Kilada
This is a well protected anchorage, with plenty of room and shallow (<3m) water with good holding in mud or sand. Many yachts winter afloat here, on moorings.
There is an excellent winter storage yard here called Basimakopouloi Shipyard.
Just Imagine wintered here in 2010.
Howard and Jayne [Just Imagine] 16-Sep-2010
http://www.ballgate.com/safehavens/koiladhia.shtml
Howard [Just Imagine] 08-Jan-2009
Francthi Cave (Point of Interest)
Archaeologists have shown that this cave has the longest known human occupation in the world. Their excavations have shown, using carbon dating that this cave was occupied by humans from 20, 000 BCE up until 3,000 BCE. That is not a typo, it is 22 thousand years ago.
It is a fascinating cave with an entrance to the north, and then two collapsed windows toward the south, which let plenty of light into the cave. The thick rock ceiling shows huge cracks, some of which are quite scary to look down, as they seem to go on and on.
At the bottom of the cave is a lake which has a water level 1 meter below sea level. The water is apparently brackish, though it looks crystal clear. Some divers explored the lake many years ago with hookah equipment and their line extended 50 meters into the cavern and they submerged to a depth 45 ft.
It is worth scrambling over the huge fallen rocks from the ceiling and over the top to the first window, and then back down into the second chamber to the second window.
We dinghied over to the little dock in front of the cave and climbed all the way through to the last chimney.
The cave is lit up with spotlights at night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchthi_CaveHoward and Jayne [Just Imagine] 16-Sep-2010
Kilada Yacht Services (Mooring)
Several yachts winter on moorings in Kilada, under the watchfull eye of a Frenchman, Didier Chesel.
I was told that Didier is hard of hearing after a diving accident, so it is best to email him at chesselgrece@yahoo.fr or text him at +30 693 875 0211.
He provides the moorings (corps-mort in french translated as "body dead" on his website).
I have seen his excellent carpentary work on the beautiful 83 foot Sangimani yawl, Arent, that he takes care of in the anchorage.
http://www.kiladayachtservices.com/Howard and Jayne [Just Imagine] 16-Sep-2010
Private island
This island is reputed to be owned by a Greek shipping magnate. He has his own regular ferry service that runs from the island to the town each day.
Howard and Jayne [Just Imagine] 16-Sep-2010
Basimakopouloi Shipyard (Boat Yard)
We were so happy with the great service in this shipyard that we decided not to go to Turkey as planned, but return to Basimakopouloi for a third winter.
Howard and Jayne [Just Imagine] 28-Sep-2012Just Imagine is wintering here in 2010.
Very profesional haulout with a large travel lift and steel cradles that they move into position with a special tractor device.
There is no dockage here, so you can only come to the dock when you are due to haul out. The anchrage is a large bay with fairly good holding, but it can get gusty.
It is a great place to spend time at anchor in spring and autumn, preparing for hauling or launching. Several small supermarkets, and many restauarnts to choose from.
We saw some boats come in to the haul out slip for water after the yard was closed. There are water hoses to the east of the haulout slip and the water measures good quality on my watermaker TDS meter.
There is a clearly marked channel leading into the boat yard slip.
Very helpful English speaking staff in the office.
www.BSG.com.grHoward and Jayne [Just Imagine] 16-Sep-2010
Kilada Town Dock (Town Dock)
Some boats anchor bow or stern to the north side of this peer.
Water was aviailable from a long hose on the keyside.
Howard [Just Imagine] 18-Sep-2010
Flying out of Kilada (Transport)
We took the Flying Dolphin hydrafoil from Ermioni to Piraeus and then the #96 bus from Piraeus to Athens Airport.
The taxi to Ermioni cost €20 and took about 20 minutes. We left Kilada at 0900 to catch the 1025 ferry and had plenty of time for coffee before the ferry arrived in Ermioni.
The day before, we went on the Hellenic Seaways website
www.hsw,gr to book and pay for our tickets which cost €29.50 per person. The taxi will drop you at the Hellenic Seaways ticket office where you give them your reservation number and they print out your tickets.
The flying Dolphin ride takes 2 hours with brief stops at Hydra and Poros. There was no snack service onboard, so you need to bring your own.
After arrival in Piraeus, you walk out of the gate onto the main road and walk about 500 m toward the north and cross the road to the
bus stop and ticket kiosk. The bus took over an hour to the airport but cost only €3.20 per person.
It is also possible to rent a car in Kilada for about €90 and drive one way to the airport, if you are confident drving and navigating in Greece, but we decided to take the less stressful taxi/ferry/bus route for a total of €85.40 for two of us(€20 taxi + 2x€29.50 ferry + 2x€3.20 bus).
Howard [Just Imagine] 18-Sep-2010