SUMMER 2016 - July ferrying, Part 1

Friday 15th July 2016
I took a 5.45 a.m. flight from Gatwick airport to Athens, flying east after takeoff, and I could see some of the City of London's skyline including the Shard skyscraper as we headed out.

We flew south of the River Thames and River Medway and I remembered visiting Chatham Historical Dockyard only three weeks ago. I spent a fascinating day there, seeing and hearing so many different things. My father had been apprenticed as a fitter to a nearby local ship builder and I took with me on my visit his Indentures of Apprenticeship dated April 1924. These ended in 1929 and several months later he went to sea as a very junior Engineer with Blue Star Line. Father's father had been an engine fitter in the Chatham Dockyard and in turn his father had been a blacksmith in the Dockyard. I just love knowing that they lived in Trafalgar Street! Nelson's ship VICTORY was of course built in Chatham Dockyard and launched in May 1765, took part in various sea battles, and became Nelson's flagship in 1803 until his death on board at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21st October 1805. The ship can now be visited in Portsmouth, still afloat after all these years. Several members of staff at Chatham would love to have her back in the Dockyard where she was built...

Back to the real world of today, and we arrived in Athens at 11.15 local time into hot sunshine under a cloudless blue sky. What a wonderful contrast with home in the UK. An airport bus took me and one of my travelling companions into the port of Piraeus where we met our other travelling companion.

We bought water, food for lunch at a local bakery, and then walked round the inner harbour to look at the tragic sight of PANAGIA TINOU, better known more recently as AGIOS GEORGIOS and then originally as the famous HENGIST of Sealink days. She had been in winter layup in Piraeus's inner harbour but suddenly leaned over in May and now rests on the bottom, with a red boom around her. I have had many happy sailings on her from here but we all wondered if we might ever do so in the future.

Rather than dwell on that, we took the little ELENA boat out to Salamis island and enjoyed our picnic lunch on the way. It felt wonderful to be at sea again, passing so many big ferries and cruise ships in the Great Harbour as we headed out. We have many days of ferrying ahead of us and this was a wonderful start to the trip.

In lay-up we could see LOUIS AURA, looking unchanged, THEOFILOS, AQUA JEWEL, ALKYON, and of course RASA SAYANG (the sunken remains of the cruise ship BERGENSFJORD), and many other familiar names on the way to Salamis.

Panagia Tinou, Vitsentzos Kornaros, Prevelis



Panagia Tinou, ex Agios Georgios, ex Hengist

Ionis

Blue Horizon

Knossos Palace

Kriti 1

Superfast XII

Celebrity Reflection

Theofilos at Perama

Aqua Jewel far in the distance

Caribbean Galaxy

Rasa Sayang

Louis Aura

Corse

Spongebob Squarepants

Elena, our little ferry here at Salamis before we returned to the Great Harbour at Piraeus

Seajets Superjet

The show at the end of the Pier...

A new cruise terminal in the harbour

Phivos


Back in the harbour we checked in for our first big ship of the trip: BLUE STAR PATMOS, which we are taking to Naxos via Paros. She was built in 2012 at 18,498 gross tons.

Our itinerary ports, shown with a red spot

Anek's Kydon, seen from Blue Star Patmos

Vitsentzos Kornaros

A Seajets vessel, with a view behind

Welcome on board Blue Star Patmos


We left at 5.30 p.m., had a delicious fish dinner, enjoyed the warm sea airs, called briefly at Paros just before 10 p.m. and arrived at the island of Naxos at 10.50 p.m. We were met on the busy quayside by the man from our overnight Panorama Hotel, and we all walked up the steep hillside streets almost to the castle walls. It was hot and picturesque, and the air-conditioning, cool showers and comfy beds were very welcome.

