Órmos Vasilikó

Leaving Órmos Voufalou

The wind was blowing early so we anticipated a good sail. A motor boat came into the anchorage at 1030 so we lifted our anchor to make space for them and headed out of Órmos Voufalou. It did indeed turn out to be a brisk sail with, at times, 8 knots on the log. But the wind was also variable in strength and direction as it was funnelled into the channel through the valleys on Evia. By midday we had 2 reefs in the main and the genoa partially furled with around 25 knots of wind.

Órmos Vasilikó

On the south side of Nísos Megálo, an island abeam the southern end of Évia, is the remote anchorage of Órmos Vasilikó. At around 23 miles south of Órmos Voufalou it seemd like a nice anchorage to stop at for the night before moving on to one of the harbours on the next island, Nísos Àndros. We were, however, keeping a close eye on the weather as strong winds were forecast. The gap between the islands of Évia and Nísos Àndros is notorious for accelerating the winds and making very unconfortable sea conditions. We planned to get up early and see if we could cross in the normally lighter morning winds and then be sheltered in harbour for a couple of days whilst the forecast very strong winds blew through.

Nevertheless, with the wind already blowing quite strongly and in anticipation that forecasts are not always as accurate as forecasters would wish, we swam to check that the anchor was well dug in (it was, the seabed in this bay is perfect for us; gently shelving, 5-6 metres deep, with a clear sandy bottom) and then let out a little more chain and set our anchor chum.

The early start for Andros was a nice plan perhaps, but the winds had other ideas. We were woken overnight by the strong wind arriving early and so posted an anchor-watch. Once we we properly up and about, with the trip to Andros put on hold, Nicky swam out to check on the ground tackle. Overnight our Rocna anchor had dug itself so far into the sand that you could no longer see it; just the 3 or 4 feet of disturbed sand where it had dug in and the chain appearing out of the sand were visible. Nicky cleared a tangle in the line to the anchor chum and we decided to put out some more chain because BV was shearing around in the 30+knot gusts. 50 metres of chain and the anchor chum at 25 metres out seemed to settle things down and we left it at that. One day I’ll make a small riding sail to fly on the backstay in these sorts of conditions so that we can experiment with it and see if it stops the shearing.

Lunch in the cockpit; fortunately the lettuce didn’t blow away    

When we were shopping in Khalkís we had managed to find proper salted anchovies (as opposed to small tinned sardines masquerading as anchovies which is the norm here). With time on our hands, for lunch we made one of our favourite salads with eggs, anchovies and croutons accompanied with a garlic and Dijon mustard dressing; perfect with a glass of wine in a slightly windy cockpit.

The new shower waste pump for the aft heads

After lunch I fitted the last of the spare parts Charlotte and Sophie had brought out with them. We had fitted the new immersion heater element almost immediately. Similarly the broken starting cog on the outboard had been replaced before we had needed to use the outboard motor at Skiathos. Today I replaced the shower waste pump for the aft heads. The one in the forward heads had failed ages ago and we had ordered one for Charlotte to bring out to replace it. Actually we managed to find a supplier in Turkey and that new pump worked so well that it highlighed that the aft one was a little tired. Rather than keeping Charlotte’s one as a spare we decided to change the aft pump. The pump was a lot easier to replace than I had expected with it being tucked away under the floorboards. That said, like most jobs on a yacht, it would have helped me to get to the pump’s connections if I were a double-jointed dwarf. However, it is done now so hopefuly we will now enjoy super-efficient pump outs for our showers in the aft heads.

Órmos Vasilikó, Greece