The Tourist Hops
By: Mat
All sailors know that sailing should never be done on a time schedule. BUT… we only have 90day in Schengen and we were toward the end of it, but far far far far away from the border. We had friends arriving on June-26 but we also had to exit the country on July-13. We had 2 massive plans, direction Croatia via Corfu or direction Turkey via the Aegean sea. We decided to go north this year.
Hurry up and go!
We had a lovely dinner at our favorite restaurant To OuZaki with some light shopping before putting them to bed. The Evil plan was to wake them up 8h later with a view of the sun rising over Monemvasia Μονεμβασιά. We think it’s one of the best sunrise you could have. It was also an amazing night since there is absolutely no light in this section of of sea, especially without the moon. Mat saw some dolphin playing while cutting through heavy bioluminescent algae leaving a blue trail behind.
The wind picked up as the sun started to peak over the horizon. Cesine snuck out the Genoa at the second reef point and we were doing the same speed without the engine. When she cut the engine, Mat came upstairs and joined her and Sebastien as they arrived at Monemvasia 30min later around 7am. We were disappointed to see that the bay south of the bridge was full of dark purple jellyfish, the first time (and only this season) we saw so many.
The next day we went out for coffee and then a hike around the island, entering the old lighthouse and the old wall. Mat and Sebastien hiked to the top while Cesine and Roxanne enjoyed ice cream in the village and then back to the boat. took the dingy to get groceries and pick put the boys when they returned to the mainland. We swam with full clothes to avoid getting stung by jellyfish, but got one about the size of a lonnie in her sunsie (onesie for sun) which left a welt on her shoulder, this is when we knew for sure they were really stinging. We ate dinner at a local taverna and went to bed early since we had a long day ahead.
Meat for a month!
We knew this village was the last big village for a while so we did full groceries including 2kg of meat for BBQ/stew we were Ready! The next morning around sunrise, about a half hour out of Monemvasia, we caught our first tuna!!!! Not too big, not too small!!! Perfect! We had meat for a month... on top of all the meat we already had! We sent a picture and a thanks via WhatsApp to our friend Fotis who had helped us pick the lure. We made poke bowls with fresh tuna, Roxanne was starting to feel a bit queasy and didn't feel up to eating which is really sad since it cannot be fresher.
Sunken ship
We passed the Cape Malea without much issue, neither from the waves nor the wind. It wasn’t until we passed in front of the mountain faces that we realized the notes on the chart were important. The notes talked of surprising gusts coming down the mountain, gusts that would spread the sails. We anchored and went snorkelling around a massive intact sunken ship, we had our barbecue of tuna and enjoyed the petrified forest after dinner. We had some Katabatic wind that night, but we have a strong anchor with an oversized 12mm chain on the sandbed so nothing to worry about.
The local linguist
We are now ahead of schedule! Let's keep the train rolling so we tried to make distance with another full day of sail. So we were hoping to make distance and we started again at sunrise, navigated and skipped the bay and went straight toward Gerolimenas Γερολιμένας. It started windy and rocky with high wind, but around midday, we had a dead calm. So we took advantage and swam at a depth of 1.5km. We got some more wind back later. We were lucky and arrived before sundown and anchored in a complicated anchorage.
After a rewarding passage, we stopped for a full day with a small hike and good food. We found a great tavern with a local linguist! The tavern owner was super friendly, we talked about ancient Greek, Greek dialects and Proto-Indo-European.
Rolling on the beach - Reversing wind
For once we did only a small hop and found a really large anchorage with a massive beach for the night. After another nice evening visiting new places with wine on the beach. What we did not realize is that if there is a gorgeous sand beach it means there are a lot of waves that transform rock into sand. So at sunset when the boat started shifting sideway we started to sway with the waves. Of course, the optimal size Is directly facing the waves and the worst is completely sideway... so we spent half the night sideway rocking like crazy. So much so that at 2-3am I decided it was enough and we took off. It was motoring of course since there was no wind, but it was a gorgeous night. It was so clear that I did mistake a start at the horizon for a faraway boat for a few minutes.
The best thing Is to see the sunrise peak through the horizon on a calm sea. The worst is to see a lot of large fish jumping close by and having too much tuna already so I cannot put a finishing line out 🤣.
When morning hit, the wind picked up again, so I went to bed and the morning crew started sailing. About 30min after going to bed we passed near the island of Βενέτικο... I hear chaos upstairs and it was right because the wind curved around the island and completely switched sides a few times!?!?! This stretch of the journey towards Methoni Μεθώνη was Challenging with a LOT of tack and direction change. We had a Super sporty and fun day with a lot of wind.
Oh no! We cannot anchor
We Just arrived at Methoni Μεθώνη and we are about to drop the anchor, we are all ready now since it is the 5th time with this crew that we drop anchor... well, The confidence was broken when we were not able to raise the anchor anymore!?!?! WTF!?!? So dropping the anchor seem to work but raising it does trip the windlass motor. And of course we anchored near a person with plenty of space aand he shouted at use to move away :| Anyway so we decided to raise the anchor... BY HAND!!! We were so lucky to have Seb & Rox with us and it was shallow that it was doable but it would be a totally other problem if we would be alone in 10m dept. We re-anchor behind everyone since there is a lot of sand everywhere. We Send the crew exploring while we undid the windlass and google the shit out of it!!! :D What happened is that the windlass finger got twisted and is now stepping (blocking) the windlass from dropping the chain on the raise function. We "fixed" it by removing the finger, but this means twice an anchor raise I have to unjam the chain. Not optimal, but we made it until we could persuade it to behave again (hammer+concrete+metal).
The furling end!
We landed on the last section just a few miles north in the bay of Ormos Navarinou, Greece It was supposed to be an easy sail, short and easy. Well... Since the start we had a LOT of problems with the furling mainsail... like a LOT of problems. What happens is that we have a Staysail for Storm, but the boat was not designed to have a staysail mid-mast. SO this means there is a curve on the mast due to the staysail. And this curve is been the pain of our existence, Furling main is supposed to be easy to manage and easy peasy to work with. BUT we always had trouble furling it in. Let's just say we spent 20min in the bay in the strong wind trying to furl it.... It was a frustrating end to the journey.
BUT, it was only a small insignificant problems, since we had so much fun & joy and crazy time in 2 weeks with friends. I even had a close friend with me for my birthday on the other side of the world!!! Simply worth it!!! It was a joy to see Seb & Rox again... maybe next time the kids will show up also :D.
