Porto Koufos, 39 58.1N 23 55.1E, 1 September 2010
We finally managed to tear ourselves away from Lemnos, only by promising ourselves that we'll be back in a couple of weeks. We had a perfect force 4 reach (the most perfect and rare wind state for boats) across to the Mount Athos peninusula. This is the most northerly of the 3 fingers that project from the Greek mainland. The Athos peninsula is an autonomous region set aside only for Orthodox monks, and only men can set foot on the land. We could sail 500m from the beach, but it is not permitted to anchor in any of the bays. The medieval monasteries cling to the sides of the mountain, and overhanging rooms seem to be very popular here.
Until recently they did not even allow female animals on the land, and men had to be bearded, but now they have relaxed their rules a bit, it's tricky to get eggs from a male chicken and milk from male goats.
We anchored in Nisos Ammouliani and Nisis Dhiaporos, the small islands north of the Sithonia (middle) peninsula. The water is the clearest we've seen yet, you can see the anchor land on the bottom in 12m (36') of water. There's not much to do other than swim and chill out. There are few provisions available and we have even had to bake our own bread. The photos just can't do it justice. It's an easy drive from Thessalonika airport, and campsites are everywhere. It would be a relatively cheap holiday spot.
We are now tucked up in Porto Koufos, to wait out a blow. It is a wonderful natural harbour in a break in the sheer rock walls of the southern tip of the middle peninsula, but it's a strange place, lacking in real life, with no real sense of community, even though there are several fishing boats kept here. The large villas are probably only in use for the short-lived Greek holiday period of August, and by 1 September the place is already closing down. Although it is a short drive to the mainland, it is far more remote than the island of Lemnos in the middle of the Aegean.
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