Argostoli to Leros, Greece (11 Oct - 4 Dec 2013)

Vulcano, Sicily to Argostoli, Greece. 310 Nautical Miles Departure: 9 Oct @ 05:00 Arrival: 11 Oct @ 17:00 We had to use the engine from Vulcano island to the Strait of Messina and when we entered the strait we were able to set up the sails. The current and wind were both on our side and we torpedoed through the strait...this ride didn't last long. When we exited the strait and set our bearing East towards Greece the wind from the Messina strait was no longer with us.

On the morning of the 11th something went “snap”. Paul had just gone to bed after his night watch and I was in the cock pit sitting behind the wheel when snap went the automatic pilot. Something inside the wheel drive broke and we couldn't stay on course. Everytime it tried to get back on course the pilot made an awful grinding noise. Instead of waking up Paul I assessed the situation and attempted to fix it myself...After poking it with my finger a few times I got out the screw driver and debated on whether or not to dismantle it myself. Whenever something breaks Mr. MacGyver is always the one to fix it...and he always fixes it...it's quite annoying. In the end I waited for MacGyver to wake up. For the next two and a half hours I steered Arbutus with my legs while sitting on the entrance way sliding door...I'm sure there is a nautical term for this...but you understand what I mean. When Paul woke up he unmounted the pilot from the wheel, opened her up and found that the black plastic wheel thingy was broken and couldn't be fixed by us. Lovely. So we installed our third back up auto-pilot made in the 70's. The construction, design, and materials used to build our ancient auto-pilot are far superior to the cheap plastic disposable garbage that our brand new auto-pilot is made of. We made it to Argostoli, Greece but it was a fight to the finish. I was seasick and we were sailing against the waves which made for an uncomfortable sail. Imagine someone pushing you every two seconds. Every time we hit a wave I felt like this...I was nearly at my limit. The only thing keeping me going was that our destination was close. When we changed course due north for Argostoli we were no longer against the waves and wind and we had a smooth sail into the harbour. Being a smaller harbour, we chose Argostoli as our port of entry hoping our entry formalities into Greece would go smoothly...and they did. We tried radioing the port police upon arrival but we didn't get an answer so we proceeded to try berthing Arbutus Mediterranean-style at the immigration/customs quay. As we were cautiously backing up, ready to drop the anchor, someone yelled to us we weren't allowed to berth there. So we moved over to the public quay where there were already many boats berthed alongside the quay. We followed suit and went alongside and a kind gent walking by took our lines. We visited the port police who told us we needed to wait until Monday to do our paperwork when the tax office would be open. We were not required to wait until Monday, they told us we could continue sailing and register at our next port of entry. But we needed a rest and wanted to enjoy our first Greece city so we ended up staying for seven nights :) The only trouble we had with the paperwork was our boat insurance was written in French and they required it in Greek or English. They gave us our travel document (DEKPA) after we went to pay our fee at the tax office.

We met the nicest and coolest Canadian couple and their cat Scurvy from Niagara, Ontario. We needed to get Arbutus closer to the public water tap so with the help from Martha who took our lines we berthed Med-style for our first time without the aid of laid lines on the quay. We went bow to the quay and dropped our anchor from the stern. Everything looked ok...until the evening when the wind picked up.

We went out for dinner with Bob and Martha at a local taverna and had a great time getting to know them and sharing our sailing stories. We were sorry we couldn't spend more time with them because we were leaving early the next morning. That evening we heard a loud thump...the bow of the boat hit the quay!!! The anchor didn't stick and when we went outside the stern of our boat was awfully close to our neighbours on our starboard side (Bob and Martha were on our port side). Paul thought the thud we heard was us hitting the other boat, but I'm positive the noise was us hitting the quay, and confirmed this when I went on the quay to prevent Arbutus from hitting again. We started up the engine, brought up the anchor, and went alongside for the rest of the night. Early the next morning before sunrise we left Argostoli. Within ten minutes of leaving the quay it started spitting rain...there was a moment when we asked ourselves if we should stay, but we kept going. Another ten minutes passed and now it was a torrential downpour. It was raining BUCKETS!! and the rain invited his friends THUNDER AND LIGHTING. I remember screaming because the sound of the thunder was explosive and the lighting lit up the night sky...literally it was lit up like a movie set. I was able to take some video and pictures with the gopro.

