I was surprised to see the performance of my Grand Soleil 45' this summer. We were sailing the Aegean sea, most of the time going upwind. In previous cruises, we learned that she can sail close hauled, in a ground wind as light as 6 knots, and still make about 5 knots.
This summer, sailing the Aegean, We've learned to sail her in much stronger winds. The regular summer winds in the Aegean are strong North winds. Anywhere between 5-9 beaufort is the standard wind in the Agean. So sailing against the wind here is a different story. We learned that we can reef the sails aggressivley (1-2 reefs on the main) and a small napkin on the jib would still take us at 7-9 knots with much less heeling and as fast as with full sails. She can sail as good as 34 degrees to the apparent wind, so we can practically get anywhere with just a couple of tacks.
If the wind is not terribly strong (let's say around 22 knots) we would have two reefs on the main and a full jib. This way we can go really close to the wind but with not much heeling.
We once sailed next to a beautiful 51' Beneteau, in a 12 knot wind. We had just the jib working for us, while the main sail was all the way out (flapping strongly) so the other boat could catch up with us, and we were still making 4 knots, which was faster than the Beneteau with almost full sails up.
The one thing that's less impressive is if you try to motor up wind in high waves. The boat would start jumping on the waves, hitting the water aggressively. We don't like the sound of it, so we just slow down when we go against the sea. I guess that's because she has a flat bow with a vertical ending. The hull works great under sails, but not so well under power.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The Dolphin show
We are now in Kea, waiting for the weather to calm down. We only have one leg ahead of us before we get to Aegina – our final destination.
On Monday, we had a long sail from Orei to Khalkida. It’s about a 60 mile ride, but we had everything that day: wind from any direction and at various forces, some motoring, lovely sunset, and an amazingly long Dolphin show.
We started at 8:30am motoring into the Evia channel with no wind at all. We went slowly as we were trying to catch some fish (no luck on that). A couple of hours later, the wind picked up (straight on our nose) and with it came a school of maybe 10 Dolphins. They started by a couple of high vertical jumps and kept swimming on our bow wave, 3 to 5 of them, over and over again. The were going on the bow wave for some time, then swimming faster on, then jumping and then returning to our bow. As scenery, on both our beams, other dolphins were swimming and jumping. It kept going on and on for about an hour.
It was a spectacular show, very exciting to all of us. Noga thought it’s the cutest animal on earth.
When they left, we decided to start tacking against the prevailing wind, as we had the time and we only had to do some tacking till we can set our course on Khalkida.
As we started sailing, the dolphins came back and rejoined us, kept playing the same old game.
Towards the end of the day, the wind got a little crazy. It would shift in 180 degrees in seconds. The good thing is that we could see it coming (Yael’s specialty is to predict what’s about to happen with the wind). So we managed to sail all the way to Khalkida, through the sunset and the fishing boats outside the town of Khalkida.
At midnight we crossed the bridge and anchored in the bay, ready for a long sailing day to Kea.
I updated the photo album with the latest pictures, and mapped them as well.
On Monday, we had a long sail from Orei to Khalkida. It’s about a 60 mile ride, but we had everything that day: wind from any direction and at various forces, some motoring, lovely sunset, and an amazingly long Dolphin show.
We started at 8:30am motoring into the Evia channel with no wind at all. We went slowly as we were trying to catch some fish (no luck on that). A couple of hours later, the wind picked up (straight on our nose) and with it came a school of maybe 10 Dolphins. They started by a couple of high vertical jumps and kept swimming on our bow wave, 3 to 5 of them, over and over again. The were going on the bow wave for some time, then swimming faster on, then jumping and then returning to our bow. As scenery, on both our beams, other dolphins were swimming and jumping. It kept going on and on for about an hour.
It was a spectacular show, very exciting to all of us. Noga thought it’s the cutest animal on earth.
When they left, we decided to start tacking against the prevailing wind, as we had the time and we only had to do some tacking till we can set our course on Khalkida.
As we started sailing, the dolphins came back and rejoined us, kept playing the same old game.
Towards the end of the day, the wind got a little crazy. It would shift in 180 degrees in seconds. The good thing is that we could see it coming (Yael’s specialty is to predict what’s about to happen with the wind). So we managed to sail all the way to Khalkida, through the sunset and the fishing boats outside the town of Khalkida.
At midnight we crossed the bridge and anchored in the bay, ready for a long sailing day to Kea.
I updated the photo album with the latest pictures, and mapped them as well.
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| Princess Nayeli summer 2009 |
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Back to Orei
On Sunday (August 9th), we left Panormos bay and sailed nicely with the wind back to Orei (we’ve been here about a month ago).
The port was almost full. There was one good berth left, but it was blocked by lines of the two neighboring power boats. We decided to go in anyway. We made it till the blocking lines and waited there to see if we can find the owners of those boats. After a long wait, we decided to behave as the locals would and move one of the lines so that we can go all the way in. We’ve done so, with the help of someone on the quay. As we got in, the owner of the other boat came back, he pushed the button on his remote control to open up the gangway, and went on board his boat. While doing so, he mentioned that another boat is planned to come at 5pm into our berth and that it’s pre arranged.
As this is not our first day in Greece, we knew that there is no such thing to reserve berths in Greek ports, so we just ignored him. You could tell by the look on his face that he has no case.
To be on the safe side, I took the boat papers and went to the port police. The policeman there, was very nice to me, and naturally, knew nothing about this reserved berth. He told me I can stay and even said I don’t need to pay if it’s just for one night.
End of story.
The port was almost full. There was one good berth left, but it was blocked by lines of the two neighboring power boats. We decided to go in anyway. We made it till the blocking lines and waited there to see if we can find the owners of those boats. After a long wait, we decided to behave as the locals would and move one of the lines so that we can go all the way in. We’ve done so, with the help of someone on the quay. As we got in, the owner of the other boat came back, he pushed the button on his remote control to open up the gangway, and went on board his boat. While doing so, he mentioned that another boat is planned to come at 5pm into our berth and that it’s pre arranged.
