SUMMER 2016 - July ferrying, Part 4

Monday 18th July 2016
I think we were all up before sunrise this morning, having slept remarkably well until 6 a.m. here on board VITSENTZOS KORNAROS. We were approaching the Great Harbour of Piraeus, seeing several familiar ships as we headed for our berth.

Kriti I

Ariadne

Blue Galaxy

Ionis of Leve Ferries

Panagia Tinou

Blue Star Delos

On the quayside beside Vitsentzos Kornaros


We disembarked at 7 a.m. (late) and headed for the Salamis island ferry, on the far side of the harbour. A good bakery provided the morning's early breakfast necessities and we were soon on the good ship ELENA F heading out to sea for the hour's journey to the nearby island. It was another golden morning on the blue seas.

Elena F

Also leaving the harbour

Flying Dolphin XXIX

Posidon Hellas and Knossos Palace behind her

Adamantios Korais of Zante Ferries

Celestyal Crystal

Celestyal Olympia

Sea Cloud

Celebrity Vista

New-build harbour entrance, by the look of it

Local ferry sailing to Salamis from Perama

Ionian Sky and Louis Aura

A closer view of Louis Aura and Laton (the ex-Lato)

Louis Aura

Nissos Samos


Ice cream at Salamis tasted like nectar as we headed back to Piraeus.

Next we made time to visit the famous Telstar bookshop run by Costas, to have a chat and buy the latest Ferry & Cruise Review magazine with its topical information. Then it was time to walk another block to collect the booked hire car, and brave the Piraeus traffic for a short distance to drive to Perama. There we were able to get a close look at ALKYON, who used to sail the Brindisi//Durres route. She looks in a sorry state.

Alkyon at Perama

Theofilos and European Express at Elefsina

Mytilene and Penelope A (the ex-Horsa)

Mytilene and Penelope A


Then we headed to Elefsina waterfront, with views to the other side of the bay and MYTILENE, built in 1973 (we went on her in September 2012), and PENELOPE A (we went on her in August 2013), the 1972 built ex-HORSA. Photos taken, we had time to join locals on the little beach and paddle in the sea, whilst others swam. What mixed memories of Elefsina we have to take home.

Back in the car we headed south-east down to the port of Lavrion, found a parking space near one of the waterside restaurants and enjoyed a late lunch.

Taxiarchis at Lavrion

Macedon

Masterjet

Marmari Express

Alios (ex-Norking), Macedon and Taxiarchis


Back in the car and driving to the ferry port, there were sudden shouts from my friends as they spotted something unexpected on the rough ground at the side of the road, beside a wall. We came to a sudden halt and the men leapt out; I grabbed my camera and photographed them sitting on a SEALINK bench, in what is virtually the middle of nowhere in SEALINK terms. As the authors of the wonderful book "SEALINK AND BEYOND", they certainly know their subject of ferries and if they say that bench was a SEALINK product, then it is! They knew that the ex-HENGIST had been laid up here at Lavrion for a while some years ago, so presumably items had been taken ashore for other use at the time and this bench had remained, even when the ship had left. Photographs were taken.

Seeing a seat...

Close-up of the Sealink seat


Once the shock had been absorbed, we continued to the ferry berths. We are to get the MARMARI EXPRESS sailing this afternoon at 4.30 over to the island of Kea, which should take about an hour. She was built in 1985 at 1,863 gross tons.

Marmari Express from Lavrion to Kea and back

On board

Small staircase

My ticket cover

Kea ahead


It was a lovely time at sea, with hot sun, sparkling water, and the island of Kea always in view ahead of us.

Lining up to berth at Kea


No sooner had we berthed and disembarked than the Hellenic Seaways ferry ARTEMIS arrived and berthed very near, so there was the usual hustle and bustle of cars and people in the port area. She left soon after, the roadway was cleared and we could enjoy a quiet cup of tea or cold drinks on the waterside.

Artemis, of Hellenic Seaways, leaving Kea

We embarked back on MARMARI EXPRESS ready for the 6.30 sailing back to Lavrion and enjoyed another restful sail.

