Katakolon to Kiparissia Peloponnese.
(approx 27 nm).
 
Kiparissia info
 
After a good nights sleep we upped anchor and headed off to Kiparissia. The crew on Moli pulled up their anchor only to find another anchor on the end of it. Chief anchorwoman Mandy soon remedied this situation and we were off. We had to motor for a bit but then the wind picked up. I had been left on the helm (what’s new). Captain Miles had gone down below to sort out some important navigational issue or was it to get a beer!! At this point the wind was starting to gust a bit, Captain M had been on hand to dump the mane if needed. Well it was needed and he wasn’t there. Crew man Marcus although in the cockpit had not been given any instruction on what to do when things got lively. So we did the only thing we could a sort of ‘yelp’ followed by a ‘whoooooooaaaa’, as I tried to remember ‘do you steer in to wind or away from it’. The crew of Moli looked on in amazement, they thought we were really trying to go for it, well we went for it a little too much and sort of broached, at this point Captain Miles decided to surface to see what all he fuss was about. The rest of the journey went without too much incident and the wind eventually died off, meaning we had to motor once again. We arrived in Kiparissia, the write up in the book warned us that shelter here was not good, ‘In 1990 it is reported that a gale sank every boat in the harbour’, enough said! The place looked barren and deserted, just us and Moli there. Then some Hobbits turned up, no not real ones (I’ve not had that much sun). They were 2 little Italians in a teensy weensy boat. We all looked at them and thought Hobbits. They muscled in on our slot as we were mooring up, but eventually things got sorted. The clouds overhead didn’t look too good, in fact they looked pretty menacing. The wind was also starting to get a bit feisty and a swell was building. The words from the pilot book were going over and over in our minds. ‘Shelter here is not good, shelter here is not good’. The Hobbits had to leave the quay and anchor in the middle of the harbour, as their anchor was dragging. To calm our nerves we went on board Moli for a drink (well you have to don’t you?) and a tuna appetizer (caught that day by Captain Birdseye, I mean Ian). It was quite nice being on Moli because they have a sprayhood to protect you from the wind. So when sitting in the cockpit you are lulled into a false sense of security, that maybe just maybe the wind is calming and there really isn’t anything to worry about. Then you step off the boat and get hoooolied. We decided to go for a wander, watching a boat bouncing around makes you very nervous. We went off and found some very good Giros (Greek kebabs). On our return the boats were still bouncing. That night the wind howled, the swell slapped, we worried, the perfect ingredients for a sleepless night and it was!! Next morning we weren’t sure what the weather was going to be like beyond the breakwater, but decided to take our chances. There are only so many sleepless nights your nerves can take in one hit. Sleepy on Stella Maris XXX
Tuesday, 10 October 2006