38.34.104N 20.54.747E

On Sunday – it was time to move again. Well we had cleaned most of the hull and the propeller so we didn’t want it getting all furred up again J

We motored about an hour and a half south to the Island of Kastos. We did manage to get the genoa out for a few minutes to increase our speed before the wind dropped off. 

The windmill on the approach to Port Kastos.

We arrived in the tiny Harbour of Port Kastos, where we had to do the dreaded stern to mooring – using the anchor. Of course by the time we were entering the harbour the wind had picked up a bit as it always does when we enter a confined space (or maybe it just feels like it does). On our first attempt we headed into the harbour just getting ready to drop the anchor – then the dreaded depth alarm went off – and just wouldn’t shut up. The depths at one side of the harbour are really shallow. With the wind blowing Wanda just didn’t really want to move in the way we wanted her to move, but with a bit more power we managed to sort ourselves out and headed out of the harbour to deeper open water to recover. 

Our second attempt was much better. We waited for the tourist boat to leave which meant much more space on the quay. We entered the harbour in astern (going backwards), hopefully this would mean we could get to the right spot to drop our anchor and still have some manoeuvrability. We managed to drop the anchor nearly at the right spot and reversed into the space. Lines were thrown ashore and luckily there were people there to catch them for us. We were safely in the spot.

Richard swam out to check his anchor and once he had sorted his anchor out went to check ours. Unfortunately it was lying on its side with a huge glob of mud on it – not really doing what it should do. We had a couple of options – go out and try again (oh no) or get the dinghy out, get Richard to attach a line to the anchor and then dinghy the anchor out further and try and get it to set. Our neighbours (who had been very helpful catching lines and telling us what to do) suggested that we should go out and try again as it was good practice, or maybe they had a wicked sense of humour. In the meantime two more boats had come in next to us so the space we had was – well Wanda sized. So we decided to give it another go.

Third attempt – yay it worked. We motored out picking up the anchor chain. Carried on a bit further out than we had been before – dropped the anchor – then reversed slowly back into our space. This time the anchor dug in as it is supposed to and we were safely in our spot. We could now enjoy the beautiful surroundings of Port Kastos.

The Harbour – Port Kastos. Wanda is on the right hand side of the picture about 3 boats down from the red boat.

On our first evening we went to the windmill for a drink, then on to one of the local Taverna’s for dinner.

The following day Anne went for a walk up the hill to the ridge that runs down the island. She had lovely views of the bay we were in and then the other side of the island.

View from the top of the island looking towards Kalamos.

The evening’s entertainment was provided by a French family trying to moor up. First they sent one of the teenage sons to swim ashore with a line but this proved too heavy. Then they tried to row ashore – once again the line was too heavy. They then had to get the outboard engine on the dinghy – luckily they managed without it falling in the water. Then the line was too short to reach land. Finally by knotting two ropes together they managed to tie to the shore. During the time they were trying to get lines ashore they were anchored but swinging towards the boats on the quayside. We were quite concerned that they might end up against us so we ended up launching our dinghy to go and help – before we got ourselves sorted out they had managed to get the line ashore. So our assistance was not required.

We had a barbeque on the quay side that evening. The dog on the boat a few boats down clearly thought the food was all for her, however the owner did keep her well under control so we managed to eat in peace.