In the middle of Port Atheni bay is a reef clearly marked on the charts and pilot book. Unfortunately the Greeks don’t buoy anything and in Port Atheni there is a simple pile of stones and a stick which yachties and fishermen have put to mark the end of the reef.

Many boats have near misses on this reef as they blissfully turn across the bay to the moored yachts. Last year I heard a clang and saw a small charter yacht just catch the reef but mange to get over it somehow….. at is shallowest it is about 3 ft. deep.

This year a moored yachty shouted to a charter catamaran to stop only feet before it was about to go over the reef.

So during our lovely stay in the bay, one day at around 7.30pm, Tony heard a metal crash and looked across the bay to see a very nice 38ft Benneteau charter yacht mount up onto the reef. It was really bad luck as the yacht had gone around, outside the pile of rocks; sadly we know the reef extends well beyond the mark.

He tried to get off with his engine for a while but seemed quite stuck.

Tony went across to them with the dinghy to try to push them off the reef. Other dinghies gathered, 4, 5 and then 6 all from moored yachts pushing the yacht whilst the family sat on the one side to try to change the weight balance and angle. The waterline reared up, but nothing moved. Another rib came with a large engine. He took the halyard (rope) from the top of the mast and drove away sidewards, pulling and levering the mast to try to move the keel off the reef whilst the other dinghies pushed…….nothing moved.

I suggested that the skipper telephoned the nearby taverna in the bay to ask for a fishing boat to come from the tiny harbour to pull the mast over and get them off. We gave them the number but the Italian skipper didn’t want to call at that time.

Another person ran the anchor and chain out into the bay for the yacht to try to rotate himself to free the keel. A good idea but sadly the guy dropped the chain at too an acute angle and so it was impossible for the skipper to winch the chain over the bow roller at such an angle……………..the boat didn’t move.

All nationalities of dinghies whirled around the yacht as the light fell to darkness. The efforts were very un coordinated by no common language. Sadly the Italian skipper didn’t speak very much English and no one spoke Italian.  The only good thing was the weather was very calm, with still air the boat was in no threat. Our only concern was if the wind increased a little overnight as forecast, a slight swell could have pushed into the bay and have the boat pogoing on its keel on the reef…..far more of a problem.

The young children and family on board were calm as they had a lot of help around them and a shore nearby.

Two hours had passed since the yacht hit the reef and what little tide there was had gone down, the yachts waterline now well out of the water………. and all efforts had failed. A call to the more powerful fishing boats earlier would have had them safely off the reef in daylight.

Tony collected me from Tioram and we set off to the Taverna to speak to the owner to call a fisherman to come from the local village to help the yacht. Whilst this was all going on we finally noticed the nav lights on the yacht in the darkness…….. had started to move. They were off the reef.

We watched as we could see the lights move to a safe part of the bay and anchor. We could hear dinghies whirling around to guide them so all was well. The next morning we saw they had abandoned their main anchor and anchored in the safe position with a kedge anchor. The children were happily swimming in the bay, the dad was diving and snorkelling on the reef with a waiting dinghy and finally retrieved his main anchor.

They fed their main anchor chain back onto the roller from the dinghy, got the anchor sorted, relaxed and swam for the day and happily left the bay on the afternoon to sail to their next destination.

We wondered if they would tell the charter company. We once saw a charter company in Paros, Cyclades, employing a diver to check the returning bareboat charter yachts keels, before handing back the £2,000 deposits. We thought this a little extreme at the time…… now we know why.

An unfortunate story that ends well, the family were fine, unfazed by the event and sailed away happily.

Photos…………

Just after the yacht hit the reef, Tony and others trying to push the yacht off.

Love to all

T and T x x