Grace Notes

We left Yithion on Monday lunchtime expecting a good sail over to Plitra. We had in fact, waited till lunchtime to leave to get the wind in the afternoon and left the dingy down expecting nothing more than local Force 6 winds in the late afternoon. It built steadily across the trip and as it was on the nose we were tacking slowly towards our destination. We had some trouble with the main sail, which kept getting jammed when we were trying to reef. In-mast roller reefing is great when it works and a serious headache when it doesn't. Then it all started to get much more serious. The wind built to 30 knots true from the direction we were going and the swell built with it. The short steep waves meant it was difficult to ride them without slamming into them. We then noticed the time. It was getting late and we still had a way to go. The worry of arriving in a place we did not know in the dark was a very real one. From then on it was a race to arrive in the light....

We've not been blogging nearly a fortnight due to having little or no Internet connectivity. There's been plenty of adventure, which we'll summarise over the next few entries. As usual, more photographs can be found under "Voyage Pictures" on your right. We rounded the bottom of the Mani peninsula on Thursday 21st. There were light winds in the morning, "on the nose", and we had to travel quite a distance, so we motored most of the way. The wind picked up and backed to an Easterly as we passed Cape Grosso, allowing us to sail. We could see a lot of white water at the corner (Tainaro Point), and reaching it, we found this was mainly due to a large swell. The remaining three miles into Porto Kayio was pretty rolly, and when we finally turned left and shot downhill towards the narrow entrance to the bay, I was praying that the shelter was as good as Rod Heikell (the author of the local pilot guides, and minor deity of Mediterranean cruising) clai...

We are definitely starting to relax into the journey.  The move from jobs and boat improvements to sailing and just day to day maintenance has occurred.  It was always just a matter of time but did take a little longer than expected.  Having been living on the boat for three weeks I thought the transition would be seem less but it still took a few days. We have had some great days so far with a variety of conditions.  Some good sailing in strong winds and some calm down wind sailing in moderate winds.  We are already learning to change plans more in accordance with the weather.  The decision to go to Katakolon on the mainland rather than Keri on Zakinthos is a good example of this. We are currently tied up along side in Pylos waiting whilst the wind goes around to the North to make the trip down to Methoni less expensive in diesel.  We have a new found respect for how much diesel we are burning, as we had to fill up our tank using the two 18 litre ...

The recent extension to the breakwater at Kyparissia is good - without it we couldn't have stayed here last night and would have had a long day to Pylos yesterday. New harbours with big concrete quays definitely need to be treated with suspicion until proven. As forecast, we had strong South Westerlies, which veered to North Westerlies in the middle of the night. We suffered from significant swell on the West quay, and were up through the night tending the lines. We're now in the market for some better string... and a couple more of these (We shipped ours from Spain , which made them a little pricey, but they work really well.) Things looked a little better on the East quay where Norna Biron was be sitting pretty. On closer investigation this morning, they had an anchor out abeam which pulled them clear of the quay. The silver lining was that we took a day off from moving, and walked up to Kyparissa castle. Absolutely stunning views. We're at anchor in the h...

Over on the right you'll notice a link for Voyage Pictures . We're uploading the pictures we take en route, and tagging each one so you can see where it was taken.

They say that cruising is "fixing boats in beautiful places". I commemorated our visit to Kiparissa, our first new place of the trip, by deciding to fix the leaks in the heads fresh water. Last month I found that Rubberweld tape, no matter how many layers are applied, is useless for fixing leaks in a pressured water system. The same holds true this month. Having confirmed that, Sara and I set out at siesta time to find some rubber washers. We returned empty handed (well, we did buy some rubber gloves, just in case), but with a couple of ideas about fashioning our own from fuel pipe or the dinghy repair kit. Sara was enlisted as "Washer Woman", and found the dinghy kit to be a winner. The leaks are fixed. It really is beautiful here.

At the last minute I managed to snap our washboards in two. I'm clearly stronger than I look. While waiting for new perspex to arrive, we did a mini "shakedown" cruise to Kastos - Sara's favourite place in the Ionian. Kastos

Time for a Picture Round:   Top tip for girls: if you can't find the varnish, pink nail polish works too. We're leaving Nidri quay tomorrow, but we'll be back.

"Stainless Phil" of Steel Marine has produced a work of art... Hmmm, I think a backing plate may be needed.

We are very nearly there. We have been ticking off the jobs on the job sheet and we are close to completing all the major ones. Phil has been hard at it all week fixing leaks and doing more wiring. The wiring never seems to end. We just have the passerelle to fit tomorrow so I am sending Phil up the mast today. I ran out of useful jobs that I could do on the boat, having finished the drainage in th e lower field. Please look at the pictures of this as I am rather proud of the results. So to keep myself busy I have been polishing boats down the boat yard. It is hard work and you do feel like the Karate Kid "Wax on! Wax off!" But it is good for the bat wings. We have been confirmed as average at the Vlicho Yacht Club quiz. For achieving the average score you win a bottle of wine. We were helped to this result by Simon & Maria, fellow Nisos owners and considering the amount of wine drunk I was rather pleased with the position. We have also been for a lovely l...