Back at the port we had a last look at MACEDON, MASTERJET, TAXIARCHIS, ALIOS (the ex-NORKING), and the charter yacht ISSAN ALBAHA, before getting back in the hire car to drive north to Agios Konstantinos. It was an interesting journey along a good road between high mountains, with occasional amazing views ahead. There was little traffic on the dual-carriageway route and we eventually arrived at the little seaside town and located our hotel for the night. The lady owner greeted us each with a hug and kiss and made us very welcome. The car was parked safely in a relative's back yard and all was well.

Our ship for tomorrow, MIRTIDIOTISSA of Aqua Ferries, had already arrived and we could walk along to the nearby ferry berth and see her settling in for the night, with the ramp partly up to deter visitors after she had unloaded.

Mirtidiotissa (the ex-Aqua Maria)at Agios Konstantinos



Ships seen at Piraeus: Celestyal Crystal, Celestyal Olympia, Blue Galaxy, Blue Star Delos, Alexandros Korais, Sea Cloud (the 4 masted yacht), Superfast XII, Kriti I, Panagia Tinou, Blue Star Naxos, Flying Cat III, Nissos Rodos, Ariadne, Ionis of Leve Ferries, Posidon Hellas, Carnival Vista, Knossos Palace, High Speed 6, Flying Dolphin XXIX

Ships seen at Elefsina: Theofilos, European Express, Alkyon (at Perama), Talos, Mytilene (built 1973), Penelope A (built 1972) the ex-Horsa

Ships seen at Lavrion: Masterjet, Marmari Express, Taxiarchis, Macedon, Alios the ex-Norking, Issan Albaha the yacht,

Ships seen at Kea: Artemis of Hellenic Seaways, Saffet Ulusoy a UN ro-ro, b 2005 at 29,004 gross tons, seen as we headed for Kea

Ships seen at Agios Konstantinos: Mirtidiotissa (the ex-Aqua Maria) of Aqua Ferries


To be continued...

SUMMER 2016 - July ferrying, Part 2

Saturday 16th July 2016
We woke up on the island of Naxos to yet another beautiful sunny day, and soon made our way between the local houses set beside the steep winding cobblestoned little streets, down to the port.

Display boards of ferry/boat times

View back up to the castle and hotel

Superferry II arrived

Here we go


We watched SUPERFERRY II, of Golden Star Ferries, arrive and were soon able to embark up her ramp. We are to sail at 8.20 a.m. from here in Naxos to Mykonos which should take an hour and a half. I had bought a cheese pie on the quayside and that and coffee on the ship soon revived me. We have tickets in Distinguished Class, which always makes for a very comfortable journey for very little extra money. As we left the port we could see the little town of Naxos and the nearby island of Ariadne with its ancient arch built in 530 BC, which is all that remains of a temple to Apollo. We thought Naxos town was on a good-sized hill, but the further away we sailed the more we could see the mountains behind the town. They were extremely high and put the port town in perspective as we sailed away.

This ship was built in 1974 as PRINCE LAURENT with a gross tonnage of 4,986.

Coo, that's orange!

The view forward

Purser's Office

Arch on the island of Ariadne

Just look at those mountains

View of funnel and seating

More mountain views

Part of the Distinguished Class Lounge


We arrived at the new port of Mykonos at 9.50 a.m., with several hours to spare before catching our next ferry this afternoon. I remembered the small hotel with pool that we had enjoyed visiting last year, and so we headed for Maki's Place. Sun loungers beside the pool, under palm trees, seemed the perfect place to enjoy a snack lunch and cool drinks, and a swim.

Several hours later we managed to get a lift from the hotel taxi down to the port, money changed hands, and all was well. The ship was to be late in, so we found some shade to sit in and I had an interesting chat in English (me) and Japanese (them) with two young ladies. They were using small hand-held battery-operated fans which had been filled with a little water, and when they were switched on the water became mist and sprayed their faces. We had a demonstration and each of us enjoyed trying the girls' new 'toys'.

