Yesterday (Sunday 11 June), we woke bright and early to prepare to leave the marina at 09.00. It was a beautiful morning which augered well for the day ahead.
We dropped off the hire car, had a quick coffee, picked up ice and a few last minute supplies at the supermarket and were ready to leave in good time. We were in a tight spot and the marina aisles were very narrow so we called the marineros to assist with exiting our berth.
They were soon with us and with a few nudges from their dinghy, we were out of our berth and heading down the channel.
Before we left the marina, we topped up the diesel in case we had to do a lot of motoring en route.
As there was no queue, this was a straightforward process and we were soon on our way.
Once out of the shelter of the marina, it was clear that we were going to be able to sail a good deal of the way so hoisted the main and genoa and set our course.
This leg of the trip was nearly 26nm and likely to take over 5 hours.
As we were told that the harbour at Loutra was likely to get crowded after 2-3pm, we needed to make steady progress to be assured of a berth on the quay.
Leaving the mainland behind us, we were able to sail for much of the way and neared the harbour at about 2.30pm.
On our approach, we called Stavros, the harbour master, to ask about the berthing options and we were offered either within or on outer wall of the small harbour. Having read that it could get quite rolly on the outer side, we opted for the inner part, manorvred into position, dropped our anchor and reversed towards the quay. We were glad that we arrived when we did as very quickly more boats arrived and the harbour was soon full.
At Loutra, there are hot mineral springs which bubble up at the south end of the beach. These springs were used by ancient Greeks and Romans, and have been esteemed throughout history with King Otto, Greece's first king building an institute here.
We thought that this had to be experienced so headed to the beach to try it out.
We couldn't believe how hot the water was as it came out of the ground and then heated up the pool where people enjoyed the benefits of the bromide, iodine and sodium chloride of the spa waters.
Fully relaxed by the hot springs, it was time for Seb, who is a bit of a dare devil, to have a bit of an adrenaline rush as he decided to try to jump off the end of a disused loading platform just behind the harbour.
We were, needless to say, very relieved when the harbour authorities called him down before he reached the end!
We found Loutra to be a charming place with bars and restaurants around the harbour where we enjoyed drinks and dinner to finish off a most enjoyable day.
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