SUMMER 2016 - July Ferrying, Part 5

Tuesday 19th July 2016
Here in Agios Konstantinos my day started with a blissful shower, followed by breakfast in the hotel dining room overlooking the sea. From my bedroom window I could look along the promenade and see two ships: APOLLON HELLAS of 2 Way Ferries and on the other side of her was MIRTIDIOTISSA, our ship for today, run by Aqua Ferries. She is the ex-AQUA MARIA, and we will be sailing at 9.30 a.m. to the popular outer island of Skiathos. We last sailed on her on 4th September 2012 (see Greece 2012) from Mesta port to Lavrio.

View from my room

In the other direction


Our hotel owner kept our rucksacks safely for the day, so we only needed our basics for the trip out and back, which would be 3 hours each way.

Apollon Hellas, 2 Way Ferries

Mirtidiotissa

The Salon

Deck Plan

The forward lounge bar

The attractive front of the bar

On deck

Logo on our funnel

Deck seating

Midships staircase

Going down

Agios Konstantinos town

The church

Greek flag flying

Funnel on Apollon Hellas

Well, someone was waving us off...


The ship is old and slow, but the views after we left were stunning as we went through a channel between mountain ranges in sheltered water. In fact this channel continued for perhaps half of the journey to Skiathos, always with the mountains around us, either nearby or in the distance. There was one turn as we headed out towards the sea, but after our 9.30 a.m. departure we could enjoy some of the details of the ship as well as the views from her decks. This was another glorious time at sea.

Apollon Hellas as we left

Rolling oh so gently (but not down to Rio...)

Approaching Skiathos

The port

On the car deck

Waiting to disembark


We arrived at Skiathos on schedule at 12.35 in tremendous heat of 33/34⁰ as it has been for most days, but the narrow streets provided shade as we searched for a particular Taverna Asprolithos, as recommended by Trip Adviser. It was in a lovely location higher up above the port, and the food was excellent.

Mirtidiotissa in the port

Welcome to Skiathos

Flying Cat 4

Local street

I thought this was worth 'record'ing

Express Skiathos

Express Skiathos getting nearer

Simi II

Flying Cat 5

Taverna Asprolithos

A little local cruise vessel, seen from the quayside

Express Skiathos leaving, as we admired the water colours


Back down in the port area we walked towards the picturesque castle; on the way we found we were in another tiny bay so had to go and paddle in the clear water. We then went to the castle ramparts and had cool drinks and admired the views across to another small island as various ships came in.

All too soon we had to get back down to the quayside as our ship came in, and we boarded MIRTIDIOTISSA to sail back to Agios Konstantinos at 6.15 p.m.

As we left the port, we could see the airport runway - and a lot of tyre rubber!

Goodbye Skiathos and the little castle

Flying Dolphin Delos


This was another lovely sail with the approaching nightfall throwing such different colour effects on the water and mountains around us.

Moonrise

Sunset

Moonlight on the sea

Leaving Mirtidiotissa


Back at the hotel we collected our bags, said goodbye to the hotel owners and had to drive back south again towards Piraeus. Tonight we are staying at the Queens Leriotis Hotel, at Piraki, where we have stayed before. The views from the rooms are ideal for the early morning ferry arrivals and departures from the Great Harbour of Piraeus. Tonight I fell asleep instantly.

Ships seen in Agios Konstantinos: Mirtidiotissa (the ex-Aqua Maria), Apollon Hellas of 2 way Ferries.

In Skiathos: Flying Dolphin Delos (?), Express Skiathos, Flying Cat 4, Flying Cat 5, Simi II, vessel from Elisabet Cruises, Mirtidiotissa


To be continued...

