The Saronic Sea in October is cool for Greeks and cold for us Oman residents but we brought just enough clothing to stay warm and have a great time.

After Athens we hired a bus to take us to Lavrion where our Catana Bali 4.5 was berthed.  The port isn’t the most scenic as it is a working port and the marina facilities were non-existent.  That being said, the boat was big and beautiful and once we were on her, we had everything we would need.  The first night was a little rough as one bar played music that to me sounded like a fusion of traditional guitar and pop until what seemed like 3:00 am.  It was really loud and on a boat you sleep with windows open for ventilation… not the best first nights sleep.

This boat didn’t have a net or trampoline in the bow, instead it was a huge “play area” which the kids wrestled on for most of the week.

My original plan was to sail west across the Saronic Gulf and anchor in the lee of Poros Island, and we had the wind to do it with 20 knots on the stern and a friendly following sea.  The motion of the boat was comfortable as the waves rolled past but this being the Anderson’s first time on a sailing yacht and I didn’t know how the seas would build once we were a bit further offshore, I decided to stay in the shelter of the land sail north toward Athens.  We passed under the shadows of the temple to Poseidon and anchored in weeds in Anavissos.

The plan was to go ashore to explore but getting the anchor to set wasn’t working and I was unwilling to get closer to shore my first day in a rented boat.  So we pulled the anchor up and then because we were trailing the dinghy, it flipped with the motor on… That was the end of our dinghy for the week.  Bad, lazy Richard should have pulled it up first.

The next bay had a small marina which we tried to sneak into but it was too shallow and with a slight rub in the sand we turned around and anchored.  The kids and the Dad’s jumped in the sea which was a lot colder than the 28C pool at home and swam about until we were shivering.  I also checked the anchor to make sure it was set.

Without a dinghy, a need to get off the boat and minimal data on what is available in the area we sailed north poking into marina’s until we found a spot on a dock in a huge, modern but neglected marina.  This marina turned out to be the one built for the Olympics in 2004.  Aside from the docks nothing was maintained and many of the buildings were starting to fall apart.  It was a somber place and we were appalled at the waste considering the economic challenges Greece has.

We stayed there two nights and though the area kind of sucked, we did manage to find an excellent restaurant in Gilfada called Ark.  The food was delicious although we definitely were not ordering the most popular dishes as most of Greek food is fish based.  Other patrons would actually be shown a cart of fresh fish from which they would select one to be cooked and eaten.