Heading South

13

We hung out at Byblos taverna for a bit yesterday afternoon before heading back to the boat. It was SO hot in Nidri that we understand why the locals close shop and disappear at midday. Nidri is a dusty little place, and, it really wasn’t a place we wanted to hang out for long.

We had a light dinner of tomato and cucumber salad with feta cheese of a creamy texture and delicious flavour the likes of which we never encounter in Canada. A glass of wine in the cockpit ….snuggled in under a blanket….and a few hours later we both woke up. Could have slept the whole night under the stars really. It was so calm, and so quiet. Very serene. But we hauled ourselves in and crawled into bed below in the end.

Up and away by 8 am with the initial goal of Fiskardo on the agenda. Fiskardo is said to be the only town left untouched by the devastating earthquake in 1953 which destroyed virtually everything else on the island of Cephalonia. It is thought to have survived the quake by virtue of being built on mud which gave it some give during the shaking.

But again…plans change. While we intend to visit Fiskardo, we think we will stop in on our way back and decide to make it a long day and pull for Poros on the Southern end of Cephalonia.

As we round out of Nidri we can see Skorpios ahead. This island is owned by the Onassis family but is in limbo since it is not frequented by the family much anymore. It is maintained and there is apparently very good security on it and it is illegal to come ashore. One can anchor off it but that is all. Jaquie Onassis’ beach hut is apparently on the other side, the place she would come to get away from it all. Aristotle, his son Alexander, and daughter Christina are all buried here under the shade of a tree.

As we leave the protection of the inside of Nisos Lefkas and cross the channel to Ithaca the winds rise to 12 knots. Time to pull the sails. And as the main comes out, the tack end pops loose again! So we reef the main slightly to give us some comfort that it won’t pull loose any further. Neither one of has the experience to deal with a problem with the rigging so it’s better to play safe than sorry. Out comes the genoa and we can finally cut the engines and sail….for a few minutes…because the wind is fickle and no sooner are we picking up a bit of speed (still slower than motoring) than the wind drops back down and unless we want to go in the opposite direction…the sails have to come back in. Yes, I realize that sailing is all about going completely the wrong direction usually…. and if we did not have such a long haul in front of us we would play a bit more. But it is not a good idea to be coming into harbour later than about 4 pm at what amounts to one of the only safe harbours at the far end of an inhospitable coastline. We want to get a berth at the quay as the anchorages are scare down there.

At least we can say we had the sails up for a short time. This all feels familiar to us from the Cyclades..either too much or none at all. Luckily we have not had the issue of too much arise.

Ithaca is along our Starboard side. The home of Odysseus and his wife Penelope. The area, while not home to any major ruins, is a place steeped in history. After the Trojan war, Odysseus spent 10 years sailing for home and although many of the locations in the Odyssey have been disputed for centuries some artifacts have been found here that suggest this is in fact the Ithaca of that time period.

As we motor along we take photos of the boat for you Rae! We hope you enjoy them.

Two military jets scream by overhead and break the monotony momentarily. But Terrorize the Tourists Tuesday was yesterday and we are not on todays agenda.

Several long, windless, uneventful hours later we are passed by a charter flying a German flag. I don’t know why, but I feel as if they are racing to ensure they get the best spot before we get there. It’s not like there are a terrible number of boats heading this way, they are all heading up to Sami or Ay Eufimia. I tell myself that I am being unkind. We truly have not encountered any of the rude behaviour that we endured in the Cyclades.

As we approach Poros we start to scan with the spy goggles. Something doesn’t seem quite right….the ferry is not where the information says it should be. In fact everything seems backwards. The books note that there is work underway on one side, but it would appear that it has been finished and the ferry has moved. So that seems like good news. As we near the breakwater a couple on the end call out to us “All the way from Canada!?!” I call back, “Just the operators, not the boat. There really is very little to indicate that this is a charter boat, many people think it is ours.

We can see three masts which would indicate that there will be lots of room…..until we round the corner and see that the Germans have very obnoxiously tied up alongside and taken the equivalent of about five spots. We decide to stern tie in front of them and set up to approach. They actually have the audacity to look annoyed.

As I start to lay out the anchor and chain and we back up the depth sounder starts bleeping. It is very unhappy when it reads less than 3 m and I can’t blame it. We draw about 1.8 m and I’d be happy with more than a metre of water below us in a harbour that sports a large ferry and its associated wash. I look down and the bottom seems awfully close….”Kirk, what’s our depth?” 1.7m is the reply….and we are not yet ont he quay.

ABORT, ABORT, ABORT!!!

I pull the anchor rode back in and we circle to see where we can go alternatively. There is lots of apparent dock space, but much of it is unusable due to a marking for a smaller ferry and a significant lack of dock rings.

We are quite simply pissed at that German boat.

As I scan the quay I see a man in a uniform zip down on a scooter. He looks official…yup, I recognize that uniform and I never screw with it. He is gesturing at the Germans and appears to be indicating that they must tie stern to. He points out to me and indicates that we should stern in immediately behind where the German boat lies alongside.

A friendly Aussie calls out from a small boat at the other end of the ferry markers “Would you like a hand?” “That’d be great!” I call back. The Germans sit there and look on….this is so familiar and we remember why they irritated us so much in the Cyclades. I have nothing against Germans, German blood flow in both my veins and Kirks, but there is something we really dislike about German sailors. There is an arrogance and a air of entitlement that is infuriating at times.

We get ourselves happily settled in 3.5 metres and tie off the lines. The Germans finish filling their water tank and pull out to stern in as told to by the Port Authorities. As they pull off we untie our stern and slide our boat over since we are within the ferry markers and want to be over a bit more. One German stayed ashore and seem completely unhappy that we are moving over a bit. He keeps saying that he thinks we are fine where we are. We persist and simply move our lines. The German boat comes in alongside but still keeps more distance than we think they should. Quite frankly they are being piggy about their space.

But very quickly they are inundated on the other side and it’s quite funny. Here comes another Sailing Holidays flotilla! We hear the Aussie on the radio leading someone in and as he passes he says to Kirk that he has 10 boats on their way in. We look at the German boat and think if we pull our dinghy up front they could snug over to us and there would be room for another boat. Somehow I doubt that they will offer though…

And LO! There is a free wifi signal that I can access from the boat! Will wonders never cease? It’s a crappy connection though…and drops about every 60 seconds…so we will see if I can get photos uploaded….

Photos to follow!