Póros

We left Kíthnos at 0700 on 31 August hoping for a northerly wind to whisk us across to the Saronic Gulf. The wind was certainly from that direction and looked to be building nicely as we set all the sails at the northern tip of the island. There were a couple of islands to dodge, which we expected to disrupt the wind, but it seemed realistic to cover the 50 miles in a short time. That was the thinking until we noticed that something was wrong with the genoa; one of the seams was coming apart. We’d been working the sails hard over the last few days and with the reasonably strong winds the stitches had obviously gone. Strong UV light and flogging sails are a killer for sail stitching. The sail was holding but we didn’t know for how long so, to prevent the seam from ripping open entirely, we rolled the genoa away and sailed as best we could using just the staysail and the mainsail. With that sail plan we were very underpowered but better that, we thought, than have a rip right across our genoa.

Approaching the Póros channel   

Our route took us north of Nisís Áy Yeóryios which seemed to be an island supporting just a quarry and a wind farm but with lots of tankers moored around it. As we approached the island 2 yachts caught us up and overtook us but, once past the island, we bore away slightly and hoisted out spinnaker, hoping to boost our average speed for the passage and perhaps even overtake the other yachts again. Disappointingly, having done all the work of running out the lines and hoisting the sail, the wind died. The light winds continued all the way to the approaches to Póros so the passage ended up being mainly a motor.

The Póros channel   

Coming in from the east, we entered the Póros channel. On our left were some laid moorings and behind them the mainland town of Galatas. We kept to the right hand side of the channel, because it is very shallow in places on the south side and, as a result, had a fabulous view of Póros town.

The waterfront is most attractive and there are quays lined with cafés and tavernas running all along the southern and the western sides of the town.

The southwest corner is reserved for tripper boats, ferries and large yachts….

…. but further round we could see that there was still lots of space still on the (small) yacht quay. Our friends, Strevs and Malcolm, were aiming to arrive the following afternoon so we decided to spend the night a short distance away anchored just clear of the prohibited area around the Naval College. The reason for this was twofold: firstly, the quay gets quite a lot of surge when the ferries pass and, secondly, the waterfront can be pretty noisy with the music from bars and restaurants. We anchored securely with lots of space around us, sorted out BV, and then dropped the genoa.

Repairing the genoa

The light winds in which we had arrived allowed us to drop the genoa on the deck with the minimum of fuss and I then spent an hour resewing the split seam on the leech. The stitching had given way over a 40 cm length, probably due to weakening by UV and the strains from the sailing we’d done over the past few days. Fortunately, the fabric hadn’t ripped so I was able to resew the zigzag stitching. For good measure, I also put on a reinforcing patch over the top. It took longer to get the sewing machine out and re-stow it than it did to repair the sail! With the repair complete and the sail hoisted and furled we relaxed for the evening with dinner in the cockpit.

Lunch with the new arrivals
Strevs (foreground) and Malcolm (right)    

In the morning we moved BV onto the quay filled the water tanks and also washed the decks so that BV looked smart ready for the arrival of our guests. They pitched up on the ferry just in time for lunch and we then had a very pleasant afternoon catching up on news. After a stroll along the seafront [Ed: and a detour via a supermarket] we picked a suitable looking taverna and shared an excellent traditional Greek dinner.

Póros, Greece