We are celebrating. We have
finally arrived in the Aegean. We
left our anchorage at 6:30am. The
wind had finally dropped and it is a sunny day with no wind. So we are resigned to having another day on the motor. And so it turned out to be. All the worries about the conditions
around the Maleas point, turned out to be unwarranted. The wind did get up there, but only to
15 knots, although that was on the nose!
However, the sea was very calm.
There was a tiny bit of chop and a small swell, but nothing remotely
uncomfortable or to worry about.
The most unusual part of the trip was the number or big ships we
saw. After days of sailing and
seeing virtually no one else in the straits we passed 8 large cargo ships and a
ferry. We never got very close, so
there was no problem.
We arrived here in Monemvasia just after 3pm. As we were coming in another yacht, flying a German flag was
also making their way in, very slowly.
I think Richard was trying to race them to the port to get a mooring,
and they were not happy. But all
worked out fine. They wanted to
moor stern to on anchor on the one pier, whereas we wanted to go alongside on a
different pier. So everyone was
content in the end. There is no
electricity here, but there is a water tap right near our boat. The only problem is that it has an
unusual end and we have no adaptor to connect it to our hose. However, the nice English couple moored
in front of us have said we can borrow their adaptor. There is a problem with that as they are leaving in the
morning, so we will have to fill up then and be sparing with water until we get
to our next port, where there are supposed to be facilities.
When we get it we realize that it is very hot – about 30C. Out at sea we were warm, but
comfortable. We then notice that a
number of people are swimming in the harbour. We can see that the water is crystal clear so, what the
heck, we go in. That cools us down
nicely, although the water temperature is now over 23C! We also use our black bag shower as a
rinse off after swimming. That
seems to do the job.
After our swim we decide to go and have a look at the village. This is an unusual place. The harbour where we are is in the
modern village. The village is
very sweet. The sea front is
covered in tavernas, and cafes. In
the back street we found a small supermarket, a greengrocer, a bakery and a
butcher. So I shall be able to
re-provision with ease tomorrow evening. I even find a shop where they make
clothes and buy a very light pair of royal blue trousers. I hope they will be really comfortable
in this hot weather.
The real reason to come here, however, is that there is an old village
in castle walls with a citadel and church up on a high hill behind the old
village. That village is across a
causeway from where we are. We
have seen it on our way in and it looks super. So we will walk there tomorrow morning, trying to avoid the
worst of the heat of the day.
Back on the boat we have dinner.
We have also opened a bottle of fizz to celebrate finally making it to
the Aegean. The only next worry I
have is getting to the Cyclades.
Apparently it has been so windy there, several boats that are here came
over to escape the wind! Richard
says the weather forecast is for light winds until next Friday by which time we
should be tucked up in a safe harbour.
So we shall see. In the
meantime we are trying to just relax and I must stop worrying. We have both taken nice showers on
board with lots of very hot water made by the engine!
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