Chalkidiki – Skiathos
Sailing vacations

This is the last part of the logbook that shows our sailing vacations and yacht charters in the Northern Sporades, Greece.

Route map Skiathos and Skopelos, sailing Northern Sporades
Fourth stretch of our route – Skopelos and Skiathos islands.

Day 9   Skopelos port – Panormos

We woke up to a shifty wind that just about restrained us against the mole.
Since we didn't have the anchor out we needed to turn the bow into and through the wind by using just our mooring lines, rudder and engine; plus optionally a few short bursts of the bow thruster.
The lines and springs were already looped around the bollards ashore; these were therefore all set-up to slip – tied at both ends to the yacht.

 We transfered the aft mooring line from the land (starboard) side of the yacht to the port on board cleat, in order to use this line to turn the boat into the wind. Obviously we could safely remove the other lines.
The trick is to engage the engine into gear, turn the rudder away from the mole, i.e. bow upwind; even with the nuisance of a twin rudder configuration.
 Keep a roaming fender (point of rotation) between the concrete and the stern, while you increasingly feed out the remaining line.

We motored out of Skopelos bay for about 20 minutes, then hoisted sails and soon rounded Cape Kloutro (the east cape of Skopelos) making good progress.

We finally reached top speeds of >8 knots when we caught sight of Amarantos, a major Mama Mia film location. Half the grown-ups and all the 2 yr olds on board were ABBA fans; so if the anemoi had been more accomodating – or if this were a democracy – we would undoubtedly have stopped there for lunch.

We skipped Agnonta port as well – the sailing was such fun – continuing on a reach and a subsequent beat to Panormos bay: the finest destination on the west coast of Skopelos.

Once fully inside the enclosed bay of Panormos we noticed one other vessel, a catamaran, that would repeatedly attempt to reanchor on the east side near the jetty.

We likewise struggled with our anchor that appearantly skidded over the seabed. In spite of less anchor chain that I would have wished, the third time we did manage to have the anchor well dug in.
The finishing touch was a long line to the boulders south of the little beach on the west shore.

Ensuingly while snorkeling we spotted two submerged boulders a bit too close, which compelled me to move the yacht forward, shortening the chain even more.
Soon the catamaran gave up and left us entirely alone. For us the remainder of the afternoon was spent swimming, playing on the beach, snorkeling, reading, preparing a sumptuous dinner, and lastly admiring the red glow of the sunset.

As a semi-anchor watch, Rozemarijn slept outside on deck, where all was perfectly peaceful except for three eerily violent gusts. Again we had employed the method with the fender tied to the chain end of the stern anchor.

Day 10   Skopelos Panormos – Skiathos port

We woke up to bird song on a quiet morning with just 7 knots from the north outside, and hardly any breeze inside Panormos. We skillfully got underway, and after motoring past Dasia and Strongyla islets, we sailed close hauled in the direction of Arkos, one of the many islets that guard the port and bay of Skiathos.
Disappointingly, the wind then more or less died on what would be our last sailing day and we motored the second half of this last leg into Skiathos port.

With traditional Greek impotence the pontoon in Skiathos port / “marina” had yet to be repaired after storm damage of 2023, and this caused the quayside to be completely cramped with charter yachts. Fortunately one wide enough berth became vacant and we quickly went stern-to using all our chain.

The obliging port official took our lines and was very pleased with our manoeuvre as we had to counteract a nasty crosswind. He told us that typically anchor chains become entangled here, so they really needed to repair and possibly relocate the pontoon to a more protected location – supposedly patched up and hopefully modernised for charter season 2025.

The son of the owner – the Skiathos charter base manager – swung by straightaway. No doubt he had followed our AIS location; there are just a few charter companies that take customer privacy seriously and disable the AIS on their yachts or don't install it at all. As we discussed check-out times for next day, we expressed that noon or preferably later would suit us, because our ferry would leave in the afternoon 15:00.

