We‘re already reaping big rewards for publishing updates to our blog regularly. One benefit is that we receive continuous feedback from experienced sailors and travelers who follow our adventure and give us information and tips about things to do, and not to do. For example, Gibby (the prior owner of the boat) noticed we were not securing our anchor properly during our passages, which probably saved us learning a lesson the hard way (anchor popping off on a wave and slamming into the front of the boat). Spyro (an experienced Greek sailor) noticed we were moored in an unsafe area in Paros, where heavy winds are known to cause serious problems because of the angle of the bay. Spyro’s tip was important to us because the weather conditions are changing quickly now, with heavy Meltemi winds (30 knot northerly winds that occur regularly in the summer months here) expected in the next couple of days. To make our progress north easier, and to avoid being in Paros for the first Meltemi of the season, we decided to alter our itinerary and head up to the safer and more sheltered Ermoipolis harbor on Syros, the next island north from Paros. As we headed up yesterday the Meltemi started to blow and we got our first experience with some 25-30 knot gusts. We sailed the last hour with just the mainsail, which we had reefed down (reduced its size) and no jib, and were still doing 8 knots at times.
We’re now moored in Syros and very happy to have found some great mechanics to help us with our latest round of fixes. We’ve had two big days of travel since leaving Santorini, so we’re happy to have a couple slow days to explore while repairs are completed. The sight of Mr. Stamatis fixing the alternator (see pic) may not look beautiful to you, but I promise it does to us.
Our cousin Benji is coming to join us tomorrow and we can’t wait for that. The wind will really be howling by then and it will be his first experience sailing in a full force Meltemi wind, which should be exciting for him… partially because it will be our first experience with it too.