Sailing to Methóni

Leaving Koróni    

Our reposition at Koróni turned into a 20 mile passage to Methóni. Having lifted anchor at 0805 on Thursday 20 April we motored around the small peninsula with the fort on top before heading south west towards Cape Akritas, the last of the 3 main Pelopónnisos capes we needed to get around. A quick look into the bay on the southern side of the peninsula confirmed that the swell was making that a very poor anchorage and so we were confident that we’d made a good decision to press on.

Approaching Cape Akritas   

Still with no wind blowing, we painlessly made it around the cape and turned northwest towards Methóni before there was any sort of wind.

Methóni ahead   

However, when it came, it came in earnest and, unfortunately, directly on the nose. There are a few islands south of Methóni and the wind whistles through the gap kicking up a short sea. The gap was too narrow to comfortably tack through and that would have taken ages anyway, with the wind rising all the time, so we carried on motoring the last few miles to get into the shelter of the anchorage at Methóni.

As we got closer, the fort stood out even more clearly and, in particular, the picturesque Turkish tower built on the southern-most point.

View of Methóni from our anchorage   

As soon as we had got east of the tower everything settled down and we were able to tuck ourselves into the old harbour. With the wind from the northwest it was very sheltered and we had outstanding views of the Venetian castle and Turkish tower and even the sun came out for us! Nicky commented that, much like as at Knidos, anchored here you really feel a part of the hundreds of years of boating history. The wind was set to continue to blow from the north for a couple of days so we planned to stay in Methóni until there was a more favourable wind for heading north. In the interim, there seemed to be a lot to look at ashore and we also wanted to turn our new roll of sailcloth into a riding sail to make BV more stable when at anchor.

View of the Turkish tower from our anchorage   

Methóni, Greece