So we got the message loud and clear that we shouldn't leave that morning so we went back to the harbour, but instead of going alongside we had enough room to drop our anchor. Paul checked the weather conditions before we left so it was an unexpected short lived storm. After a nap we and after the storm passed we tried leaving again. This time around we got out a little further before we encountered strong winds. Paul got another weather fax via the SSB Radio and we decided to head back to the harbour FOR THE SECOND TIME IN ONE DAY...We stayed on the boat for the rest of the day and the sun came out so we could dry our clothes. That evening was another adventure. The wind was strong and our anchor didn't stick in the soft mud...we were drifting. Thank god for our anchoring alarm woke us up and we were able to reset the anchor. It was scary to see how much we had drifted. Another adventurous day awaited us when we went alongside the quay. In the morning from our anchorage spot we could see a small-ish swell and thought about our time at L'ile de Ré in France where Arbutus was bashed up against the dock each time the tide went in and out. The same thing couldn't happen again right....Oh yes it can. We didn't learn from our past and we left Arbutus unattended while we went into town to get some lunch. When we returned to Arbutus an hour and a half later the same nightmare was taking place in front of our eyes. The swell got larger and it was pushing Arbutus violently into the concrete quay. We are such bad parents!!! As quickly as we could we got Arbutus out of there and were able to tie up, still alongside, closer to the port authority office where we were protected from the swell. All of this bad weather allowed us to enjoy another dinner with Bob and Martha on their boat D.W. Crow :) The next afternoon on our third attempt we finally left Argostoli. Instead of paying the expensive fee to go through the Corinth Channel we decided to sail South to the fingers of the Peloponnese. Our first anchorage was at Port Longos at Sapientza island. When we were getting close it was still dark so we took our time to wait for the sun to rise so we could anchor with some daylight.

Our destination was Kalymnos island where we wanted to rock climb for two weeks. Along the way we island hopped to Monemvasia, Ormos Phokianos, Idra, Kythnos, Serifos, Paros, Naxos, Skhinousa, Amorgos, Leros, and finally Kalymnos.

Leros and Kalymnos When we left Amorgos we planned on anchoring at Levita island, 38 NM from Amorgos, but 15 knots of NW wind sent us speeding by at Formula 1 speed of 7 knots! We changed our plans and headed towards Northern Leros and just as the sun was setting we dropped anchor just North of Leros at the tiny island of Arkhangelos. We covered 54 nautical miles that day...not too shabby for us. We spent the next day at the anchorage and just before it got dark we motored over to a mooring buoy at Agmar boatyard. We had an appointment on Monday to get our auto-pilot fixed. We would have never guessed that we would call Agmar boatyard home for the next 12 days!!! Things moved at a snails pass. The boatyard needed to order a part from Raymarine to fix our pilot so we had to wait. The boatyard kindly let us stay tie up alongside the lifting/launching area while we waited for the new part to arrive. We kept ourselves busy working on the boat.

After twelve days the part still hadn't arrived but we left to climb some rocks in Kalymnos. We took a mooring buoy at Emborio Bay, visited the taverna who owned the buoy and worked out a deal to stay on his mooring buoy. We stayed three nights and climbed some great routes overlooking the bay. The first climbing day was painful!!! The rock was soooooo damn sharp so with each move I made I cried a little. The following days were great and every night we visited the taverna for a drink.

We sailed to Pothia harbour, the main harbour, in Kalymnos where we practiced our Mediterranean style mooring. Wowza it takes some planning and preparation...I think it was only our second time trying this type of mooring...and amazingly we did quite well. Thankfully not a lot of wind and there was a fisherman on the quay to take our lines. We went directly to the harbour office to ask about long term stays and if it was safe to leave our boat unattended for one month...The answer was no.

Our plan was to find a harbour to keep Arbutus for one month while we went home for Christmas. We wanted to save money and avoid expensive marinas and boatyards...however after some research and talking with other sailors we opted on going back to Agmar boatyard and putting Arbutus on the dry while we were away. It was the right decision. Before going back home we had a three night stay in Athens to see the scaffolding at The Acropolis.

Anchorages During our island hopping tour of the Greek islands we anchored almost all of the time. The only harbours we stayed at were Argostoli, Katapola (Amorgos island), and Pothia (Kalymnos). When we arrived at the anchorage at Serifos island the wind was pretty strong which made anchoring more difficult. Our guide even mentions it can be difficult to get the anchor to bite...and we found this to be very true. It felt like an agonizing lifetime passed by after we finally got the anchors, yes plural, to bite and stick. After our third failed attempt my solution was to go to the harbour a stones throw away from us...but Paul's solution was to use all three of our anchors because one just wasn't cutting it. I thought he went crazy but his solution worked...for the night. At 7am our anchoring alarm went off and we were drifting. The bay was huge so we took our sweet time to get up and even squeezed in breakfast before we went out on deck. We drifted 74 meters...probably shouldn't have been so nonchalant. The anchorage at Arghinonda Bay in Kalymnos was also another fun experience filled with stress and way too much excitement for me. At 3am the dreaded sound of the anchoring alarm went off. We were already awake because the wind was howling and Paul was even walking around looking outside. His spider senses were tingling. When the alarm went off he clapped his hands and said something dramatic...I don't recall what he said. I jumped out of bed while Paul turned on the engine and jumped in the cockpit...in his underwear...I had the good sense to grab our rain gear and passed Paul his jacket. I turned on the computer and tablet...but not the radar...and the instruments helped when the power went out in the small village. OMG it was so dark...so much rain...so much wind...the bay was too small...the stress level was too high...Luckily we kept our cool and didn't PANIC. Paul went to the bow of the boat to lift the anchor and I was behind the driving. I have never been so awake in my life and I tried opening my eyes wider and wider to try and see the land. The lights in the town were going on and off while I was trying to stay as far away from rocks as possible. We got out of the bay unscathed and headed toward Emborio Bay to the mooring buoy we had already stayed at while we climbed. Too much excitement for my little heart to handle.