Néa Skioni

Leaving Nikitas   

‘Get up and go’ was the theme for Wednesday 8 June. The log shows that we left Nikitas at 0700 to take advantage of a forecast good morning wind. Almost immediately we were sailing with a reef in the mainsail and a few rolls in the genoa.

Ák Palioúri   

From the grin on Nicky’s face you can see that it was great fun. Part of the reason for the early start was that the wind was forecast to drop away to virtually nothing later in the day so we wanted to be around the headland, Ák Palioúri, 20 miles to our south, before that. As it was we rounded the cape at 1030 with the wind remaining reasonably strong and at that point directly behind us.

As we rounded Ák Palioúri we logged 17 knots of wind, a little above our self-imposed 15 knot limit for using the spinnaker. Tempting as it was, we went for the poled out genoa option which still generated a ‘snakes wedding’ mess of ropes in the cockpit. Just as we’d tidied all that up the wind we got clear of any headland induced wind acceleration zone and the wind dropped to 9 knots; sometimes you just can’t second guess the wind! However, with just 10 more miles to go, rather than undo everything and hoist the spinnaker, we stuck with the sail plan and supped a beer.

The coastline here was not quite what we had expected. There are lots of holiday villa and apartment complexes to look after the holiday needs of the Thessaloniki summer exodus, but there are far fewer beaches than in the other gulfs.

Approaching Néa Skioni   

With the poled out genoa we averaged 6 knots and by 1230 we were approaching Néa Skioni. Portrayed more as a fishing port than a seaside resort we were intrigued.

Working our way into the harbour   

Moored up in Néa Skioni in time for lunch   

As we got closer we saw that it actually has a great beach alongside the fishing harbour and looked to be rather nice. Inside the harbour we could see that part of the outer breakwater was in use for leisure boats. So, dodging lines cast across the harbour entrance by chaps fishing from the pierheads, and the shallow patch in the middle of the harbour, we dropped the anchor and reversed up with Nicky making another leap ashore to get the stern lines attached. Adjusting everything to work with the (very) few mooring rings on the shore we eventually settled so that Nicky could get back on board. Throughout the afternoon the wind continued to drop off to next to nothing and so we were pretty pleased with our decision to go for an early start.

Néa Skioni doesn’t have the affluent, second home feel that we had sensed in Nikitas but it is very much a seaside town. We pottered about enjoying seeing somewhere new. One of the local supermarkets had a display of local produce so, as we were running short of honey, we bought a large jar of the local stuff which turned out to be very tasty.

The area back from the harbour has been laid out nicely including a large amphora ‘sculpture’ by a local artist. A closer look revealed that the urn had a mosaic decoration made from small pebbles – very effective.

Statue showing the panic caused in the Persian fleet when Skillas and Idna cut their anchor ropes   

There was also another sculpture which highlighted the actions of some local characters. The ancient historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the ‘father of history’, wrote that in 450BC Skillias from Skioni was captured by the Persians. Skillias and his daughter Idna were renowned for their swimming and diving skills and the Persians wanted use these skills to help defeat the Greek fleet. Skillias, however had other plans. Loyal to Greece, he dived into the sea and, with the help of Idna, cut the anchor ropes of the Persian fleet. Then, using a reed as a snorkel, Skillias swam 9 nautical miles without surfacing (according to Herodus) to the Artemisio cape where he was able to warn the Greek fleet about the Persian trap ahead of them. Forewarned, they were able to make proper preparations and defeat the Persians. In recognition of their bravery, statues were dedicated to Skillias and Idna at Delphi, the most sacred site of the ancient Greek world.

So, like Nea Marmaris, Nea Skioni was a good passage stop for us, with a pleasant village and a safe harbour. However, our plan was to continue further north to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city.  With that in mind we checked the forecast and, with the wind forcast to be better later in the day, planned a slightly later than normal start for the 60nm passage.

Néa Skioni, Greece