Kurukulla

Kurukulla
Kurukulla, anchored at James Bond Island, Thailand

Thursday 23 June 2011

The bridge opens, at last!

After a further delay of 24 hours the bridge workers finally conceded to open the bridge, five days after the previous opening. The opening was due at 0355 on Wednesday morning. Night openings are normal but it is intended to be a daily occurrence! The process of booking the transit with the Port Police was humourless but also painless and I even received a 10cent discount as they had no change; the intended cost being €18.70!
Derelict Ottoman Mosque at Khalkis
The delay at Khalkis was not all wasted time as a fair amount of maintenance got done in the time alongside plus fuel, water and shore power were arranged; albeit on an ad hoc basis with massively long hoses and extension leads. Kurukulla was berthed outboard of a Swiss yacht, a delightful couple who when I asked whether they were also waiting for the bridge to open replied “no, we are waiting for the baby to arrive”. My powers of observation on such things have never been good but at second glance she was, although still relatively slim, obviously expecting. They informed me the baby is due in July so not long to go. I have rarely berthed alongside such willing and helpful people, the baby is lucky to have such splendid parents.
The dreaded bridge
At 2000 Tuesday night I said goodbye to my neighbours and moved Kurukulla out into the stream and anchored in the designated waiting anchorage to await the bridge opening. David in Camilla did likewise. The promised Channel 12 radio call at 2200, to confirm the exact opening time, did not materialise but ….......... this is Greece. What did materialise was a call at 0345 instructing Kurukulla to prepare to pass through the bridge as the first yacht through, Some hope, with Germans and Austrians also waiting. No amount of prior organisation by the Port Police would sort them out. There ensued the usual scrum which I declined to get involved in; when single handed fending off and helming are mutually incompatible! The reason for the scrum was that there are only four alongside berths to the north of the bridge, As I intended to go a mile further out and anchor in a wide bay, to avoid the hassle of securing alongside in the early hours, this did not worry me but I was amused to observe, as I steamed past, that the southbound yachts were still securely tied up alongside; occupying all four berths and exactly where they had been told to stay by the Port Police to await the southward passage of a merchant ship. Those who had barged through were all trying to hold position in the stream whilst avoiding each other and the oncoming ship!
Flying Dolphins, to be avoided!
After spending what remained of the night at anchor I awoke to a brisk northerly wind. I sailed off the anchor for what was going to be another day beating to windward. Fortunately the wind never rose sufficiently to require more than a few rolls in the No1 Genoa and by the end of the day it had gone light and variable leading to a frustrating finish. David decided to stop for the night after 24 miles; however, with Kurukulla being somewhat faster than Camilla upwind I decided to press on towards Skiathos as I only had two and a half days to get there before my next crew member, Mike Owens, was due to arrive and I was still 80 miles away. In all Kurukulla and I made 38 miles to windward in 10 hours that day before anchoring at Cape Lithada, the most north westerly tip of Evia. Not a bad sail!
Krassa (Small Banana) Beach
Kurukulla and Camilla off Krassa Beach
Thursday the 16th dawned with a moderate westerly wind blowing and the opportunity to get to Skiathos, downwind; hence it was an early start, a quick motor round the corner and then full main and poled out genoa for the whole trip. On arrival in Skiathos I anchored Kurukulla in Koukounaries bay near the SW tip of the island and then went ashore to revisit Krassa Beach (aka Little Banana), slightly to the NW of Koukounaries, the favourite beach of a family holiday in Skiathos some 25 years ago but not marked on any chart or pilot as a suitable anchorage. Having satisfied myself that it was suitable I moved round there at 0800 next morning, anchored and stayed there three days. Mike arrived at the beach at 1430 on the Friday and slightly to his surprise was plucked off the beach with the dinghy, bags and all. Later that same afternoon David Ashby, in Camilla, arrived and after some trouble finding the anchorage, anchored in the same bay. The beach was much more commercialised than 25 years ago but there was still only one small beach bar whose proprietor was very accommodating, agreeing to provide us with fresh bread and meats as and when required. The result was lazy days and two evenings spent barbecuing on the beach.
Moving to Skiathos town was not an option for that weekend as the harbour is jam packed with charter yachts doing their changeover and day trip vessels touting for trade. We were eventually forced to vacate the anchorage on Monday morning with the onset of a strong N wind; the start of the Meltemi, the wind to do battle with on the journey north to Istanbul.
Mike relaxing!
As a consequence we motored round to Skiathos Town in a lumpy and unpleasant sea with winds gusting up to 30+ knots and getting goffered on a regular basis. Rather than risk berthing in a strong crosswind in Skiathos harbour we anchored for the afternoon off one of the town beaches. In fact we need not have worried for on entering the port in the calmer winds of the evening it was still full to overflowing and hence we anchored off inside the harbour and headed ashore in the dinghy. Skiathos is a lively town dedicated to tourists. Some of us were sensible and returned onboard relatively early, others were not; however, my hangover had improved sufficiently to go to sea by mid day the next day!

Tuesday we sailed off the anchor and set off on a brisk reach for a beautiful anchorage at Panormou, on Skopelos, where we were escorted in by three dolphins playing round the boat. We anchored with line ashore for the night and managed a small shop in a local mini-market a mile away. It is a really delightful anchorage only slightly spoilt by the number of Sunsail yachts also present.
Mourtia Beach
Knowing that I had to have Mike back in Skopelos town for the 0700 Flying Dolphin departure on Friday morning we decided to add one more island to our total before his departure and sailed across to Ormos Mourtia, on Alonnisos, for Wednesday night before heading back to Skopelos town for his final night onboard on Thursday. Although the holding in the most easterly bay of the three possible anchorages at Mourtia was not great it was by far the best protected and hence we had supper onboard Camilla and then spent the evening watching a film in Kurukulla, “School for scoundrels” (an old British film production) followed by the night at anchor.
The town of Skopelos
Thursday morning dawned with the now familiar cloudless sky and northerly wind and after a swim, at midday, we set sail for Skopelos town to seek out a berth. By 1315 we were safely berthed, stern to, in the port of Skopelos and by 1400 seated in a restaurant having lunch.

No comments: