Blustery Meltemi
27 May 2009 | Vathi Inlet, Astipalaia, Greece
Brad
Well we left Palon on the island of Nisiros this morning (a place we'll hold fond memories of) in windy conditions to say the least. Got off the harbor wall in first class style and put to sea. Had considered staying for another night as the forecast was asking for 25ish knot winds. At times we regretted leaving though as the sea state was very lumpy and the wind built most of the morning with gusts of 30 odd knots. Had the first reef in the main all day and motor sailed achieving a decent 8 knots. Unbeknownst to us we were actually in one of the most exposed areas of the Dodecanese islands as the fetch to the north is pretty much uninterrupted all the way to Macedonia, hence the heavier sea state. Put the second reef in the main early afternoon and continued to maintain 9 knots, topping out at 11.4kns!
Finally made it around the north cape of Astipalaia and down into an idyllic inlet called Vathi. Thank good it was welcoming! It is very hidden away and was apparently once the haunt of pirates! The wind is still blowing but we are anchored amongst a few other boats now and tucked up below! Man this Meltemi blows! It is a frustrating wind as it is clear blue skies outside and all forecasts suggest it should be calming down, but the Meltemi continues to defy the best efforts of any meteorologists!
Poor ol' ghosty is doing her best to sit still at anchor but failing! She hunts around all over the place and while we are used to it now, it would still be nice to not have to listen to the snubber (length of line running from each of the fwd cleats to the anchor chain) grinding away every time she swings from one side to the other... we'll see how well the new stainless steel guards stand up to the challenge.
Tomorrow we'll see how the forecasts look, and then ignore them and most likely head on to Santorini (Thira), 55nm away, and deal with what every the dodgy Greek weather can throw at us!