ADVENTURE SONGBIRD SAILS AROUND THE PELOPONNESE

Steve and his wife Gael sail anti-clockwise round the Peloponnese, braving the legendary Cape Maleas along the way

- Words Steve Greenwood Images Gael Allan

Good luck going round the Peloponnese,’ smiled the seasoned sailor as I told him our plans. He stood at the dock on the Greek Island of Lefkada, looking critically at our yacht as we made last-minute preparations. ‘I ripped my mainsail going round there last year’. With that the bearded seadog gave us a friendly wave and we cast off our stern lines. Were we biting off more than we could chew?

For the last two years my wife Gael and I have kept Songbird, our Beneteau 423, in Corfu. We have been cruising the Ionian Islands, one of the great sailing areas of the Mediterranean. It is beautiful, fascinating and varied. But secluded it is not.

In spring 2024 we were in search of new sites and quieter anchorages. We wanted a bigger adventure... but not too big. Over winter we had studied our charts and decided a circumnavigation of the Peloponnese in the spring was just the ticket. We would travel anti-clockwise and return through the Corinth Canal.

The Peloponnese peninsula is the shape of a four-fingered hand hanging down below Greece.

It is severed from the rest of the country by the Corinth Canal – effectively making it an island. The peninsula divides two very popular sailing areas – the Ionian in the west and the Aegean in the east. But relatively few cruising yachts make the long journey around the coast, preferring the short cut through the canal.

LEGENDARY LOCATION