Greece 2012 Part 9

Greece Part 9
Lavrio & 'Taxiarchis'

Wednesday 5th September 2012
This morning I woke up at sea, on the AQUA MARIA, under bedding that included an authentic Japanese blanket – unexpected proof of the Japanese origins of this ship. Last night we left Mesta port in darkness, which wasn’t helped by the clouds of black smoke coming out of the funnels, but the engines sounded all right, and we will soon be arriving at the Greek mainland port of Lavrio, which is about 55 kms south-east of Athens. The sun still hadn’t risen when we docked at 6.15 a.m. but we could see that this small port was very quiet. Ferries could berth in one part of the harbour, and private yachts and fishing craft were in the other parts, with the town behind. Apparently the population is only about 5,000 people.

Welcome to Lavrio

Macedon of Goutos Lines

There was no port bus for the half dozen of us ‘footies’ so we all had to shoulder our luggage and walk towards the port gates and then the town. Everything seemed very quiet, with the occasional dog walker (dog on a lead) and the more frequent unsavoury-looking dogs lying around the paths and quayside, and still asleep.

I think many of us have read over the last few years about the number of people coming to this port illegally, by road or sea, and quite often from Turkey; one can feel sympathy for those who feel they must leave their own country and hazard their lives to get here, hoping for a better and/or safer life. Of course this is quite a simplistic view; I had read about refugee camps being set up outside the town and the local authorities (and citizens) finding it extremely hard to cope with such a big influx of people, often with no proof of identity, and who would not qualify for refugee or asylum status.

After walking around the town in the heat, we located the local Archaeological Museum and enjoyed its exhibits. Just south of here is Mount Sounion which is now an important site for discovering remains of previous civilisations, many of them now on display here. I liked seeing the acanthus leaves on pillars and other artefacts from the Hellenistic period in Greece (about the 4th Century B.C.). The acanthus was one of the plants that the Romans brought to Britain and I grow it very easily in my own garden in England. We saw some obsidian tools, which are made of volcanic material. We also saw pictures of some wonderful silver jewellery which had been dug up in this area, and was so fine that the Lavrio people had been asked/instructed to give it to the Athens Museum for display there. The old argentiferous ore (silver) found in the 10th Century B.C. in Lavrion had been mined and then abandoned, but the mines had been re-opened in the 1800s by a mining engineer called Andreas Kordelias but are no longer working.

I loved several of the small pieces of statuary, especially one little piece from the 4th Century B.C. which named the three people standing and then said “and adorants”, which I think is a charming description of those sitting at their feet.

Back at the harbour side, near one of the quays, we could see a white-painted lifeboat just floating, apparently abandoned. We could see lettering and a number on it, but it was almost impossible to guess its origins. It seems to be made of fibre-glass, possibly from a 1960s or 1970s passenger ship, so again we will need identification help when we get home.

Abandoned lifeboat

I wonder where this came from

Issham Al Baher

Taxiarchis and her unusually positioned lifeboats

The saintly Taxiarchis

It was soon time to get back to the ferry port and embark on our ship for the overnight sail from Lavrio to Limnos: it is yet another 1970s built ship, this time the saintly TAXIARCHIS of NEL Lines. She was built in Norway in 1976 at 10,749 gross tons and sailed in New Zealand waters until 1994 when she came to Greece, so has had many owners, routes and names over the years. She is classified as a ro-ro/passenger ship. My cabin key was made in Norway, so now I know why.

Taxiarchis for our overnight sail

My cabin key

Macedon looking good

Embarking

Flower bower

Deck view

Cabin

Deck plan

Closed cafe

This was on the wall in the cafe

Deck view on the port side

Deck view

AQUA MARIA was berthed on our port side, and we noticed a dent in the metal above her bridge. MACEDON was on our starboard side and we could see her funnel and logo more closely from our deck.

Macedon at dusk

Funnel logo

Aqua Maria, and a dent above the Bridge

Marmari Express

Goodbye Aqua Maria

Cheap fuel again

We sailed in a cloud of black smoke, so I suppose cheap fuel is being used with old engines, but hey, this is becoming the norm on this trip….


Ships seen: Aqua Maria, Macedon of Goutos Lines, Issham Al Baher the private yacht, Taxiarchis, Alios of Salamis, the unidentified lifeboat, Marmari Express


To be continued….