35 20.585N 025 08.136E Heraklion, Crete

Pipedream
Thu 14 Jul 2011 20:18
Ok, so we stayed in Santorini another night (no, no dinner from the swim boat the second night!). We had attempted to leave, and then turned around...33 knot winds and climbing (gale force is 40!) too much wind is NOT a good thing! It was a fun anchorage, with swimming and some snorkeling. Wayne got the rest of the boat scraped and the prop cleaned. I read Girl with the Dragon Tatoo....great!


So, we leave for Crete...decent seas and wind! We sailed for most of the day (unusual if you've been paying attention to Wayno's emails!) and finally saw land in the distance.(By this point I have finished Girl who Plays with Fire....we sailed for 12 hours!) The sun was starting to set and we did not want to dock at night. We enter the breakwater which is a mile long...once in, we can see the ferry docks and the commercial port that we have to pass (of course a ferry comes in behind us and gives us two horns...they're passing to port, I'm piloting the boat and my butt gets tight!) but we're doing fine and heading for the Venetian port (yes, you pass a castle to get in!). Now about the time we're entering the break water we find out we're at the end of the runway for the airport, so jets are taking off over us every 15 minutes or so. Add to that, they're having a rock concert at the entrance to the Venetian port where we need to dock! We get into the port (sort of tight area) and can't spot any openings, so we got out to the commercial wall and think we'll tie up there. Nooo...we're waved down by an official in white (harbor police) who points us back into the port.....okay, so he points out a spot between two sailboats. Katie had warned me that this will happen...there's no way we'll get in there without a can opener, but the policeman insists. So Wayne at the helm attempts to pull in bow first (most narrow part of our boat!). The wind catches us and we are now attempting to get out of there and there is no room....fortunately there's a space behind us that is on a short dock with power boats that we back into. We didn't hit anyone and we're tied up to something....good, right??? No, says the policeman, not where he wants us...I will not repeat here what I was thinking!!! So we have about 8 people helping us, we can't understand them, nor can we hear them because of the rock concert!!! We move to another option...another can opener shot, but more room to maneuver. We take it! We can't use the anchor to help us stop, we can't find a mooring line to help us, and there is no one on the dock to catch a line...but we made it!! Another guy was coming back to his boat with provisions, and he dropped everything and helped. Pay it forward! We took a mooring line off another boat (he had two) and was able to set some spring lines and loads of fenders to protect the smaller power boat next to us. At this point, Wayne asks..did you turn off the engine? I, of course said no...we couldn't hear it because of the concer!!!No, we didn't go out on the town last night, we drank a Mythos (Greek beer) ate a hot dog and fell asleep!! Oh, yes, the concert was still going on...I heard the song "sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me" no less than three times in the concert...copyright laws?? Ah, techno-euro music to dock by....


Today we took in the Archeological museum and the palace of Knosos....wow!! Thanks for the info, Donna D.! Walked around town and got more time for our internet and phone. Back in communication.
We're either going to rent a car tomorrow and tour around or go west to our next port Rethimno...depends on the weather!


Love to all...hope everyone is good...keep those emails coming, it's great to hear from you!!!

Mary