Sailing to Pílos

Our cunning plan to have a leisurely start on Saturday 22 April did not work out as expected. The forecast had shown a gentle 7 knot wind at the anchorage in Methóni veering overnight through 180 degrees to end up coming from the southeast. During the morning, this wind was supposed to build and be perfect for an easy downwind sail to Pílos, hence our expectation for a leisurely start. Our new anchoring spot in Methóni allowed us to swing without any fears of running aground and whilst we would be anchored off a lee shore (being blown towards the beach), with a wind of just 7 knots this shouldn’t have been a problem.

Leaving Methóni at 0630   

So, we were somewhat surprised when we were woken at 3am with much more wind than expected, up to about 15 knots at times; being anchored off a lee shore was suddenly more of a potential issue! However, the anchor was holding well and the riding sail had us pointing directly into wind without any sheering so there was no real problem unless the sea built up significantly. Indeed, about an hour after we were woken by the wind, it died away again for a couple of hours until about 6am. Knowing that the wind was expected to strengthen in the middle of the morning we assumed that it had just arrived early. That was, until we heard the rolls of thunder. We didn’t want to be anchored on a lee shore under a thunderstorm, so our plan changed into a dawn departure. Leaving the other 2 yachts, we raised our anchor at 0630 and headed out past the Turkish tower.

Thunderclouds out to the west   

Once past the tower we turned northwest and unrolled the genoa to sail gently up the coast. All the while, lightening flashed and thunder clapped a few miles west of us. With the potential for more thunderstorms coming from the southeast we half expected to see the other 2 yachts following us.

Órmos Navarínou ahead   

Our passage was a good but very short sail of just 9 miles [Ed: if somewhat chilly!]. BV bowled along nicely and we saw no reason to put up more than the genoa because fairly soon we could see the entrance to Órmos Navarínou, the large bay within which is Pílos.

Passing one of the memorials to sailors killed in the 1827 Battle of Navarínou   

We’d last visited Pílos in July 2014 and had learned about the 1827 Battle of Navarínou in which Admiral Codrington destroyed the Ottoman and Egyptian fleets, ending the Greek War of Independence. We had also read about Homer’s Odyssey and how Ulysses’ son had come here to visit King Nestor to try to find news of his missing father. [Click this link to July 2014 Blog entry for Pílos ]. Passing one of the memorials to sailors killed in the 1827 Battle of Navarínou brought back memories of what an interesting place it is.

Ottoman/Venetian fort, Niokastro (the New Castle)

The church (previously a mosque) in the Niokastro   

But it also reminded us that we had not been able to visit King Nestor’s Palace, or the Ottoman/Venetian Fort which we passed on our starboard side. Dating from 1573 and initially built by the Turks, this was another of the castles on this coastline which had regularly changed hands between the Venetians and the Ottomans.

Ahead of us was Pílos town. It has a large harbour but also, just to the north, a semi-functioning marina. This is more sheltered than the harbour so we headed for it, looking for a space. The marina was built several years ago with help from the EU but has never been properly completed or set up as a functioning commercial enterprise. All the space on the marina quays has been commandeered by locally owned yachts and fishing vessels and the area between the quays is littered with mooring blocks and chains – not somewhere to try to put down an anchor to go stern or bows to! Most of the breakwater is also full of boats, mostly moored alongside, but we found a space alongside a 68 foot long motor yacht (a very unloved and dirty one) near the outer end.

The marina a day later when the sun had come out again   

It was only 0825 by the time that we had finished tidying everything away, so our early start had given us a whole extra day both to look at Pílos and to arrange a hire car so that we could explore further afield.

Pílos, Greece