the air from the swells created by the ferries. There is a chapel located on an islet in the middle of the harbor. We rented a car for 1 day and saw the island. A nice place and busier than the other islands we had seen up to now. The quaint old quarter is located right opposite the harbor. We ate at a family taverna recommended by the car hire guy who was a Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball fan.
Amorgos was a short sail away and my second time on this island. It is always nice to return to a familiar place and Amorgos was no exception. Last time we were here it was mid season and filled with young Greeks from the mainland on vacation creating a really nice vibe. This time it was a lot quieter. We rented a car and took a trip around the island, retracking our last visit. At this time of the year the Chora was deserted, but still worth seeing again with its row of old windmills that stand out on the ridge above. We revisited the Holy Monastery of the Virgin Mary Chozoviotissa - built in the 9th century, literally hanging off the cliff face about 300 meters above the Aegean sea below with a connection with Wadi Qelt, in the Judean Desert - but that is for another time. All in all a great island to revisit.
From Amorgos we entered the Cyclides, stopping at Astyphalia - our second time here as well, but again, at this time of the year, the place was really deserted with just some old locals sitting around. The only place to eat was a pizza joint which was quite good, and I remember last time it was very popular with a long queue waiting for a table.
We stopped at Nisyros on the way up to Saloniki at the beginning of our trip and now we were back on the return leg. I called Stavros, the local car rental guy to book a spot in advance which he does voluntarily. The is a major war going on between him and the second company on the island. They are both really nice people but have an ongoing feud and can't stand each other - "it is worse than Israel and the Palestinians" he said! We were there for only a night and know the island pretty well, so we did not rent a car this time.
Symi - when visiting this island we tend to avoid the main port as it is noisy, crowded and the facilities are minimal, if at all. We always go to the next bay of Pedi, a small fishing village with a new marina run by Capt. Sakis, an ex-Greek navy special forces officer who keeps a tight shop. The place is well run and in very good condition. It is a 10 minute drive from the main port and we rented a car for a few hours just to make a quick visit and stock up supplies for the next leg. When the ferries arrive the port and shops are filled with tourists, even at this time of the year, but as soon as the ferry leaves the place is deserted. It is a beautiful town with each building painted a different pastel color. After returning to Pedi, we ordered diesel for our boat and after filling our tank and extra jerrycans, we departed Pedi in the late afternoon for the 15 hour sail to Kastellorizo.
We arrived in Kastellorizo in the early morning, docking again next to Alexandra's. The harbor was empty; just 2 boats including ours! There are still the daily ferries coming over from the neighboring Turkish town of Kas, bringing day trippers, both locals and foreigners, to visit a Greek island and spend some Euros, but the yachting crowd at this time of the year is negligible. The island is the main point of entry to, and exit out of, Greece for nearly all the Israeli boats, as well as boats arriving from Cyprus. The local agent, Kostas, takes care of all the documentation which makes entering and leaving a lot easier. Gil and Yuval rented a couple of scooters and we toured around the island for the day. Due to the proximity of the island to the Turkish mainland, a little over 1nm away, there is a military base and lots of antennas on the mountain above the harbor. Although both countries are members of NATO, their past is still ever present, even if the Turks come over on their yachts and ferries. There is a huge Greek flag painted on the mountainside opposite Kas and up until last year there was also a large Turkish flag painted on the mountainside above Kas for the Greeks to see. To emphasize the situation, and as if by order, a couple of Greek AF jets did a couple of very low passes over the island creating quite a buzz from the locals and visitors alike. Apparently they came from the AF base in Crete and it is not uncommon.
After getting all the paperwork done at Kostas for departing Greece, we stocked up with supplies for the approximately 60 hour run to Herzliya, had supper at Alexandra's and prepared for an early start in the morning.
The sail from Kastellorizo back to Israel and our homeport, Herzliya, was uneventful and we even managed to sail without our engine for about 10 hours - the longest we had sailed since starting our trip. All the way the winds were either very weak or on our nose, so it was great to sail for hours with just the silence of the wind and no engine noise in the background.
I think we were all a little depressed that the adventure would be over soon but such is life. Approaching the Israeli coastline about 30nm offshore we were contacted by the Israeli navy to identify ourselves, a routine check carried out on all boats approaching the coast, and it sank in that we were nearly home.
In summing up, we had a great time and the only complaint I had was that we did not spend enough time in some of the islands along the way due to time table pressures, but other than that it was an incredible experience. The Greek islands are still as they have always been, the locals are always happy to help and the prices are still reasonable. As an Israeli, during these difficult times, I always felt welcome and not once did we experience any antagonism towards us. The opposite can be said - when they heard we were from Israel the islanders only had positive words of support to give.
So until next time, thank you Kostas, Michaelis, George, Periklis, Gregory, Stavros, Capt. Sakis... the list goes on and on and I look forward to meeting you all again next year.
We are all back to our day to day lives now and already planning for next summer's trip. If anyone would like to ask me questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will try my best to answer.
Damn... I wonder if there will be sirens again tonight...
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