Peripéteies in Greece — Week 49. Adventures in Greece as we cruise the…
By: Tim Bull
Tags: Liveaboard, Boats, Maintenance, Greece, Dogs

Peripéteies in Greece — Week 49

The wind is a beast. It’s a living, roaring animal that devours everything in its path. It rules the waters and you’d better not forget it.

We’re now into day 4 of winds gusting at around 30–35 knots (65 km/h). Things calm down somewhat overnight, but as the sun rises, so do the winds and things get noisy.

You might not expect it, but sound is actually one of the most useful senses on a boat, especially at anchor. You’re comforted by the sound of the freshwater pump pressurising the holding tank and immediately alert if it takes a little longer than it should. The engines have certain sound, and the ropes creaking and fenders rubbing on the dock all contribute. You notice very quickly when something doesn’t sound “right” or when there’s a new sound.

We woke up early (6AM) on Thursday when the wind kicked up for the first time as there were a whole range of new noises that we heard, including halyards (the long rope that runs up to the top of mast used to haul up the main sail) slapping on the masts of boats nearby. I went outside and the bimini on the fly bridge was getting hammered and we were sitting at a 45 degree angle to the finger dock (a small dock that comes out 90 degrees from the main pier) as the wind had both shifted direction and strengthened since we docked the first time.

I dragged Karina out of bed, we took the bimini down to protect it and then I dug out some extra dock lines and added them to the boat, bringing the nose back in so we sat alongside the finger dock again. The dock crew at the marina never rest — it’s one advantage of paying for a slip — as we were doing this, they were out on their electric scooters checking all the boats and making sure they were properly secured.

Since then, it’s been relentless — the boat is moving more, pushed by the winds and the swell that’s creeping into the marina. It’s impacting our ability to do chores — it’s far too windy to sort out storage compartments outside as things blow away and I can’t polish the portals on the starboard side because it’s too hard to be on the tender, hold it still against the wind and polish the portals all at the same time.

After feeling confident in our sea legs, the new motion left us feeling a little queasy for a day or so, but we’ve adjusted again well enough — although sitting inside and staring at your phone will start to make you feel a little ill again, a good excuse to put them down. We do realise how far we’ve come however when we had a new couple we met come by for a visit. We were proudly showing them the inside of the boat and the woman was very quickly turning green and needed to go back out again — three weeks ago that would have been us, but now we’re generally very comfortable inside even with the winds.

Of course it’s not JUST the wind either, the wind builds the waves and the longer it goes on, the choppier the conditions get. A nice calm beach just outside the marina that we visited in the tender earlier during the week now has whitewater crashing over it and throwing spray high into the air, visible from 500m away. Vassilis was back here for a charter and he was telling me that between the islands in the Cyclades (the chain that runs SE from where we are and includes all the popular islands like Santorini) that the waves are rolling between 4–5 metres now out there and the charters are re-directing back around the cape into the Saronikis gulf instead.

Last weekend many of the boats were out around us, but no one has gone out this weekend. A couple of people visited, but they all stayed in the marina. Even the charters are constrained — people have paid good money to go cruising in the Mediterranean, so this weather is very inconvenient. Last night when we were walking the piers with the dog, most of the charter guests were sitting on the dock, not on the boat, just because of the movement making them feel sick.

Major activities this week — lots of boat maintenance and ordering and arranging various things. We continued our speedboat license course — we now have only one lesson left this Tuesday and then sit the exam on Friday 30th with the Port Authority in Glyfada. A major milestone and a critical thing for us to pass.