It’s not all beer, crisps and wind up ya bot!
 
When we last spoke (or should I say when I spoke and you listened because your good at that) we were getting ready to leave Limnia on Khios and head North to Mitilini on Lesvos to meet shipmate Marcus. As journeys from hell go this one pretty much tops the list! We knew it was going to be bad. Usually when I think it’s going to be bad I make it soo bad in my head that the reality never quite lives up to my expectations. On this occasion the reality was, how should I describe it? Hideous, hellish, horrible. It met and exceeded my expectations. We left at 05.30, unfortunately for us as we came out of the the harbour the wind was waiting. It left us in no doubt about it’s disapproval at our pathetic attempt to try and outwit it by leaving early. Gusts of 40kts beat down on us, add to that some rather large waves to give the full washing machine effect and you have all the ingredients for a hideous, hellish, horrible 10 hour journey (if your lucky). Are you getting the picture? As we got away from Khios the wind started to die, which left us with a roly poly swellicious sea. It was now just hellish and horrible. About 4 hours from Lesvos the wicked wind decided to have a bit more fun with us. It’s game this time a 25kts sur le nez with smatterings of 30 just to make life interesting. We pounded and plodded on until we finally arrived at an anchorage (Skala Loutra) at the bottom of Lesvos. It was 19.00 when we anchored up amongst the 15 or so other boats that were in the bay. The plan was to do the last 15 miles the next morning, as our crew member wasn’t arriving till the evening. Meatballs pasta (it’s a bit more comforting than tuna pasta, can’t believe I’ve just said that) and to bed. Love & some calmer winds & seas pretty please The Captain & the windswept one XX
Thursday, 17 July 2008