Athens (Part 2) Helicopter rides and Piraeus

Nicky at the helicopter controls   

Strevs and Simon were being kept quite busy with work but had a couple of tasks lined up that we might be able to join them on. One was confirmed and after the necessary permissions were obtained we found ourselves flying over Athens. Nicky had the opportunity to have a go at the controls – the first time she’s flown a helicopter in 14 years .

Porto Kheli   

Flying over the Greek islands was a delight. The route for the task took us to Porto Kheli so we were able to have a good look at the next area that we planned to sail to. I think it was Field Marshall Rommel who stated that’ “Time spent in recce is seldom wasted”. We couldn’t agree more but I’m not sure that Rommel quite expected his philosophy to be applied to sailing.

From our privileged airborne vantage point it rapidly became evident that there are some very big villas and some very large yachts in this area of Greece.

Alimos marina and the city centre   

All too soon we had to return to the heliport but as a bonus the air traffic routing took us right past Alimos marina and the edge of the city so we were able to look down on all of the ancient sites and a very small BV. The helicopter flight was fabulous and the highlight of our visit to Athens.

My wrist watch had broken and so one of our tasks for our time in Athens was to get a temporary replacement to cover until I can get my proper watch serviced and repaired. No problem, we thought, we’ll get a tram or the underground into Athens. A great plan unless you pick the day that the trams have stopped running for maintenance and the underground staff are on strike. Instead we jumped on a bus. With no kowledge of the bus routes it was a mystery ride but it was heading in roughly the right direction.

Ancient ruins in Piraeus   

We actually stayed on the bus all the way to Piraeus and jumped off in the busy shopping area there. Within a few minutes I’d got a waterproof digital watch with numbers big enough for me to read, and a data sim card for our mifi so that we will be able to check the weather and emails easily when we are exploring the islands further east.

Zéa marina   

With the public transport problems, we decided to explore Piraeus rather than making our way into Athens’ centre. The main feature of Piraeus is a hugely busy ferry terminal. Hydrofoils, fastcats and conventional ferries from here connect Athens with the Greek islands so there are hundreds of shipping movements every day. It was interesting to see [Ed: particularly the half-sunk ferry in the harbour] but not particularly picturesque. We made our way to the eastern side of Piraeus and along the way saw a couple of ancient ruins from the Roman era. We also took a stroll around Zéa marina, a rather better place to relax even if the gleaming yachts there were a reminder that I should get out the polish and attack BV’s stainless steel again.

Fitting the new AIS aerial   

Fortunately, when we were back on board BV there were a few other tasks to keep us busy. We have been a bit disappointed with the range of our AIS transmitter in comparison with other B Class yachts. Strevs had brought out a new AIS aerial for us and so going up the mast to fit that provided a good excuse to avoid polishing.

We also got our spray hood back. A zip attaches the sunscreen between the sprayhood and the bimini but it had been weakened by the sunlight and had torn. Nicky had found a sailmaker near to the marina and so the sunscreen and sprayhood were removed and sent there for a couple of days to have a new zip fitted. For a while we thought that they had lost the sunscreen panel but eventually that was found in the sail loft and the new zip sewn on. I think that we’ll get some spare zips when we are back in the UK.

As ever, Athens proved to be a hugely enjoyable stop, particularly so because of the opportunity to catch up with friends. However, after a few fun days and some great evenings out, in particular a last night dinner on the roof terrace of the Strevs’ and Simon’s hotel, we needed to make tracks so that we could meet up with my daughter in the Cyclades. With that in mind, we decided to head southeast towards Porto Kheli and the Argolic Gulf – time spent in recce is seldom wasted…..

Athens, Greece