Orei, Evia - Ioánnis Theológos

Pyxis
Karen & Richard
Mon 29 Aug 2011 22:58

Monday 29th August – Orei, Evia – Ioánnis Theológos

38:39.527N 23:11.096E

 

The forecast is finally showing a break in the meltemi coming up.  This morning we were up at first light with the aim of following the receding meltemi down the Evia channel to the very narrow sliding bridge that connects the island to the mainland at Khalkís, the capital of Evia.

 

Unfortunately the Sunsail flotilla yacht who had arrived last night on our starboard side had set his anchor across ours (with not very much scope out either - we still had about 20m to go when I picked his anchor up) and their anchor lifted straight out.  I used a rope to support his anchor whilst I lowered and raised our chain, unfouling their anchor.  The juddering chain had woken them up; the skipper came out on his dinghy to check we were OK so we told him that his anchor was not set – he seemed more concerned whether or not we were OK.  Fortunately there was no wind in the harbour and we left them raising the crew from the flotilla lead boat to help them reset their anchor.  Ironically we had joked with the chap from the lead boat the night before, saying we were leaving early and that we didn’t want the anchor fouled, he had promised it wouldn’t be as he didn’t want to be up that early to sort it out.

 

We went on our way, along with another yacht who left at the same time, both heading south.  The promised F4 didn’t appear so we both motored on.  There was another yacht already ahead of us out in the channel – a really early riser!  Ahead of us was a black cloud which we passed under and actually had some rain for a few minutes.

 

At the corner of Ák Kinaion (Lithada) we decided on some pilotage and cut through the narrow gap between the point and the islands, saving us a mile or so, and overtaking the yacht from Orei.

 

The yacht we had left Orei with eventually bore away towards Kólpos Atlantis and we continued following along behind the other yacht which was a mile or two ahead.  Then, quite suddenly, the yacht ahead turned north and headed up to Limni, a very small harbour we had looked at visiting.  We wondered why there had been such a clear and sudden change of plan and when we reached their position we found out what it was.

 

It was about lunchtime and we hit a sudden F5 ahead of us with a steep sea with lots of white horses, almost like there was a line in the water.  Maybe the meltemi wasn’t receding as fast as we thought.  There is a steep mountain range along this section and we had been warned to stay well offshore due to the wind gusting down off the mountains.  Looking ahead and towards the mountains, the size of the waves coming down suggested stronger winds ahead – continuing was going to be very unpleasant.

 

As we were nearer to the west coast than the other yacht, we decided to head for a nearby anchorage which the pilot book said offered good shelter from the meltemi.  As we rolled heavily in the swell, to add insult to injury, we suddenly appeared to stop.  Not sure what had happened, we looked around and then we started to move forward again.  In the swell we had failed to spot a fishing pot and had been dragging it – oops.  Luckily it cleared itself.

 

Once in the lee of the land, the swell disappeared and we anchored in this beautiful spot where we have stayed for the rest of the day – it’s quite a find.  Although the gusts have found their way into the anchorage at times, the water has remained calm.  Richard donned his weight belt and went to check out the prop after our close encounter with the fishing pot and all seemed well.

 

This evening we have enjoyed our dinner in the cockpit watching the sun set over the distant hills.

 

On passage:  Orei, Evia - Ioánnis Theológos

© Pyxis 2011