Sailing Kerensa Changing our way of life

Syracusa, Sicily to Malta

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We stayed longer than planned in Syracusa, partly due to the weather and partly due to a wish to explore the area a bit more. The latter was spoilt a bit by the reputation that Syracusa has for theft of, and from, dinghies and outboards. Although we were well locked up each time we left the rib, the nagging thought of returning to a vacant bit of water was persistant. It must be a major pain to lose a dinghy as you can't get back to the boat to even think about sorting out insurance and replacement.

We visited the Greek and Roman amphitheatres, complete with gardens nearby created from the prison area where rock for the construction was quarried all those years ago. We also walked to the fort on the end of the headland. Both of which were a worthwhile trip. Archimedes tomb is in the prison gardens but sadly we only discovered that after we had left, it wasn't obvious.

Greek and Roman Amphitheatres

The rest of Syracusa could only be described as 'shabby chic', nice architecture but a bit run down. We were keeping our eyes out for a weather window, but also on progress of the Middle Sea Race. This is a yacht race starting and finishing in Malta with the course being around Sicily, the nearby islands and Lampedusa. We had friends we met in the summer competing and so were keen to see them sail past Syracusa. We were late to see the start but hoped to sail south to Malta as the fleet sailed north, unfortunately heavy rain, wind and thunderstorms kept us in Syracusa bay and delayed our departure by 24 hrs.

We eventually left, a bit early in the day for a dawn arrival in Malta, with light winds. We travelled deliberately slowly, not wanting to arrive in the dark and eventually the wind gave out leading us to motor through the night. A night-time visit by Maltas resident bottlenose dolphins helped Nigel stay awake and, although they were difficult to see, he could hear them breathing as they surfaced next to the boat, the Milky Way providing just enough light to see the broken water and dark shapes. We timed our arrival pretty well, having only 30mins to kill before dawn, and circled the entrance to Grand Harbour before the sun rose enough for us to see our way in.

Dawn arrival into Valletta

There is only one anchorage in Grand Harbour and it is small, constrained by a wreck and room for only 5 boats. We luckily found a spot. Its very well protected and with a decent dinghy its possible to get across the bay to explore Valletta. We were able to walk across to the Middle Sea Finish line and watch several boats and our friends cross the line.

Our friends on Grace of Sydney cross the line

The boat just ahead of them lost its mast just 200m from the finish line as we watched, they must have been devastated. Just after we got back to our little bay they were towed in next to us and we were able to watch them get sorted out before motoring off to their marina berth. The speed with which they got the mast strapped to the side of the boat and all lines strapped up was impressive. It looked like they had done it before.........!

We found out later that the whole shroud chainplate had pulled out through the deck.

With Amanda's youngest and Girlfriend due to visit we have stayed in the anchorage, (protecting our spot!) for a week. When they arrive we will be exploring Maltas coastline, and repeating the following week when the eldest arrives also with girlfriend and 9 month old son!

Argostoli to Corfu - Outboard fuel issues

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We had good enough weather to sail up the West coast of Kefalonia to Assos, a route normally quite breezy with the prevailing winds and hence not often sailed but was perfect for us on the day. We stopped for lunch and a swim in a sandy bay surrounded by white cliffs before heading into Assos. This was a beautiful little town, often visited by tourists by car/bus, and we felt privileged to visit by boat and get the perspective from the ocean side. We berthed stern to the rocks and had a walk/beer ashore.

Assos

This bay was close to Fiskardo, a popular spot that we knew we had to get to early to be able to get a berth. Arriving there at 11am, we had our choice of rocks to tie to and, once secured, sat back with a beer. Fiskardo was supposed to be a beautiful spot, and it was, but we were definately spoilt by our visit to Assos. Watching the charter and other boats come in to moor was entertaining and it wasn't long before we were having to render assistance. All in, we rescued one drifting dinghy from the middle of the bay, recovered a hat, helped a family get their shore lines sorted, pushed a boat off our anchor chain (which had found its way between his hull and rudder!), pushed another away that was in the process of doing the same, rescued a Sadler 36 yacht that was moments from hitting the rocks and cut a line free off the same boats propellor. A very busy and highly entertaining afternoon, but we won't be back in the charter boat season!