Hellenic Highspeed

Superferry II leaving

Crowds heading for the fast craft

Champion Jet 2

Superferry II in the background as Champion Jet 2 arrived

Champion Jet 2 getting on the berth

Hellenic Highspeed further along the quay

Passengers embarking on the Hellenic Highspeed

And she's off

And so is Champion Jet 2

There they go

Theologos P

Fast Ferries Andros and Paros Jet

Stern of Paros Jet

Which then left

Nissos Mykonos arriving

And leaving

Blue Star Naxos on the left, just about to turn and berth

Superferry, our next ship of the trip


We saw SUPERFERRY II leave, CHAMPION JET 2 arrive, load and leave, HELLENIC HIGHSPEED arrive, load and leave, THEOLOGOS P arrive, load and leave, FAST FERRIES ANDROS arrive, load and leave, PAROS JET arrive, load and leave, NISSOS MYKONOS arrive, load and leave, BLUE STAR NAXOS arrive, load and leave, and finally a sight to gladden our hearts: SUPERFERRY arrived and unloaded. She is to be our next ship of the trip. She joined Golden Star Ferries just 2 weeks ago, having been re-built in Piraeus this year (2016); her previous name was KOGANE MARU, built in Japan.

We are to sail from here in Mykonos to Rafina, with a call at Andros on the way. We had to wait for SUPERFERRY to unload and then we could board and climb the stairs. I admired the new artwork of what looked like illuminated glass fishes as we climbed the stairs and arrived in the empty but spacious lounge. Everything looked very new and unused, with a lot of dark wood-effect panelling all around the walls. The artificial flowers looked decorative amongst the seating. There was the inevitable little Japanese-styled staircase up to another part of the lounge; we enjoyed seeing the artwork of 'charts' amongst the airline style seating, with bigger charts on the side walls. Out on deck we admired the interesting seating curved into the outer railing.

Artwork that I liked

My view aft from the top of the stairs

Golden Star Ferries logo

Bar and seating area

Japanese staircase

Charts pictured on the walls

Piraeus work done

Port of Andros


We left Mykonos at 2.30 p.m. and enjoyed looking around this newly refurbished ship; nearly 3 hours later we arrived at the island of Andros and enjoyed seeing the Andros Hotel where we stayed last year as we neared the port.

Apiliotis in the port

Passengers off and on


People disembarked and many people embarked as we sailed off into the wide blue yonder. It was hot, we could see the distant mountains and revel in the blue sky and sea around us. At one point we passed sister ferry SUPERFERRY II, which we were on only this morning, and it was fun to hear the exchange of whistles as we passed each other.

We arrived early evening in Rafina and shared a taxi to the port of Piraeus, so that we could make sure of catching our next ferry, overnight to the island of Crete on board KYDON.

Kydon in Piraeus

The stern view of Kydon

Panagia Tinou from close up


Before we boarded we walked along the quay to look at the sad sight of PANAGIA TINOU, the ex-HENGIST of Sealink days, sitting on the bottom of the quayside nearby. She looks so forlorn and terrible, and I could see just where I had sat out on her deck so many times in other years as we sailed out of Piraeus.

Once on board KYDON we could walk around and take pictures of this ship which is new to me, but has been with ANEK for some time. She was built in 1990 at 29,991 gross tons.

Blue Star Naxos nearby, seen from the deck of Kydon

High Speed 6 further away

Adamantos Korais in the distance

The Restaurant

Stern Deck at dusk


We watched our sailaway from Piraeus after dusk, then had a good dinner in the ship's restaurant. The daytime temperature had been 34C and even at night it was 29C so the outside air was wonderful, and we are looking forward to our arrival early tomorrow morning at the port of Souda on the island of Chania (Crete). We plan to have a relaxing day at a favourite tree-lined beach on the island.


Ships seen at Naxos: Superferry II

Ships seen at Mykonos: Superferry, Sea Bus Taxi from the new port to the old port, Nissos Mykonos, Paros Jet, Ekaterina P, Fast Ferries Andros, Theologos P, Hellenic Highspeed, Champion Jet 2, Superferry II,

Ships seen at Andros: Apiliotis

Ships seen at Piraeus: Highspeed 7, Highspeed 6, Highspeed 4, Blue Star Naxos, Kydon, Kritti II, Adamantos Korais, Panagia Tinou (ex-Hengist)


To be continued...