Siteia - the nicest surprise

Before I start, I was asked some time ago by John Thame to do a video tour of the boat. Well, I managed to do that a while ago, but I keep forgetting to share it with you... Still not savvy enough to insert a YouTube link (I have followed all instructions with no joy) please go to YouTube.com and search for 'Summer Amy Tour of the Boat' if you're interested. You'll need to crank up the volume.

On leaving Agios Nikolaos, we had everything up for a change and were hooting along at 8 knots, but as is with the Med, after an hour, the wind dropped but the sea stayed up but the sails came down??

Half way there, Sal asked what we had done with the hire car... Well, er, um, forgot all about it! It was sitting at the marina and the keys were on the boat... It was ours until 8:00pm so I could hire a scooter in Siteia and ride back with the keys, drop the car off and ride back... Pain in the arse if you ask me.


So I called George at Alma Car Hire and explained the problem. "Oh" he said, "just drop the keys into Appolon Car Hire in Siteia, my friend there will take care of it." Just gotta love these Greeks!

There was a spot at the very end of the quay where we could go alongside, but power and water were sadly just of reach. We were only there for the night, early start in the morning, so no biggie.... but just out of reach.

Once moored we slept off the heat of the day and meandered into town at twilight for a feed. Found Appolon car hire, met Georges mate who happily took the keys, had a good laugh about or forgetfulness and directed us to 'The Balcony' a highly rated eatery in Trip Adviser that Sal had sussed.

What a beautiful town. The striking attribute is the wide artfully paved promenade which separates the water from the outdoor seating areas of the bars and restaurants along the waterfront. Usually the seating goes right to the water's edge and the Promenade is behind. The back streets equally inviting and 'The Balcony' was in one of these so we would never have just happened upon it. We found it to be highly rated for good reason.

After dinner we sent the kids off to play in the many places designed for that while we found a comfy waterfront seat at a cool bar and whiled away our first and last night in a place so nice we would ordinarily have lingered for a few days.

Happy Birthday Sally!

Although we slept nicely protected, the Meltimi was back and the morning's sail to Fry on Kasos promised to be a doozy.

Agios Nikolaos and Spinalonga

At 13:13 on the 21st August, we cast off and motored for 42 Nautical Miles in nil wind on calm seas all the way to Agios Nilolaos.

More comfortable than Heraklion, this was to be our base while Sal made her second and hopefully final trip to London to pick up the tools she'll need to fix her foot.





The marina at Nikolaos has to be the most organised yet. We had a chat with the harbour master on the way in, were directed to a berth. He was there when we were ready to throw our lines. Two slime lines, appropriately coloured, green for Starboard and red for Port, power and water at each berth.


The town itself read well, but I agree with the Author of 'The Book' that it has sold its soul to tourism.


For me it is a bit like Bali (in Indonesia). You are left wishing you had got there 30 years before.

It is nicely laid out, but not good for bikes. Narrow busy streets and the pavements are crammed with tourists. There is a beach within swimming distance from the Marina entrance and another, the other side of town.

The cool feature of the town is the 'lake'. This is what is left of the core of the volcano and it is smack in the centre of town.

Naturally it is semi surrounded by restaurants and bars and tiny fishing boats, but this enhances rather than detracts.

I took the kids there to eat and surprisingly the meal was right up there with one of the best meals we'd all had to date.

We had a couple of days to burn before Sal's flight and Agios Nikolaos is very close to Spinalonga. This is a large, protected enclosed bay only 3-4 meters deep, with "azure waters and white sand." At the entrance to the bay is Spinalonga, a leper colony until 1966.

So... Overweight? getting old? losing your hair? having to wear orthotics? needing a knee replacement? or... dying in this place of Leprosy?

Now that my friends would be the short straw!

The day was young when we anchored, but the touted Azure sea on white sand was also 30 years old. The water was slimy and full of flotsam, churned up by so many tourist boats from Nikolaos and Elounda but we had noticed a large new hotel development which looked like it had a pool..... read also pool bar.

Looks great right?... The water was 32 degrees and very salty, the pool bar had just shut "signomi" as we arrived and there was nothing at all to eat....

At the other end of the bay is the town of Elounda. A little surprise package given what we'd see so far.

It was a longish dingy ride but we decided to leave the boat anchored where it was and bop on in. Always heaps of fun for the whole family bopping along in the dingy.

We were greeted by a very cute little harbour At its entrance was our lunch spot (left) and not far away was a beach to cool off at... festi as we knew it would be, we were melting.

