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Heading back towards the Ionian, west
along the North Coast of Crete
Friday 11th June 2010
Yes, well not heading west today. It is
gusting around F6 in the anchorage from the WNW, and we are hoping that Steel
Sapphire will show up, even if Harriette take things a bit more slowly. They
are both friends from Alanya, where we spent the winter. Probably the 'window'
is for Tuesday, according to our recent Grib forecast.
Friday is market day in Elounda, so we
have been ashore for fresh fruit and vegetables. It is lovely stuff from local
growers. We also plan to test the restaurant that we saw crowded with locals
when we walked on Sunday. That had to say something and we must do it before we
leave. It has been payday for John, so we are feeling relatively flush. My
internet runs out this evening, so I am having to get this done in advance!
Saturday 12th June
We were collecting water ashore, when a
Brit holidaymaker came up and started asking questions about the boat,
initially about our water supply. It emerged that Malcolm and his wife Karen
were thinking about buying a boat in the Ionian, and so we asked them if they
would like to have a look at Fuga by way of encouragement. They spent a while
with us, and I called a favour at some time for a lift to the fuel station to
buy some petrol for the outboard. Steel Sapphire arrived in the afternoon, and
it was not long before we were all aboard for some drinks.
Sunday 13th June
The weather had become very hot, so it was
a welcome relief to get in the water and have a go at the bottom of the boat.
With a rope around the bottom of the keel, and a weight belt on, I was able to
get down and remove most of the coral worm that was infesting the keel. That
evening, Glenn and Lynn joined us for supper on board Fuga, and we 'broke up'
quite late.
Monday 14th June
I jumped on the internet but was
disappointed that Lloyds' interest payment run had not yet happened, so I was
unable to prove to myself that we had a solution to my problem there. We busied
ourselves with a trip to the shops, and a couple of water runs to the beach in
the dinghy.
Tuesday 15th June
Malcolm rang, and we met up at the quay
and he ran me to the petrol station in his hire car. We managed to settle our
banking problem, and organised Agora to put the money in ISA's. We had heard
from Harriette that they were still in Kasos, therefore we had decided that we
would make the break from Spinalonga without seeing them. Glenn came over with
his diving bottle and 'hookah' gear for me to try. He led by example, and cleaned
the rudder and propeller, and then suggested I try it. Not satisfied with my
weight belt with 2kg, he fastened his around my waist to give me a total of
4kg. I was afraid I might sink, which was the object of the exercise after all.
I messed around near the surface, until Glenn encouraged me to take an interest
in the barnacles and other rubbish that was living on the bottom of the keel.
Lynn asked us to come to them, so we enjoyed a delicious BBQ on Steel Sapphire.
Wednesday 16th June, Heronisos, Crete
30nm
After completing our last minute shopping
and water collection, we left Spinalonga, and made our way out of the bay. As
we expected, the winds off the high mountains created tricky gusty conditions,
until we had cleared the point where the wind had a clear fetch. The wind was
westerly, so we were obliged to tack towards our destination. We sailed past
the small harbour at Militos, where there appeared to be a solitary and fairly
small yacht. Sission, a couple of miles further west, looked a great place to
have dinner and take in the sunset, but equally not a very practicable berth.
The next 'marina' we encountered was near Malia, and we thought might serve us
for the night, so we made a very cautious approach. The depths rapidly vanished
in the entrance from 3.5m to less than 2m taking me unawares despite the care:
it took us quite a while to wriggle clear. This expensive folly is at 35 17.8N,
025 28.6E, 4 miles ESE from Hersonisos. We continued on to Heronisos, where we
anchored off the town, south of the harbour. We were entertained all night by
loud music (which stopped abruptly at 0510) and hordes of mosquitoes.
