The Greek islands at the northern end of the Ionian may be better known to visiting craft but further south lies a quieter, more magical destination in the southern Peloponnese, as Fairline owner Anthony Stalker discovered
We’relucky enough to own a Fairline Squadron 65 called Sofia. For the past two years we have based it in Lefkas, Greece and cruised between Corfu in the north and Kefalonia and Ithaca in the south. It is a beautiful part of the world to float around in, with excellent boating weather, lovely bays, good food and great little ports, but it does get very busy in the summer. This means you have to plan ahead, arrive at your destination early and make sure the fenders are down by the time the charter fleets arrive at around 4pm and all hell breaks loose. Last winter I had started to read about the Southern Peloponnese from other boaters’ blogs, which according to their reports was far less crowded, so this year we decided to spend two weeks seeing if it lived up to the hype.
Our journey started in Argostoli on the southern tip of the island of Kefalonia. Although the capital of the island, Argostoli is less glitzy than its better-known cousin Fiskardo. The port itself is certainly less visually seductive with rather brackishlooking water, a half-finished marina and shallow patches along the quay itself. Thankfully we managed to find a deep enough spot, let out plenty of chain and found ourselves refreshingly free of neighbours other than regular visits from the large turtles that appear without fail during the day. The town itself is a gem. There’s a thriving local community with colourful fruit and veg markets, a wide choice of restaurants – we found an excellent sushi restaurant amongst others – and plenty to occupy us for three days while we stocked up and waited for the arrival of the next set of children masquerading as crew!
SPARTAN BLISS
Our plan was to cruise slowly down the east side of Zakynthos before the longer hop to Pylos on the mainland where we would spend most of our time cruising slowly between Pylos and Kalamata. First stop though was a bay on the southern end of Kefalonia opposite Zante called Spartia. This was our first stop in the Ionian when we brought Sofia across from Italy and is still one of our favourite places. With its perfect sandy bay, large enough to accommodate multiple boats without feeling like a floating housing estate, and crystal-clear turquoise waters, it feels almost Caribbean. And of course any calories lost during a pre-breakfast swim can swiftly be replaced by a full English shortly afterwards!
The bay itself is a dream for paddleboarders and there’s enough s
