I had not been to Katakolon for a long time and was looking forward to see how it had developed as it is a lovely little place to call at. During my last call they were developing new docks and as were going to dock, good progress must have been made. Katakolon is located at the south west side of the Peloponessos, the big peninsula South of Athens. Upon departure from Piraeus we sailed south leaving the Peloponessos on our starboard side. By midnight we were at the most southern point and then followed the coast northwards until we arrived at the pilot station.

The local pilot is a very nice gentleman who speaks very good English. He, or better said his wife, had a restaurant in the port and piloting helps him escape from doing too many dishes. The outer pier had been finished and by turning the Veendam gently around the breakwater, we were docked 20 minutes later. The port had also developed in the mean time a second pier, that led directly into downtown but no big ships had been docked there yet. I went out with the pilot to have a good look at it and it looked very nice so next call I will park the Veendam there, and the guests then only have to cross the street to be in the town instead of walking all around the port

The main reason for our call there are the tours to Olympia, from where the Olympic Games once came. Today as well was the first day that the train rode again after many years. Katakolon has the 2nd oldest train station in Greece and had been fighting to get a train going again for years. The train did its trial trip and next call I will find out if it was successful. The pilot’s restaurant was quite successful too, as I had lunch there with my wife, and seeing me sitting there, enticed quite a few of our guests to stop there as well.

We left at 17.30 and then sailed on a north westerly course toward the Adriatic. Sunset was at 20.44, it’s lateness caused by being on the western edge of the time zone and thus there was time to do some sightseeing. With the sun shining on the mountains we sailed South of Nissos Kefalonia creating a perfect backdrop for a cocktail on deck, or dinner in the Pinnacle or main dining room.