Unfortunately, the service had that 'end of a long hot season of painful tourists' about it. I'd have to say though that thanks to Trip Adviser most outlets have really picked up their game. No longer do you get the 'we'll never see them again so serve them swill and charge them heaps' attitude.

We hired a car for three days so that I could drive Sal to Heraklion to catch her flight and pick her up two days later. Also so that the kids and I could take a look at the south coast of Crete while Sal was away.

This is 6am on the 26th August... "red sky in the morning...!" and the start of a Meltimi blow which we are still enduring as I type from elsewhere 5 days later!



The drive to the south coast was spectacular and because the Meltimi comes from the north, we thought that the south coast would be nicely protected.... wrong!

We arrived into a largish town, the name of which escapes me now but wind blown and uninviting. We decided to head along the coast, find a beach, an hotel with a pool, anything to make this drive worthwhile...

Another day and another hotel with a pool. Admittedly, it was a nice pool, Summer made a french friend but as you can see by the palm tree and the cabanas, it was blowing a boomer and once again, the bar was closed and there was nothing to eat??



Sal managed the whole London diversion in two days flat. No problems with Greek customs in Athens and replete with new, high fashion yachting attire....

We had planned to sail from Agios Nikolaos the 60 plus nautical miles directly to Fry on Paxos but the wind had rather jaded our enthusiasm for that. The plan was to island hop to Rhodes. Crete/Kasos/Karpathos/Rhodes.

We had for some strange reason, completely missed Siteia. A town almost at the very eastern end of Crete, well protected from the Meltimi, power and water on the quay and only a 20K sail. This would make Fry a much more manageable 40K the following day.


And so at 11:35 on Sally's birthday we cast off and set sail in biggish but very enjoyable wind and water

Heraklion and Knossos

A quote from ‘the book’….

"On the first day, one knows beyond contradiction that Heraklion is one of the least pleasant cities of the Mediterranean…..” Hopkins Crete: its past and people.

OK, it is the capital of Crete, it is big, but I disagree with this synopsis. Although we had a torrid time there, it is a beautiful city, with a pleasant entry from the ancient Venetian harbour into wide cobbled streets with everything.

The short 16 Nautical Mile trip to get there was awful. The Meltimi had kicked up a rough, confused, rolling swell on the stern

port quarter causing the boat to loll side to side and rock front to back for four long hours until we finally entered the settled waters of the largest port so far.

We poked our nose into the Venetian harbour at the very western end of the port, found a nice spot, managed, in wind coming over the substantial port walls, to get her into a difficult spot where we could see a slime line hanging from the wall into the water. 

No help around, although there were yachties sitting on their boats just watching on. (bad manners boys) William jumped ashore off the dingy, took a line from Sally, put it through a cleat and tossed it back. He then went to pick up the slime line which he found was attached to nothing…. Untied, back on board, no other spaces inside the Venetian harbour so back out into the main port. We found a space on a very high wharf, dropped the anchor and reversed in big swell, thankfully into some very competent helping hands.

Once all the lines were on it became clear that:

a. We’d need to stay well off the wall. The swell was moving the boat backwards at least a meter and a half with each surge.

b. The surges would increase with the arrival of these gargantuan ferries

c. We would need to drop the dingy simply in order to get ashore.

This was far from ideal because we had planned to stay here while Sally popped back to London to finalise the treatment on her foot.

Moral not at its highest Sal and I took the kids ashore for a feed and a little recce while Kerry slept off the sea sick tabs. Once they were fed we put them in front of a movie, picked up Kerry and walked into town for a very pleasant, not your typical Greek meal... for a change.

The next morning I managed to get all the bikes off by ferrying them into the Venetian harbour in the dingy and whilst in there I spotted a likely place on a floating pontoon to moor the boat. 

When everybody was up I took Sal in for a look…. "No brainer, lets move!"

The only way off the wharf was to untie at the boat and leave the lines attached to the wharf for collection later. I had used special lines to handle the surge so we still had our usual mooring lines on board.

There was still a nasty cross wind in the Venetian harbour so backing in was tricky. There were two slime lines attached to buoys out in the water rather than to the pontoon which was going to make things much easier….. That is until one of them, the most important one on the windward side, got caught in the port prop! Luckily it severed the lines and I still had reverse thrust but it meant we'd lost one mooring….. Well, reverse thrust until the mooring rope thrown by Sal was dropped by the on shore help and it went straight into the same prop, fouled it and automatically tripped it so as not to wreck the motor!! Fouled in the prop, it held the boat in place while we got another line ashore and I dived into dirty water to un-foul the line. Finally, minus one slime line and mooring, we were in…..