Fiscardo fun!!

We were headed North to drop Andy at Corfu and decided to do a long day's sail up to Paxos to meet our friends on Dash, regulars here will remember we first met them at Easter on the other side of Greece. Having eaten all of our Mahi Mahi catch (yummy) it was time to put the rod out again. We caught a small swordfish and made the critical error of visualising it on a plate before we even landed it! Unfortunately instead of using the gaff to bring it aboard we tried to use a net which wasn't large enough and it got out and swam off. Pasta for dinner then.......

Gaios

We met Dash in Gaios, a town with a narrow strip of water between the town and a small island where one can berth stern to on a quay. It was great to see Dash again and have a meal with them. In fact we buddy boated with them for a few days sailing to bays on the mainland. They were on their way south, but we are hoping to meet again in the Ionian next Easter. We were sad to have to leave them but we had to get up to Corfu to drop Andy Provan off. By this time the weather was getting much cooler and the predictable wind sequences had vanished, we motored a few hours across to Corfu, anchored in the bay and sat out a rain/thunderstorm overnight. Being very nervous about lightning, we were kept up for a large chunk of the night, but thankfully the storm passed a few miles away. Andy left us in the morning and we stayed in the bay, with a misbehaving outboard engine. This had failed us whilst on the mainland, cutting out as we approached the dock on the way to dinner, the cause of which was forgetting to release the breather on the petrol tank, or so we thought! Despite opening the breather, pumping more fuel in and swearing at it, we ended up rowing back to the boat in the dark. Several days later, after Andy had left us, Nigel opened up the engine, stripped the carburettor off and found water in the engine. A quick taste confirmed it was salty, wierd. After this discovery we poured all the fuel out into clear water bottles and watched as a whole litre of water separated out from the petrol, 20% water content! Its a complete mystery as to the source of this water but we had topped up the dinghy tank with 2 ltrs of fuel we had stored on board the day before it cut out. Anyway, problem found, a good clean, some more swearing and it finally ran sweetly. Decision made to scrap all the fuel we had onboard and a refill of our containers and we were back to a sustainable position - just in time for our next guests to arrive!

We had the usual task of checking in to do, a task that we had to do twice this time as the official wouldn't accept a changed crew list until the new guests were actually on board. Cue a second 40min walk there and back the next day. Every small task (admin, shopping for food, getting fuel etc) as a livaboard seems to take half a day at least.

Carburettor cleaning

Thanks Andrew, we enjoyed having you onboard and Amanda particularly enjoyed not having to swim the lines ashore!

Next week, cruising Corfu with Paul and Tracy, friends from Whitstable YC.

Nidri and back to Kefalonia

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We left the Vathiavali beach bar to sail to Nidri on our way southwards to pick up friends at Argostoli. Nidri is a big sailing town and we anchored off the town jetty, using the dinghy to get ashore to reprovision. The beauty of being in a larger town is the ability to get a great breakfast in the mornings! We were looking for a place to repair our failed alternator with no luck, we will try again around Preveza when we get there.

Nidri

We had a fantastic sail, (upwind again!, even though we were heading South this time) to Sivota. This is a smallish bay with Tavernas all around it with thier own pontoons. Most off free berthing with water and electricity as long as you eat in their restaurant. This often turns out to be a good deal as a package, working out around EU50 for the night.

Fish dinner in Sivota

We have been having problems with our autopilot holding , or rather not holding, a steady course. The sail to Sivota was the first to prove our new settings, acquired using chatgpt and the auto tune function in the dealer setup menu that is normally locked off. The setup was great with the boat holding a steady course in either mode, constant course or constant wind angle. We just have to prove it out now in heavier winds and larger waves.