As this is not our first day in Greece, we knew that there is no such thing to reserve berths in Greek ports, so we just ignored him. You could tell by the look on his face that he has no case.
To be on the safe side, I took the boat papers and went to the port police. The policeman there, was very nice to me, and naturally, knew nothing about this reserved berth. He told me I can stay and even said I don’t need to pay if it’s just for one night.
End of story.
Out of Skiros
On Friday morning we checked the forecast carefully and found out that we have a good window where we can sail back North toward the Sporades. We didn’t know if we would hit Skantzoura or Skopelos but whichever would be good for us as it would be out of the range of the 6-7Bft.
So we left Skiros at 10am. Once past cape Oro we got a steady wind of about 18-20 knots, 60 degrees off our bow. We had two reefs on the main and we were running at 7.5 knots.
We had a beautiful sail (only a little bumpy) till we got close to Alonissos. There we learned the true meaning of a new term: “Borino”. Borino, is some kind of an air turbulence or something like that.
As we got closer to Alonissos, the wind dropped significantly and we kept seeing massive clouds over Alonissos. Yael asked me what they meant, but I had no idea. Fortunately (and thanks to Yael) we still had two reefs on the main (but full blown jib) as we got under the clouds.
Then suddenly, the wind picked up to gusts of up to 25 knots straight on our nose (Borino, I guess).
We quickly furled the jib to the smallest napkin we could get, and sailed close hauled towards Skopelos. The problem was that we couldn’t go close enough and according to my calculation we would have ended up 7 miles south of Skopelos.
After some debate, we decided to keep going and hope that the wind would drop. And this is what happened! When we got to the south most tip of Skopelos, the winds from both sides of the Island merged and the result was almost no wind. This was a good opportunity to take off all the sails and just motor into Panormos bay on Skopelos.
On Friday morning we checked the forecast carefully and found out that we have a good window where we can sail back North toward the Sporades. We didn’t know if we would hit Skantzoura or Skopelos but whichever would be good for us as it would be out of the range of the 6-7Bft.
So we left Skiros at 10am. Once past cape Oro we got a steady wind of about 18-20 knots, 60 degrees off our bow. We had two reefs on the main and we were running at 7.5 knots.
We had a beautiful sail (only a little bumpy) till we got close to Alonissos. There we learned the true meaning of a new term: “Borino”. Borino, is some kind of an air turbulence or something like that.
As we got closer to Alonissos, the wind dropped significantly and we kept seeing massive clouds over Alonissos. Yael asked me what they meant, but I had no idea. Fortunately (and thanks to Yael) we still had two reefs on the main (but full blown jib) as we got under the clouds.
Then suddenly, the wind picked up to gusts of up to 25 knots straight on our nose (Borino, I guess).
We quickly furled the jib to the smallest napkin we could get, and sailed close hauled towards Skopelos. The problem was that we couldn’t go close enough and according to my calculation we would have ended up 7 miles south of Skopelos.
After some debate, we decided to keep going and hope that the wind would drop. And this is what happened! When we got to the south most tip of Skopelos, the winds from both sides of the Island merged and the result was almost no wind. This was a good opportunity to take off all the sails and just motor into Panormos bay on Skopelos.
So we left Skiros at 10am. Once past cape Oro we got a steady wind of about 18-20 knots, 60 degrees off our bow. We had two reefs on the main and we were running at 7.5 knots.
We had a beautiful sail (only a little bumpy) till we got close to Alonissos. There we learned the true meaning of a new term: “Borino”. Borino, is some kind of an air turbulence or something like that.
As we got closer to Alonissos, the wind dropped significantly and we kept seeing massive clouds over Alonissos. Yael asked me what they meant, but I had no idea. Fortunately (and thanks to Yael) we still had two reefs on the main (but full blown jib) as we got under the clouds.
Then suddenly, the wind picked up to gusts of up to 25 knots straight on our nose (Borino, I guess).
We quickly furled the jib to the smallest napkin we could get, and sailed close hauled towards Skopelos. The problem was that we couldn’t go close enough and according to my calculation we would have ended up 7 miles south of Skopelos.
After some debate, we decided to keep going and hope that the wind would drop. And this is what happened! When we got to the south most tip of Skopelos, the winds from both sides of the Island merged and the result was almost no wind. This was a good opportunity to take off all the sails and just motor into Panormos bay on Skopelos.
On Friday morning we checked the forecast carefully and found out that we have a good window where we can sail back North toward the Sporades. We didn’t know if we would hit Skantzoura or Skopelos but whichever would be good for us as it would be out of the range of the 6-7Bft.
So we left Skiros at 10am. Once past cape Oro we got a steady wind of about 18-20 knots, 60 degrees off our bow. We had two reefs on the main and we were running at 7.5 knots.
We had a beautiful sail (only a little bumpy) till we got close to Alonissos. There we learned the true meaning of a new term: “Borino”. Borino, is some kind of an air turbulence or something like that.
As we got closer to Alonissos, the wind dropped significantly and we kept seeing massive clouds over Alonissos. Yael asked me what they meant, but I had no idea. Fortunately (and thanks to Yael) we still had two reefs on the main (but full blown jib) as we got under the clouds.
Then suddenly, the wind picked up to gusts of up to 25 knots straight on our nose (Borino, I guess).
We quickly furled the jib to the smallest napkin we could get, and sailed close hauled towards Skopelos. The problem was that we couldn’t go close enough and according to my calculation we would have ended up 7 miles south of Skopelos.
After some debate, we decided to keep going and hope that the wind would drop. And this is what happened! When we got to the south most tip of Skopelos, the winds from both sides of the Island merged and the result was almost no wind. This was a good opportunity to take off all the sails and just motor into Panormos bay on Skopelos.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Skiros – the Island of winds
I had this desire for many years to go visit Skiros. Skiros, is an island that on one hand belongs to the Northern Sporades but on the other hand is located in the middle of the Aegean sea, away from any other island or land. It sits in the path of the summer wind of the Aegean called “Meltemi”, and therefore the locals call it: The Island of Winds.