That is until I was handed a mobile phone by a guy looking really agitated. The guy on the other end of the line was really agitated. It seems that we had taken the spot that he had paid for the entire year for the charter yacht that was on its way into the harbour as he spoke… well yelled actually.

I have a saying… “once you lose it, you've lost”. This comes from much personal experience I have to admit, but on this occasion, my friend Arris on the other end of the line had in fact lost it.

The look on Sally’s face meant that we were not moving! I explained through the torrent of abuse that there was no sign to say the mooring was private, nowhere in the 63 ports we’d visited had this been the case, sure he had paid for a mooring, but that was any mooring not specifically this mooring and besides my port prop had tripped when it got fouled and we had to figure out how to un-trip it before we were going anywhere…

You’ll need to calm down Arris…. As the charter boat carrying a very nice English bloke and two of his nine daughters approached.

I noticed another buoy off the end of the pontoon indicating another slime line and pointed him to that. After some prevarication, we managed to get him snugly in and all was hunky dory with a cold glass of white on our boat when Arris arrived….. and OMG!

After much shouting which culminated in me ejecting him from our boat he stormed off down the pontoon threatening to do something nasty to our boat while we slept….. Not one to react kindly to threats and against firm protestation from all aboard I bounded after him and caught up with him at the end of the quay.

Just before we went at it I mentioned that in four months in his beautiful country I had never met an angry Greek person. He was the only one, his boat was safely moored, we would be out of there as soon as the Meltimi died down and the charter guests were not only happy, they were drinking all my wine!

Slowly the steam went out of it and by the next afternoon, me and my mate Arris, we were besties.

When in Heraklion, you should not miss Knossos. Just 5kms from the city is the largest palace of the Minoan civilisation built around 1900BC. It was destroyed by earthquake around 1700BC, rebuilt and then it and most of the Minoan civilisation were wiped out, it is assumed by a tsunami from the volcanic eruption of Santorini.  

We decided to hire a car and go take a look. 

It is fascinating and well worth a visit. We got talked into a guided tour which we all agreed was a good idea in the end but the thing that struck me most about the place was that unlike everywhere else in Greece, this place had no outer wall to protect it. Apparently, the Minoans were a peaceful people and for that reason were left alone to flourish.... 

There's a lesson in there somewhere??

The following day we took the kids to a water park to get out of the heat and stay away from the port all day to avoid any more blow ups. 

Kerry had grabbed a flight back to Italy to continue her sojourn as we decided we’d not stay in Heraklion but go to Agios Nikolaos instead.

Back at the boat, the Meltimi had died, the evening was balmy, we were a family again for the first time in ages and the sail to Agios Nikolaos in the morning promised to be a pleasant one.

Bali Bay

The rest of our stay in Rethymnon was entertaining. Great food in wonderful restaurants in the old town and the ancient Venetian harbour.

Days on the pre-booked sun beds on the beach, kids hooking up with mates as they do, para-sailing, paddle boating, ice creams, lemon fanta….





Not spoiled at all, but continually bitching nevertheless… “no air con on the boat, no new movies, why do we have to go, I’m not eating that, we wanna be with our friends….” and exhausted from having such an amazing time.

Small dampener and a warning for any arriving guests… do not put anything down the toilet, and if you do…..DO NOT FLUSH! This instruction was overruled simply by force of habit. No point in complaining, we have all done it, but this is particularly embarrassing if you are a guest. It was only two face wipes! They being made of cotton, don't break down. It took 4 hours in 40 degree heat in an enclosed toilet to completely dismantle this very badly designed bog in order to retrieve these items or the toilet would now be completely useless. 

So, if I seem a little insistent when issuing this instruction on your arrival.... you'll know why!

So, leaving Rethymnon was untimely. We’d had a great time there, it was time to move on, but we were unknowingly headed into a very uncomfortable sea. 

As soon as we left the harbour we noticed the sea was white capping but in an absence of wind? The caps were caused by the rolling over of the tops of a very confused, growing swell. I now know that this is what precedes the Meltimi, that dreaded summer northerly that blows down from northern Turkey, through the Aegean sea and down onto the northern coast of Crete…. Uh, That’s us!

Not a nice intro for Kerry who freely admits to being a land lubber however the day’s destination only 16 nautical miles away and it made the discomfort all worthwhile in the end…

Ormos Bali, or Bali Bay is beautiful, all be it crammed with tourists at this the very height of the season. It is a large bay protected from the prevailing NW winds, the floor of the bay is pure white sand, crystal clear water with a few rocks…. (more on these later).. and there are three distinct areas.

