3, 4 & 5 May 2025 - Petalidi and Kalamata

A couple of fairly uneventful days as the voyage passed the southern tip of the first of the "fingers" at the south of the Peloponnese. The waters are relatively sheltered by islands to the south. These look  uninhabited, there were no signs of human interference with nature.

Akritas Point, with off lying rocks

The eastern side of the peninsular features the town of Koroni, with another significant castle.  This seems to be protecting a good landing beach, and is probably there to prevent attack on the castle at Methoni by invasion by forces landing here and then crossing the peninsular.

The castle at Koroni

The overnight anchorage was at Petalidi, another ancient town. Originally it was the main port and trading centre for the Lakonikos Gulf, but it was overtaken by the construction of the newer commercial harbour at Kalamata, at the very head of the gulf.

It was a short hop from Petalidi to Kalamata, with just a few fishing boats and some anchored ships to avoid. The fishing boats can present a challenge, as they start and stop, and change direction frequently, presumably following the fish.  It always appears to us that the crew of the fishing boats have a much stronger focus on their fish finders than on looking out for other boats, so constant attention has to be paid until they are well behind.

Kalamata seems to be a town and port in decline, the buildings are undistinguished, but there is a good atmosphere in the town and the locals are very friendly and helpful.  On a previous visit we had visited the principle local attractions, so did not feel the need to do this again, but instead investigated other areas of the town and discovered some useful facilities.

Kato Glykovysi overlooks the town to the east


During a walk, we observed some locals playing  a game that we had not seen before. One explained that it was a Finnish game, and a version of skittles. Numbered pegs were laid out and a longer wooden peg was thrown to knock the other pegs over, with scores dependant on the number of pegs hit, or the value of the peg. Once knocked over, the target pegs were stood up again, wherever they had come to rest.

There were 2 games ongoing and we were invited to join the "beginners" game.  The other was the pros, who were training before heading off to the World Championships.

Not quite sure which season this referred to, or which league Kalamata FC were in.

Views of the large harbour at Kalamata, with protective hills to the north




Distance today -        30 miles & 11 miles

Distance this year - 531 miles 

Steve (and Tricia) 

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