TripSailor.com® Sailing Blogs

Tonking along under engine, thinking can we stay out long enough for the afternoon wind to pick up?

Not really we have to be off the boat by 9 am tomorrow and need to pack everything, cram the dinghy back in the locker, and clean the boat so most of that need to be done this afternoon.

Coming into Plateria bay there seem to be a lot of boats around but then we know that there are three flotillas turning around here this weekend.

Call up the lead boat and find out where they want us. “Stern to on the quay to the right as you enter the harbour”.  Useful, a nice clean approach run so no need to actually enter the harbour backwards as we did with the Jaguar two years ago.

As has been usual this trip Gary does the helming and I handle the anchor and warps and that is Ida tied up for the last time.

Now to start tiding her up. Including dropping the kedge and its chain over the stern to get the Sayada mud of of it. Recover the kedge and then its time to wash the deck down, wipe the windows etc whilst Gary tackles the galley.

Haul the dinghy up on the quay and open the valves to let the air out and fold it into its bag. Now how can we get this in that locker with all the other gear? Sorted!

Harbour is filling up fast and there are still boats coming down the bay.

A German 40 footer tries to come in and turn to go side on to a little mole at the end of the harbour but unfortunately is caught by a crosswind gust (yes the afternoon wind did pick up, after we had moored!) and pushed sideways on across the bows, and bow anchor chains of four boats.

Down to the mole, and get them to throw me a line from their bow, quick bowline around a bollard halfway up the mole an “Get it on the winch!”  Another long line in fromm the stern and repeat the operation with the bollard at the end and they can haul themselves clear.

As they start to warp themselves in I have to give them a reminder to adjust their fenders as the mole is ony about a foot or so clear of the water.  They are going to need more than four fenders here so its “Get the ones off the port side as well” That it all secure, time to go back to getting ready to go home.

Time for the final “group meal” of the trip, in a new taverna called “Oil and Lemon” which is almost just across the road from the boats.

End of flotilla meals are also usually a impromptu prize giving ceremonywhen the lead crew distribute little momentos of the trip highlighting some aspect of each crew that they have noticed over the weeks.

We surely wont get a prize for staying out latest this trip, Nerita has stayed out longer than us on most days. I haven’t said anything about the dinghy painter to them yet so it won’t be a bit of freyed rope..

Ollie has a new technique for the prizes. He took a photo of the fleet on the beach at Parge and has had nine prints done so all he needs to do is write something on each of them.  The crew of Ida get an award for the most correct VHF procedure…  

Next morning Garry goes to finish the washing up and the water stops and the pump hums, oops we are out of water! That is easily fixed by switching to the other tank.

Go to make a cuppa and oops we are out of gas as well. That is not so easy to fix as there is only one canister aboard this trip. The company that supplied the gas for the boats went bust last month and the only other supplier wont use their canisters so there is a bit of a shortage at the moment… Ok go ashore for breakfast and a cup of tea. (I don’t mind paying for a good coffee but 1.5 euros for a cup of hot water into which you have to put the supplied tea bag, that is extravagant!)

Sit around the taverna tables until the coaches arrive to take us to the airport and then its off down the coast by road trying to see how many of the places that we visited we can recognise from the road.

Preveza airport is its normal charter flight day chaos of long queues but all very orderly and its check in and sit until the plane is ready before taking off and heading north again next stop Gatwick.

And that is it for another trip!

Will I go again?

Yes I’m already booked for a flotilla in the Aegean in September (£50 discount for a second holiday in the same year) and that will be the first trip into unknown waters for a while. Time to start reading the pilot guide!