We decided to take our chances and use the time we have to do our way south through Skiros since the weather looked pretty good.
So we got to Skiros on Wednesday August 5th, just to find out that it was given its name for a good reason. The visible forecast, almost a week from now is for 7bft, and we need to cross the channel of Doros (between Evvia and Andros) which is known for its high seas when the Meltemi blows.
So as it looks right now, we’re changing plans and are waiting for the wind to calm down so we can sneak back north and just to enter the Evvia channel and do our way south through the bridge of khalkis and avoid all this area of bad weather.
The boat is properly moored in the port of Linaria, and we're waiting for the weather to calm down. At least it is nice and cool here...
We decided to take our chances and use the time we have to do our way south through Skiros since the weather looked pretty good.
So we got to Skiros on Wednesday August 5th, just to find out that it was given its name for a good reason. The visible forecast, almost a week from now is for 7bft, and we need to cross the channel of Doros (between Evvia and Andros) which is known for its high seas when the Meltemi blows.
So as it looks right now, we’re changing plans and are waiting for the wind to calm down so we can sneak back north and just to enter the Evvia channel and do our way south through the bridge of khalkis and avoid all this area of bad weather.
The boat is properly moored in the port of Linaria, and we're waiting for the weather to calm down. At least it is nice and cool here...
The Lost Dinghy
One day when we sailed a short way across the channel from Steni Vala to Peristera, Yael was driving the boat while I was at the bow setting up some stuff.
When I came back astern, I noticed that the dinghy was missing.
We usually tow the dinghy (our small tender boat) behind us while the engine is secured to Princess Nayeli’s deck. This time, since we only had a short path we left it on the dinghy.
So the dinghy was lost together with the outboard engine!!!
We turned back immediately and started looking for it. The wind was blowing at about 15 knots so we just went down wind looking for her.
And then we saw her. She was about a mile south of us, about to hit the rocks of Alonissos. And one more surprise – an 8m semi rigid power boat was riding towards our dinghy at full speed. We knew that if they get there first, they’ll have the dinghy or at least demand 50% of her value as “rescue fee”.
We got there together!
While we were maneuvering around her, the other boar caught the dinghy.
We told them that this is our boat, and fortunately they could see that she had the name “Princess Nayeli” written on her bow.
They were then kind enough to return our dinghy.
Needless to say that since then we double check that the dinghy is properly tied.
When I came back astern, I noticed that the dinghy was missing.
We usually tow the dinghy (our small tender boat) behind us while the engine is secured to Princess Nayeli’s deck. This time, since we only had a short path we left it on the dinghy.
So the dinghy was lost together with the outboard engine!!!
We turned back immediately and started looking for it. The wind was blowing at about 15 knots so we just went down wind looking for her.
And then we saw her. She was about a mile south of us, about to hit the rocks of Alonissos. And one more surprise – an 8m semi rigid power boat was riding towards our dinghy at full speed. We knew that if they get there first, they’ll have the dinghy or at least demand 50% of her value as “rescue fee”.
We got there together!
While we were maneuvering around her, the other boar caught the dinghy.
We told them that this is our boat, and fortunately they could see that she had the name “Princess Nayeli” written on her bow.
They were then kind enough to return our dinghy.
Needless to say that since then we double check that the dinghy is properly tied.
The Northern Sporades
Naama and Yael's parents left us in Lavrion on July 14th, and we started sailing towards the bridge on the following day.
We had the wind straight on our nose and we had to tack towards the bridge of Khalkidas. We left Lavrion late, at about 1pm, and were thinking to do the 60 miles to the bridge non stop and try to get there before 10pm which is the time the bridge may open.
As we proceeded, the wind got stronger and stronger with considerable waves. At some point we had 24 knots of apparent wind, we had one reef on the main and some jib and were heeling “nicely”. It was a little hard for Noga and Yasmin to hold themselves up in the cockpit, and then we were hit by a small wave at the stern that got Yael and Noga all wet. This was too much and we turned back. We sailed 8 miles back to Porto Rafti. We were doing 8-9 knots in a back wind. We anchored for the night in the middle of Portp Rafti bay, swinging around in strong gusts. But the boat was holding very well and we had no problems.
The next day, the wind died, and we left relatively early in the morning towards the bridge, motoring all the way up. After a lunch stop in the famous town of Eritrea, we proceeded to the bridge. We crossed the bridge at 1:30am. Both Noga and Yasmin woke up for the occasion.
After another night stop in Orei, we reached Koukounaries beach on Skiathos. I think we spent 3 days on that beautiful beach. One evening, while we were sitting in the cockpit, Yael mentioned that there is absolutely no wind, and then with no warning (but according to the forecast), the wind picked up to 30 knots. Of course we were anchored properly and saw a few other boats turning on their navigation lights and starting to find a better place for their anchor.
After Skiathos, we sailed in perfect wind (15-18 knots), to Steni Vala where we have friends from our long trip to Greece 10 years ago. Their parents live all summer in Peristera. It's a deserted island with just a couple of houses. They produce their electricity from the sun. They have water from a small well, they have trees, chicken, goats, etc.
We visited them about 3 times in Peristera. It’s not safe enough to stay overnight, but we could go ashore to see the goats, the chicken, the well, and so on. Like people used to live a few centuries ago.
After several days in Steni Vala (where we had an episode with our batteries and had to wait for the local engineer) we were starving for some nice quiet bay, so we sailed down all the way to Skantzoura (about 12 miles). It’s a small uninhabited island half way down to Skiros. This is where we found the perfect bay.
The water is really crystal clear. When you swim you can see the “walls” of the bay, like in a swimming pool. With a white soft sand it’s really beautiful.
I went walking on the island to see the breath taking view to Alonissos, Kira Panayia and Pilion (on the mainlad). While standing there, staring at Alonnisos, I heard the bush move a little. Then I saw a huge male wild goat, with huge horns like the ones of a buffalo. We were looking carefully at each other for a good minute. I didn’t know what his plans were, so at some point I slowly turned back and started to walk down the hill and back to the beach.
