Sailing to Koiládhia

Toló   

We left Toló late in the morning of our last ‘proper’ day of 2016’s cruising season, primarily so we could have a final swim in the lovely waters off Isolo Toló. Just like the previous evening there were loads of fish to see and they hardly seemed scared of us as we snorkelled amongst them. It was wonderful.

But we needed to get going, so at 1140 on Wednesday 14 September we weighed anchor and motored north and then east around Isolo Toló before setting a course for  Koiládhia.

Fish farms at Nisís Platia   

There was no wind to speak of to start with so we kept the engine on and passed close to Nisís Platia and Nisís Ipsilí. Nisís Platia is quite a flat island, which seems almost surrounded by fish farms. Nisís Ipsilí is higher and prettier (because it lacks fish farms) but it lacks the fish farms because the water is very deep all around the island so, tempting as it might have been, it wasn’t a place to stop for lunch.

Nisís Koiládhia, the private island which protects Koiládhia bay   

By that stage, as well, the wind had started to build, so we unrolled the genoa and drifted gently downwind for the last hour or so of the voyage. We passed Nisís Koiládhia at the entrance to Koiládhia bay, making sure to give the shallows to the south of the island a reasonable berth.

Approaching Koiládhia   

Ancient  Franchthi Cave

As the bay itself opened up, we could see, on the northern side of the entrance, the famous Franchthi Caves, where numerous prehistoric remains have been found, including a mesolithic skeleton. We made a mental note to visit the caves but weren’t sure how much time we would have for tourism in amongst preparing BV for the winter before we flew back home.

Koiládhia town to our right   

Continuing in, we passed reasonably close to Koiládhia town, taking the opportunity to have a look at the town quay and trying to gauge whether or not there was likely to be space for us. It looked relatively shallow and quite busy so we elected to anchor in the bay and then investigate by dinghy later.

Anchored in Koiládhia   

And so, after 2465nm travelled, 433 hours underway and 169 days on board, we dropped anchor in the shallows of Koiládhia bay, ready to start the hard work that precedes the end of season lift-out.

Koiládhia, Greece