The rest of the day we became frequent flyers at the Meltemi Boutique Hotel, in need of coffee or internet.
Afterwards, and properly caffeinated, we had a passeggiata with the whole team around Bourtzi and the touristy areas of the town, where some backstreets appeared startling dilapidated.
Perhaps the highlight was a visit to the Church of the Three Bishops • Mitropolitikos Naos Trion Ierarchon, a three-aisled basilica featuring a stunning Gothic revival styled marble iconostasis as well as a dominating white belfry that is stylishly conspicuous when sailing into port.

For dinner we found Kabourelias Καμπουρελιας “Crab” restaurant overlooking the scenic – now nearly deserted – Old Port. After dinner we watched upclose (children lack the self-consciousness) a small fishing trawler unloading their catch of the day.

Assuaged we headed back to the yacht for our last night on board – aware that we still had two days of travelling and that this was not the end our adventure by far.

Day 11   Skiathos port – Ferry to Volos

Our last morning afloat started by extracting our belongings from every nook, tidying & scrubbing, packing our bags, all whilst entertaining the little one.

The son of the owner arrived an hour earlier than expected but we had already thoroughly cleaned the yacht.
We had yet to negotiate the narrow gangway with all our luggage (plus toddler), which ended up in an impressive pile ashore (not the toddler).

The check-out was efficient, he was clearly a professional, and there was zero damage. So after taking in diesel we parted ways. They needed to clean the yacht, and presumably remove the kids safety netting.
Interestingly, our 2 yr old would only have needed the missing aft section of the netting. She didn't go anywhere near the gangways during sailing; surely her ever-augmenting mobility and curiousness will require netting on our next cruise.

Then followed a long period of waiting, mainly hanging out in the Meltemi Café, some light sightseeing; Martijn and Robbert filled the hiatus with a lengthy and fructuous shopping spree.

Getting on the ferry meant carrying our luggage + toddler with just 3 people – something we couldn't complain about (out loud) since our pregnant lady was "carrying" 24/7 – but the 3 males made it look effortless of course.
Skiathos to Volos with the SeaJets ferry took roughly 2½ hours and was uneventful. Certainly for the little one who – by the time we entered the Trikeri channel – needed hands-on entertainment which we were happy to provide, plus it was past her bedtime.

Disembarkating at the ferry docks in Volos was again stress-free for the grown-ups, with just a 5 minutes walk north to reach our stay for the night.
These lodgings were situated directly on the waterfront, unpretentious yet decidedly decent, while affording a view of the Volos' yacht charter fleets.

After a bit of unpacking, Martijn found us an adorable tsipouradiko – a restaurant that serves tsipouro and meze – “To Kritamo”, meaning Sea ​​fennel / Crithmum, at Lori 21 in the pedestrian zone.

While Robbert and Martijn went exploring Volos, the other three went to bed directly after dinner.

Day 12   Volos – Taxi to Thessaloniki

Early in the morning (coffee!) the booked taxi driver was waiting for us downstairs, children's car seat ready and all, and we commenced on a 2½ hour drive that, with a few stops, turned into more than 3 hours, but still in time for our flight home, where there was yet another taxi ride.

Such travel days are spent mostly waiting, gazing out of windows, or queueing. Which would be a great synopsis of today: nothing good, nothing dreadful…
Alltogether I am tremendously proud of everyone and how strong we are as a team. The little one for being such a perfect daughter (even in high waves). The super-missus for going on an adventure (even in high waves and pregnant). The boys for always being there, being so positive, endlessly (re)placing anchors and organising all the logistics.

Overview map sailing vacations Northern Sporades
Summary with start + end at Thessaloniki Airport.
  • Taxi from Thessaloniki to Chalkidiki
  • Sailing Chalkidiki – Kyra Panagia – Alonissos – Skopelos – Skiathos
  • Ferry from Skiathos to Volos
  • Taxi from Volos to Thessaloniki.
  • The dashed lines show the previous route 14 days cruise • no child.
  • Ideally the flight home would have been from Skiathos (or even Volos),
    except these smaller airports only offer useful flights during the summer season.

Further reading

All logbooks 
Dolphins and whales of Greece
Greek chart terms
Classical & cultural sailing
Meltemi (Etesians)
Seawater temperatures
Weather forecasts VHF RADIO NAVTEX… 
Weather forecasts online