The following day, we left after lunch and tacked against the wind the 20 miles between Skantzoura and Kira Panayia where we are now. This is a huge land locked bay, almost completely closed (the opening is only 80m), and the water here is like a lake. Very quiet, with green hills and cliffs around us, and many wild goats walking around. We couldn’t go to the beach here as the bottom is full of sea urchins in numbers that I haven’t seen before.
All around this area there are many dolphins. Some of them escorted us for maybe 20 minutes.
Next - Skiros, the Island of winds.
We had the wind straight on our nose and we had to tack towards the bridge of Khalkidas. We left Lavrion late, at about 1pm, and were thinking to do the 60 miles to the bridge non stop and try to get there before 10pm which is the time the bridge may open.
As we proceeded, the wind got stronger and stronger with considerable waves. At some point we had 24 knots of apparent wind, we had one reef on the main and some jib and were heeling “nicely”. It was a little hard for Noga and Yasmin to hold themselves up in the cockpit, and then we were hit by a small wave at the stern that got Yael and Noga all wet. This was too much and we turned back. We sailed 8 miles back to Porto Rafti. We were doing 8-9 knots in a back wind. We anchored for the night in the middle of Portp Rafti bay, swinging around in strong gusts. But the boat was holding very well and we had no problems.
The next day, the wind died, and we left relatively early in the morning towards the bridge, motoring all the way up. After a lunch stop in the famous town of Eritrea, we proceeded to the bridge. We crossed the bridge at 1:30am. Both Noga and Yasmin woke up for the occasion.
After another night stop in Orei, we reached Koukounaries beach on Skiathos. I think we spent 3 days on that beautiful beach. One evening, while we were sitting in the cockpit, Yael mentioned that there is absolutely no wind, and then with no warning (but according to the forecast), the wind picked up to 30 knots. Of course we were anchored properly and saw a few other boats turning on their navigation lights and starting to find a better place for their anchor.
After Skiathos, we sailed in perfect wind (15-18 knots), to Steni Vala where we have friends from our long trip to Greece 10 years ago. Their parents live all summer in Peristera. It's a deserted island with just a couple of houses. They produce their electricity from the sun. They have water from a small well, they have trees, chicken, goats, etc.
We visited them about 3 times in Peristera. It’s not safe enough to stay overnight, but we could go ashore to see the goats, the chicken, the well, and so on. Like people used to live a few centuries ago.
After several days in Steni Vala (where we had an episode with our batteries and had to wait for the local engineer) we were starving for some nice quiet bay, so we sailed down all the way to Skantzoura (about 12 miles). It’s a small uninhabited island half way down to Skiros. This is where we found the perfect bay.
The water is really crystal clear. When you swim you can see the “walls” of the bay, like in a swimming pool. With a white soft sand it’s really beautiful.
I went walking on the island to see the breath taking view to Alonissos, Kira Panayia and Pilion (on the mainlad). While standing there, staring at Alonnisos, I heard the bush move a little. Then I saw a huge male wild goat, with huge horns like the ones of a buffalo. We were looking carefully at each other for a good minute. I didn’t know what his plans were, so at some point I slowly turned back and started to walk down the hill and back to the beach.
The following day, we left after lunch and tacked against the wind the 20 miles between Skantzoura and Kira Panayia where we are now. This is a huge land locked bay, almost completely closed (the opening is only 80m), and the water here is like a lake. Very quiet, with green hills and cliffs around us, and many wild goats walking around. We couldn’t go to the beach here as the bottom is full of sea urchins in numbers that I haven’t seen before.
All around this area there are many dolphins. Some of them escorted us for maybe 20 minutes.
Next - Skiros, the Island of winds.
This summer's pictures
We did not have proper Internet access for a long time. We are now in Skiros. I will publish a few posts about our adventures so far, but all the pictures for this summer trip can be found at:
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| Princess Nayeli summer 2009 |
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Saronikos
We are already in Navplion (at the North end of the Argolikos gulf, the east most gulf of the
Follows, are some of our adventures till Hydra. The rest will follow on a separate post.
Eyal
As the Ferry boat approached
We spent the first day in preparing the boat, making a temporary fix to the railing and jell coat (with the help of Maltezos brothers), buying provisions, and just getting used to this change in mind set at the beginning of our sailing season.
Naama and I spent the next 3 days, sailing in great winds, anchoring in bays and having a great time.
The one bay that I must point out is Dhorussa bay on
Time passed so quickly, and then on Thursday, we anchored in
Next stop was Methana with the sulfur bubbling from the bottom of the harbor. The weather was very hot in Methana, the wind doesn’t make its way in, and the whole town smells like a rotten egg. As apposed to what people say, fouling does build up on boats here…
We spent Friday at the pier of Poros town. It really is a beautiful town. We were lucky to get there early on Friday. Later in the evening, all berths were full, mainly by Athenian boats coming down there for the weekend.
After another bay and a short stop in Ermioni for water (the Egyptian waterman is still there), we sailed to the famous Hydra. The town is a gem and it takes you centuries back. No cars, motorbikes or bicycles are allowed in Hydra. Fresh provisions arrive on small boats from the mainland, and then loaded on mules that take them to the shops and restaurants.
On the flip side, this town accommodates so many tourists, Greek and others. The harbor is packed with boats, with an endless number of taxi boats and ferry boats coming and going all the time keeping the water choppy.
We arrived early in the afternoon, and could find a berth in this small harbor next to another Israeli boat who was slowly returning from the med red journey.
It was clear that I can’t leave the boat here unattended, so I relaxed in the cockpit with a beer and some watermelon while Yael was wondering around with Naama.
Not much time passed before a 65’ sailing yacht entered the port and was planning to berth next to us. As they were motoring back into the berth on our port side, they seemed to be going far off Princess Nayeli so I went down to the quay to take a line from them.
Naama came by and asked me if I don’t want to be on board to make sure they don’t bump into us. I told her to go instead and fortunately she did. Within an instant – they started drifting left, pushing her aft straight into our starboard side. We were lucky to have Naama there. The woman on the other boat started telling her “don’t panic, don’t panic”. But Naama knew what was about to happen. I jumped on board to help her as they pushed hard on our side. We didn’t notice that our anchor started dragging, and with some help from the waves – we hit the quay!
