Skopelos was beautiful. Crystal clear water, not too much wind. The only issue we had was the taverna on the beach which was expensive and taking advantage of tourists (charged us 6 euros for a small plate of onions). Clearly this was a fleecing operation masquerading as a place to eat. After a few days we decided to move to Alonnisos which is the next island to the east.
Alonnisos is even nicer than Skopelos. As we move east there are fewer people on the islands but tons of charter boats.
This bay we ended up in was amazing. We were anchored right in the middle in front of the beach: the best spot which we got because we came early in the morning. After about 10 am or so about a dozen ‘day boats’ would come in to drop anchor and go swimming. It really was an eden-like spot. Crystal clear warm water, not too much wind, not too rolly…..you could shoot a movie here.
There was a better taverna here too……except they were a bit expensive as well. The food was very good though!
The only issue here was that the wind kept turning the boat around and if we were unlucky our anchor would end up on it’s back. The weight of the chain and anchor gives some holding in very light wind, but if the wind picks up you are going to drag. I think over 3 days we had to reset our anchor 3 times. Once I dove down to the anchor and flipped it right side up and pushed it in a bit! It was only about 5m down so not a big deal unless I somehow managed to catch myself under the anchor 😉
After a few days here we wanted to try a little port friends had recommended called Steni Vala. There are free spots for docking, and you can get free water and sometimes electricity from the tavernas lining the bay…..but there are not many spots, it is first-come first serve…..and there are dangerous rocks right beside the pier everywhere. You need to be at least 2m away from the pier….3m is better. This makes tying up to the pier tricky (our regular lines were not long enough) as well as moving from the boat to the pier harder as well (our passerelle only goes out about 2m). The first time we came in someone from one of the tavernas took our line and tied us off, and after I had secured a few more lines we discovered our anchor was not holding so we had to go out and do it all over again. The second time the same thing happened (from now on I’m going to be sure that the flipping anchor is holding before tying to the dock!)….the third time the anchor held and we were tied up. We had a big catamaran beside us and the wind was pushing us into him the entire time which of course makes everything more fun. At one point I was so exhausted I had to sit and let Victoria take over doing the lines.
We finally were successfully docked, but we were both exhausted. Docking should not be this hard. The next day a boat came in beside us. I went out to help them with their lines, and I noticed that they had pushed into one of our stern-lines holding us to the pier. I didn’t think anything of it until later when I went to check the boat/anchor with my mask I saw that our rudder had clipped some rocks. The other boat had pushed us further back towards the wall! Very bad. I moved out boat out further from the wall but this was not a good thing.
Steni Vala is a great example of what I love about Greece: not too much regulation (here none that I could see), an extremely beautiful environment (pristine and right next to a marine park) and excellent food! We would have stayed longer except for the nasty shallow rocks.
After 2 delicious meals at the same tavern (their chicken souvlaki was delicious), we got more diesel (too much motoring) and filled up our fridges and got a bunch more beer (I’m in charge of drinks and take my responsibility seriously) and determined to head out. We decided to go to Peristera island just across from Alonissos but we had trouble anchoring in both of the bays we picked….one was too deep and the other was too small, so we came back to Alonnisos and decided to try Votsi, which was full the last time we visited. It is a very small port with room for maybe 6 or 7 boats to anchor with lines to shore. There was room! We have been here for several days and can take our dinghy to the main port of Patitiri maybe 700m away. Yesterday we had to drive around one of the giant ferries docked at the port. It was huge! I felt like a fly in comparison.
It is good we are at the main port because we need to replace my starting battery. The Onan generator is becoming hard to start (even with several tricks I have discovered) and we need the generator to make water and run the AC which obviously can be a treat. Also the main batteries have reduced capacity so they will need to be replaced over the winter….but we need the generator! Stay tuned.
Adventures on Spruzzo 