Steni Vala

Sailing seems to be getting in the way of blog writing! 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 you may have missed or the appearance of the missing Meteora entries.

We left Néa Skioni at 0600 on 22 June and pretty soon we were sailing along at 7 knots with the wind on our beam. I would like to report that our delayed departure from Néa Skioni resulted in a fantastic sail down to the Northern Sporades, however, as soon as we were a few miles off the coast the wind died. An hour later there seemed to be enough to merit hoisting the spinnaker and we did get about an hour with that pulling us along but then the wind dropped off again and the sail would not fill with the swell.

Channel between Alonnisos and Peristeri   

So, we switched the engine back on and weren’t able to sail again until we entered the channel between Alonnisos and Peristeri pictured above. The wind was accelerated through the gap between the islands and so the last few miles were excellent; it was just a shame that we didn’t have 5 or 6 knots more wind for the earlier part of our passage.

Approaching Steni Vala   

On the eastern side of Alonnisos is the small inlet of Steni Vala. We had tried to visit last year but an engine battery problem meant that we had bypassed Steni Vala for the larger town of Patitiri a few miles south. This time, as we approached, we wondered if there would be space for us. A flotilla was already moored up and we could see a lot of masts. Fortunately, as we got within the last mile a yacht departed and so we were able to moor in their spot. The edge of the quay is very shallow and so we set up our kedge anchor and moored bows in. With quite a large step ashore from the bow that seemed to work with just 50 cm between the front of the keel and the nearest rock. We went for a swim to check that the anchor was properly set – it was, always good news! The water was lovely and clear; a nice change from the murkier water up at Thessaloníki. BV got a scrub of her bottom which will hopefully make her a little faster on the next passage.

The 5 skippered charter yachts circling in anticipation of spaces openng up   

That prompted a relax and a beer in the cockpit which was perfect timing to watch the next spectacle. Five skippered charter yachts turned up and the only space appeared to be that reserved for a tripper boat. Whilst they were circling, one yacht indicated that they were about to leave and a discussion with the locals seemed to end up with permission to use the tripper boat spot. So the early evening’s entertainment was watching these chaps squeeze 5 yachts into a space that would normally only fit 2½ yachts their size. Moored bow to stern and stacked out 2 yachts deep they finally sorted themselves out but there were anchors all over the place and a mess of crossed chains on the seabed. Somehow our anchor warp seemed to have missed the chaos by a whisker. We hadn’t seen mooring like this since we were in Hydra in August 2014.

Once the heat had gone out of the sun we went for a walk. Part of the reason was to try to find the Mediterranean monk seal rehabilitation centre.

Monk seal rehabilitation centre   

The National Maritime Park of Alonnisos was established in 1992 and has finally got enough support to limit commercial fishing and other intrusive activities around the nearby islands in order to try to protect the endangered Mediterranean monk seal. Here in Steni Vala is the monk seal resue centre. I suppose it is a good sign that when we found it the tanks were empty; no monk seals had needed to be rescued and rehabilitated. But it would have been nice to see one close up.

The morning brought another fine day. Fleeces and trousers have been locked away because the clear skies mean that we are getting temperatures of 30+degC for most of the day now. Even breakfast is taken in the shade and swimming costumes are the daytime uniform of choice to try to keep cool.

Steni Vala was quite nice but not, perhaps, as special as it had been described to us. So one night here, we thought, was enough. Before we left, however, I took a quick trip up the mast to tidy up some loose tape flapping from the mast speaker under the radome. I did the easy bit up the mast; Nicky did the morning work-out hoisting me up there.

Whilst that was going on, the skippered charter yachts untangled their anchor chains and made a quick exit, just in time for the first tripper boat to arrive. By now the wind was blowing a healthy 18 knots and so we also left for, what we hoped, would be a fast sailing passage 25 miles around to Skíathos.

Steni Vala, Greece