Back to Néa Skioni

We've worked our way through most of the record of our visit to Thessaloníki. The entries are appearing in the right chronological order on the blog but we've still got to write up our trip to Meteora, the UNESCO World Heritage site with amazing scenery and monasteries perched on inaccessible peaks.

Keep an eye on the right hand column of the blog for any entries in June you may have missed, or the appearance of the missing Meteora entries.

Thessaloníki was set for a 40 degrees Celsius heatwave over the weekend and we felt that we had done everything we wanted to in the city so, after we had settled up with the marina, we finally left Thessaloníki at around 0930 on Friday 18 June.

Not sailing……motoring – very dull!   

Passing the sandy spit of Ák Posidhion again    

There was a tenuous forecast of some wind directly on our nose but when we left the sea was glassy smooth. That theme continued for most of the day and so we didn’t even bother to take the sail cover off. Originally we had thought about sailing on to the Northern Sporadese but motoring for 16 hours really didn’t appeal. So, as we passed abeam the sandy spit of Ák Posidhion on the western finger on the Khalkidhiki peninsula, we turned east and made for Néa Skioni.

Approaching Néa Skioni   

The passage took 9 hours and we motored the whole way. At least I was able to start work on some of the blog entries for Thessaloníki en route.

Little had changed inside the harbour at Néa Skioni and we moored up almost in the same spot 10 days before. With BV safely moored up a large chicken casserole was produced which needed time to simmer; a perfect excuse to relax and enjoy a glass of wine in the cockpit.

In the morning 2 things happened. Firstly, we arranged for BV to be refuelled. The tanks were full when we left BV over the winter and so we only needed to fill the on-deck jerry cans in April. Those are still full but we hadn’t refuelled the main tanks yet this year. We’d read that the twin brother of the owner of one of the supermarkets on the main street owns the garage 2km out of town which could deliver fuel to us. Not wishing to walk 2km in an unknown direction (so possibly 6km or maybe 10!), we opted to hunt for the twin brother in the supermarket trade. The second supermarket came up trumps and the other cheery twin arrived at BV with his tanker 20 minutes later. We took on 330 litres to fill up the tanks and then Nicky got a lift to the petrol station in the tanker to pay the bill. She reappeared 10 minutes later having also got a lift back from the jolly helpful chap.

Seat cushions temporarily stowed on deck   

The second thing that happened is that Nicky studied the forecast and concluded that we would not have a useful wind to head south until Tuesday night. Varnishing, therefore, became the theme for the next few days. The worst part was Sunday when we stripped everything out of the saloon to stop it from getting covered in dust whilst we sanded. Curtains, cushions, books and everything else that could be moved were hidden in the cabins or stowed on deck. And then we started sanding the areas which needed varnishing.

Clearing and then sanding   

For the amount of clearing you would have expected that we needed to varnish the whole saloon. Actually, we were looking at doing some of the galley area and the top of the companionway [Ed: but sanding dust gets everywhere, so it was worth the pain of the clearout]. With 2 of us working on it (only?!) took 6-7 hours of clearing, sanding and cleaning up before Nicky could apply the first coat of varnish.

Thus started a cycle of varnishing and drying which we calculated would allow us to get enough coats applied and for them to be properly dried (allowing the galley sole, locker doors and engine cover to be refitted) in time to go sailing again.

Néa Skioni beach   

Was that 3 bulbs of garlic we needed, or 8 times that!   

In between coats of varnish we worked on the backlog of blog entries and enjoyed Néa Skioni. It seems to be a Greek family resort with lots of small villas and apartments behind 2 beaches. The bonus for us is that there are lots of mini supermarkets, fishmongers and bakeries. Vans also turn up with fabulous fruit and veg. We asked one for some nectarines and 3 garlic bulbs; the nectarines were easy but he only sold garlic in strings of 25 for €5, so that’s what we got. Not sure its current hanging position will work when we go sailing though [Ed: No it won’t!]. One of the watermelon vans also turned up on the quay so we now have a huge watermelon on board; we asked for a small one but the smallest he had was still 7 kg and much larger than a bowling ball. Looks like we’ll be working on watermelon and garlic recipes!

So, whilst there’s been essentially no wind, Nea Skioni has looked after us well. We’ve managed to carry out some awkward varnishing jobs that we couldn't do when in ‘sailing mode’ and in between coats and blogs we’ve had good food shops available and a beach too where we could cool down later (it’s been 30 degrees C in the cabin for several days now). As I write, we’ve just put BV back together, with only the varnish pots still to be stowed. Making dinner tonight will be ridiculously easy – no more balancing on the floor beams whilst juggling pans and food, with virtually no worksurfaces available to use – and tomorrow we go sailing again.

Néa Skioni, Greece