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Published: August 19th 2012
Swordfisherman in the Straits of Messina
Spotters watch for swordfish sleeping on the surface and then the man on the bowsprit harpoons them. In between thousands of tons of shipping and yachts try to make their way through one of the worlds busiest waterways.Tue 07 Aug 2012
Today was a bit of a sad one for us, as Grandpa / Dad left today. Sad for him as it was probably the last day of boat-living aboard Fabiola and for us it was the end of having someone to bounce ideas off and of course the mechanical encyclopaedia for Fabiola which is now our responsibility.
Yesterday we went into Chania which was a simply stunning Venetian port but almost certainly windless and extremely busy. Surrounded by bars and restaurants. We hired what seemed like the last hire car in Crete and headed for the hills to enable us to scratch the surface beyond the coastline. We climbed up into the mountains along Monte Carlo Rally-esque roads and into cooler climes. We stopped at a WW2 museum in Kessara (?) where a stranded teenager took us through a rusting collections of “Engliss massine-guns” and other Allied and Axis weaponry collected or donated by veterans of the German Parachute landings and Allied retreat from Crete of 1941.
We returned via Vress for dinner (both for us and also the mossies along the waters’ edge). All ate well (mossies included) and with an
ice-cream to top things off we headed back to the anchorage where children and Lisa all slept in despite the throaty rumbling of what could only have been a 600cc hire car engine!
Having dropped Dad at Chania airport we stopped at the Commonwealth Wargraves Cemetery in Suda (Souda) Bay. Souda Bay is still and important NATO port on the Northern side of the bay but seemingly the US 6
th Fleet was elsewhere marauding while we were there.
A highlight of our Greek Island time has been the opportunity for the boys to have some beach time. Whilst the sea is no stranger to them they seldom get the chance to play in the surf. A half-day on the beach en route to Knossos will hopefully tire them before we seek out the Minotaur in the Labyrinth of King Minos, discovered by Arthur Evans in 1900. The boys have salt-water in their veins, inherited from their Southend Mummy and have embraced the chance to frolic before being confined to the car for an hour. Lisa and I have enjoyed the collection of fine tattoos / tramp stamps adorning the tourists on Crete’s beaches.
Battle For
Crete (Cameron)
On 20 May 1941 Crete was invaded by 22,000 German paratroopers. Their aim was to take control of the 3 airfields of Maleme, Rethymno and Heraklion to then enable further landings by aircraft. They seized only one of those objectives, at Maleme. The Allies from Britain, New Zealand and Australia were evacuated by the Royal Navy from Souda Bay (where the Commonwealth War Graves Commission established the cemetery at the head of it). Out of the 32,000 Allies only 18,000 were evacuated, 12,000 taken prisoner and 2,000 died. Half the Germans were either killed or injured so the operation was costly to both sides.
When we visited the cemetery it was quiet, peaceful and reflective. The white stones were beautifully arranged and well-kept. A number of graves had pictures and flowers laid by family members or veterans. If the soldiers were unidentifiable the stone was simply inscribed with “A Soldier known only unto God”. Crews of Allied bombers were buried together with their graves alongside each other as they had died together. They were a mixture of Allied nationalities.
Knossos
Two hours from Souda by tiny hire-car along the TT or road
routes through the Cretian mountains you arrive in Iraklio. 5 miles from the capital are the ruins of Knossos. Knossos was the palace of King Minos, and the centre of Minoan civilisation until the tsunami of Santorini swept it away. The excavation was led by Arthur Evans at the beginning of the last century. Evan’s recreation of the palace is not universally liked but it gives some indication of the scale of the palace.
Zeus gifted Minos’ wife a magnificent white bull to sacrifice to Poseiden. She decided not to do so and
Leaving Crete on a Friday (bad luck for sailors...)
