Definitely not a quiet morning this time. During the night we already wobbled a bit on the gusts coming over the hills north of us. We plan to sail in the direction of Milos, and probably make one stop in between at the island just northeast of it, Kimolos. According to the forecast we should have a nice bit of wind helping us get there soon.
We might even be able to use the code 0 but it’s going to be around the max that we feel comfortable using it. Our general limit for it is 15 knots apparent, but if it’s still possible to turn away from the wind we can take it a bit further. Let’s just take the cover off now we’re still in the bay, so we don’t have to do that later on in the waves.
The waves are rolling exactly into the entrance of the bay so first we motor through it until we get a clean course just south of Siphnos straight at the north point of Kimolos. Our neighbours are way more of the pure sailors type than we are as they don’t even use their cats’ engines here and start tacking. Well, it is technically possible to tack with our cat as well, but we just don’t have the patience nor the urge to do it. Having no particular goal nor deadline gives you the opportunity to just go with the flow.
We start with the normal jib in 15 to 20 knots of wind, that will normally give us somewhere between 8 and 9 knots of speed. Once we’re able to roll out the code 0 this usually gives us 2 knots more.
Still the speed is of course a bit variable, which makes crossing the path of big cargo ships or ferries often interesting. The big Hellenic Seaways ferry to Paros seems to be aiming right at us and the AIS system catagorises it as a “dangerous vessel”. With a CPA (closest projected distance) of sometimes even 5 meters it’s difficult to decide what to do. You know that it’s probably aiming at your stern, knowing that your speed is not constant but expecting that your course will be. But it still makes you wonder whether they did actually see you. When it gets really close we try calling them on the VHF but they don’t see any point in answering.
It does make sense to practise a bit with the DSC messaging system as these messages are logged and chances of a timely response might be bigger. Mario and Marijke have been at it, but we didn’t practise it well enough yet. Most of the times we don’t even switch on the radio as it makes a lot of noise and most of the times it’s impossible to get a clue of what is being said.
We reach Ormos Prasonisi in a couple of hours, a well protected and very blue bay on the northeast tip of Kimolos. Still not very busy with just one other boat and 2 tourists on the beach. There’s still a lot of work going on with sand trucks driving back and forth the whole time. Pete advised us to go to Psathi a little more south on Kimolos but that doesn’t seem to be a good idea as the wind will turn to the south this night. We decide to anchor here and wait for Seatramp who will sail over with their new guests expecting to arrive later this afternoon. Mojito time again!
Next morning we are up early again so we will have a couple of hours on Milos in the afternoon. Our course is right against the wind in the beginning, past Psathi and through the channel between Kimolos and Milos. The wind is shifting here a lot, so every now and then we can roll out one of the headsails but we have to be prepared to roll them in again every minute.
The bay of Milos is a quite big, with potential shelter in almost all conditions. Passing the entrance of the bay you can already see the Chora (the old town of Plaka) on top of the hills. We anchor just passed the harbour of Adamanta in the northeast corner of the bay, next to a big Celestyal cruise ship. A lot of French people seem to book this ship as we hear people parler francais all over the island.
We bring the e-bikes ashore for the short ride up to Plaka, The temperatures this time the year are still ok, in the middle of summer we seldom use the bikes anymore. The old city of Plaka is very nice and the views on our way up and from the castle at the very top are magnificent.
As we are ready to bike back to the harbour we see Seatramp entering the bay as well, they are anchored close to Greatcircle when we arrive down there as well.
Could have been a marvellous day again if I wouldn’t have made a clumsy mistake getting the bikes back on board from the dinghy. Some waves got me off balance and the second bike was almost lost. I barely managed to hold on to it, but somehow this was to much for the tendon that used to connect my left biceps to the bone in my lower arm. Ouch.
Bike in the water (without battery luckily), Mark in the water, lots of water getting into the bag of the bike, not easy to get it (and myself for that matter) on board after all.
There’s a small medical facility on the island, but no orthopedic doctor nor the equipment to determine the status of my arm. We would have to go to Athens or Syros to get further help. The medical helplines in the family are able to find out a bit more. They advise us to fly back to Holland, a couple of days are not critical in situations like this.
Oookaaaayyyy.
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