Malcolm and Kate from the Swan 46 Grace of Sydney called us suggesting a meet up in Kiri on the East coast of Ithaca. We found an idyllic bay there and after some discussion we ended up free anchoring as opposed to tying our stern to the rocks, this was a great decision knowing that the wind was going to swing in the early am. We hada lovely meal with them and retired to our boat. In the morning, as forecast, the wind had swung and all the boats tied to shore found themselves almost in the surfline of some significant waves. We were also on a lee shore despite having a bit more searoom and decided to move on further south.

We anchored on the S coast of Kefalonia in a huge bay with Crystal clear water and a lovely sandy bottom which the anchor dug well in. Snorkelling on the anchor proved we had 30m of visibility under the water, stunning! Unfortunately it wasn't all as perfect as it sounds as it turned out to be a rolly night in the swell during which we didn't get much of a sleep.

Argostoli was our next stop, the capital of Kefalonia, where we anchored off the town in murky water only 3m deep. Despite the cloudy water we saw two turtles within minutes of dropping the anchor and continued to spot them for the 48hrs we were there. It was a pleasure to pick up Andrew Provan here, he will be onboard for 10 days while we make our way to Corfu.

The weather is starting to turn and it may soon be time to break out the duvet!

Zante to Vathiavali (mainland Greece)

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A very slow and relaxing week this week.

We sailed from Zakinthos north up to Kefalonia in light winds, our first stop being at the bottom of the island at a place called Scala. Anchored off the beach, we sampled a beach bar before heading to a place we had heard about called Captains Bar. Lovely little place with a great atmosphere and good value drinks, the cocktails were delicious, and strong!.

Captains Bar

Next stop was Vathy, a larger town on Ithaca. We anchored in the bay and invited the neighbours round for a beer or two. Staying two nights allowed us to explore the town the next day and enjoy breakfast in a taverna, before heading further up the coast to Kioni. This village is billed as one of the prettiest in the area and we wouldnt disagree. However some dodgy port pricing took the edge off the experience - charter boats pay 1/3rd of the price private boats do for the same boat size! Kioni was beautiful though and a great stop.

Kioni

Travelling further North, we stopped at Meganisi for two nights. We took a walk into the town, also called Vathy, taking a wrong turn meant a longer one than planned but still pleasent. Returning to the boat we found it surrounded by lots of fish, something that is becoming more common as we move north in this area. They probably associate the yachts with food, its noticeable how many charter yachts are around here compared to the rest of Greece. We are coming towards the end of the season, it must be really busy in mid summer.

From Meganisi we travelled 6 miles further North to Vathiavali, a beach anchorage with a beach bar and a single road in/out. A very chilled spot.

Vathiavali beach bar

Kerensa is performing well, with dare I say it, none of the breakages we got used to earlier in our ownership. Barring a still to find, intermittent electrical connection on the freezer, there is nothing on the 'urgent' list. We have 4 months in Tunisia over the winter to carry out all the other jobs on our list. Weather wise, its still sunny and hot but the nighttime are noticeably cooler. We experienced rain a few days ago for the first time in months and the wind patterns are changing.

Next we are making our way back south to Kefalonia again to pick up friends and take them north to Corfu. We had planned to hop across to Italy from there but may now leave that until next year and go direct to Malta from Greece. The beauty of this lifestyle is that all plans are flexible!

Peloponese - Koroni to Zakinthos

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We seem to have been travelling upwind for days and days, and so it continues. We left Koroni early in the morning and had a stunning beat to Methoni, getting some fabulous, very helpful, big lifts around several headlands. This was probably the best upwind sail we have had on Kerensa, very enjoyable in 17-20knts.

Methoni is a stunning anchorage with a long sandy beach with Methoni castle on the Port side. At the headland there is an old Venitian castle to add to the ambiance. We had an interesting walk around the castle which was inhabited since 8BC, at one stage the Turks invaded, killed all 25,000 inhabitants and resettled it with others from the Peloponese area. The castle and surrounds was eventually destroyed by the French in 1820's to prevent disease.

