SV ICE BEAR

We started the day in Maganisi with a swim off the back of the boat. The water was so warm and I even float about chin high in it. I think the only thing that could have made it better would have been a pool noodle. While i was being entertained by all the little fish someone else noticed a Canadian flag slipping into the bay. Approximately an hour later there was knock on the hull and the owners of the flag were welcomed aboard. They had just left Croatia and were kind enough to answer many question. We didn't leave the bay until 3 pm which was to be the first lesson for the day. The earlier you get to where you are going the better chance of getting a spot. Lesson number two, trying to get into a harbour that also serves as a charter base on a saturday.
Saturdays it would seem are the day the charters end and there were boats everywhere. I would suspect sundays are no better being that's the day the charters begin. Our third lesson, when you are heading for a town who's claim to fame is its amazing windsurfing conditions and you see a cloud getting sucked down the side of a mountain there might be to much wind (30 - 32 kn) to tie at the dock although we did see two boats successfully tie but the yelling and wild gesticulations suggested it was a harrowing experience. We did anchor though and thought about where we were what we were doing and then consulted several weather reports looked at some weather models and decided that the next few days were going to be ugly and we didn't really need to be anywhere so why subject ourselves to ugly weather
so back to Vlikho harbour. Its safe and surrounded by food. On the plus side we did get a very nice 2 1/2 hr run with the jib back. The next day we did see some wind and a few drops of rain just enough to drop the temp to the high 20's. Perfect for boat chores. We washed the sheets, floors, and kitchen, finished the anchor bridal to get the strain off of the windlass, untangled the lines for the dingy, tuned the rig, and watched the ugly clouds cruise by on either side of the hills. This also gave us plenty of time to watch the Van Isl 360 Port Hardy to Winter Harbour leg race tracker and cheer on our friends. Which brings us to monday. Time to try again this time we have left Vlikho at 9:30 am and are heading for Sami on the island of Kefalonia there isn't any wind in sight. the trip should take about 4 1/2 hours.
2:40 pm we are tied to a dock. We didn't end up on the wall with the restaurants like last time but I could still throw a ball and hit them. The wharfenger seem a little more proactive this time. He was sitting on a scooter at the entrance to the habour directing and then helping boats to tie up not sure but it looks like the wind direction may influence which side of the harbour he directs the boats to. One last note to all those that were worried about Gizmo he will probably make a full recovery from his flight across the cockpit while we were partaking in the third lesson, Who knew a potted basil couldn't withstand 30+ knots of wind while sitting on a table. I suspect his potting arrangement will soon be modified.