Hania to Rethymnon on Crete (approx 31 nm)
 
Rethymnon info
 
 
We left Hania about 10.00am all was looking good on our exit from the harbour. I had been very conscious of a buoy that we had to pass (the lazy line had been attached to it). We passed by and thought all was well. Next thing a fisherman starts shouting to us. We all look around bemused. Then peer over the side of the boat to see the buoy on our starboard side (getting nautical again). Thing was a moment earlier it had been on the port side!!! Captain Miles called for the boat hook and then grabbed the buoy. There followed a few moments silence whilst the crew of Stella Maris looked around at each other - the thoughts ‘what happens now?’ hung unspoken in the air. First thoughts were that it was on the keel, so Captain M tried to push the buoy down, this didn’t work. More onlookers had appeared to see the commotion, they probably thought they were in for an entertaining show, especially as the wind was blowing us towards the bows of some other boats. Then Captain M noticed that the painter (line) to the dinghy was very tight. He called for a knife (surely it’s not that bad). Before it arrived he had untied the dinghy painter which allowed it to pass to the other side of the boat. Turns out when Captain M had let go of the lazy he had dropped it the other side of the dinghy, which meant the line had got caught on the dinghy painter (I don’t know just can’t get the crew these days). Main thing was we were now free. The command ‘floor it’ on this occasion was music to my ears. Moli and her crew had been pootling outside the harbour wondering what had happened to us. Once out of the harbour we had to motor for a while as we’d found that the tolilet was full to capacity. Putting up the sails straight away would have meant that the boat would have tipped slightly to one side. Believe me bloggers that would not have been good. Once a reasonable distance off the shore we were able to remedy the toilet situation, there by avoiding a toiletastrophe! We sailed once again on and off throughout the day. Arrived in Rethimnon a working harbour that was quite shallow. We followed Moli in and moored alongside, in what I can only describe as a ‘text book fashion’. We met two guys on a boat called ‘Reckless of Hamble’. They are also wintering in Crete. The town was a bit of a walk (still we do need the exercise). The locals liked to use the port area to race up and down on their mopeds and motobikes, which can be quite entertaining at times, unless of course your trying to go to sleep. In 2 days we’ll be in Agios Nikolaos, we can’t quite believe it. Love & empty loos XXX
Monday, 23 October 2006