Cape Malea separates the Gulf of Laconia in East from the Aegean Sea to the West and is the final of the 3 Capes as you sail eastwards around the Peloponnese.
Some refer to Cape Malea as the Cape Horn of Greece, being notorious for its treacherous weather and powerful storms which can blow for days, generating dangerous seas.
With these words of warning firmly in our minds, we approached the passage around Cape Malea with great caution. We had been watching the weather forecasts on various sites for a few days and chose to remain anchored at Ormos Sarakiniko for an extra day waiting for a weather window that would not have us bashing to windward in 20+ knots of breeze after rounding the Cape.
We set off from Elafonisos after lunch for the 2 hour passage to the Cape and the wind forecasts were absolutely spot on. Lady Roslyn was very happy in 12-14 knots of northerly breeze with only the Genoa out and we enjoyed brisk, flat water sailing, until just before Cape Malea, when the wind died completely.
This allowed us to stop Lady Roslyn to admire the landscape and the remoteness of the monastery perched at the very tip of this Cape, before motoring along this rugged coastline to Monemvasia, our anchorage for the night.
