TripSailor.com® Sailing Blogs

Plateria bay is interesting as there is something about its shape, coupled with the surounding hills that always seems to give you more wind here than in the surrounding area.

Today seems to be an exception as we drift along trying to put off starting the engine for as long as possible.

As we get closer to the harbour the radio traffic seems to indicate that there will be four flotillas in tonight and it is looking a bit full in there.

Hand-over days are the one time when even the Jaguars are expected to come in stern-to. It makes it easier to get the bags off and easier for the next crew to get theirs on.

Now I’m one of those people who keeps getting confused when tillers and astern come together, so I do some manouvering practice out in the bay and then suddenly we have a breeze… Can we slip back out for an hour or so? Better not.

Oops so now going to be its stern-to with Bf5 cross wind.. That could cause fun when trying to line her up with the required bit of quay as the wind will catch her before we get steerage way again.

Back to Martin’s standard stern-to procedure, turn her outside the harbour and drive her in backwards so that you have time to remember which way to put the tiller, and so that you can keep the speed up.

We slip into our slot in the corner of the quay without any problems and yes that would have been horrible if we had come in forwards and tried to turn her.  The next couple of boats try it that way and its a recipe for chaos with us having to fend them off etc.

Final night party and its silly awards time. You may know how it goes, a tangled bit of rope to remind a skipper not to reverse over his own anchor line.., three little boat sillhouettes tied together with bits of string for the three that always seemed to be going everywhere together…

You wait there wondering what have the lead crew noticed about you this time, some of them can be complements, and some can be funny, but just don’t block the heads and get the "turd of the week award"...

My flotilla awards in the past have included a model of a ferry (for coming the closest ever known to the Meganissi and surviving) and a cockpit cushion that I can take to the taverna with me (for falling asleep before the food arrived after a long day’s sail)..

What is it this time:  An award to the crew of Thira for being the most persistant sailors, as we were rarely seen without at least being trying to sail.

Well thats one that Gary can take home for finishing his first two week flotilla with only two of us in  the crew.

Wait till he sees what I have planned for August though, with Thira we covered 225 Nm in two weeks, on our next trip we would do more than that in two days and without stopping for the night..