Methoni castle, Venitian built castle is far left on the headland

We then motor sailed on to Katakolon, around 50 miles North, which is a convenient stop off to visit Olympia. Being a port where cruise ships visit, transit was well organised with a train station 50m from the back of our boat! Catching the train allowed us to get a flavour of the Greek interior, it was interesting to see the farmland and hamlets along the journey. Olympia and the museums were stunning. Nigel took the opportunity to run all 198.2m of the original Olympic running track, although done in the heat of the day he looked like an old man doing a slow jog! No medals there then.

Run Forrest, run! Picture of the slowest Olympic run ever performed.

Statues originally above the entrance to the Temple of Zeus, Olympia.

It was time to head across the bay to Zante (Zakinthos), the chart shows a firing zone almost from the Katakolon harbour wall, 8 miles wide and extending 5nm S of the harbour. Having neither seen, nor finding, any signs of activity ongoing or planned, we decided we would save ourselves 10nm extra sailing going around and sail straight across the zone. If only we had left 30mins later, no sooner had we entered the zone than two fighter jets screamed across above us. For the next half hour we watched then doing runs whilst sailing as fast as we could to the other side! We were not alone in this transit, seeing 3 other boats in the area, one of which had black sails. We reassured ourselves that if we were the pilots the black sailed boat would be the one we went for! We sailed on with no incident and arrived in Turtle bay late afternoon.

Our anchorage was close to Methonisi island, not the main Loggerhead turtle breeding ground but there are nests there nevertheless. We took the dinghy across, met up with a couple of researchers and, after understanding that they excavate nests after the babies have left to count eggs etc, hung around to watch them excavate one. Occasionally they do find some stragglers alive and we were lucky to see 4 babies, all very weak, one of which headed for the ocean. Sadly it was too weak to make it all the way and it was very hard not to pick it up and give it a helping hand. Great experience though. The island also has caves large enough to get the dinghy into which was fun.

Baby Loggerhead heading to the sea

Dinghy ride into the caves

Having sailed everyday for some time we decided to have some chilling time and said goodbye to our friends Malcolm and Kate on Grace of Sydney. Thanks for the fun guys, we hope to see you again.

We abandoned our plans to sail the West coast of the island due to wind and headed to the leeward side city of Zakinthos where we are currently moored. Originally intending to stay just one night we are now staying for 4. This is due to intense thunderstorms being forecast north of here and our reluctance to head into those, having heard of boats getting struck recently. It's not a great place to hang around, the public harbour feels mafia run and at 8eu for a small beer the town is a tad expensive! For comparison we are used to paying 3-4eu, it seems to be getting more expensive the closer we get to the centre of the Ionian islands.

After the lightning risk reduces on Monday we are heading to Kefalonia. Upwind again.

Around the Peloponese, We catch a huge fish!

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

It feels like we have done alot and travelled some distance since we left Dan and Wilf in Poros. Once our hangovers and jobs were over we headed South via Ermioni once more, a quick stopover there and we crossed the Agrolic Gulf to Poulithra Bay. There is nothing there except a secure anchorage and a small church with a dock, we were lucky enough to see a wedding there with the bride arriving by boat just as we dropped our anchor. Listening to the service via loudspeaker whilst we had our post sail drink surely added to the ambiance. Next morning we headed south, changing our destination from Monemvasia to Gerakas, locally labelled 'The Greek Fjord'. That a bit of a stretch but it was a lovely place. We explored the lagoon at the end of the inlet which turned out to be extremely shallow and no place for an outboard engine! We also had a walk up to the castle ruins before grabbing and ice cream to cool down. Ant and Ros joined us, having dropped their own guests off at Poros and sailed down via Milos. Great to see them again and have drinks onboard their boat.

Gerakas

Team Kerensa left the next morning, headed to Monemvasia. We were lucky and got a great free town Quay spot alongside. After a lazy afternoon waiting for the heat of the day to cool, we had a meal and walked up to lower old town. For protection, this was built at the base of a large cliff and generally can't be seen from the mainland. The original town was built at the top and is now ruins. The lower town is being restored and is beautiful, albeit a bit touristy. After a couple of hours we walked back to the boat planning a trip up to the upper town early in the morning. This proved to be a great decision, the church there is the only restored building, but it was easy to sense the city that once existed and explore what is left of the houses, including a larger one presumably belonging to the leader/ruler.