Ships seen: Elena ferry to Salamis, Knossos Palace, Blue Horizon, Panagia Tinou, Prevelis, Vitsentzos Kornaros, Adamantes Korais, Flying Dolphins 18 and 29, Blue Star Patmos, Louis Aura, Theofilos at Perama, Corinthian small cruise ship, Agios Meklarios Aeginas, European Express, Pelagatis, Kriti I, Nearchos, Highspeed 4, Highspeed 6, Champion Jet 2, Spongebob Squarepants, Corse, Sunny (ex Trelleborg), Ionian Sky, Nissos Samos, Rasa Sayang (the remains of Bergensfjord), Kali P, Caribbean Galaxy (Atlantic Blue Seaways), Aqua Jewel, Alkyon, Flying Dolphin XVII and XVIII, Celebrity Reflection.


To be continued...

Greece 2012 Part 12, the final one

Saturday 8th September 2012
Here we are on Blue Star PATMOS arriving in Piraeus again, well before the crack of dawn.

Disembarking from Blue Star PATMOS

Goodbye to us, and welcome to the next passengers

It was 6.20 a.m. as everybody disembarked in the darkness, but we walked along the quayside, passing FESTOS PALACE and the luggage lorry off-loading beside it, back to the shipping line offices. I looked after the bags whilst my companion went to buy the tickets for this morning’s sailing on Blue Star NAXOS to Mykonos. The usual port dogs were wandering around, and I noticed a couple of them climb into a stationary local bus for a while, before getting off and doing other things.

Luggage arriving for Minoan Lines' Festos Palace

Embarking on Blue Star Naxos

The sun gradually came up over the surrounding mountains and we hurried on board with hundreds of other passengers. We are to depart at 7.35 a.m. from Piraeus to Mykonos new ferry port, calling at Syros and Tinos en route, and arriving at 12.35 p.m. so there will be good time for lunch before our next sailing this afternoon.

Serenade of the Seas stern

Festos Palace

Masts in the morning mist

Jet ferry 1

Leaving the great harbour of Piraeus we could see many ships in their berths, or just arriving, including masted sailing ships. Because it was Saturday the NAXOS was extremely crowded and we were glad to have tickets for the forward First Class Saloon to enjoy the more spacious and less crowded surroundings. The sea was somewhat rough this morning, with quite a breeze, but the sky and sea was blue and it was becoming very hot again. We watched other ships departing on their various routes to the islands, including the SPEEDRUNNER 4.

Very cheap fuel

It's heading our way!

The black smoke being emitted from her was phenomenal and, although we knew she must be using really cheap fuel, it did look as if she might be on fire at first sight. That smoke even drifted over to us for a short while. Cappuccino and a cheese pie removed the taste of the smoke from my nose and memory.

On deck

Deck Plan Blue Star Naxos

Adamantios Korais

Artemis in the spray and swell

Our passage to Syros was quite rough compared with our usual calm waters, but it was possible to rest comfortably in our Saloon, and we felt very lucky to be seated there. In port we could see OCEAN MAJESTY, now with a Turkish line I believe; she was built as a ferry in 1966, but after several owners, charters and a conversion started sailing in 1994 as a cruise ship.

Ocean Majesty

Hasabi II

Near her was HASABI II, which I found out was a yacht built in 1950, now registered in George Town, with very elegant lines. There were several young Japanese passengers on board so a few of us ended up taking photos for each other on our respective cameras (all Japanese of course).

We disembarked at Mykonos down the passenger stairs and had to smile at the ‘goodbye’ poster on display.

First Class lounge

Disembarking

We were half an hour late because of the wind but disembarked into the dusty sunshine and trudged up the hill to a terraced restaurant. Our view was of the new port and the vessels there, and it was amazing to think this had been created by 2006 at a cost of 13.4 million Euros. I had a delicious lunch of stuffed tomatoes, fresh bread, wine and water, at a table under the shade of a big tree, and was ready to go down the dusty lane to the port again for embarking on our last ship of the holiday: PENELOPE A of Agoudimos Lines, first known as HORSA. She is the sister of AGIOS GEORGIOS, the ex-HENGIST, both of which were built for Sealink and launched in 1972. HORSA was 5,590 tons when built and is now shown as 5,190 gross tons. I think one must mention HENGIST, HORSA and VORTIGERN (R.I.P.) in the same breath, and maybe SENLAC too.