We both jumped astern, leaving the side unattended, Naama taking care of the aft and I started the engine quickly to get us away from the quay.
Eventually they gave up and left the port, leaving us with some damage to the aft and starboard side.
The port police went out to sea, looking for them, but they quickly came back with no findings.
Eventually, the next morning the owner came to visit us with his dinghy and fortunately we were able to settle, and get to an agreement with no police or insurance involvement.
After a day in Hydra – you need at least a week to relax in some deserted bay, which is what we did the next morning.
The link below will take you to this Summer's pictures:
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| Princess Nayeli summer 2009 |
Monday, May 25, 2009
Wednesday May 20th was a stormy day
As usual, All the pictures of this 8 day trip can be found at:
This time, we have our stroy written by Dan Goldstaub:
Wednesday May 20th was a stormy day. We left Ermioni first thing in the morning, at 11:30, not before jogging around the beautiful woods on the cape and the village overlooking the marina. We did some shopping, refueling, filled water, and even had time to rescue a British couple that picked the anchor of another boat…
Leaving at a wind of about 20 kts protected by the Peloponnese. We left right after 10 charter boats and as soon as we set sails we left them all behind.
As soon as we got to the “corner” of the Peloponnese we understood why all boats were heading up to Poros – the wind was rising fiercely and the waves rising. We had a rough day at sea with spray all over the boat, and wind as strong as 35 kts. Some of the sailors had even used the first sea-sick rescue remedy (sucking lemon with a twitch of sugar) and even the second (nibbling bread like mice) and event the third escalation (dropping to bed). On the upside, our log, showed a speed of up to 9 kts!
Eventually, wet, tired and exhausted we got to the bay of Sounion (at the southern tip of Attica). We anchored next to the chapel and had a busy night with wind up to 40 kts!
The anchor courageously held over night at such wind with a minimal drift of 30 ft. We slept well, waking every couple of hours to see that we are still anchored.
Throughout the night the ancient temple on top of the hill, facing the sea and beautifully lit kept an eye on us.
Thursday May 21 (Yael KG Birthday!!!) started with a busy wind, up to 51 kts gusts!
We decided to stay in the bay, or leave to Aegina, or go to Lavrion, changing plans with every rise or drop of the wind. Eventually we decided to “climb” against the wind to find shelter and refresh our supply in the port of Lavrion.
We went to Lavrion against a strong sea for a couple of hours and found a berth in Lavrion. A good shower, cold beer and Litherenia fish brought us back to strength and ready to go to a peaceful sleep.
Friday May 22nd, took us to the quiet bay south of Perdica, on the island of Aigina .
The deep bay ended with a shallow sandy beach equipped with tanning beds, parasols and a few sea urchins.
We spent a quiet afternoon watching the octopus walking on the sea floor right under the boat and preparing for Shabbat. Eventually (Courtesy of chief Chef Roy and Sous-Chef Roded) we had a beautiful kabalat-shabbat with freshly baked challah and a two course meal.
Saturday May 23rd, was a quiet morning and we spent most of the morning relaxing, swimming and fishing. Eventually when the bay that was populated with two boats only for the night, was occupied with a dozen boats and lots of families, we headed towards Aigina port. We motored up to Aigina as slowly as possible, hoping to catch some fish at the last minute and trying to stretch the last minutes as much as possible.
The Story about the 30’ boat
One outstanding story is about the 30’ boat we saw south of Sounio. When we sailed West from Lavrion to Aigina, we passed around cape Sounio. Getting closer to the cape, we noticed that the sea on the cape’s leeway looked messy, with white and blue strips and patches. The white caps were very dense and strong, with white spray running above them.
We decided to round the cape farther out, to avoid this messy sea, and we also furled the jib to a very small napkin (with no mainsail at all), and we still did 5 kts!
We were almost all the way out of the Cape when we saw a small boat, having just a small mainsail on (on its 2nd reef), getting into the cape, very close to the land. We could see them getting closer and closer to the strip of white caps. Then, out of a sudden, the boat heeled 90 degrees, and stayed with the mast almost touching the water for a few long seconds. She then straightened up, and then heeled again. This time, a little less. Doron started saying: Let’s turn on the VHF, maybe they have people in the water!
We waited to see what would happen, and saw them dropping the mainsail, and then motoring their way out of this crazy cape.
 |
| From Saronikos |
This time, we have our stroy written by Dan Goldstaub:
Wednesday May 20th was a stormy day. We left Ermioni first thing in the morning, at 11:30, not before jogging around the beautiful woods on the cape and the village overlooking the marina. We did some shopping, refueling, filled water, and even had time to rescue a British couple that picked the anchor of another boat…
Leaving at a wind of about 20 kts protected by the Peloponnese. We left right after 10 charter boats and as soon as we set sails we left them all behind.
As soon as we got to the “corner” of the Peloponnese we understood why all boats were heading up to Poros – the wind was rising fiercely and the waves rising. We had a rough day at sea with spray all over the boat, and wind as strong as 35 kts. Some of the sailors had even used the first sea-sick rescue remedy (sucking lemon with a twitch of sugar) and even the second (nibbling bread like mice) and event the third escalation (dropping to bed). On the upside, our log, showed a speed of up to 9 kts!
Eventually, wet, tired and exhausted we got to the bay of Sounion (at the southern tip of Attica). We anchored next to the chapel and had a busy night with wind up to 40 kts!
The anchor courageously held over night at such wind with a minimal drift of 30 ft. We slept well, waking every couple of hours to see that we are still anchored.
Throughout the night the ancient temple on top of the hill, facing the sea and beautifully lit kept an eye on us.
Thursday May 21 (Yael KG Birthday!!!) started with a busy wind, up to 51 kts gusts!
We decided to stay in the bay, or leave to Aegina, or go to Lavrion, changing plans with every rise or drop of the wind. Eventually we decided to “climb” against the wind to find shelter and refresh our supply in the port of Lavrion.
