Skíros

Perhaps it was a case of ‘beware what you wish for’. Sitting in Khíos on Sunday 8 May we wanted a nice southerly wind to get us north to Límnos but for the next 3 days 15 knot northerly winds were forecast. Sailing north would have meant tacking backwards and forwards making very slow progress towards our destination. We were therefore delighted that the forecast showed a switch to southerly winds on Thursday. However, what we didn’t want was 25-30 knot winds and that was what was predicted for Thursday evening at 1800UTC [Ed: Oh, and GRiB files quite often under-estimate the wind strength by about 5 knots].

Base GRiB file images from zyGrib   

Sailing directly from Khíos to Límnos on Thursday would have taken us through the area of stronger winds (blue track above). And this was a forecast 4 days out; it was not unlikely that the forecast wind could increase (equally, they could also have got lighter!). So, we came up with a cunning plan to try to ensure a smooth and pleasant passage north. By sailing 85 miles west to Skíros we’d be able to sail to Límnos in the 15-20 knot area avoiding the stronger yellow patch (red track above). And, we’d have the bonuses of a) not sitting in Khíos for several days waiting for the wind on Thursday (and watching the forecast change in that time?); b) having a nice sail to Skíros; and c) visiting Skíros again, an island that we really enjoyed when we visited last year.

Leaving Órmos Mármarou and Kardhamila   

And so it was that at dawn on Monday 9 May we made our way out of Órmos Mármarou, leaving Kardhamila behind us.

The early start was needed because we’d be sailing close hauled to get to Skíros. If the wind angle didn’t work out for a direct track, we wanted to have plenty of time sail the whole way (with a couple of extra tacks) and still get into port in daylight. One bonus of the early start was that we got to see a fabulous sunrise.

Khíos    

As we worked our way west along the picturesque north coast of Khíos we could hear on the radio the Greek Navy instructing a Turkish warship to leave Greek waters; it’s a regular game that they seem to play most days. We also saw for the first time a NATO warship come up on the AIS. Normally they do not transmit their position and so seeing one come up was a bit of a novelty which  kept us distracted for a few minutes.

North coast of Khíos   

We made good progress sailing at 6-7 knots and the wind angle was good so that we could sail a direct course. At one stage a couple of dolphins came by to say hello and we had a little bit of shipping we had to dodge. Theoretically the big ships should give way to us because we are sailing, however, it generally seems prudent to slow up a little and avoid a close encounter.

Astro nav   

Nicky also ran a series of sun sights and, after lots of tussling with the various tables, forms and plotting sheets, emerged triumphant with a dot in the middle of a cocked hat just 2 miles from the actual GPS position at noon. Not bad at all. However, we both need to speed up the whole process before we’ll feel we’ve cracked it.


Making a direct track meant that we arrived off the south east coast of Skíros at 1630. The island blocked our wind and so initially we slowed down and then bizarrely we had 180 degree shift and were sailing in 8-9 knots of southerly wind. That didn’t last long and it looked like time to switch to the engine for the last leg. We had intended to make our way to the main port of Linaria but the narrow bay of Órmos Glifadha caught our eye and we went in to take a look. We dropped our anchor and decided that with the shifting wind we’d probably need to run a line ashore. In trying to adjust the scope we discovered that the intermittent anchor windlass problem was still with us. I poked around in the anchor locker whilst Nicky made sure that we didn’t swing onto the rocks. It was very strange; all of the electrics initially checked out as okay but there was clearly a problem. Wiggling the wires, I found that there was a second corroded connection that I’d missed when the problem had occurred before in Pátmos. I guess it wasn’t surprising given that the wiring has been in a damp chain locker for a few years. I fitted a new connection as a temporary fix and we decided to head to Linaria where I could rewire the control circuits in slow time. [Ed: and the wind had picked up again from the south leaving the anchorage in Órmos Glifadha as an exposed lee shore].

The ferry beat us to the harbour and so we got ourselves in good order whilst he moored up. In turn we entered the harbour and were met by George, the harbourmaster, and his sidekick in their rubber dinghy. Linaria is the most welcoming harbour that we have been to in the Aegean and George quickly made sure that we were secure in the corner of the harbour and that we had everything that we needed.

Linaria   

Visiting yachts’ information boards and exchange library    

After a long day we ate our ‘passage dinner’ of pork stew in the cockpit and turned in. We were one of 4 yachts in the harbour but in the morning the other yachts left. It was a lovely day and we both remarked how nice Linaria feels. It is beautifully kept and the harbour staff make a real effort to look after visiting yacht crews. On the quay are lots of information boards with maps of the islands and details about what to visit. In the blue bookcases, open to the elements, there is even an exchange library; you can tell it doesn’t rain much here!

BV in Chinese laundry mode   

Norwegian S/Y Maja, a Fisher Yachts motor-sailer   

Tuesday was chores day. I rewired the anchor windlass control circuits. The replaced terminals have all been crimped and soldered plus any exposed metal now have a protective layer of lanolin grease as well as a tape covering to help prevent electrolysis and corrosion. Hopefully that has finally cracked the intermittent windlass problem! Meanwhile Nicky used the visiting yachts’ washing machine and turned BV into a washing line; equally important stuff.

During our last visit we hired a scooter and fairly extensively toured the sites on the island. This visit, however, we decided to relax and enjoy the area around the harbour and also to use our time to catch up on admin, blog-writing and watching the weather forecasts.

BV flooodlite by the underwater ‘bling’ lights   

Chores done, we treated ourselves to dinner ashore and came back to find that BV floating in a floodlit bath. I had clearly been tired the previous night when we had arrived because I had not spotted the harbour’s underwater floodlights.

We were joined in the harbour by 2 yachts, a charter yacht with some Russians on board and a Fisher motor-sailer called Maja with a Norwegian couple on board. We ended up chatting to the Norwegian crew; they planned to explore on their folding pedal bikes and so we gave them our map of the island from our last visit to hopefully prevent them from taking any wrong turns.

Later on the Norwegian crew reported that the wind had changed; they had pedalled into wind in both directions of their travels. Perhaps not for them, but for us that was a good news. Based upon the latest forecast we’d adjusted our plan to sail overnight to Límnos shortly after the wind changed rather than waiting until Thursday morning. Leaving at 1800 on Wednesday night we hoped to have a stress-free 70 mile passage with a steady 10-15 knots of wind on the beam, arriving at Límnos at around 7am. Time to see if our plan worked.

Skíros, Greece