Penelope A

Penelope A ex-Horsa

Boarding Agoudimos Lines' ship

Up the stairs

Deck plan

We sailed on PENELOPE A at 3.15 p.m. into a slightly rough sea. Again we had chosen to buy first class tickets and so enjoyed the spacious Saloon. We are heading to the Greek mainland seaside resort of Rafina, which is also a popular ferry port. We are due to arrive at 8.05 p.m. and will stay there overnight before flying back to the UK tomorrow, so we had lots of time to see the sights of this old ship and enjoy the journey.

Artwork

More artwork

Horsa detail

More Horsa

Up to First Class

First Class saloon

Aft bar

Aft seating

Funnel rising out of the deck

The harbour at Rafina was a welcome sight after such a breezy and slightly rough sail, although I was sad to think this was the last sailing of our Greek trip. PENELOPE A will be here overnight, with several other ferries.

Funnels in Rafina

Accommodation was found at a local sea-front hotel, and then we could set out into the local town. There were hundreds of people out in the vast square up behind the hotel, so we joined them to listen to and enjoy a free band concert. There were also hundreds of small stalls at the side of the now-pedestrian roads and I have never seen so many clothes, toys and jewellery on sale for a long time. Set behind the stalls were many restaurants and coffee shops, so we were happy to join in the evening’s festivities.

Ships seen in Piraeus: Wind Spirit, Festos Palace, Superfast XII, Elyros, Highspeed 6, Speedrunner, Blue Star Delos, Serenade of the Seas, Star something with 4 masts, Sea Cloud, Blue Star Patmos, Corinthian II, Nissos Mykonos, Flying Dolphin, Blue Star Naxos, Theofilos, Panagia Agiasou, Jet Ferry 1

In Trapezona shipyard: Sea Breeze III, La Galera

After leaving Piraeus: Speedrunner 4 (not on fire), Phivos, Blue Star 2, Adamantios Korais, Marmari Express, Artemis

In Syros: Blue Horizon, Ocean Majesty, Horizon Diana (freighter), Hasabi II

At Mykonos: Penelope A, Ekaterina P, Blue Star Ithaki,

At Rafina: Blue Star Ithaki, Penelope A, Ekaterina P, Super Ferry II (Golden Star Ferries)

Sunday 9th September 2012
I wasn’t the only one who had been in Rafina port overnight, as several ships were still there, which I could see from the hotel balcony. The seaside beaches could be seen on the right hand side of the hotel.

View from the hotel balcony

View in the other direction

Last view of Penelope A, heading towards the sun and mountains

The wind was still blowing hard, and the sea looked a little rough, but all the ships sailed and two others arrived to drop passengers and embark more.

Ships seen: Blue Star Ithaki, Superferry II, Ekaterina P, Penelope A, Evia Star, Sea Jet 2



I will be taking the local bus to Athens airport later this morning to fly home to England, having sailed on fourteen unusual and interesting ships during the last twelve days. I think it is the most beautiful way to travel to visit some of the Greek islands. The ferries are a necessary way of life in these waters, and I think they are just like little liners, each on their set voyages and providing a life-line to the islands. In the United Kingdom many of us consider ourselves an island race, a maritime nation, and of course over 90% of our imports arrive by sea. I think this is partly why so many of us feel comfortable and lucky to be able to visit Greece and enjoy the warmth, blue sky and blue seas, and have our own Greek Odyssey.

An unknown harbour on the way north from Athens, probably 20 minutes after take-off;
now known to be Elefsina, Aspropyrgos, Skaramagas with the island of Salamina in the top of the picture.

The harbour a few seconds later