The night passed without any major event. Ruairi and I each got up once in the night to check but everything was fine. The only problem was that the wind was still blowing in the morning when we wanted to leave. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be too much of a problem but over the winter we had had some work done on our bow thruster (a cool thing that makes us able to turn sharply and powerfully if we need to). Unfortunately it had been wired incorrectly and now when we press the “bow right” arrow the bow dutifully turns to the left (sigh).
Conditioning your brain to handle this doesn’t take too long but we have another wonder-gadget on the boat called “Dock-and-Go”. This enables us to control the boat with a joystick rather than the helm and the throttle. The effect is just like a video game which would be good if I liked video games (which I don’t). Again that wouldn’t be too bad but the reversed wiring also impacted the Dock-and-Go. Trial and error (while a 20 knot wind was blowing us onto the quay) didn’t reveal any clear logic to what was going on, so a series of tentative moves with quite a few “No, the other left’s” got us off the quay without mishap or cursing.
After the days spent coming round the capes on the south of the Peloponnese, we should have know that the forecast of light 4-5 knot winds meant only one thing - the winds would NOT be 4 - 5 knots. Couple of miles out from Ierakas on the 30-mile leg to Porto Heli, the clouds started to build over the mountains to our west. The sea started to look quite aggressive and soon we had 25 - 30 knot winds on our beam. We were used to this by now, but the flashes of lightning in the grey clouds and the driving rain were a couple of extra dimensions. Fortunately, the winds ere strong enough that were were going faster than the storm and we missed most of the rain and all of the lightning.
Of course, an hour or so later the winds died again and we motored the last of the way to Porto eli. But I must say, I have really enjoyed sailing in these conditions and how well True Colors sails throughout. Doing over 9 knots on Genoa alone is quite exhilarating.
Dinner tonight was to be ina little bay called Khinitsa just outside of Porto Heli. the charts would imply that we cant make it into the little bay because it’s too shallow. These are Ruairi’s old stomping grounds and he knows different. Our 2.2 meter draft had no problem with the depth whatsoever and we anchored comfortably in time for dinner. The restaurant is reputed to be quite good but in the early season it is operating on a much-reduced menu. The quality was good but just not enough data points to form a conclusive view. But location-wise it is pretty ideal - especially when you are the only boat in the anchorage.
Our long and varied day was not over yet. During dinner clouds had been building to the west and Ruairi became concerned that we might have problems. So prudence again dictated that we move in the gathering dark into the shelter of Porto Heli itself. Sten-to mooring in the dark was a new experience for me but there was sufficient light from the town to make it relatively straightforward. But no-one, please, suggest that my next challenge should be doing it blindfold!
