Windy days

We left Lakki for Agathonisi early on Saturday morning, May 31^st. The previous Thursday evening, just after I wrote the last blog, the wind blew up from the Southwest, as forecast. Waves were sweeping down the bay and crashing on the front, but we were sheltered from the waves by the ferry quay , but not from the wind, which came in vicious gusts. The French boat next to us, who had clearly not dug his anchor in when he came in tried to pull his anchor tight, but it just kept coming. He decided to leave and go into the marina, but as he left his keel ran over our anchor chain then, when he lifted his anchor he pulled ours out, just at the height of the storm. Fortunately we had a lot of chain out, so we pulled off the quay and held ourselves off on the engine, pulled the anchor and within a few metres it set again. Now the French boat had left we could put on a spring to give us more security.

As we were getting everything together, Jo and Ian arrived for a drink before we went out to dinner to celebrate their last evening as boat owners, as they were due to complete the sale and hand over the next day. We had a drink below, as it was too windy to sit in the cockpit, and decided we could safely leave the boat and go for dinner at To Petrino as the wind had dropped, though Simon took a bike so that he could go back and check if it blew up again. We had a good dinner and everything was fine when we got back.

On Friday morning we met Jo and Ian in Tacis’s grocer (now a delicatessen) and Ian was fretting a bit as the money for the sale had not come through, and he insisted he was not letting Graham, the new owner, aboard until the money was in the bank. They picked Ian up off the ferry at Agia Marina t midday and we got a text at teatime to say the money had arrived. They all came over for a celebration drink and we then cooked a tuna stew, with some tuna that some neighbours had given as, as they had caught a huge tuna and could not eat it all.

On Saturday morning we set off for Agathonisi, as planned. Outside Lakki harbour there was a big swell but almost no wind, though the swell dropped once we had got round the north of the island and we motored all the way, arriving at midday to find only one yacht there, alongside on the ferry quay, but a float of high-powered RIBs, each with 500 horsepower of engine. It turned out that they were from a club in Athens who toured the islands to see how the other half lived and to bring presents for the children, including toys and new bikes. We went on the end of the ferry quay and went for a beer at Yanni and Voula’s tavern. Their son Yiorgo was there, having come home after his military service, and Yanni and Voula arrived soon after, Voula hobbling and inWindy days

We left Lakki for Agathonisi early on Saturday morning, May 31^st. The previous Thursday evening, just after I wrote the last blog, the wind blew up from the Southwest, as forecast. Waves were sweeping down the bay and crashing on the front, but we were sheltered from the waves by the ferry quay , but not from the wind, which came in vicious gusts. The French boat next to us, who had clearly not dug his anchor in when he came in tried to pull his anchor tight, but it just kept coming. He decided to leave and go into the marina, but as he left his keel ran over our anchor chain then, when he lifted his anchor he pulled ours out, just at the height of the storm. Fortunately we had a lot of chain out, so we pulled off the quay and held ourselves off on the engine, pulled the anchor and within a few metres it set again. Now the French boat had left we could put on a spring to give us more security.

As we were getting everything together, Jo and Ian arrived for a drink before we went out to dinner to celebrate their last evening as boat owners, as they were due to complete the sale and hand over the next day. We had a drink below, as it was too windy to sit in the cockpit, and decided we could safely leave the boat and go for dinner at To Petrino as the wind had dropped, though Simon took a bike so that he could go back and check if it blew up again. We had a good dinner and everything was fine when we got back.

On Friday morning we met Jo and Ian in Tacis’s grocer (now a delicatessen) and Ian was fretting a bit as the money for the sale had not come through, and he insisted he was not letting Graham, the new owner, aboard until the money was in the bank. They picked Ian up off the ferry at Agia Marina t midday and we got a text at teatime to say the money had arrived. They all came over for a celebration drink and we then cooked a tuna stew, with some tuna that some neighbours had given as, as they had caught a huge tuna and could not eat it all.

On Saturday morning we set off for Agathonisi, as planned. Outside Lakki harbour there was a big swell but almost no wind, though the swell dropped once we had got round the north of the island and we motored all the way, arriving at midday to find only one yacht there, alongside on the ferry quay, but a float of high-powered RIBs, each with 500 horsepower of engine. It turned out that they were from a club in Athens who toured the islands to see how the other half lived and to bring presents for the children, including toys and new bikes. We went on the end of the ferry quay and went for a beer at Yanni and Voula’s tavern. Their son Yiorgo was there, having come home after his military service, and Yanni and Voula arrived soon after, Voula hobbling and in obvious pain as she had burnt her ankle on Yiogo’s motorbike and then hit it on something. We had heard that Voula had stood against the incumbent in the mayoral election, the first time he had faced opposition in years, and she only lost by 58% to 42% and they now form an opposition group of five on the council of 13, so they can try to keep the mayor in check. The last straw was his roadbuilding programme, in which he spent three million euros of EU money building high class roads to nowhere (see last year’s blog), which are now tarmacked, with white lines and crash barriers.

One road, which also has street lighting, leads half a kilometre round the bay to Spilia beach, which now has an enormous car park behind it. The other road leads three kilometres to the abandoned village of Katoliko, with a side road down to a single farm.

On Sunday we walked round to the excavation beyond Katoliko, where they are also building a small museum, but it was closed, as it was Sunday.

We stayed two nights in Agathonisi, but because strong southerly winds were forecast we left for Arki on Monday morning, June 2^nd, to be sure of getting in there before the winds came on the Wednesday. Fortunately there was plenty of room on the Arki quay when we arrived, though it filled up during the day.

In Arki Alexandr played on his electric bike.

Nicolas’s dad has built him a little marina in the harbour, full of model boats.

On Tuesday morning the charter boats left Arki and some more owner boats came in to ride out the storm, so there seven British and two French yachts on the quay. Arki seems to attract the Brits especially, perhaps because it is so peaceful. Nicolas’s mum, Maria, was cooking a rooster, so we asked if they could keep us two portions for this evening. It turned out that they were cooking this for themselves, not for sale, but Nicholas promised there would be enough for us, if we did not tell anybody else.