Having filled with water late at night off the quay at Souda we returned to the lovely anchorage of Palaisouda where we had been the day before just at the mouth of Souda Bay. It was only locals on the beach and some nice cafes and wonderfully chilled out. The kayak was put to good use and the boys swam many hundreds of metres back and forth from the beach to the boat. But as with all good things – like lounging on the boat / beach (and having one’s head in the
Knossus, Crete
More to come... bilges!) – they must come to an end and on 10 Aug we left Crete for Nisos Kithera.
To say the boat was a happy place would have been a lie. The boys racked up plenty of hours in their pits (in an Olympic year Cameron set a PB of 17 hours non-stop head-down time). Samuel came up and down to the cockpit but in general a residual swell and not quite enough wind to sail it made for a rolling crossing of motor-sailing and a little bit of the Kate Moss bulimic diet for Lisa and Gill - I refute what Ms Moss says about “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!” Having sufficiently recovered from a smallie bout of mal de mer (or a dodgy lettuce leaf) Gill prepared a bowl of spaghetti carbonara in a slightly heaving galley and on completion decided to pump out the holding tank – nice touch! Lisa decided to part ways with the carbonara and swore never to eat anything Gill cooked again!
We finally arrived in the dark hours into an empty anchorage of Ormos Ay Nikolaos and settled down for a night’s rest. On Saturday morning we went
8.4 knots
Concentration! literally around the corner to the tiny port of Avelomona. Wow what a sight – a beautiful village with a very welcoming Frenchman and his family who took our stern line and chain around a coral head as we dropped our anchor. It was a complex manoeuvre conducted with surprisingly no theorets and with an enormous sense of satisfaction we put up our awnings and chilled in the shade. An invitation issued to the Sergio and Sandrine for sun-downers and the boys were off. Cameron and Samuel were dumbstruck by the sight of their two stunning daughters Noemi (14) and Roxanne (11) and their Samuel lookalike Elliot (7) - the pair could have been twins. The language barrier proved not to be insurmountable and the gang of children swum and played all afternoon. Drinks turned into dinner, barbequed fresh tuna on Fabiola and eaten on the top of their Grand Banks top floor with a view over the bay and Fabiola next door. Both Sandrine and Sergio spoke excellent English and their kids are learning. Dinner finished at midnight with the terrible twins both asleep on mother’s laps! Brilliant fun.
The family run a ski and snowboard shop in
Chania
Too hot for sightseeing St Gervais (in the foothills of Megeve) and spend the summer months on their boat, Sam, in Greece. We both agreed that an exchange in later years would be perfect and they were very keen to catch up with us when we end up in Toulon. They plan to sell Sam and get a cruising catamaran but Sam is their camper van on the sea and very comfy and traditional. Hopefully we’ll stay in touch.
We woke on Sunday and realised that we needed fuel before we started our adventure or, in my (Lisa’s) words, challenge to Italy. After a little chat with our new friends we decided to sail around the island to another little anchorage where Sergio thought we could get some fuel. To the boys delight we were joined by all the kids (Elliot, Noemi and Roxanne) and sailed around into the next bay whilst we both took photos of each other’s boats. As we went around the first bay we were amazed to see a half-submerged shipwreck called the Nordland. It was a cargo ship that crashed into an island in the middle of the night whilst the crew were all asleep! It looked like
the ship had decided to take a run up-to the island, maybe for last orders!
Once there we all decided to go ashore and find someone that could deliver us both some fuel. So the boys set off to chat to the locals and enquire where fuel was available. Funny thing was the locals consisted of any young pretty girl who was in a bikini! The boys found a local directory and called some numbers, eventually we found a company but unfortunately we couldn’t remember the name of the island so Gill kept going back to the same girl asking where we were! Of course she was another pretty girl in a bikini!
Eventually the boys went onboard the boats and left us girls and kids on the beach whilst they sorted out the fuel. We had an ice-cream and the kids played for ours together in the water whilst Sandrine and I looked at the scenery! After many hours of topping up the tans we all ventured ashore for dinner – there was a slight problem as we all sat down for dinner looking through the menu when we realised that between us (9) we only had
50 euros and the beach restaurant didn’t take credit cards! I wonder why the Greek economy is on its knees...? Total nightmare - 5 hungry kids at 10pm and no money! Luckily we came up with the only solution which was to steal from the kids. Perfect!
