The strong winds forecast for Sunday didn’t really materialise so we walked up the hill to the old part of town to visit the castle, which was unfortunately closed, but we did stop for lunch at Palia Agora taverna with stunning views overlooking the sea and harbour. We shared a salad with local smoked meat and thinly sliced cheese. Complimentary ice cream lollies to finish off. This was the hottest day in Greece so far with a temperature of about 24°.
However, the wind did start picking up on Monday afternoon and very soon the skippers of the 4 yachts moored stern-to were looking very worried as the wind started pushing them sideways. I suggested that we could put a long line from the bow of the windward boat across to the wall, an idea they seized upon, except that no one seemed to have any long lines. So I volunteered 2 of ours which we joined to link the wall with each of the bows of the 4 yachts. The winds persisted all night with gusts of 30 to 50 knots, with a peak seen at 54 kts. In the morning the stern-to skippers were extremely grateful for the safety provided by our lines. Meantime, we were side onto the wall and apart from the noise of the wind, experienced no problems whatsoever. For future reference there was an old sign saying stern-to mooring only. In this weather there were ten of us side-to, unsurprisingly. The police paid a visit but weren’t about to ask us all to move our boats in that weather!
On