We went to Lavrion against a strong sea for a couple of hours and found a berth in Lavrion. A good shower, cold beer and Litherenia fish brought us back to strength and ready to go to a peaceful sleep.
Friday May 22nd, took us to the quiet bay south of Perdica, on the island of Aigina .
The deep bay ended with a shallow sandy beach equipped with tanning beds, parasols and a few sea urchins.
We spent a quiet afternoon watching the octopus walking on the sea floor right under the boat and preparing for Shabbat. Eventually (Courtesy of chief Chef Roy and Sous-Chef Roded) we had a beautiful kabalat-shabbat with freshly baked challah and a two course meal.
Saturday May 23rd, was a quiet morning and we spent most of the morning relaxing, swimming and fishing. Eventually when the bay that was populated with two boats only for the night, was occupied with a dozen boats and lots of families, we headed towards Aigina port. We motored up to Aigina as slowly as possible, hoping to catch some fish at the last minute and trying to stretch the last minutes as much as possible.
The Story about the 30’ boat
One outstanding story is about the 30’ boat we saw south of Sounio. When we sailed West from Lavrion to Aigina, we passed around cape Sounio. Getting closer to the cape, we noticed that the sea on the cape’s leeway looked messy, with white and blue strips and patches. The white caps were very dense and strong, with white spray running above them.
We decided to round the cape farther out, to avoid this messy sea, and we also furled the jib to a very small napkin (with no mainsail at all), and we still did 5 kts!
We were almost all the way out of the Cape when we saw a small boat, having just a small mainsail on (on its 2nd reef), getting into the cape, very close to the land. We could see them getting closer and closer to the strip of white caps. Then, out of a sudden, the boat heeled 90 degrees, and stayed with the mast almost touching the water for a few long seconds. She then straightened up, and then heeled again. This time, a little less. Doron started saying: Let’s turn on the VHF, maybe they have people in the water!
We waited to see what would happen, and saw them dropping the mainsail, and then motoring their way out of this crazy cape.
On Anchor in Sunion, Dror's impressions
Dror's impressions, written while on Anchor in Sunio, with the Meltemi blowing around us. Apologies to the English speakers, this time it's in Hebrew.
Eyal
יום חמישי, 21/05/09. אני שוכב לי על המיטה בבטן היאכטה המיטלטלת מצד לצד, למרות שעגונה ובתוך מפרץ שקט. מד הרוח שובר שיאים שאפילו הימאים הותיקים ביותר (אנחנו 83% סקיפרים על היאכטה) מתרגשים מהם. בינתיים השיא עומד על 49.8 קשר. לפני כשעה שקלתי להתעניין בלשכור כאן גלשן רוח, וטמפרטורת המים הרתיעה אותי (16.8 מעלות). עכשיו אין מה לדבר, זו לא רוח לגלישה ואפילו לא להפלגה לאורך החוף בלי גלים. ספק אם זה מתאים ליציאה עם דינגי לחוף. כבר אכלנו ארוחת בוקר, שתינו תה, התרגשנו משיאי הרוח (בינתיים שיא חדש... אני שומע צעקה "51" של איל, מופתע שעדיין מתרגש לאחר שכבר ראה הכל בים). לא נותר אלא לכתוב.
די מעניין לחוות הפלגה כחלק מצוות שכולו סקיפרים ורק אתה לא. זה לא משנה מה המושג שנצעק לאויר, לדוגמא "סיבוב" או "צמצום ראשי", כולם יודעים מה צריך לעשות ואני עוד לא מספיק להגיב וכבר הפעולה נעשתה. מצד אחד מרגישים בטוח שאתה מוקף מקצוענים, מצד שני שם המשחק בהפלגה זה למצוא לעצמך תעסוקה, כך שקשה לוותר על ההזדמנויות המובנות מאליהן שהן עזרה בתפעול הסירה. אתמול הייתי הראשון להרגיש מחלת ים. לאחר כ-3 שעות הפלגה (בדיעבד התברר שזה רק שליש מהדרך לאותו יום), התחלתי להרגיש בחילה וניסיתי את כל השיטות (עצימת עיניים, לימון, כרסום) וכלום לא פתר את הבעיה, אך הכל ביחד עיכב את התפתחות הבחילה לנקודת האל-חזור. חשבתי על תרופת הפלא – להחזיק את ההגה, אך רועי ורודד חשבו שזה לא רעיון טוב בתנאי גלים, רוח וכיוון (הפלגה קרוב ככל האפשר מול הרוח והתחמקות מגלים). איכשהו החזקתי מעמד עד שהתקרבנו לחוף ואז ידעתי שניצחתי. אפילו אצל הסקיפרים נראה שלא כולם מאוד נהנו מיום אתמול (וזה בלשון המעטה, רק כדי שלא ימחקו לי את זה בצנזורה). אחרי מקלחת חמה הכל הסתדר. בעודי כותב, אני שומע את שיחת הביקורת של הסקיפרים על המטורף שעגן לידינו והחליט לצאת בים שכזה. רוב השיחות פה הם על סטארט-אפים שצריך להקים בגלל כל מיני שיפורים שיכלו לעזור לנו בחיים, כמו מצלמה על קרס של חכה שמראה את הדגים המתקרבים, משולבת במשחק אימונים בדיג, מערכת חישמול דגים ושינוע. אני בכוונה לא נכנס יותר מידי לפרטים כי עוד לא נרשם פטנט. ברקע כותבים מכתב בבקבוק "אנו תקועים על עוגן בסוניו ונגמר לנו הויסקי. הצילו!", בכל השפות הידועות בסירה. איל מנסה להזכר איך אומרים מפרץ בצרפתית, ודני ודורון מנסחים בערבית. מידת הרצינות שכותבים בה את המכתב מדגימה את יכולת האילתור וההעסקה העצמית הנדרשת, במיוחד בימים כאלה שתקועים על עוגן ואין מה לעשות.