On Monday we parted company with the French. They gave us a tuna lure (so far catching us not a great deal) and some special shells for Lisa. Both were truly generous and lovely gifts. All felt very sad to part and felt we had made some lovely friends and are already looking forward to meeting up with them if and when we get to Toulon in 2014 - or perhaps even before if they meet up with us when they go surfing in the Canaries in October / November! We’ll be on the lookout for their friends in a catamaran who are spending a season there too.
Greece to Italy – the first slog
The daunting first journey ahead of us we needed to get on with the westward journey. So on Monday we set off for Sicily. This would be our first (and possibly last long
journey with Lisa promising me that Ryanair went to most of our stop offs!) of 380 nautical miles. With only one of the crew having done an overnight passage this was to be a considerable challenge.
Skirting the Peloponnese and heading for the Straits of Messina is always going to be busy with shipping. The AIS proved itself immensely useful as we were effectively tacking up the shipping channel and needed to ensure that we were going to miss the steaming leviathans coming in the other direction.
Being leant over predominantly on starboard tacks was too much for the recently filled reserve tanks that decided to weep into the boys’ cabins. It was felt a diversion was required. Slightly off the course Yerolimena was spotted as a suitable hold-over. It sits on one of the tips of the Peloponnese and was just what the doctor ordered. We dropped a hook in a very pretty Greek fishing village with huge cliffs on one side and found ourselves close by an Austrian Grand Soleil 45 (Fabiola’s smaller sister-ship) and pumped up the canoe to get ashore for a meal.
A crew of four does not easily fit into a
canoe for two! On a priority / VIP status the Admiral and the powder monkey canoed and the untermenchen swam. I suspected that this was not going to change on the way home – I was right. Stripping down to speedos outside a busy restaurant at 10pm and proceeding to swim 500 metres back to the boat through pitch black water is not my idea of fun. Cameron managed to squeeze himself into the canoe leaving the author as the sole swimmer. As part of the “Jaws (1-3) generation” I knew that night swimmers get troughed – even in the Med (no questions asked!!!). I was lucky – though packing myself the entire way.
Awaking early the lower-deckers remained asleep as the Admiral and I left Greece for Italy (again!). The weather was kind and we made good progress. George (the autopilot) decided to put the boat about erroneously and a small puncture was put into the Kevlar headsail and was therefore promptly rolled away. Sailing on the staysail until the wind dropped before dusk we made a sail-change to the elderly even bigger genoa. I always find that the Admiral appreciates a challenge and trying new
things... changing the headsail is one of those things that she derived great enjoyment from. She did extremely well and I found her extremely receptive to well-aimed and helpful advice. First overnight-er split by Lisa and Gill, spent listening to audio books (sleep inducing for Lisa who needed hard core dance music. With the awning back the stars were amazing – Lisa thought of Karen May who lies out in the garden at home looking up at the stars and needs to be brought in by Richard! Routine checks on the AIS for approaching shipping but we were largely to the South of the shipping lanes and there were few that came close.
The boys each took turns on the wheel as the wind rose and a challenge ensued to see who could get the boat moving fastest. Under varying conditions Cameron and Samuel used their skills that they had learned both on Niki and on the Exe from “Freezing-Fraser” to drive the boat really well. Both are able to follow a course on the compass (with no horizon) and Cameron racked up 7.4 knots, and as the wind built Samuel took up pole position with an 8.4 surge
until the last day when Daddy blatted across the very windy Straits of Messina with a 9.3 peak down a wave.
