Hydra

Having had a gentle wander around the town and filled up with water, we left Póros at 1015 on Thursday 28^th August. The direct route to Hydra is along the narrow channel to the south of Póros that separates the island from the mainland shore of the Peloponnoisis.

Though the gap is about 400m wide, the navigable channel for BV (draught 2m) is significantly narrower so we took it carefully, particularly given that there were a number of yachts leaving and moving in the opposite direction to us.

Looking back as we departed Póros

Once clear of the channel we feared that this would be yet another day of little to no sailing. However, the wind did pick up for a short time and we enjoyed a gentle downwind drift (with the inevitable gybe as the wind veered).

Approaching Hydra

When we arrived at Hydra the harbour was busy but not as full as we had thought it might be, though quite a lot of space was taken up by 2 small freighters and there were also several fishing boats and tripper boats and water-taxis too.

Our first mooring spot

We wanted to moor on the northern mole, partly because the southern quay is lined by tavernas and bars and would be noisy overnight, but mostly because if the wind were to go round to the north berths on the mole would be far better protected from any wind and surge. Boats had already moored 2 deep over much of the mole but there was one space in that second line which looked big enough for us. We dropped the main anchor almost across the harbour and motored back into the space; at one point we almost much stuck fast between a huge charter catamaran and a Bavaria yacht as the wind blew the gap between them closed for 10 seconds. We were pretty much into our chosen berth when the skipper of the yacht behind us (right up against the mole) called to us and said, in a broad French accent, that his yacht had sustained damage which he was repairing and that he intended to leave in an hour’s time. We considered our options and told him that we would reposition to let him out then. The Australian charter lead-skipper in the even more enormous catamaran that we were now alongside thought this terribly long-suffering of us: he said that there was an unwritten rule in Hydra that you left by midday and if you didn’t leave then you were stuck until the next day!

…and our final position.

Nevertheless, we let the Frenchman out when the time came, re-laid our anchor and jammed ourselves in beside the mole. In the end, no-one took the space outside us and our public-spiritedness ended up delaying our departure the following day.

Having deployed all of our fenders and a lot of our lines and reassured ourselves that BV was snug, secure and safe, we spent a couple of hours wandering around Hydra town enjoying the ambiance of the traffic-free alleyways.

Taxi!

The only vehicles on the island are (or seem to be) an ambulance, a fire engine and a lorry that we think moves all the rubbish. Consequently, most people get around the island on foot, by donkey/mule/horse or in one of the many water-taxis.

The town’s buildings climb up steeply around the horseshoe-shaped harbour and the many plateaux and dead-ends provide excellent viewing points. Many of the buildings are substantial stone mansions, built during the eighteenth century from the accumulated wealth of a merchant fleet that traded to America and, breaking the British blockade, to Napoleonic France. Under Ottoman Porte the island paid no tax and governed itself in return for providing sailors for the sultan’s navy and, during the War of Independence, its merchants provided many of the ships and commanders for the Greek forces.

We decided to eat out in one of the waterfront tavernas that night and had an excellent meal whilst enjoying the evening bustle in and around the harbour. Overnight the wind went around to the northwest and the surge in the harbour built somewhat, so we were pleased to be moored on the mole rather than on the quay. Though it made for a slightly uncomfortable end to the night, the wind would prove useful for the following day’s journey east to Sífnos in the Cyclades.

Hydra