Monemvasia lower town

As the heat built we went back down to the lower town for a lovely brunch and then back to the boat. By this time Ant and Ros had followed us down and were anchored in the bay. We met up again for dinner with another Aussie couple Malcolm and Kate, sailing on their lovely Swan 48 Grace of Sydney.

The next day our 3 boat convoy set sail around Cape Malea, threatening not on the charts referencing strong winds around the headland gave a level of apprehension, but in the end none were seen and we motored sailed around. We stopped off en route to our anchorage at Pavlopetri, a 5000yr old sunken city where one is supposed to see 'Houses, roads and even tombs'. This turned out to be a nice swim but a very underwhelming event regarding the ruins!

In our anchorage on Elafonisi for the night we found ourselves on Malcolm and Kates boat for sundowners, there is a long sunset process in this part of the world as we staggered back to our own boat around 11pm! Sadly it was also the last time we would see Ros and Ant, we spent some lovely time with them and we were sorry to have to leave them.

Porto Kagio

We headed off next morning in the company of Malcolm and Kate on Grace, they are heading the same way as us to eventually race their Swan in the Middle Sea race from Malta in early October. (We will have eyes on the tracker guys!) This was a longish sail in 10knts upwind to Porto Kagio. We understood this was a desolate place so we were pleasantly surprised to find a small village with three Tavernas, one of which was built into the side of the cliff and was a great spot for the ubiquitous sundowner drinks.

There was no wind forecast for the next day so we had a lazy start, but the wind gradually built to a decent breeze and we had a smooth sail towards Koroni. Just as Nigel was writing this, under sail at 5knts upwind, the fishing reel went off. We have jet to catch a fish on board and this was a new event for us. As we have to to stop the boat, Nigel grabbed the rod only to see a massive Mahi Mahi on the line. An exhausting battle ensued, with Nigel only being able to wind in half a turn at a time until the fish got tired. After one last run and jump out of the water it gave up and we reeled him in. Once onboard we could see he was a huge specimen around 1.3m long, weight unknown, but it was extremely hard to lift him up. Not bad for a first ever catch! Malcolm from Grace of Sydney helped us fillet it and despite giving then several portions and taking some ashore to a taverna to be cooked for all of us, our fridge and freezer are full. Fish for lunch and tea every day for the next month then!

Finally on board!

Eating our catch cooked by a local Taverna

Koroni was a lovely town but we didn't get much time there because we arrived quite late after having to stop for the fishing event. We are heading around the Peloponese, trying to get some northerly before the current wind window closes next week.

Saronic Gulf with Dan and Wilf

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

After a long journey involving every mode of transport except a bicycle, Dan and his mate Wilf joined us for a week onboard. It was great to see them and, tired as they were, we went for a late dinner and a couple of beers to celebrate their arrival.

Next day we headed off to an anchorage on the back side of Spetses, where there were caves to explore. We were joined there by Ant and Ros and their guests on Aro for the afternoon and evening. Pre dinner drinks on board Kerensa turned into dinner on board Kerensa, for 10 people! That's the most we have entertained so far. A great night and a few sore heads in the morning.

Kerensa and Aro crew dinner

Next day we took a long beat to Poros in 20knts and anchored just outside town. A quick trip ashore for dinner and 4 tired bodies had an early night. Close to Poros is Vidi, where there is a 35 Yr old shipwreck with its stern above the water, the bow approx 7m down. Great to snorkel and see the ships deck details but the visibility wasn't as good as we have come to expect in Greek waters.

