Loutráki

Approaching Loutráki with Glóssa up on the hillside

The short trip of just 4.7 miles to Loutráki on 21 June was uneventful with next to no wind. We had hoped that we would be arriving on quiet day having avoided the changeover day that the yacht charter company based here uses, however, when we got here the small pontoon was full up with yachts. We tucked ourselves away in the corner of the harbour with just a short dinghy ride to get ashore.

Looking up towards Glóssa

From our anchored position in the corner of the harbour we watched the ferry arrive and its wash setting the moored yachts rolling wildly. A space had opened up on the jetty so we had considered moving but, on balance, decided to stay put. We also had the advantage of a great view up to Slopelos’s second town, Glóssa, high on the hill. Subsequently we discovered that up to 3 yachts are allowed to moor on the north end of the ferry quay; something to remember for next time.

Rain in Loutráki

The mast compression post covered

We planned to stay a couple of nights here not least of which is because we’ve been told of a very good restaurant in Glóssa, however, it also rained heavily. Our first night was a little unsettled with BV catching the edge of a line of waves which made their way into our corner of the harbour so in the morning we moved position slightly. The new position was much better but outside it just rained and rained so we stayed on board. To keep us busy we tackled covering our mast compression post. The post is painted but over the years this has been chipped in several places. We have tried touching it up but we have never successfully matched the paint, or the finish, so the new plan was to cover it. We’d tried a while ago but when the stitches were tightened we discovered that we had cut the material just a bit too small and the stitching started to pull through. Armed with that knowledge, we cut the right oversized piece and Nicky set to work with a needle and some whipping twine [Ed: and far more patience than the author!]. The compression post now looks much smarter.

By late afternoon the rain had stopped and so we set off up the path towards Glóssa. It was a surprisingly steep path but a much shorter distance than walking up the road which zigzags backwards and forwards across the hillside

Glóssa is a typical old town of the region, built on the hillside for protection, with narrow streets and lots of steps. There is no room for cars but mad scooter drivers screech around the steep alleys at high revs so you have to be ready to step aside.

Not content with just reaching the town somebody [Ed: true!] decided that we should climb right up to the top of the hill so, of course, the rest of the crew volunteered to go up there too. The views were nice and we found a small chapel at the peak under the pine trees.

The Agnanti restaurant

All that exertion fully justified our next stop which was the Agnanti restaurant. This has a great reputation as well as being in a beautiful location with fantastic views.

Views from the Agnanti restaurant

BV was perfectly positioned in the harbour for us to see her whilst we enjoyed a really nice meal. Great food, great service and a grand location; we were very glad that we had made the effort to visit.

The walk down the hill after our meal was much easier than the climb up. Nicky chose to ‘drive’ us back to BV but seemed to gain superhuman strength when it came to starting the outboard. Opening up the cover we found the white toothed starting cog had broken under the strain. We’ll use the emergency back-up starting method of a rope wrapped around the top of the flywheel until Charlotte can bring out a replacement cog next month or we can find one locally.

So, having spent about a week on Skopelos it was time to move islands and on to Skiathos, probably Skiathos Town, if only to find somewhere to change the next Camping Gaz bottle! However, there are a few small islands just south of Skiathos harbour so we’ll probably look to explore those a little en route – a little more recce in preparation for Charlotte’s summer visit.

Loutráki, Greece