היאכטה יפהפיה. חשבו פה על הכל. אמנם קצת צפוף אך כשמתרגלים אין בעיה להסתדר. למרות שדי התרגלתי כבר, אני עדיין מעדיף שירותים בטבע. לתנור כאן יש מצב של עומד ישר למרות שהסירה בהטייה. אתמול, בתחילת היום, כשהים היה עדיין יחסית רגוע, נכנסתי פנימה להכין חביתות. היאכטה היתה בהטיה והתנור ישר. בהעדר מבט אל האופק, הייתי בטוח שהמחבת עוד רגע נופלת, וקיבלתי הדגמה יפה על כוחו של הורטיגו. כל דבר סגור עם אבטחה נגד הטייה. לכל מדף יש גדר. לכל מגרה יש נעילה. כל הדברים האלו היו גם בעבר, ביאכטה הקודמת למשל, אבל יש פה סידרה יפה של חידושים כמו: מפה נעה מבוססת GPS סמוכה להגה, מערכת רמקולים בפנים ובחוץ לשמוע מוזיקה, מד רוח אלקטרוני עם תצוגה דיגיטלית עם מצבים "אמיתי" ו"ביחס לסירה", עוגן חשמלי עם שלט רחוק ומד אורך שרשרת, מעלנים חשמליים, מנגנון איסוף מפרש ראשי למנור בהפלה מהירה ועוד. מה שעדיין משאב יקר גם ביאכטה החדשה והמודרנית הזו – מים וחשמל. אני משתדל לא לצרוך יותר מידי חשמל והסוללה במחשב תיכף נגמרת, אז אסיים כאן ואשאיר כמה דקות סוללה לשלוח את זה לאיל.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Hello from Ermione
We landed in Ermione today (on the south east end of the Peloponnese) just opposite Hydra.
We started the week with a bad forecast of 7bft north winds expected for Tuesday-Thursday.
It's still amazing to see how Greek times work. When they tell you they come meet you in 10 minutes, they would show up within a couple of hours.
If they tell you the laundry will be ready in 2 hours, it means it will take at least 2 hours but more like 4 hours. Anyway, after cleaning the deck, shopping for provisions, waiting for the laundry etc. we left Aegina and sailed to Russian Bay on Poros Island. You can see where it falls in the attached pictures.
We had a nice short sail to Russian bay. As you can see in the pictures, we tied the boat properly, as you'd expect knowing the forecast, and went swimming. The water is 21 degrees, which is not so bad. We had a great time in that bay, which is nicely protected from the weather.
The forecast for 9am predicted 7bft.
At 9:10, rain started and the wind started building up.
Our plan was to have a short 10 minute sail to Poros town and then maybe continue to Ermione, just opposite Hydra.
When we reached Poros, the wind was already around 25 knots, and the water around the quay looked so bumpy that we didn't feel like stopping there. We just kept going towards Hydra.
Going down wind in 30+ knots, with 2/3 jib and no mainsail, the boat did 7-8 knots.
It was a great sailing day, with very few boats and a couple of Dolphins! Yes - eventually, we had a couple of grey Dolphins escorting us and riding our bow wave.
So, here we are in Ermione, waiting for the Meltemi wind to calm down. Our original plan was to go out to the Agean and make it to Syros but most chances are that we'll stick to this Saronikos/East Peloponessos area and get back to Aegina by the end of the week.
Eyal
You can see the week's pictures at:
We started the week with a bad forecast of 7bft north winds expected for Tuesday-Thursday.
It's still amazing to see how Greek times work. When they tell you they come meet you in 10 minutes, they would show up within a couple of hours.
If they tell you the laundry will be ready in 2 hours, it means it will take at least 2 hours but more like 4 hours. Anyway, after cleaning the deck, shopping for provisions, waiting for the laundry etc. we left Aegina and sailed to Russian Bay on Poros Island. You can see where it falls in the attached pictures.
We had a nice short sail to Russian bay. As you can see in the pictures, we tied the boat properly, as you'd expect knowing the forecast, and went swimming. The water is 21 degrees, which is not so bad. We had a great time in that bay, which is nicely protected from the weather.
The forecast for 9am predicted 7bft.
At 9:10, rain started and the wind started building up.
Our plan was to have a short 10 minute sail to Poros town and then maybe continue to Ermione, just opposite Hydra.
When we reached Poros, the wind was already around 25 knots, and the water around the quay looked so bumpy that we didn't feel like stopping there. We just kept going towards Hydra.
Going down wind in 30+ knots, with 2/3 jib and no mainsail, the boat did 7-8 knots.
It was a great sailing day, with very few boats and a couple of Dolphins! Yes - eventually, we had a couple of grey Dolphins escorting us and riding our bow wave.
So, here we are in Ermione, waiting for the Meltemi wind to calm down. Our original plan was to go out to the Agean and make it to Syros but most chances are that we'll stick to this Saronikos/East Peloponessos area and get back to Aegina by the end of the week.
Eyal
You can see the week's pictures at:
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| Saronikos |
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Princess Nayeli is waiting in Aegina
The Easter celebration was a little disappointing. For a couple of days people from Athens gathered in town getting ready for Saturday night. They were all dressed up properly for the event. To make a long story short, at midnight, the fireworks lasted for 2 seconds, Yasmin who was right next to it, missed it (only heard the explosive sound), but then all night, and the days after, we kept hearing explosions... The highlight, should have been the Sunday branch where they grill a whole lamp. We escaped that part, and sailed away towards the Corinth canal.
Anyway, it was an interesting experience to see.
We learned that Galaxidi has its root in ancient times. Since it has a great natural harbor, and it's proximity to the Corinth, made it an important point for transiting ships. Later on (in the 19th century) it became an important shipyard, who built hundreds of ships (initially sailing ships and later also steam ships). We visited the interesting marine museum they have there, where they have drawings and models of some of the boats.
The highlight of our trip was crossing the Corinth canal. When we got closer, a strong (20kts) head wind that was coming from the channel, made me a little worried as to how easy the crossing would be. We were also worried that they would stall us for several hours, as they sometimes do. Anyway, since it was Easter Sunday, there were no boats around. We were almost the only boat at sea. There was just one other boat that called the canal authorities, and Yael immediately noticed by their accent that it was an Israeli boat.
