Autor: Gisela Wuerfel

At first, we hesitated to reserve a berth in Kavala. For our boat, it was 81 euros per night without water and electricity, and no shower or toilet. But then the price went down in the off-season. So we were able to visit this great city with its impressive fortress, beautiful old town and lively atmosphere directly by boat. Natasha made up for the poor infrastructure for sailors by taking care of everything for us: mooring, bunkering diesel before winter storage... a wonderful, professional woman working on behalf of the Port Authority. We hope she gets a cut of the hefty mooring fees.

Kavala, the largest city in Eastern Macedonia, used to be a transshipment point for tobacco that came from Turkey, was stored here and then transported on to the Balkans. This was obviously a lucrative business, as evidenced by the villas of the tobacco barons that still stand today. 

The fortress towers directly above the harbour. From the cockpit, we admired it in every light of day and night. Of course, we also climbed up. From the tower, there is a magnificent panoramic view over the city, the harbour, to Thassos and as far as Mount Athos. Another special eye-catcher is the two-storey viaduct, through which water was transported into the city in earlier times.

[ngg src="galleries" ids="181" display="basic_slideshow"]

And then there was Oxi Day, Greece's national holiday on 28 October. We have experienced it several times in other places, and it is always a big spectacle, even though it has a serious and, for the Greeks, very painful origin (https://du-bist-grieche.de/28-oktober-der-tag-des-nein-in-griechenland-ochi-tag/19366781: speeches, music and a parade. This time we were in Kavala, delighted by the many children and young people in the parade and the women and men in their very different traditional costumes. So many young people and such diversity are visible here. Where can you see that at home? It's also nice to watch the people watching the parade. They gather for this big event, arrange to meet up and then usually find each other thanks to their mobile phones. Parents and grandparents who are proud that their children and grandchildren are taking part in the parade. Sometimes we also get into conversation with someone. And whenever the city's dignitaries pass by and a person raises their right hand (often wearing a white glove), we are reminded of the occasion of this day in 1940. We are so glad that, since we have been travelling in Greece, we have always been welcome everywhere as Germans.

[ngg src="galleries" ids="182" display="basic_slideshow"]

We have now arrived at our winter mooring for our boat, just west of Kavala in Nea Peramos. It's another new experience to go ashore here.

It is well known that marble has been quarried on Thassos since ancient times. Driving across the island in a hire car, we see quarries in the mountains, but also right by the sea. However, it is in the harbour of Limenária that we discover that there are also an unusually large number of black cats on this island. They are everywhere, coming on board with us and jumping onto our laps when we drink beer on the beach in the evening.

In the harbour of Limenária, we are protected by a bow anchor with our stern at the pier. It is a good place to leave the boat to explore the island. There is no harbour authority, no shore power and no other infrastructure for sailors. But there is water at the pier, so we can thoroughly clean our deck of sand, Posidonia and salt from the breakers of Samothraki. Here we finally free our ‘Adenauer’, which had become stuck at the top of the besan mast.

Limenária is an old mining town. The first official rights to mine iron, zinc, lead and silver ore were granted to the Speidel company from Pforzheim in 1903. At that time, the island was still under Turkish administration. The Speidelschlösschen, which has been uninhabited since 1964, towers directly above the harbour. Unfortunately, it is not being maintained. We took a look at the old mining facilities and also at the ‘Crown of Limenária’, twelve marble slabs arranged in a circle, which were designed by pupils from the Stuttgart Waldorf School.

Pictures of Limenária and the surrounding area

[ngg src="galleries" ids="177" display="basic_slideshow"]

The weather continues to be very changeable, cool, cloudy and rainy at times. But that didn‘t stop us from exploring the island further. We drive along the south coast in a hire car for a day, climbing down the steep rocks to a special bathing spot (Gióla) between the cliffs. Along the rugged marble coast and beautiful sandy beaches, we continue past the Archangélou monastery to the Alikí peninsula. We walk around it and admire the large marble blocks right by the sea and the remains of the sacred sites from Byzantine and Roman times.

Pictures of Gióla an Alikí

[ngg src="galleries" ids="178" display="basic_slideshow"]

We take the local bus for a day trip to Liménia/Thassos on the north side. There is a busy ferry service here to Keramoti on the mainland. In the old naval port, where fishing boats are now moored, we enjoy the breakfast we brought from the baker (spinach pies and tomato and cheese pies). There are many ancient ruins to discover right in the town. And up in the forest above the town, we marvel at the amphitheatre, made entirely of white marble, which is currently being restored.

