During the night, whilst still moored at the pier in Kea, a strong north-north-westerly wind blows, driving heavy swells into the harbour. Our neighbours, a flotilla of three boats, are also taking a look at the situation in the morning. Is it safe to cast off with strong gusts coming from the side, without the propeller being pushed onto the neighbouring boat’s anchor chain? We are the first to give it a go, and it just about works. Even in the harbour, the swell is so strong that Gisela doesn’t walk around the boat to fetch the fenders. First, we motor out a bit to see just how rough it really is with the wind and swell. And it really does get rough. Aglaya has never been shaken about like this with us on board before. The bow keeps dipping into the water, the water rises up to the rubbing strake, and huge breaking waves splash us in the cockpit and cover the whole boat in salt. But Aglaya is holding her own bravely; she’s a strong lady, and we’re brave and resilient too, because we’ve never experienced such a violent and chaotic swell for a whole day before.
We’re on our way to Poros in the Saronic Gulf, a good 40 nautical miles – a long journey. Steering is exhausting; we take turns every half hour. Once, whilst changing at the helm, Walter injures his foot. Treating the wound has to wait until the evening.
When things calm down briefly off Cape Sounion, we hoist the mizzen and ease out the jib a little. But then the wind and swell pick up again and we can’t hold our course. So we motor the last stretch straight towards the south side of Poros to strike the sails there.
We’ve made it to Poros; we were underway for ten hours. Windy had forecast 25 knots of wind, but we had a steady 35 to just under 40. The whole pier in Poros is full. So we drop anchor in the bay, enjoying the peace and quiet and the lovely view of the town. The next morning there’s space, so we moor at the pier, tidy up and give the boat a good clean. Annegret and Andreas are arriving tomorrow on the ferry from Athens. Aglaya will sparkle for them.
We don‘t have fotos from our wilde ride. We needed our hands to steer, to fix us on the boat and to worf with the sails. But of course we can show you the view from our anchorage at Poros.
