When we woke on Monday morning, I was reminded of one of those winter mornings when something feels different - there is a strange quietness - and then when you look out of the window you see it has snowed. There was no snow on Monday, but it was utterly still. I realised that the wind had stopped. Oh happy day! With a respite from the wind we started the month very cheerfully with the greeting “Kalo mina!” – have a good month.
Da es ein neuer Monat war, machten sich unsere guten Freunde und Yachthafennachbarn, die Kaimiloaner, am Ende ihres Winterliegeplatzes auf den Weg, um ihre Segelsaison zu beginnen. Wir, die Opuaner, winkten ihnen mit dem Versprechen zu, sie bald in den örtlichen Gewässern zu treffen. Das geschah dann auch schneller als erwartet, denn die anstehenden Arbeiten an der hinteren Treppe zur Abdichtung eines Lecks im Teakholz wurden schnell erledigt. Am nächsten Tag segelten wir hinaus, um uns ihnen in einer wunderschönen Bucht auf der Nordwestseite von Pláti anzuschließen, einer winzigen Insel nur einen Katzensprung westlich von Kos und östlich von Kalymnos.
It finally felt like holiday at this place. The sun was shining. The sandy bed of the bay made the sea glow so vividly turquoise. The water was refreshing and warm enough to stay in for a while. Later we went for a bit of a walk on the uninhabited island. (I say uninhabited but it was home to a colony of gulls fiercely vociferous in guarding their broods. And there were goats too.) We followed the goat tracks across the scrubland and enjoyed views over several bays, and we visited a tiny charming church on the other side of the island. I swam back to the boat. What a perfect day! The only thing that marred it slightly was that we could not have a cup of tea, as something was wrong with the AC power. Oh, and one of the engines had been making a funny noise on the way over. We would need to investigate.
It was quite windy that night. The alarm anchor went off and Ralph was up for an hour monitoring the wind’s behaviour and its impact on our anchor. But the anchor held well! Nevertheless the weather was due to worsen so after some research into a safe berth in the forecasted conditions, we decided our best bet was to set out in the morning and secure a spot in the harbour at the Port of Váthy, on Kalymnos, where we should be sheltered. The Kaimiloans decided to stay put. Again it was only a very short trip. Captain Manolis (he of the natural sponges stand along the harbour, and looking like Captain Birdseye’s Greek nephew) gave us directions as to where to place the anchor, and helped us secure the moorings. We were not longside, but as is typical in Greece, anchored at the front and moored at the rear, right bang up in front of the little blue restaurant tables along the harbour. It was our first mooring of this kind and the weather conditions (windy again, and with a huge surge), along with the crew’s incompetence at rope throwing (note to self – practice needed), further complicated matters. I am sure it was not the first or last slapstick mooring manouevre Captain Manolis had ever seen, but wit was extremely stressful.
Der Stress ging weiter. Der Anker hielt gut, aber der Wellengang war so stark, dass Opua wie verrückt schaukelte und es so aussah, als ob wir in unmittelbarer Gefahr wären, gegen die Hafenmauer zu prallen. Die Passarelle schwebte in der Luft, so dass es zu einer Zirkusnummer und einem knieumspielenden Sprung wurde, um an Land zu kommen.
Inside the boat, not only was the AC power mysteriously out but worse! One of our freshwater tanks was completely empty after only one day. There was no way we had actually consumed so much water; there must be a leak in the system – but where? We set about tracking the source. Ralph’s long years of troubleshooting at work led him to find significant amounts of residual water in the engine compartment, the rest having been pumped out by the bilge pump which at some point must have fallen over with exhaustion and given up the ghost. As we removed the water, scoop by scoop, from the depths of the boat, Ralph also managed to identify the source of the leak: the connection of two water pipes had been jostled out of place. Relief! If you can identify the problem you have a chance of fixing it. Sure enough, an hour or so later, the water had been removed, the pipes had been reunited. Things were not quite as black as they had seemed!
In der Zwischenzeit hatten zwei Piratenboote ihre Touristenladungen in Váthy entladen. Es war ein wenig surreal, auf einem Katamaran bei starkem Wellengang gegen ein Leck anzukämpfen, mit dem Hintern nach oben und dem Kopf nach unten im Motorraum unter dem Bett, während Leute in ihrer Urlaubskleidung vorbeischlenderten, von denen wir nur einen Teil ihrer Beine durch das kleine Kabinenfenster sehen konnten.
Tackling the electrical problem was still outstanding but shore power was available. We decided to have lunch at the restaurant whose blue tables Opua was nearly nudging with every bob. The food was good but somehow we did not have much of an appetite as we envisaged the rest of the day and especially the night ahead with these weather conditions. In the end we took a snap decision to leave the port and return to the bay at Pláti where our friends reported the conditions to still be good. We extricated ourselves successfully despite the high surge and strong winds, and back we went. We resisted the temptation to feel a little bit "tail between our legs". It had been a good learning experience in many ways.
