Tranquil Trizonia

We left the deserted marina of Itea late morning intending to go just a few miles southwest to what looked like a pleasant little bay where we could stay a day or two.  But the winds were so good we decided to go all the to the island of Trizonia.  We flew there in record time.  With a reefed genoa we were doing 6 – 7 knots surfing down big following seas.

The view from our pontoon

We got to Trizonia late afternoon to find a gem of a little island with yet another abandoned marina.  However unlike Itea, this marina was still populated by sailing boats and not filled with local runabout fishing boats.  There were quite a few boats occupied by liveaboards who have found a free, safe and quiet place to winter.  But also there were many abandoned boats left to die, including a large sailboat sunk off one of the pontoons.  We moored alongside between a large ketch with a German couple and their two dogs and a small sloop with a lone young Spanish man.

The mast of a sunken ketch poking out of the water

Songster moored alongside

The abandoned marina

The next morning we woke up to hundreds of small jellyfish in the harbour.  These were the first jellyfish we have seen in the Mediterranean.  

Hundreds of small jellyfish about the size of squash balls

In the afternoon we took a long walk around the little island enjoying the scenery and late autumn flowers, plus an odd tortoise or two.  There was also some evidence of wild pigs but we didn’t see any.

View east

Delicate autumn flowers were everywhere

A tortoise not yet hibernating

An amazing looking blue-black bee

The resident goose

We spent the next couple of days waiting for a good weather window to continue our way westward.  This gave us a bit more time to take long walks around the island and explore the nearby mainland towns.  The clocks had turned back to winter time and the days were closing earlier and a most of the taverans on the island had closed down.  There was only one café and one taverna open for the winter.  The island did not have a grocery store either.  However a 5 minute ferry ride took us over to the mainland towns of Chania and Glyfada where we could get provisions.

Ferry boat to the mainland

The ferry boat harbour at Glyfada looking out to Trizonia

Trizonia was quite a delightful place.  Although Bob is too social to tolerate the solitude for long, I could see myself happily spending a winter here.