Well, we finally made it off the dock. We spent the morning trying to find an internet cafe… The first one we came across was managed by kids playing computer games who were pretty much techno-useless. We then got back on the tram and found another place a few blocks away…they didn’t mind us unplugging their machine and hooking up the laptop.
After we did an upload we went grocery shopping….a few times. Cheap wine!
Finally off the dock at 1500….for a three hour tour! No pun intended…we really did hit our first hurdle (literally) after roughly three hours. OK everyone…take note…..they do not have deadheads in the Mediterranean….they do however….have lots and lots of plastic! At least you can see a crab trap line….maybe a little late occasionally (Rob?) but clear plastic is a little more difficult. Hmm, how much do we actually want to divulge on this trip…is the HA limited to the Pacific?
Alright…here’s our tale of woe. We left Piraeus at 1500 hrs…we felt like motoring instead of sailing because it was blowing directly at us and we were limited in our daylight hours available. We marvel at the unbelievable blue of these waters!
At 1557 hrs we discovered to our surprise that Mediterranean charts are somewhat less accurate than those we are used to….and one should not necessarily rely on ones GPS readings. Our charts indicated that we were in between 7 and 13 m…when in fact our depth sounder suddenly skyrocketed (really!) to roughly 1 m! (as measured from the bottom of the keel). Of note….there are no thermoclines or algae blooms here to disrupt the accuracy of ones depth sounder. In fact, one can quite easily see the bottom if one actually looks! Oh look….fish! Kirk was at the wheel and had faith that luckily saw him through without incident.
Shortly thereafter (1736 hrs), we noted a large fender floating apparently freely in the water. Being typical West Coast scavengers…we were tempted to go get it. However, our engine suddenly started vibrating radically and both of us shot our gazes at said fender to see if it was rapidly approaching us (sound familiar Rob?). No, said fender was quite stationary and not approaching us….leaving us slightly perplexed as to the source of our engine difficulty. When at low RPM, the vibration was minimal…but above 1000 RPM, there was a considerable shimmy. So…what to do, what to do…… thankfully, our good friends Rob and Deb have instilled in us a shallow confidence that we possibly know what we are doing on a sailboat.
We had not actually planned to sail today…however, the Greek gods decided we that we were committing some form of sacrilege and that should we truly wish to experience the Greek ways…we must now hoist our sails since our engine had forsaken us!
Now we are racing along at 1.5-2.0 knots ….. and we have 6 nautical miles to go…and the sun is on its way down…… Actually, we have more than 10 miles to where we planned on being…but a convenient little cove that was aside as a plan B…..was closer!
Now to the joys of tacking! Our two choices of direction were directly toward a large rocky island.,….or out to sea………. so we alternated between the two….while still running our motor at 1000 RPM….because at this point we are afraid to shut it off.
So, the plan is to head in between the mainland and the large rocky island while power sailing. Paige is now at the helm and confidently keeping her distance from the charted shallows. Suddenly the depth rockets up to 1.8.m! Abrupt about face! New plan! Circumnavigate the small rocky island and approach plan B harbour from the opposite side!
Finally, at 2006 hrs (a total of 3 nautical miles) later…..we limp into Chapel cove where we pray that we will have enough engine thrust to actually set the anchor! Luckily we have all chain….60 m in total (and as an aside here…we have yet to be in waters greater than 70m)…..and a WINDLASS! What fun! We can dump it all…and retrieve it with minimal effort! Gotta get us one of these!
After a little bit of futzing we agree that we are in fact anchored.
Oh Kirk….time for a swim! Here’s the mask and snorkel…go see if we caught something or if we in fact have a real engine problem that will end our trip here and now. At least it’s warmer than Howe Sound. And we have lots of hot water.
As luck would have it, we indeed hooked a large chunk of plastic and are not facing any repairs. And didn’t Kirk look so cute with a blue head and blue arms from the fresh bottom paint. I offered him a pot scrubber to wash his head, but he only seemed mildly amused.
Many dives later, the plastic was removed from our prop and shaft and Kirk was once more welcomed aboard as I cheered from the deck.
And now, several hours later, and several drinks later…..we write this and say “And so ends day one”. And what will tomorrow hold in store……..we think with trepidation…… You may note that photos are limited for today….you may also note that really, our hands were quite full…I am certain we will do better……
May 3rd rolls into May 4th 2005
While technically this is day two on the water, it is in fact, an extension of day one. We crawled into our bunk at roughly 0045 hrs and began to drift off to the various clunks, creaks and thumps that the Pink Elephant makes. Chapel cove was 100% populated by local boats on mooring buoys when we arrived and one lone sailboat came in and took up residence at a buoy after dark. Otherwise, we were the only boat at anchor.
Just as we were falling into a deep slumber, I noted the sound of a very strong engine that seemed to be getting closer and popped the hatch for a look. A very large boat was heading directly for us and suddenly switched two very strong floodlights on us and night turned into day! The vessel veered off slightly and we could see that it was a Hellenic Coast Guard vessel. An authoritative figure came on deck and began to yell in Greek at the two gopher like heads peering out of the front hatch cover. Paige bleated out “English?”. We seem to have heard two different responses….Kirk heard “how many people on board” “I heard how long are you here?” Kirk yelled back “two!” We were then forcefully instructed to turn on the cabin lights and come on deck.
Okee dokee!
Luckily we both had PJ’s on. Kirk opened up the back hatch and we both stepped out onto the aft deck. I was thinking at this point that they must really want their 3 Euro port charge! But really, at 0130 hrs? There were now two authorities staring us down and they turned the brightest floodlight known to mankind directly into our faces. I guess we didn’t appear too threatening in our disheveled sleepy state, because the first authority gave us a backhanded wave and said something like “OK”. It became night again and they turned their attention to the other sailboat that had taken up residence at the mooring buoy.
Then the real fun began!
They sounded the horn at the other boat (they were flying a German flag) and began to yell at them. They too were told to turn on lights and come on deck. Then they said that they were coming aboard and began to maneuver closer and hold out fenders. Suddenly there was a siren on board the Coast Guard vessel and people started running around the boat. Then one of the engines died on them. They had hooked a mooring buoy that didn’t have a boat on it. Although the picture is blurry, see below for proof that this actually occurred!
We would like to officially nominate the Hellenic Coast Guard for the HA (Horse’s Ass) award this year!
Much yelling (and probably swearing) in Greek followed. Eventually someone went in the water and for the for the next hour or so, they were trying to get unhooked. Eventually they did, and it appeared that the sail boaters that they were trying to board had gone back to bed. We of course, were enjoying the show to the fullest (while keeping a low profile…didn’t think they’d be in a good mood after all this). Finally they began to back out of the area at full throttle AND STRAIGHT TOWARDS THE SIDE OF OUR BOAT! No joke, the words “brace for impact” were just about to come shrieking out of my mouth (this incredibly large steel boat was probably less than ten feet from us and doing roughly ten knots in reverse), the adrenaline in both Kirk and I peaked, and we heard the fellow on the back deck yell something (must have seen the two terrified white gophers looking out of the hatch), and the vessel was clicked into forward and gunned at full throttle. Without a doubt, that was the most frightening moment we have EVER had on the water. We are quite confident that if we had connected, our boat would have been sunk.
The prop wash pushed our boat quite some distance. They circled us one more time and slunk off into the night with no lights on. And so we tried to go to sleep and prayed that day one was finally over. Perhaps we will take a nap tomorrow….methinks we will need it, sleep was not quickly forthcoming with so much adrenaline coursing through our veins.