So, they let us in right away. There is a low bridge at the entrance to the canal. They lowered the bridge into the water and only when it was all the way down, they let us pass above it.
The canal itself is a narrow 25m wide channel with high cliffs on 50m at the peak. It took us about 1/2 hour to cross.
On the other side we tacked against a 15-20kts wind that died out as we drew away from Corinth. Eventually, we motored out way to Aegina.
We left the boat in a small "marina" in Aegina, with some nice guys named Adonis, and two brothers watching her.
Getting back home (hydrofoil + taxi + plane + train) took us 7 hours, door to door.
I added more pictures from Galaxidi and the canal crossing to the trip's album:
Eyal
Anyway, it was an interesting experience to see.
We learned that Galaxidi has its root in ancient times. Since it has a great natural harbor, and it's proximity to the Corinth, made it an important point for transiting ships. Later on (in the 19th century) it became an important shipyard, who built hundreds of ships (initially sailing ships and later also steam ships). We visited the interesting marine museum they have there, where they have drawings and models of some of the boats.
The highlight of our trip was crossing the Corinth canal. When we got closer, a strong (20kts) head wind that was coming from the channel, made me a little worried as to how easy the crossing would be. We were also worried that they would stall us for several hours, as they sometimes do. Anyway, since it was Easter Sunday, there were no boats around. We were almost the only boat at sea. There was just one other boat that called the canal authorities, and Yael immediately noticed by their accent that it was an Israeli boat.
So, they let us in right away. There is a low bridge at the entrance to the canal. They lowered the bridge into the water and only when it was all the way down, they let us pass above it.
The canal itself is a narrow 25m wide channel with high cliffs on 50m at the peak. It took us about 1/2 hour to cross.
On the other side we tacked against a 15-20kts wind that died out as we drew away from Corinth. Eventually, we motored out way to Aegina.
We left the boat in a small "marina" in Aegina, with some nice guys named Adonis, and two brothers watching her.
Getting back home (hydrofoil + taxi + plane + train) took us 7 hours, door to door.
I added more pictures from Galaxidi and the canal crossing to the trip's album:
 |
| Preveza to Aigina, April 2009 |
Eyal
Friday, April 17, 2009
Preveza to Galaxidi
Eventually, after three stormy days with winds up to 30 knots and endless rain (we collected 100mm in less than 24 hours), we left Preveza on Wednesday April 15th at 6:45am. We motored past the Lefkas channel and did motor sailing after that all the way to Patras. Our original plan was to pass the night in Mesolongion but the way went so well and everyone was so happy that we kept going all the way till Patra.
We turned to the yachting marina in Patra and the first thing you notice as you approach Patra, that the water is just one big smelly sewage. Anyway, we spent the night there, and wanted to leave the boat there and go to Diakopto. It should be very beautiful there with a mountain train that travels up to the mountains of
We left out to sea, heading to Trizonia, which is about 20 miles East of Patra. Having a wonderful back wind of 15-22 kts, we just surfed east and passed Trizonia so quickly that we decided to continue all the way to Galaxidi (about 35 miles).
We found Galaxidi to be a very nice lively place. It’s full of people now, getting ready to the Easter celebration. People here are extremely nice, the water is clean, and the port is beautiful.
Entering the
We took the day today to visit
We’re back at the boat now, getting ready to watch the village celebrating their Easter. Planning to sail to the
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| Preveza to Aigina, April 2009 |
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Back to Preveza
A couple of days ago we landed in Ioannina. We rented a car and spent 24 hours in the picturesque mountains of Epirus (Zagohoria - the villages of Zagoria). We were there a week before the season tourist officially starts, at Easter. As you can see in the picures, they still have some snow, and the villages were more or less empty. The two families we met there were all from.... Israel!
We stayed the night in a small isolated village (1100m) called Papigo. Even in our modern times, there are no shops, no fresh provisions in the village. For anything, you need to drive 1/2 hour to the closest village.
See some pictures at:
On Saturday, the boat was already waiting for us in the water.
We found the boat in a very good condition, clean and dry inside.
Only one mysterious thing: The covers of the wheel and table were off, thrown on the cockpit floor, and the navigation screen cover was gone. It feels like it was stolen, but we can't be sure. Anyway, other than that, all looked fine.
While checking all the systems I noticed that three Raymarine
instruments (depth, speed and wind) are not working at all. I looked everywhere for fuses, torn cables, but all looked great - nothing wet, no corrosion. We called an electrician who initially was helpless as well, but then I noticed, looking through a narrow slit behind the instruments that one of the connectors looks a little bit out. So after taking the deck apart, we could reach the back of the instrument to properly plug it back in. All started to work!
The weather yesterday was perfect. Today we have some clouds with a 15-20kts East wind which makes it a little bumpy in Preveza.
Hopefully, we'll start sailing tomorrow (depends on the weather).
We stayed the night in a small isolated village (1100m) called Papigo. Even in our modern times, there are no shops, no fresh provisions in the village. For anything, you need to drive 1/2 hour to the closest village.
See some pictures at:
 |
| Papigo, Epirus, Greece |
On Saturday, the boat was already waiting for us in the water.
We found the boat in a very good condition, clean and dry inside.
Only one mysterious thing: The covers of the wheel and table were off, thrown on the cockpit floor, and the navigation screen cover was gone. It feels like it was stolen, but we can't be sure. Anyway, other than that, all looked fine.
While checking all the systems I noticed that three Raymarine
instruments (depth, speed and wind) are not working at all. I looked everywhere for fuses, torn cables, but all looked great - nothing wet, no corrosion. We called an electrician who initially was helpless as well, but then I noticed, looking through a narrow slit behind the instruments that one of the connectors looks a little bit out. So after taking the deck apart, we could reach the back of the instrument to properly plug it back in. All started to work!
The weather yesterday was perfect. Today we have some clouds with a 15-20kts East wind which makes it a little bumpy in Preveza.
Hopefully, we'll start sailing tomorrow (depends on the weather).
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