Sporades 4.-18. July 2020
Turn report
We have been looking forward to this trip since long time and all has been booked in Feb, but things got messed up by COVID19. Our original flight to Volos has been cancelled by AUSTRIAN and we needed to shift the charter for one week. LAUDAMOTION was on strike, but finally RYANAIR took over and we got a seat on the Thessaloniki flight. From there we took the bus to Volos and started our sailing trip on July 5th.
Our boat, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 319, was the first time out for charter that year, which brought us some hidden failures, where we have been asked to pay for at the end. Beside that, the vessel had enough space for the two of us. Being built in 2018, we expected something fancy though, but finally it was a kind of low cost, basic configuration. – Good enough for 2 weeks – but lot of show, with little substance.
The first three days we had strong wind, 25+ knts, with heavy gusts, which made the start trickier than expected. We even got the anchor deformed and touched ground, losing hold in the night to July 7th. Finally, we needed to set a PAN PAN and made use of the Distress Button on the radio, as we caught a robe with the propeller when maneuvering in the bay. With the disabled ship, we drifted towards the rocks, touched ground ….. needed Coast Guard to rescue and get us back in open water. – Not an experience you need to have …..
Crew recovered and calmer days for the rest of the cruise, brought back the confidence and relief. Empty beaches and taverns, due to COVID, presented Greece as it was 40 years back. - Untouched and natural. Mainly it was just us in all the bays we visited and few other boats at the ports. Few booked tables in the taverns did support the social distancing and we felt very safe during the full period. …. As much as we enjoyed the lack of other tourists, we felt sorry for all those little business suffering by that.
Despite the incident, the trip was great, a good experience in a very nice corner of Greece and a good portion of adventure – maybe too much at the beginning đŸ˜‰
