Russian Bay

Órmos Vasilikó starting to fill up with yachts seeking shelter    

The weather forecast was for winds of up to force 7 in the Órmos Vasilikó area over the weekend. It was blowing at Force 5-6 throughout Thursday 6 August but started to moderate late afternoon. Around then several yachts arrived in the anchorage, presumably seeking shelter from the stronger winds which were forecast to arrive at around 4 am. Whilst the holding was excellent and we would be secure, the anchorage had already proved quite windy enough with the day’s Force 5-6 being funnelled into the bay through the high ground to the north. However, it does have to be said that though Órmos Vasilikó is a windy anchorage, at least the wind doesn't gust strongly into it, unlike in some other places. With the forecast Force 6-7 (most likely at the top end of that too) it was only going to be less pleasant. On the basis that anyone can be uncomfortable, just as the anchorage was filling up with the yachts seeing shelter, we set sail. There was method in our madness; we’d spotted a weather window with lower winds overnight so we left Órmos Vasilikó at 8pm planning to sail overnight to the Saronic Gulf where the winds were forecast to be lighter over the weekend. Órmos Vasilikó was very nice but we really didn’t want to be trapped there for the next 2 days.

The plan worked very well and we had a great sail around into the Saronic Gulf. As we passed the Cape of Sounion on the eastern side of the Gulf, the floodlit ruined temple of Poseidon stood out beautifully. Hopefully when we leave Athens later in the month we’ll be able to visit but with BV racing along at 7½ knots and a few ships to dodge we had other priorities. The wind was accelerated as it passed the cape but it soon settled down as we turned onto a westerly heading towards Póros. We passed the end of the shipping lanes into Athens, made our way past a couple of small reefs and then turned south to head through the narrow gap between Fórmio Mázema on the mainland and Dána on the island of Póros.

Just west of Russian Bay

Once through the narrow gap, which we passed as dawn broke [Ed: exactly as planned – very smug!], there were several very sheltered bays we thought that we could anchor in. Perhaps naively we had forgotten how convenient this pretty area of anchorages is for the sailing yachts based in Athens. The bays were crammed with yachts of all sizes, many very large. Despite this, we found a suitable space and anchored in a small bay just west of Russian Bay, a mile to the NW of Póros. There were several yachts close by so we ran a couple of lines ashore and, once secure, went to bed.

Yachts passing Russian Bay

It was a nice anchorage and we spent the rest of Friday catching up on sleep, swimming, and watching the parade of yachts passing the bay. By evening we were famished and treated ourselves to a slow cooked chicken, garlic and rosemary casserole. It was a lovely meal and the anchorage was very sheltered; as we relaxed afterwards with a glass of wine we wondered how the yachts which had stayed in Órmos Vasilikó were coping. We definitely think we did the right thing escaping when we did and we also had the additional bonus of being able to move on in the morning to visit the pretty town of Póros.

Russian Bay, Greece