Thursday 17th June, Bali Bay, Crete, 39
nm
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Gouvai marina is operated by the
Marina Hotel |
We sailed along the coast of Crete,
investigating the 'marina' at Gouvai on the way. I had sent them an e-mail,
asking whether there was space for us, but had had no reply. We made a careful
approach, anxious about the rocks that lay outside the entrance, but found 3.5m
in the entrance itself. There was a handful of boats there, including a small
yacht, and room available on the outer breakwater. With the Marina hotel
adjacent, it looked as if the place might be more viable as a berth. From this
point we tacked out of the bay away from Iraklion. Once around the second
headland, Dias Pt, there seemed nowhere to anchor as the mountains came down
steep-to, although the depths were not very great. (There may be an anchorage
at Fodele Bay open to the north west under Stavros Pt. Bali Bay opened up when
we got quite close. There are three beaches, with hotels and bars all around,
and it seemed an attractive spot. We anchored south of the breakwater.
Friday 18th June, Saturday 19th Bay of
Navarinon 186 nm
We left Bali at 0615 on 18th June. We had
decided by now to make for Pilos in the bay of Navarinon as with strong winds
forecast for next week none of the anchorages seemed particularly secure or
attractive. Initially we had a light westerly breeze, which we tried to use,
except that it was setting us well north of our intended track. We gave up and
started to motor sail to keep closer to the rhumb line.
Our diversion had taken us well clear of
the coast, so I had some difficulty in getting a grib file to download via the
mobile. Later in the afternoon, as we passed Spathi point, we managed to get a
limited grib file down. This was depressing, as it showed very little wind. We
hove to before supper and nightfall and emptied our remaining large cans of
diesel into the tank. It has been some time since we last had a proper 'fill'
(in Cyprus), and our fuel gauge being erratic, we were trying to calculate our
remaining fuel based on engine and generator hours, and litres of fuel added
since. It did not help that I miscalculated 'hours to run' by dividing 5 knots
into 140 to get 38!
I took the watch from supper until
midnight, which included the approach to Andikithera and the off lying rocks
and reef: fortunately the half moon was illuminating the scene quite nicely. It
is a busy place, with ships converging on the fairly narrow channel from all
directions, and we were glad to have NavMon interpreting the AIS for us. It
proved hard to wake Mo, and we both remained up while we negotiated the islet
of Avgo, two miles south of Kithera. The moon had disappeared, and our
'waypoint' on the radar, which was supposed to give us a mile clearance, was in
fact sitting on top of the echo from the rock. As we passed it, I concluded
that it was 0.6miles SSE of where it is shown on the chart?
Mo did her best with the light northerly
wind through her watch, but as dawn arrived and I came back up, the NE wind
settled in to give us some very fast (7-8 knots) sailing conditions for a
while. It was not to last however, and we were soon motoring again into a light
westerly breeze! The waters between Kithera and the Peloponese were equally
busy with shipping, and we sailed a little way into Messiniakos bay in order to
keep out of their way. The wind picked up again, and we were almost able to lay
our course to pass inside Vrak Venetico. We encountered another yacht, and I
was glad to have the opportunity to race him for the gap (although not quite
making it, we soon overtook him!). Again, after a while, the wind died, and we
completed the journey upto Methoni and around to Pilos under engine. We arrived
in the Bay of Navarinon at 1700 hrs on 19th June. Steel Sapphire, who had spent
the night at Kayio, arrived around two hours ahead of us, and had already
spotted us entering the bay when we called them up to find out where they were.
We joined them where they were anchored off the beach at the north of the bay.
Sunday 20th June
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We enjoyed the day, and took in our
beautiful surroundings. Mo was still suffering from an injured foot, having
slipped off the cockpit seating in Spinalonga, so was unable to join in Steel
Sapphire's exhortations to come on a walk. We set off for Navarino castle,
overlooking the anchorage. Apparently a notice along the road announces that it
is now closed to the public. Certainly the state of the stonework, and open
deep cisterns, would make it seem quite hazardous. We found a gap in the wall,
overlooking Voidokoilia Cove, with a path leading down. It became quite steep
and was in places more of a scramble, but came out at the entrance to Nestor's
Cave. Having spent a while looking at the cave, we continued on down, and made
our way back along the lagoon. The area is now a nature reserve, and there are
hides for bird watching.
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