Favorite Anchorages revisited

As we make our track back through the Med to Gibraltar we have had the opportunity to revisit some of our favorite anchorages. We came back to the Punda Point at Paros, the beach, village and island of Elafonisos and the bay of Navarino. Every time we get to see new things.

In the bay of Navarino, we once again made the hike to the castle, but this time we walked back to the horse shoe beach (omega beach for the locals), and trekked back via the lagoon. The horseshoe beach would make a great anchorage, and we have seen some boats anchored there last time we went. Seeing the rocks from up-close, and the proximity to the shallow beach this one would be one of the last anchorages we would pick.

We timed this hike up to the castle well, as the day after a forest fire broke out. We had just moved our boat northwards into the bay, and we were clear of the smoke. At the time the fire broke our, there were 6 boats moored in the spot touched by the smoke. This quickly reduced to one, a Brit who's stiff upper lip prevented him to move the boat. From our position we could first make out the 2 reconnaissance fixed wing planes that went out to assess the fire. This was followed by a helicopter with a big bucket. After just 3 bucket splashes, the smoke stopped, however, the helicopter kept dumping more and more water for a long time, to prevent re-ignition.

As the fire broke out on the hiking trail, I do have my suspicions that the ignition was man made. Whether it was a carelessly tossed cigarette, a BBQ or a purpose lid fire I doubt we will ever find out.