Pictures of Liménia

[ngg src="galleries" ids="179" display="basic_slideshow"]

When it becomes sunnier and warmer again, we put on our hiking boots, take the bus to the mountain village of Theológos and walk along the Dipótamos stream bed down to the coast. A very well-marked trail takes us almost eleven kilometres through varied terrain, sometimes along stone walls through olive groves, then through oak and plane tree forests and through pine trees and heather. In Germany, such a well-maintained, beautiful trail would be classified as a ‘premium hiking trail’. Apart from goats and sheep, we didn't meet anyone here.

Pictures of Theológos and hiking

[ngg src="galleries" ids="180" display="basic_slideshow"]

Today we are treating ourselves to another day in the harbour before setting sail for Kavala on the mainland tomorrow.

After the island initially welcomed us with strong winds and breakers that washed sand and Posidonia over our boat, we were able to discover many interesting and impressive things on the island over the following days. For example, we watched the large ferry that comes from Alexandroupoli every day manoeuvre cautiously. There was hardly any swell for our boat. And the ‘anchor manager’ at the bow waved to us every time the bow almost reached our boat. Once, however, the ferry's two bow anchors became entangled with each other. It took an hour and the help of a large fishing boat to resolve the problem. 

[ngg src="galleries" ids="171" display="basic_slideshow"]

Samothraki, located in the far north-east of the Aegean Sea, is different from the more southerly Aegean islands. High mountains with rugged cliffs that plunge directly into the sea, bizarre rock formations. At 1600 metres, Fengari is the highest mountain. The north side of the island is green. Here you can hike through plane tree and oak forests to various waterfalls.

There is always something going on in the main town of Kamariotissa when the ferry arrives.

We travelled by bus and on foot. We visited the town of Therma with its sulphur springs, looked at the small harbour and decided not to go there with our boat. The harbour entrance is extremely narrow and the harbour quite shallow.

Pictures of Therma

[ngg src="galleries" ids="172" display="basic_slideshow"]

We were particularly impressed by the sanctuary of the Great Gods. In the third century BC, the great gods met here and performed mystical rites to make the world a better place and ensure divine protection at sea. It takes time to walk around the large complex and reach the spot where the Nike of Samothrace was found. In the beautifully designed museum, we were able to marvel at many well-preserved finds. 

Pictures of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods  

[ngg src="galleries" ids="173" display="basic_slideshow"]

The old capital, Chora of Samothrace, is located in the mountains. Almost everything is closed here: the season is over.

Pictures of the Chora

[ngg src="galleries" ids="174" display="basic_slideshow"]

The southwest of the island is rural. With a view of the high mountains, we walked through mown fields, past small farms with goats, sheep and geese, and sometimes military installations. Turkey is not far away.

Pictures from the southwest

[ngg src="galleries" ids="175" display="basic_slideshow"]

To say goodbye, Gisela took a beautiful hike to the Fonias waterfalls, always along the stream bed and finally with a bit of climbing on a fixed rope.

Pictures of Fonias

[ngg src="galleries" ids="176" display="basic_slideshow"]

Yes, Samothraki has hardly any tourist infrastructure and everything is very informal. Everyone greets everyone else. So that's what we did too. The bus driver even waved to us, when he drove past in his bus.

We are now on Thassos, having made a long journey of 44 nautical miles to the west, and are currently moored in the harbour of Limenária.

That's what we say to each other from time to time when strong winds and a restless night are forecast, when we hope that our anchor will hold. Here on Samothraki in the harbour of Kamariotissa, that's also the motto. Secure the boat well, be alert, persevere. We are moored alongside the outer pier together with several other sailing boats that have also taken refuge here from the forecast strong north wind. It is the only safe harbour on the island; the nearest harbours on other islands are at least 40 nautical miles away. And here, you can only moor alongside, as a large ferry docks in the harbour every day.

However, we didn't think it would be so violent and last so long. Twenty-four hours of strong winds of up to 40 knots, spray and breakers coming over the quay wall and pouring over our boat meant we had a sleepless night and a day on watch on board. Our lines have held so far. But the breakers are bringing lots of Posidonia onto our boat. The drains on deck are constantly clogged with it, so the water that comes over the side cannot drain away. We are waiting for the weather to calm down so we can go ashore for a coffee and to buy something for dinner. We don't even want to think about cleaning up the deck yet.

Waves come over the pier on our boat: video