The weather did as predicted so we set off on Monday morning at 04:30
with a light wind behind us. Dawn broke as we rounded the North East
bulge of Corfu.We had a nice sail along the North coast although once we
started out to the islands, the residual swell from the past 3 days of
strong Southerlies made life less comfortable. We bypassed Erikousa as
it only has shelter from the North and anchored in Fika bay on the North
side of Othoni at 14:00. Heikel says it has good sandy patches but also
rocky ones so put a trip line on the anchor in case it gets stuck. He
isn't kidding!
After a few hours we noticed the only other boat anchored there moving around and eventually putting a diver down. We thought their anchor must be stuck. Actually it turned out to be the chain - and we got the same problem. A bit of the anchor chain got stuck under a rock and the boat started to object to the now short length of chain going more or less straight down. With no elasticity, every little wave put huge stresses on the bow.
It was getting dark so I tried letting out a bit more chain then fixing some extra rope with rubber gizmos onto the chain to take some of the strain. It worked but it wasn't a very restful night - with me cogitating on how to use the dinghy to retrieve the anchor if we couldn't free the chain and L fretting about going into the freezing cold water with her scuba gear on.
D got up and made coffee - and noticed we still had company. By the time it was properly light and we went outside, they had gone. We suspect they may have had to abandon their anchor and chain. We fervently hoped we weren't going to be in the same situation.
As soon as the sun came up, we pulled the chain in until we could see the rock that had us - straight below. We could see which side it went under so we positioned the boat and pulled hard with the windlass. after 3 minutes of grinding and snatching it came free and we were able to get the anchor up and leave for Italy - not forgetting to pour a libation for Poseidon.
The crossing was mostly uneventful. The wind was too light to get us to Otranto in the light so we motor sailed all the way and arrived safely in harbour at 17:00
On the way, two small birds landed and rested foe a while. Lucifer was asleep for the first one but wide awake and desperate to get at it for the second. The birds had no idea how close they came to a very nasty surprise!
After a few hours we noticed the only other boat anchored there moving around and eventually putting a diver down. We thought their anchor must be stuck. Actually it turned out to be the chain - and we got the same problem. A bit of the anchor chain got stuck under a rock and the boat started to object to the now short length of chain going more or less straight down. With no elasticity, every little wave put huge stresses on the bow.
It was getting dark so I tried letting out a bit more chain then fixing some extra rope with rubber gizmos onto the chain to take some of the strain. It worked but it wasn't a very restful night - with me cogitating on how to use the dinghy to retrieve the anchor if we couldn't free the chain and L fretting about going into the freezing cold water with her scuba gear on.
D got up and made coffee - and noticed we still had company. By the time it was properly light and we went outside, they had gone. We suspect they may have had to abandon their anchor and chain. We fervently hoped we weren't going to be in the same situation.
As soon as the sun came up, we pulled the chain in until we could see the rock that had us - straight below. We could see which side it went under so we positioned the boat and pulled hard with the windlass. after 3 minutes of grinding and snatching it came free and we were able to get the anchor up and leave for Italy - not forgetting to pour a libation for Poseidon.
The crossing was mostly uneventful. The wind was too light to get us to Otranto in the light so we motor sailed all the way and arrived safely in harbour at 17:00
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| I tought I taw a puddy tat |
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