Snorkeling on a wreck

After lunch we headed off to Agistri, the smallest island in the Saronic. We later discovered that we had anchored at the wrong end of the bay for the nightlife. The two boys made the 20min walk there but Nigel and Amanda left them to it and had a couple more drinks before heading back to the boat. Early next morning we anchored just off Metopi island, a very small place that felt like we were alone on a deserted island. After a few swims and lunch, we headed off to Moni island, also uninhabited but very popular and crowded anchorage with a taverna there. We anchored with small scope, but after staying aboard for a while waiting for the crowds to disperse, we felt able to go ashore. The island is full of deer and peacocks, both of which we were able to see on our walk. After a sleep, we motored around to the other side of the Island where we were able to anchor up against the cliffs and swim into a cave. A stunning spot, Wilf became the first person to catch a fish on Kerensa, sadly the Sea Bream wasnt big enough to feed us, so was released unharmed. We stayed for a few hours and lunch before heading off to Aegina.

Kerensa anchored by the cliffs

Kerensa from inside the cave entrance

First fish on Kerensa!!

Nigel took the boys ashore in the dinghy as the wind was building in the anchorage, the bottom was full of weed so we weren't confident enough in the anchor set to leave the boat. Finally the wind dropped and Nigel and Amanda joined the boys for dinner. Aegina wasn't our favourite stops, but the beauty of this lifestyle is that you can just move!

Next morning we headed back towards Poros where we would be dropping the boys off. En route we stopped at Russian bay, so called as it was a Russian naval base from 1834 until the early 1900's. It was built to supply and repair ships that were helping the Greeks in their war of independence with Turkey. More swimming, jumping off the boat and fishing occurred before we ate and had to head off to get a berth at Poros town Quay. We were glad we arrived early as it was packed full an hour after we arrived. We had an excellent meal at Gia Mas followed by a big night at a busy bar before heading back to the boat, we needed several alarms setting to ensure we didn't sleep in past the boys 8am ferry home. They made it OK though and we were sorry to see them go. Sore heads and a couple of boat tasks kept us in the quay for an extra night. Nigel went to change our alternator as he suspected that it wasn't working. A few curses and banged heads later it was done and we are looking for somewhere to get the old one tested/repaired. That will probably be in the Ionian when we get there in 10 days or so.

Poros town, lovely place.

We had a great week with Dan and Wilf, they were great fun to have around and we hope to see them again soon. We are now preparing to head around the Peloponese, its looking like there are a few hours of motoring ahead, hopefully that forecast isn't correct!

Across Greece in double quick time

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the last blog we were about to sail to Koufonisia, it was an early morning start and we beat upwind for 10hrs and had to find our plan b anchorage. A nice stop in a quiet bay on Agastoni but it was dark when we arrived and we didn't go ashore. Not making Koufonisia on this day had repercussions later, as the forecasted Meltemi winds were coming They were forecast to be strong enough to stop the ferries and we had to be somewhere were family could get to.

Next day we continued West, motoring in zero wind, missing out Koufonisia which was a shame as its one of our favourite stops. However we stopped at some small islands for a late lunch and then motored up to Antiparos for a walk around town. Beautiful place and lovely food.

Antiparos

By now we had run out of time to beat the Meltemi, we had no choice but to do a 95mile beat upwind to Western Greece near Athens. What a sail, the wind was up and down, we used every reef and sailplan at our disposal, including the iron sails. It was a long,15hr, and exhausting day but we eventually found ourselves anchored in the bay next to Ermioni, just as darkness fell. It was definately a sound nights sleep! We were finally in a place where visitors could get to during the forecasted Meltemi, that wind was due to blow for 10days and even though we were out of the main impact area we felt the effects, the local ferries were cancelled.

We got the dinghy ashore, got food and gate crashed the Sailingholidays.com flotilla disco bingo night! A heavy night ensued during which we met another livaboard couple, Roz and Ant, sailing on their yacht ARO.

Sailingholidays.com party gatecrashers

After a day on anchor we decided to go to Ermioni town Quay as the winds were forecast to increase. A difficult strong cross wind Med mooring exercise followed, but eventually, and with assistance from Ant off Aro (thanks!) we were safely moored. We spent 3 nights waiting for the winds to drop and then headed off to explore the area whilst we waited for family to arrive. This included a 25 mile, 6hr upwind sail just to meet the ARO team for dinner. We sailed so slowly we were convinced there was a strong counter current, but it was a lovely evening and night out.

