Órmos Kípos and on to Athens

Órmos Kípos on the east side of Nísos Aígina

After eating our indulgent breakfast rolls on Sunday 9 August, our thoughts turned to timing our arrival in Athens to meet up with our top buddy, Neil, who is once again working in Athens over the summer months. We decided to beak up the journey to Athens by sailing north and seeing if we could find an anchorage on the island of Aígina. The weather was forecast to be settled overnight and so we headed towards the bays on the south side of the island as a start point. Clearly some of these bays are THE place to be seen in in one’s yacht on a Sunday. One of the bays was so full of yachts that you could practically walk across the bay stepping between them. We were in search of something a little less crowded and, heading up the east side of the island, found what we were after at Órmos Kípos. We anchored in time for lunch, swam and gave BV’s hull a bit of a clean, and generally had a lazy time. Throughout the afternoon we were joined in the anchorage by several charter yachts but they headed on and we were left with just 2 yachts in the bay overnight.

Órmos Kípos, Greece

Órmos Ay Marina on the east side of Nísos Aígina

At 8am the following morning we left Órmos Kípos and sailed north. We passed Órmos Ay Marina, where we had anchored last year, with the ruins of the 5-6 century BC Temple of Aphaia picked out by the morning sunlight high up on the ridgeline. The wind was variable as it blew around the island but we were able to keep on sailing past the WW2 gun emplacements at the northern end of the island and on towards the shipping lanes. As we got north of the island our GPS started to play up. We switched to an alternate GPS aerial which solved things for a few minutes but then that dropped offline as well. Finally, we got a signal by using the internal aerial in the plotter down below. We remembered this happening at exactly the same place last year so I guess that there is some sort of radio transmission beam that we cross there which interferes with our navigation kit. A few miles further north everything was working perfectly again.

Athens ahead

Approaching Alimos marina with the Parthenon standing out above it    

We followed the rules exactly, crossing the shipping lanes at 90 degrees and were about the only yacht we could see complying with that regulation. There were several ships coming into Athens which we had to dodge so we loitered in the middle of the lanes briefly and then headed on again passing behind them. By now the wind was dropping off so we had the engine going and were motor sailing to ensure a prompt crossing. Once past the lanes we progessed more slowly just under sail. The Alimos Marina is the most convenient one for meeting up with our chum and as you approach it you have great views of the 2004 Olympic Village. Behind that coastal strip is the city of Athens and we could clearly see the Parthenon. We planned to stay in Athens for 3 nights which would easily give enough time to catch up with Neil. We also have plans to change the engine oil and to do a little maintenance work in between the sights seeing, socialising and restaurant visits. However, with all of those distractions we’ll have to see how dedicated we have been in ticking off the maintenance chores when it is time to move on.

Athens, Greece