Well, we still are not doing very well. We stayed in Kalymnos on Friday getting all domestic things
done. We washed the floor in the
heads and the other floors inside the boat, did a biggish shop and washed the
outside of the boat. However, just
before we went out after breakfast we found that we were very close to the pier
and pulling up the anchor did not tighten it up and solve the problem. Our two neighbours left early in the
morning before we were up and we wonder if they disturbed our anchor. So we had to re-moor and while we did
that they made us move into a space between two other boats. Anyway, the anchor was fine after that.
We ate on board in the evening.
Going to sleep was a bit of a problem because after our move we were
right in front of the Taverna that has live music until after midnight.
This morning we bought some fish for dinner and set out to find an
anchorage where we can swim and be protected from a southwesterly wind (most
unusual). Richard found this
island called Pserimos. However,
the usual harbour used on this island will not be protected from the wind, so
he plotted for us to go to a bay on the north of the island called Vathi bay.
The journey was short but eventful. It started out very calm. Richard put the main out in the hope we could sail, but at
first we only had 8 or 9 knots.
Then within minutes it went up to 17 knots and we were sailing along
nicely. As we got to this island
the wind dropped and we had to motor.
Then we went around the headland towards the bay and all hell broke
loose. The wind first went dead
behind and the Genoa was acting up, so we took it in. Then suddenly the wind was more or less on the nose (well,
off 30-40 degrees) and turned into a 6!
It seemed to get worse and worse as we entered the bay the Richard had
identified as sheltered. I was
hysterical and fed up. In these
conditions I didn’t see how we were going to get the main down. Eventually as we got further into the
bay the sea flattened a bit and even in the wind we got the sail down. Actually into such a wind the sail came
down better than it has been.
We finally got further into the bay where it was still blowing 14-17 knots,
but it was possible to anchor. So
then as we started to anchor my next problem arose. The down button on the windlass stopped working. I had been saying for days that it
wasn’t right, but R poo pooed my concerns. In order to anchor here I had to release the chain using the
winch handle to release the windlass.
I had been shown how to do this when we first got the boat, but that was
14 years ago, and I have never done it since. I did manage, but I was not happy. I could not keep track of how much chain I put down and when
I stopped the release, the windlass seemed to be going loose from the
deck. But we did get the anchor
down. We are not certain whether
it has dug in properly. When R
looked it wasn’t really right, but I had no desire to start again with my dodgy
windlass. Anyway, we set an anchor
alarm and it hasn’t gone off all afternoon. Not even when the wind was blowing up to a force 6. So I guess we are fine. It is now 11pm and the wind has gone
down, so we hope all will be well.
However, we now have another problem. The idea of coming here was to have a break before going to
Cos. Also in Cos marina we don’t
have to use the anchor and could get someone to look at the windlass. However, when we phoned them to find
out if they had a berth, they said they were full up with a Rally until
Monday! So now we are in a
quandary over where to go. The
weather is turning and we need shelter.
The suggestion is that we go back to Leros to let them sort us out!
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