Claudia und Thomas empfingen uns mit einem Kaffee und hörten sich unsere Geschichten über Lecks und Stromausfälle an. Und dann lieh uns Thomas, der ein genialer Elektriker ist, nicht nur einen neuen Wechselrichter, sondern installierte ihn auch für uns. Damit schien das Wechselstromproblem behoben zu sein. Und so gingen wir, nachdem die meisten Probleme gelöst waren, aber immer noch mit einem Auge auf den Wind, sehr früh ins Bett, erschöpft von den Höhen und Tiefen des Tages.
Es war aber keine ruhige Nacht. Der Wind war sehr stark - bis zu 30 Knoten - und wir waren besorgt, dass der Anker verrutschen könnte. Wir bekamen nicht viel Schlaf. Aber der Anker hielt wieder gut, und der heftige, heulende Wind legte sich schließlich um 3 Uhr morgens und gab uns etwas Ruhe.
Wir ließen es am nächsten Tag sehr ruhig angehen, da wir nach den Ereignissen des vorangegangenen Tages und der Nacht immer noch etwas gestresst waren. Wiederholte Versuche, herauszufinden, ob wir woanders besser aufgehoben wären, waren weitgehend ergebnislos. Es sah so aus, als ob wir nirgendwo mehr Schutz finden würden! Da der Wind nicht mehr so stark sein sollte wie in der Nacht zuvor, beschlossen wir, den Anker wieder zu setzen und die Nacht in der gleichen Bucht auszusitzen.
Big mistake! True, the wind was not so bad but the surge was enormous and we were square on to the waves. Gang after gang of violent waves repeatedly beat Opua up. Wide awake, we wondered how she was coping. At one point the wind and waves suddenly stopped and thunderstorm and lightening took over the horror show for half an hour before the boat-bashing restarted. There was nothing we could do but grit our teeth and sit it out. We snatched some minutes of sleep in between huge bangs and crashes as the waves slammed against our hulls, and as the boat tipped and rolled as if we were sailing the North sea in the winter.
At about 8am we saw a tiny lull in the weather, just enough for us to haul up the anchor and get the hell out of there. We were so relieved. 2 hours later we were back in Kos marina, looking very familiar and safe, if a little damp. “Welcome back!” The marineros greeted us. Had we really just had those terrible experiences or had it all just been a nightmare? Dazed and exhausted we ate a comforting plate of scrambled eggs and slept the rest of the day.
In this my new life, (at least when I am not tossing and turning in the saloon unable to sleep because of the loud pummelling of our poor vessel), I have time to get philosophical. It seems that a sailing life provides the potential for great highs and great lows. Mooring in a perfect bay, alone except for friends on another boat, lulled on a sleepy afternoon by the gentle rocking motion, warmed by the sunshine and cooled by a light breeze, and looking out onto sparkling waters of deep blue and turquoise – does it get any better than this? But when you are not sheltered from the wind and the waves, you realise your vulnerability and you wish you were anywhere else. A long time ago a friend once told me to push my envelope. Believe me, I am on the case.
Dies war eine Woche mit extremen Höhen und einigen ziemlich tiefen Tiefen, weil so viele technische Dinge schiefgelaufen sind, zusätzlich zu den schwierigen Wetterbedingungen. Aber wir konnten viele der Probleme beheben, was uns das Gefühl gab, die Kontrolle zu haben. Wir waren Thomas und Claudia sehr dankbar für ihre Hilfe und dafür, dass sie ihre perfekte Bucht mit uns geteilt haben! Wir haben viel gelernt, obwohl ich nicht sicher bin, welche Lektion ich über das Folgen meines Bauchgefühls gelernt habe, denn manchmal scheint es nicht gut zu sein, wenn man seinem Bauchgefühl folgt, und manchmal ist es auch nicht gut, wenn man seinem Bauchgefühl nicht folgt! Ich schätze, man sollte seinem Bauchgefühl folgen und auf das Beste hoffen! not following your gut also does not work out well, I am not sure what lesson I have learned about following my gut! I guess follow your gut and hope for the best!
In den nächsten Wochen werden wir so viel Erfahrung wie möglich sammeln, um besser auf die Wetterbedingungen reagieren zu können, und hoffen, dass der größte Teil des Gelernten nicht durch eine so harte Lektion wie in dieser Woche erreicht wird.
Möge eure Woche diese Woche die Traum- und nicht die Alptraumversion sein!
Übersetzt ins Deutsche von www.DeepL.com/translator (kostenlose Version), mit einigen Änderungen.
German 
English