Meltemi Blowing
Posted at 5:49 PM, Jul. 2, 2008
Well we met Erik and Linda off the ferry from Athens at around 2100 hrs with some large cold beers ready at the taverna next to the ferry wharf. But we think they brought the meltemi (NE winds) with them – the meltemi has been blowing hard ever since they arrived and strengthening every day rather that showing any sighs of abating. And this has been accompanied by a drop in temperatures to a comfortable mid 20’s level.
I replaced the anchor chain while in Poros as the galvanising had all worn off with the winch setup and it was cheaper to replace it than regalvanise - the rationalisation being that I will save more than the cost in diesel savings. Just managed to get that job finished before they arrived.
We were on town quay when the ferry arrived but in order to get away from the generators from the ferry boat running all night nearby we anchored off, had an enjoyable late dinner, drank some wine and caught up with events since we last caught up nearly 20 years ago. It was great and as though we had not seen them since yesterday. So yes Allan we are having FUN! The following morning we left Poros for a 45 mile sail across to the island of Kythnos and to the port of the same name. Broad reaching to running in breezy conditions with up to 30 knots at times – Linda suffering from jetlag but has since got her sealegs!
Kythnos turned out to be a delightful port and town and we secured a good spot on the quay next to a Swiss owned Halberg Rassy for the night of Saturday 28th June. With the wind up we decided to stay in Kynthos a second night and that also enabled us to secure ring side seats at a local taverna so we could watch the final of the European Cup where Spain ultimately beat Germany. All the Taverna set up TV's for the night.
Waiting for the start of the European Cup - David, Ann, Alain,Erik,LInda,Keith,Pam
A most enthusiastic crowd in the taverna and In fact the whole town was full and buzzing. The evening entertainment followed a long lunch with our neighbours off Eos the Halberg Rassy that has Alain, David and Ann on it also sailing across to Turkey. This team have got well hooked into Ouzo so it was a long session. Alain has done an Atlantic solo crossing on a 29 footer so has plenty of sailing experience under his belt.
The quay in Kythnos on the Sunday night was chaos as every boat that arrived decided that they needed to be quayside. Must have the lure of the European Cup that brought so many into port. So it was a lot of double banking with sterns into the gaps between the hulls of the quayside boats – Alain whose Halberg Rassey is only a year old ran a line between our bows to prevent this happening to us – and he was successful. We had one professional skipper on a charter boat call out for us to move and when I declined he retorted that I am a Greek and I will show you what Greeks can do. So he promptly dropped his anchor over our chain and came in astern to our starboard side with Alain still to port. Needless to say we could not then leave early the following morning as we could not retrieve our anchor. The timing issue became somewhat academic as it took around 3 hours for all the charter boats to sort out their crossed anchors with guys swimming, anchors all over the place and a good deal of yelling. Fortunately we were ok by the time it came for us to leave.
From Kythnos we had a flat off run under mainsail only for about 15 miles to the southern end of Serifos where we thought we might get a sheltered bay for lunch and a swim. However by the time we got down there the meltemi was really howling and anchoring there seemed an unattractive proposition so we headed into the town of Serifos which has a hilltop town standing above the port. The Pilot describes the bay as with average holding and we spent 2 hours trying to get the anchor to hold – including changing the Delta anchor for the Rockna which is the spare anchor we carry and is also a heavier anchor. With the wind at 30-40 knots the bay was pretty chopped up, with several boats having trouble getting an anchor down, and the necessity to allow for plenty of room for swinging. After a frustrating 2 hours of pulling up soft mud I gave it away and we had fast sail for the 8 miles across to a bay (Ormos Ay Yeoryios) at the NW end of Sifnos, which the Pilot described as completely protected from the meltemi.
Linda on the helm takes the days record at 10.6 knots
The Pilot was correct however the bay was so small we could not swing on the anchor but had also to tie the stern off to a small dock in front of a fisherman’s house. As the wind oscillated during the night we found ourselves closer and closer to the shore so at 0530 hrs we up anchored and motored the 3 miles down the coast to Ormos Kamares where we are currently. The quay was full so we anchored off until a few boats left, caught up on some sleep and then moved onto the quay to find ourselves next to Eos once more - so that was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. Kamares is a delightful town characterised by the white houses with blue shutters that are a feature of the Cyclades islands.
Pretty typical scene in the Cyclades - this on Sifnos.
A Swan 100 called in here last night and that was pretty impressive – the last ferry departed about 0130 hrs so they are pretty much around the clock operations – and these are big ferries. The ferry services around the islands are most impressive with huge ferries seemingly providing frequent services to all the islands – they rock into port flat out, stern to in a matter of minutes, pour off numerous cars, trucks and people and within about 10 minutes are off again.
Last night we had the Eos team on board for a very noisy dinner that lasted well into the small hours – and with a very tolerant Frenchman moored on the other side of us. The Navtex reported gale warnings for this area today so we have stayed put and had a bit of a look around the island. Got a taxi up to the main town (chora) of Apollonia and also over to the east side of the island to the mediaeval town of Kastro where the houses are perched high on the cliffs above the sea. Had lunch there courtesy of the Eos team, who we had met over there, and looked out onto a meltemi driven wind swept sea.
Church perched high on cliffs at Kastro, Nisos Sifnos
The current plan is to sail across to Paros tomorrow - that is about 20 miles further east so hoping the wind will abate somewhat although the seas will still be up. From there we hope to go on to Naxos and then catch a ferry down to Santorini (as Santorini is too small for us to get Savarna into) for a night before Erik and Linda leave for Athens on Saturday but time is getting short.
That’s it for now – all very well on board and no-one reporting dehydration.
Cheers
Keith