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.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
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 |
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