SERENITY NOW

  27th Oct 2019 (Crete) Well not the usual report of sunshine, idyllic bays and the occasional goats bleating today... That said, it is still sunny here in Elounda, we are in an idyllic bay, and the goats do still occasionally bleat!  Thought I’d share with you some of our night last night: We headed off to bed at 11ish, after watching a couple of episodes of something called ‘Money Heist’ on the laptop - it’s a Spanish crime caper series which Martin recommended. Watchable, but not great. (Edit: now on to season 3... still enjoying) The day had been calm with little wind, but as we retired a gentle breeze picked up, this grew.. By 1am the wind is angrily howling through the rigging and the waves are slamming against the hull.  We’re anchored (as opposed to tied to a mooring buoy or an a quay), so our safety is reliant upon how well the anchor is dug in to the bottom, and what sort of mud/sand/rock it’s holding onto. At 3am - neither of us having slept much, if at...

            21st Oct 2019 (Crete) Well our calm and peaceful haven on the far side of the bay at Elounda has been transformed into a howling tempest for the night. It’s just gone 3am, and I’m yet to sleep. The wind had been picking up throughout the day, enough that we took the outboard off the tender before it got dark as a precaution in case it flipped. The wind is accompanied by a fairly large rolly sea that keeps us bobbing around and the snubber line squealing. Before bed we’d decided that the bridle would be a better option on the anchor chain rather than the rope snubber, so we donned life jackets and head torches, put the deck light on, and started making our way forward. Having popped our heads around the spray hood, and felt the full force of the wind and the deck rapidly moving under our feet, decided that although putting the bridle on was indeed a wonderful idea, it wasn’t worth risking our safety for a journey to the bow to accomplish ...

  15th Oct 2019 (Crete) Anchored on the quiet far side of the bay at Elounda. The sun is shining in a blue sky and the water is flat calm this morning, and having woken in the night to the sound of silence ( a complete lack of noise as opposed to anything Simon and Garfunkel related ) I’m pretty sure we’re going to have a chilled and peaceful time here. We’ve ended up here after leaving our previous anchorage next to the quay on the other side of the bay, and heading out briefly past Spinalonga to empty our black water holding tank.  Now that’s done, today’s mission is to remove and replace the last of the old toilet pipes - The pipe in question is the biggest and most difficult - the end of level baddie - the one that runs from under the holding tank to the outside seacock. What I didn’t know before starting, was that human excrement when combined with salt water creates the strongest glue known to man.  The end of the pipe, at the tank end, came off with little ...

  8th Oct 2019 (Crete) Still anchored in Elounda with the best boat guest still present. He’s out trying to catch yet more fish as I get up - no luck, but saw some significant splashes from large fish - so maybe one day I might get one... we’ll see. After a non diabetic breakfast for me and Chez, and rabbit food for Martin, we headed out in the tender, and then the hire car and over to the causeway. This is where the walk around the island that rims the bay at Elounda begins. Headed off in full sunshine, striding out up the gentle slope of the hill. Chez took a stumble and slipped into some particularly spikey shrubbery - adding bum and arm injuries to her growing list of aches and pains. We stopped off at a small quay next to one of the little chapels on the island, Martin and I swam in the ludicrously clear water. Took turns diving in and watching each other with the snorkel and goggles on.  Had a nibble there, then headed back along the route in reverse order - ...

  6th Oct 2019 (Crete) We’re anchored in Elounda, waiting until the 31st Oct when we can re-enter the marina. Awoke to the usual sound of the Smith siblings comparing notes on how long they were able to keep their eyes wide open overnight... Seriously.. will they never learn?? Headed over to Elounda town in the tender and picked up a little blue hire car.  With me driving, and randomly selecting gears and wiping the windows along the way (I'm a little out of practice), we made our way to Kritsa Gorge. As picturesque as ever, and nice to be able to share some of our current home with Martin. Stopped and made stone stacked cairns along the way - Martin advising that he’s the Cairn Breh or some such nonsense.  Stopped off at Lidl on the way back to Ag Nik - was very strange heading back into town, and seeing all the now familiar places again. Caught up with the Reeces on Cloud 9, for a cuppa and a chat, before taking a walk around the lake and back along the coast path...

  2nd Oct 2019 (Rhodes - Kasos) Woke to the sound of the kettle being put on, and a gleeful report from that West Ham wanker Martin that ‘We won’t talk about Tottenham today’ (lost 7-2 to Bayern Munich). That was at 5:30am We’re leaving our current anchorage on the Southern tip of Rhodes before dawn to avoid being bombed by the Greek army. Chez took us out as I upped anchor and the three of us headed off in the darkness. Stars faded as the sun gradually rose over the water (Chez spotting the first little blob of orange, and by doing so ensured her Mugabe style ongoing title of Tasos for yet another day... she’ll no doubt be moaning about not being shown enough respect and due deference again tomorrow). We dropped lures off the back, hoping for a slightly better result than usual: no fish / lost lure is the norm at present. We were able to sail with little motor assistance for the first 2 hours, but wind dropped to leave us motoring on glasslike water.  During one of the...