Thursday 19th September 2019
Well, that was a short night. By the time we walked back to the Gramvoussa Bay Hotel and our rooms it was well after 1.00 a.m. All too soon my alarm told me to get up and finish packing and then we were off again, walking back to the port for a departure at 9.30 a.m. We looked back for the last time to see the Gramvoussa Bay Hotel in the early morning light.
Yesterday I had taken a photograph of their leaflet which showed its wonderful location. Another photograph that I took yesterday was of the sun rising behind the mountains as we walked to join IONIS, but that was an hour earlier.
Today we are leaving a little later but we could see the lovely little IONIS ahead of us and she is our ship for the day, on our 11 hour sail to Piraeus. We will be calling at Kythera (just for a change) on our way. We had booked a cabin for this trip and were happy to see the monogrammed linen on the bunks as we left our baggage and headed to the Bar.
The steward was rather surprised to see us again but soon had my cappuccino organised and a cheese pie too. My friend Jonathan B had a chat with the Purser and found out after we sailed at 9.30 a.m. that there were just 37 passengers on this sailing from Kissamos Bay.
We enjoyed a lovely relaxing day at sea, watching the sea, sky and sun, and talking.
We called at the port of Kythera about 1.15 p.m. and there were many more passengers and their luggage and vehicles waiting to come on board. One vehicle was a high-loaded lorry with a net over it and, after looking at some of the contents under the net, we decided the driver was what in England we would call a scrap metal merchant.
We noticed that a big wreck was high and dry outside the port, up on the volcanic rocks. My friend told me afterwards that it was the cargo ship NORDLAND which ran aground in 2000. It simply looks like a carcass of a vessel.
Then we sailed out into the shipping lanes heading for Piraeus, and it was lunchtime for us.
We took more photographs of the little IONIS. She was built in 1977 and I remember seeing her last in Piraeus Harbour on Monday 18th July 2016 when she was with Leve Ferries. She is certainly smart to look at and well looked after internally, and we felt all the staff on board were very proud of her.
We arrived in Piraeus just before 9 p.m. and disembarked from our little ship, which looked quite small compared with others around. A taxi took us to the Queens Leriotis Hotel a few miles just out of the port and round the bay. I've stayed here before and remembered what good views could be had here from the sea-facing rooms - ships heading in and out of the Great Harbour almost all the time.
The day ended with a glass of something delicious enjoyed on a balcony looking out to sea after a lovely day sailing in Greek waters.
Ships seen: Gramvousa, Balos, Gramvousa Express, Spirit of Athos, Skylark, something from DFDS out in the Adriatic/Aegean Straits, Costa Victoria as we sailed towards Piraeus, various UASC container ships, the shipwrecked Nordland near Kythera, and Jonathan B said he identified Blue Star 2 and Blue Star Paros as we sailed along, Viking Star, Blue Horizon, El Venizelos in Piraeus
To be continued...
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