Drawing breath
|
36:32.18N 026:21.91E Manganari beach (again,
again) and on to Astipalaia Monday 6th
September A long tedious sail back to
Manganari Bay from Santorini. Wind on the nose and big swell pushing us
back so progress was very slow. We know the anchorage very, very well now
though so no worries about getting there late or in the dark. We decided
to rest up for a day here, draw breath and reflect on the implications of a
Zombie invasion and Adam moving in to his evil villain’s lair. Wednesday 8th
September It is time to head gently
back to Turkey and we are keen to go via the Maritime Museum in Bodrum.
The most sensible route involved a twelve hour sail to start with so we decided
to try going overnight as this is the way some other yachties seem to do their
longer passages. The main advantage is that you arrive in an unfamiliar
place with plenty of daylight hours left to find where you need to be and sort
yourself out but it also means that at least some of the time is passed by being
asleep. On this occasion the sea was
so very rolly that we both had trouble with the sleeping part of it when
off-watch. Carol managed a couple of hours here and there by lying face
down, across the bed with arms and legs flung out making like a starfish to
present maximum surface area to the bed. We had a gentle downwind sail
using only the genoa (the one at the front) which we could reef (make
smaller) easily when the wind was stronger. There was no moon so it was
very, very dark which meant the stars looked fantastic and the dawn was
tremendous.
A big moment came when we
reached the 12345 nautical mile point on the log.
It was good to get another
night sail under our belts; well Carol’s belt really as Mike has already
done plenty! Thursday 9th
September Our first view of our next
stop.
We arrived in the very pretty
and very tiny harbour on Astipalaia, tucked in round behind this hill, around 1100
to find a familiar face, Graham who we had met in Santorini Marina, ready to
take our lines. Several more yachts came in during the course of the day
and a very jolly bunch gathered with much banter and mutual assistance over
electricity, water, hosepipes, places to visit, contractors to recommend and
marina’s to stay over winter. Friday 10th
September A very long and good nights
sleep was broken early when four boats tried to leave and three of them found
their anchor chains laid over the fourth. The fourth being the one that
started to leave first meant much tangling ensued. Ours remained clear so
no sudden movements required from us and we did get to see the harbour in the
early morning light which was lovely.
We no longer had the excuse
of being tired so set off to explore the town and the castle from where the
views were tremendous.
We meandered back down
through the streets shopping for provisions here and there.
Through the local hospital
waiting room.......
Past the windmills....
And on to find a cafe near
the beach where we could pick up an internet connection..... (Notice the
notice)
We left later in the day for
a short trip to find a quiet anchorage. Saturday 11th
September Pretty and very quiet; we
found the perfect spot just as a gale warning came through on the radio.
Fortunately, once we had investigated we realised it was further north in the
Aegean and not a problem for us. Yet. Hopefully. At this
stage. Tucked in as we were behind several islands we had excellent protection
so were pretty happy whatever happened.
Sunday 12th
September Nothing whatsoever happened
other than we had another good nights sleep with no howling wind or bouncy
sea. Fantastic. We enjoyed the views for the rest of the day;
caught a bit more sunshine, read our books, wrote the blog and cooked prawns
for supper. Bliss. Tomorrow we head for Bodrum |