On Wednesday afternoon it was apparent that both Fabiola and her crew were getting a little dirty and smelly. “Naked Boat” was called (I like to think that this was a common state of dress aboard Maiden and other all-female crewed boats). The hatches were locked shut and Daddy dished up buckets of salt-water for the scurvy dogs to swab the decks and cockpits which were secreting enough food in grubby corners to host a week-long survival exercise. Suitably doused in salt water a fresh rinse was needed. Sparkly clean and fresh we ate another home-made and pre-cooked chicken curry – and dropped morsels of that down the cockpit as it was now looking far too clean!
Fabiola was starting to get excited as she approached her home of Italy. We were getting closer. Crossing the Straits of Messina to the very chi chi town of Taormina the wind very rapidly built from 3 to 25 knots. It took us somewhat by surprise. Responding quickly a reef was put in and the staysail rolled out and off
we went finally pulling into Taormina and onto a mooring with the help of George Rizzo, the Cruising Association rep for Sicily. 3 days after having left Yerolimena we tied up at about 1130pm on our third day we felt exhausted and ready for bed. In conclusion to our first long passage Lisa and I had achieved a great deal. We had safely brought the boat and kids, despite a number of challenges, to Sicily. Lisa had stood her own night-watches and even enjoyed them (with her Ibiza / Hed Kandi / Cream anthems at full volume) and the boys had settled into a sailing routine and even took turns at the wheel and Cameron, particularly, covered short periods on watch while the grown-ups catnapped on deck.
Taormina
Sitting on the east coast of Sicily atop the basalt clifftops Taormina is a stunning town with a San Tropez-esque reputation. The yachts are stunning, the bikinis and speedos are both small and omnipresent and the beautiful people come out at night. We people-watched with amusement as the high-heels tottered by and enjoyed a lovely meal in a small piazza enjoying prosciutto, pastas and pizzas (pig for the
first time since starting our trip!).
We moved off the mooring and onto anchor and spotted our first ARC flag. A Swiss family (that well-known maritime power) aboard “Mis Amores” their Waquiez Pilot Saloon 47 are working their way West from Croatia to the start-line on what could be a five-year circumnavigation. Tatjana and Marco have two girls, Alexandra and Linda, a little younger than ours. They head from Taormina direct to the Balearics and onwards with an earlier ETA in the Canaries to enable them to head back to Switzerland for a work catch-up before their trans-Atlantic leg. We hope to start seeing more Med-resident ARC participants now as we join the well-beaten westbound path.
The second day in Taormina was spent catching up on some dhobi and maintenance. Lisa and the kids washed clothes on deck as Gill stripped the outboard engine and tinkered with the still-errant watermaker. We need to resolve a few outstanding minor technical gremlins which will enable us to be less-marina reliant and fully exploit the bluewater ability of Fabiola. With the generator and watermaker we have the ability to live from the less-busy, prettier anchorages and are not tied to marina
dwelling but in order to do so we must get the watermaker up and running with a level of confidence, hence today’s passage through the bottleneck of the Straits of Messina and into the Poseidon Marina in Milazzo.
The Straits of Messina separate Italy and Sicily and is a major shipping channel only 1½ miles wide at its narrowest northern point. It is renowned for whirlpools, foul tides and boiling cauldrons of water (as per the Odyssey) and throw in fast moving shipping that Aeneas didn’t have to deal with. I wasn’t looking forward to it. Pilot books seldom say “the navigation of this body of water is a piece of cake, requiring no effort and could be undertaken by a lobotomised monkey” and the Straits are no exception. Early starts are de rigueur to make way before the wind builds further complicating the journey. Hence it is 0500 as we head off watching the shipping and hugging the island shore. Children sleep as caffeine is pumped into the system. At the time of writing; so far so good.
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Mike Hammond
non-member comment
Ahoy
Enjoyed reading about the early days of your adventure and your experiences so far. Some fabulous photos as well. Also brought back some memories for me. I spent two weeks touring Crete and visited many of the places you mention(although generally fairly hangover at the time). And bizarrely, St Gervais is where a friend of mine has a place and one of my old school chums now lives with her hubby. Also it is where I did my knee last year and I wonder if I hired the skis from your new friends? Keep having fun and keep blogging.