Leaving Vagrant safely tucked up in Nidri for a couple of weeks, we made a short visit to the UK to visit family. Dominic very kindly collected us from Gatwick, and then drove to Worcestershire the next day to celebrate our good friend Mark's birthday.
Significant birthdays are popular this year. As soon as we had returned to the boat, we were heading north to join Rich and Ruth who we met on Gibraltar for Rich's 50th. Rich and Ruth are commercial skippers, and were running a birthday bash flotilla of friends and regular customers (50 of them, would you believe). We built a raft of twelve yachts anchored in Lakka bay on the island of Paxos.
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| Birthday Boy up the mast |
We were hoping for a typical Ionian nor'westerly to head back south, but the wind gods didn't want to play. So we did a little each day, and too many engine hours, to reach Vathi on Ithaca. There we took a few days to enjoy the place. The locals marked the foundation of the Ionian league of islands with some marching (the band at least was in time) and speeches.
We need to be in Türkiye at the start of June because of Schengen, and because we have guests coming to visit. So again we set off with unpromising winds, but keen to sail. There were two days of reasonable westerlies forecast, so we pushed on up wind to a rolly anchorage off Poros, then set off for an overnight passage towards Kithera.
The wind more or less turned up, but we were by no means fast (and starting to suspect the hull might need a good clean), so decided to pull into Porto Kayo around the middle point (Taínaron) for the night rather than spend the night navigating the very busy shipping lane. Of course, as soon as we rounded the cape we were flattened by 40kt gusts and quickly changed from a full main to three reefs. We made it safely into Porto Kayo and anchored in the dark.
The following morning we continued on down to Kithera. This was a new island for us and we were excited to get there and explore. We made two stops on the island and found that we really liked the place.
Whilst in Kapsali on the bottom of Kithera, the wind began to blow very strongly again and a single handed yachtsman limped into the bay needing assistance having blown out his foresail. The sheet from his foresail had become caught around his rudder, limiting his ability to maneuver. A Greek tripper boat went out and dropped a flotilla skipper aboard. All the boats on the quay were moved to create a space and the damaged yacht was then bought safely along side the quay.
The second night in Kapsali was again windy. The boat anchored next to us to dragged anchor around 5am. Unfortumately they got some fishing gear tangled whilst retreiving their anchor, so re-anchoring took them quite some time. Phil kept a watch for the duration of their troubles and communicated with them on the VHF, in case they required any assistance.
We set of to Crete that morning. It was very windy in the bay but the forecast predicted wind strength in the 20kt region, with maximum gusts of 31kts and decreasing across the day. Outside harbour the wind increased significantly, accelerating around the corner of the island. We had sustained mid 30kts and gusts into the low 40s. We considered turning back, but decided to continue and see what the wind as like away from the effects of the land. This turned out to be the right call as the wind dropped down to what was predicted and we made it safely to Crete.
Our first stop on Crete was behind a small island off the very North East corner. It was very pretty. The water was an amazing turquoise and the craggy hills had huge aloe vera growing on them.
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However, exploring on land was not to be, as the night had to be spent on anchor watch. The wind picked up and accelerated down the hills gusting up to 29kts and the holding was poor with sand over rock. So next morning despite a weather forcast that said very little wind, we picked up the anchor and moved on, aiming for a town and the ability to get off and explore. After a light wind trip with far too much motoring, we arrived to find our plans once again scuppered. The harbour master told us that the harbour was full and we would have to anchor outside the town or go somewhere else. Outside the town was very swelly so we found a near by islet and used the forward and aft anchoring technique. This really helped and we were able get a much needed night's sleep.
A strategy meeting was held about our plans for Crete and what we wanted to see and achieve here. The outcome was a decision to journey virtually all the way across the top of Crete to the North East corner. There is a bay there called Spinalonga, that has all round protection, a small town in the corner and a historic site of the leper colony to visit. This seemed to be a good place to regroup. We therefore set off on a another 24 hour trip in light airs. The afternoon was very frustrating as the action of the swell was making the sails collapse and the snatch back into place. This was very loud and very annoyimg. We ended up motoring for a few hours before the wind finally filled in and we were able to sail effectively through the night.
Having spent a few days in Spinalonga, our sights have turned toward the trip to Turkey. We are preparing for this 24 hour trip by checking and cleaning the bottom and filling the stores with Mythos. The later being the highest priority.
Update, the next day...
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