N Dhia and Spinalonga lagoon
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Tue 10 Jul 2012 12:05
We left the port of Rethymno early on Wednesday morning hoping that the
seas would have calmed down after the blow we had for several days from
the west. This did not prove to be the case so with not much wind and a
very lumpy sea we motor-sailed the 30 odd miles to the bay on the eastern
end of Dhia where we had spent a night last month. On arrival there was a
large fishing boat on the mooring buoy so we anchored well clear Jacky had
a swim and we settled down for the evening. a bit later in the afternoon a
small Greek flagged boat arrived and anchored ahead of us but they left
before dark. as did the fishing boat so we moved to the buoy! Just after
this a large Swedish flagged yacht arrived and anchored very close to the
head of the bay. We had a peaceful night and left early to get back to
Spinalonga where we planned to spend several days.
Thursday 5th - Monday 9th July
Spinalonga Lagoon.
We had a good passage along the coast with an increasing westerly breeze -
by the time we were off the headland to the north of Spinalonga it was a
good force 5 with stronger gusts. Once inside we decided to anchor in the
bay that lies on the eastern side of the lagoon about two miles from the
town. We settled down for the night after swimming and then proceeded to
watch the wind increase with very strong gusts which made for a most
disturbed night. This continued all the following day and so the next
morning in a short lull we decided to move to the western side of the bay
nearer to the town. We pretty much anchored in the same place as last time
and put out 45 metres of chain! Two boats from the marina were already
there and we had a visit from John (Sons Promise) later that afternoon.
After a further two days of viscious wind gusts and strong NW winds we
were getting fed -up and Jacky wanted to get on the land for a break!
Having successfully launched the dinghy and then struggled to get the
outboard secured on the back Rob took Jacky ashore. She then spent 9 hours
on 'terra firma' at a pool bar and aparthotel where she was able to watch
Andy Murray in the tennis final and use the swimming pool between games -
all very civilized!
With the weather forecast not showing much change we decided to try for a
quick dash back to the marina and waited for a lull in the wind. This
arrived on Monday afternoon around 1630 so we upped anchor and motored
flat out back to Ag. Nik. We got into the marina just before 1930 and
managed to back into the jetty onto the same pontoon as last time. It was
good to be back after our 5 rather eventful weeks away.