We returned to Ermioni and moored up again for one night waiting for Nigels son Daniel and his friend to arrive. We have been so excited about their arrival and are looking forward to a great week with them.

Back to the UK - short trip home

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A realisation that, although we were currently sitting on a 20 day 'credit' of Schengen days, we would be overstaying if we followed our plan to head through Greece for the next 90 day, meant a sudden and swift trip back to the UK to get out of the Schen area. It can be so complicated managing this if you are moving in and out regularly.

Kerensas home for 2 weeks without us

We got back to the creaking infrastructure that is the UK nowadays, with a complete lack of trains at Waterloo. Nevertheless we managed to get to Portsmouth to see family and get a chance to watch the SailGP event there. From there it was off to see Nigels side of the family at Guildford and Nottingham. Back in Whitstable it was great to meet up with friends and do a bit of dinghy racing again, something Nigel is missing badly.

All too soon it was time to head back to Kerensa. We had left her in Kos, with an agent instructed to obtain the correct transit log we so badly wanted. Sadly after 2 weeks they still hadn't obtained it and we are now going to have to petition the Greek authorities for it. Kerensa was no worse off after we deserted her for the 2 weeks, but we had to stay in the harbour for another 3 days while meltemi winds blew through.

When we departed, even before we had chance to get the sails up, we snagged a random rope on the prop. Fortunately we were close enough and shallow enough, to drop the anchor to investigate. With no drive, forward or reverse, the worst case was being assumed i.e gearbox damage. Nigel dived under the boat several times to free the rope from the prop shaft. Kerensa is fitted with a feathering prop, meaning the blades fold inline with the water flow when not in use. The wayward rope had got stuck between every blade and the body of the prop. This was really tight and took several more dives to sort out. (Nigel was wishing he still had the breath holding skills he had during his waterpolo career, sadly not the case!). After an hour we were on our way.

Nigel emerging from the water after cutting the prop free, the rope is at the bottom of the picture

We stopped for the night at Kalymnos, Ormos Vlychadia, a lovely bay surrounded by Tavernas. There are 4 mooring balls here, all full, and anchoring was really tight, we had to be brave and squeeze in between the balls and the very shallow beach on a length of anchor chain shorter than we would have liked. We managed it but there was only 5m between us and one of the moored boats. Lovely spot, great restaurant.

It was an early start in the morning, today, for a long 70nm sail to Koufonisia, we have to get across the Greek islands by the middle of August to pick up family. We are currently doing 3.8 knts into the wind and against the waves, this is the cost of trying to get West at this time of year. There is only 10knts of wind and this is forecast to drop later, ahead of 3 days of gales later this week. It's all or nothing in the Med!

Slow cruising Bozburun area

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

It's a short blog this week as we changed our plans to head North up the Turkish coast due to hearing how strict the Greek customs were in Leros where we would have checked in. We decided to stay with what we know and, as we were so close to getting the documentation we should have been issued last time we entered at Symi, we would try again and lodge an appeal if not. The documentation we should have proves EU vat payment (as a sign of the Greek admin madness, we already have the Original Vat receipts.....) is accepted and will stay with the boat forever so is very useful for when we sell her.

What a stunning location to watch rugby!

The result is that we said goodbye to Barry and Lynn on Waltz and stayed where we were for a further week. There was a bar, restaurant, shop and clear water to swim in. What more did we need? Eventually we had to move due to the black water tanks being full, so we headed around the corner to Armak Buku. This is a small bay (see header photo) which has a small population of palm trees on the waters edge, that, with the sound of the cicadas makes us feel like we are in the tropics. Apparently this specific species of Palm tree is found here and on Crete.

Amanda admiring the shoreline

....and returns with the results of our beach clean

We have spent many days just reading, kayaking, swimming and watching Lions rugby. The winds being unseasonably calm. We are looking forwards to heading to Greece next week.