Fools Afloat. Day 12.

Day 12  Wednesday 13 June 2018

0635hrs. Here we go again we are awoken by the boat rocking violently and banging against the boats moored either side. We race on deck. Tim has the starboard fenders and with our neighbour in his much smaller speed boat who has the boathook out, is keeping his deck from scrapping ours. I believe he is more concerned about his craft than ours. In fact during this latest ‘surge’ one of his fenders burst. The slightly larger boat on our port, crewed by 6 German guys is my responsibility but they and we have positioned our fenders in such a way that they are working as should be. These damn Greek Ferries causing surges.

Drama over Tim returns to updating the log and I put the kettle on. Soon Jackie calls us on deck. There is another drama unfolding. Two boats are in the centre of the channel and one seems to have fouled the others anchor chain. It is not yet 0730hrs but quite a few boats seem to be leaving. Most crews who are awake stand in their respective bows and watch. There is limited room for anchor and chain in Simi and it is essential you drop anchor in direct line with your craft when going stern to.

We see no need to dally further. We have no real distance to cover today but as David is now on deck we decide to disconnect shore power and take in the anchor. Mike cast off the port quarter warps, David at the helm, casts the starboard and with a little forward engine Tim soon has the anchor  inboard. Mike has rolled the bimini and with Jackie’s help secured it. She then goes forward to help release and store the fenders in conjunction with Tim. Mike meanwhile is coiling and storing the warps.  Mercifully no one had fouled our chain.

Tim watches anxiously as boats depart. No fouled anchor chains today!

0735hrs. We clear the harbour entrance. We raise the gib. There is not too much wind and for a mere thirty minutes manage to sail. 4 knots, then we lose the wind. We are forced onto the motor which we use for the remainder of our short voyage down the East coast of Simi.

1015hrs. Marathounda Bay. 27*52’ Lat 36*35’Lon. This is the southern most taxi boat stop on the island of Simi. Simi town does not really have a beach worth talking about. Yes there is a small stretch but it seems to be private. Thus you have to pay E5 for a sunbed! When we arrived at Marathounda the pebbled beach was deserted, apart from a half dozen goats wandering through the parasols and sunbeds. On the beach is a Taverna owned by a local Greek family. The food they serve is supposedly grown or reared in the fields either side of the beach. I could see the field boundaries and some attempt at irrigation but no crops growing.


We anchored offshore but as the boat was swinging on its anchor Tim decided to swim a line to the South shore and tether the boat. All went well. He was soon back on board and encouraging us in for a dip. In went the Stopportons. It was lovely and warm, not that many fish though. After twenty minutes we were back on board sat on the swim platform drinking beer, wine or Tea. Tea?

Tim decided we needed a marker buoy on the forty or so metres of rope that tied us to the shore and so once more swam out and attached same. Just as he was doing so six swimmers were spotted by David coming around the headland making for us. We shouted to the accompanying boat man, it was a lady, warning her about our line. Which she acknowledged. We asked “Where are you from?” meaning “How far have you swum?” “I’m from England and these swimmers are from all over the world.” It seems they were on some sort of ‘swimming’ holiday. Crazy!

1245hrs. We have passed the last few hours reading kindles and such. Tim suggested he make a cheese and ham sarnie for lunch. Jackie was in the bow sunning herself, David was trying to catch up on some kip in his forward cabin and Mike had just emerged on deck to get some dishes when he noticed we were seemingly perilously close to the shore. Calling for Tim to come on deck, he accessed the situation immediately and ran forward to the anchor locker bowled Jackie to one side grabbed the anchor remote and took in some chain. At the same time telling me to start the engine and cast off our stern line. As soon as I had cast off I was instructed to fire up the engine and motor forward and turn inward to port. We circled for a while, twice, took depth soundings and eventually dropped anchor once again. This time in the centre of the bay. The wind now quite strong was blowing off the land from the West and turning the boat. Panic over. What panic? It was a text book demonstration of immediate reaction to orders.

Tim who had gone below decks re-emerged with ham and cheese sarnies for all but David. It seems we might have to reposition the boat again this evening in case the wind blows in from the sea. If it does it’ll probably run us onto the beach. The wind blew fairly hard for the remainder of the day. The boat swinging on its anchor.

Ferry departed about 1700hrs with some consideration for us and the other boat at anchor. Unlike when powered in late morning creating a massive wash so much so that I was warned when in the galley making a brew. And Jackie was sunbathing on the rear swim deck.

Chicken goulash curry. This was prepared by Mike with considerable input from David without which I doubt we would have enjoyed it as much as we did. This was washed down with some  sweet white wine. After dinner, we sat as it grew darker and listened to Elkie Brooks on Tims music machine, sipping slowly on our drinks. There was just the right amount of evening breeze to cool us.

2130hrs. Bed.