The large beach in the guts of the bay with hundreds of thatched umbrellas, sun beds, tavernas, bars and very pink poms.

On the western side of the bay about half way out is another beach with this amazing apparatus for kids to go nuts on. Very well managed, 12Euro for the day and “please leave us alone kids” in this really cool elevated bar with great music and a panoramic view of the beach and the ‘apparatus’….  Parenting 101.

And a small harbour packed with local boats so anchoring and becoming the star attraction was the only option.

All good so far. We arrived latish and ate on board. The anchoring was a synch, she bit and we were set a nice distance from any rocks or shore. 

There was one large rock but with any likely wind and the length of our chain, it did not pose a problem….

I woke early as usual, there was no wind at all, just a gentle swell swinging in from the NW  through the mouth of the bay. I went topside to greet the day and noticed that we were mere inches from this very rock! I quickly started the engines and moved us well away, a slight breeze came in and held us off as expected.

The following evening was breezy. I had a dose of food poisoning from lunch in that elevated Cool Bar and sadly had to cancel our dinner reservation in another elevated restaurant with great views and highly rated by Trip Adviser. 

Comfortable that the breeze was here for the night I hit the hay…then the can... then the hay…and finally dropped off until 4:00am when CRUNCH!

The boat became the chook pen that the fox got into…. "We’re on the rocks!" "There's a big swell!" "Grab a torch!" I’ll start the engines!" "Where’s the torch!" In the usual place!" Why do I need a torch!" I need to know exactly where the rock is!'"CRUNCH" so I can steer us off safely!" How can I help!" Which way do I go!" I can’t see the rock!"CRUNCH! "I’m winging it!"….. and we were off.... 

Rather than up anchor in the dark, we reversed the boat to what we felt was the original position with chain fully extended well away from the rock. Sal on the anchor, Kerry on the torch, me at the helm, we let out a further 30 meters of chain, waited for the breeze to keep us well away from that rock, checked the bilges to see that there were no leaks and went back to bed.

So, any wind was good. No wind was not good. Expensive lesson. No leaks. I dived in to take a look at the damage. Not pretty. The starboard keel took a crunching at the very back leaving an ugly looking exposed chunk of fiberglass. We will need to have the boat taken out to repair it, but it will be fine for the time being and it could have been a whole lot worse.

The swell had gone due northerly and was rearing at us straight through the mouth of the bay. Diving under the bucking boat had been dangerous, getting the dingy back up was horrendous and the sail from there to Iraklion was the most uncomfortable yet. I suggested to Kerry that she take a sea sickness tablet. Being the self confessed land lubber, she took two not realising they made you drowsy. So fortunately for her, she missed most of the trip but unfortunately also missed the interesting mooring in Iraklion.

Rethymnon

You may be wondering why we spent so long in Chiania? Well, Sal has had a problem with her right foot almost from the start and it got to the point where she simply could  not walk. Chiania has and MRI machine, hence the stop. But. Whilst they have an MRI machine, given the level of expertise, it would be better used as an anchor....
On advice from her Podiatrist in Sydney, Sal headed for London and got it all sorted within a week. Well, sorted in that she now has the wherewithal to continue our adventure and hopefully eventually fix what is apparently a common ailment 'at this age' a Ruptured Plantar Plate.

She had a quiet time in London... a little shopping, three west end shows, some cheap eats.....

You know, keeping it all in perspective.....

This amazing piece of art Sal managed to capture being installed for Armistice Day at the Tower of London.

'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red'

These are individual ceramic poppies, one for every British life lost in the First World War. That is 888,246 ceramic poppies! Each one hand made planted or placed by volunteers, the last one to be put in place on the 11th of the 11th at 11:00am

Probably worth a Google if you get the chance.

But I digress....
Sal made it back in 6 days. Enough time for me to get thoroughly sick of Cretan music at 2:00am!

The kids were able to get thoroughly sick on Willy Wonker chocolate and all sorts of goodies to make them genuinely happy to see Mum home.

I got two pairs of jocks.....




At 12:00 on the 11th August we cast off and motored to Rethymnon. It is different, but not dissimilar in character to Chania. It has a substantial new port large enough to accommodate huge car ferries but it was built specifically to take advantage of the growing number of cruise ships plying the Med. Unfortunately they haven't seen a cruise ship here in two years. This is surprising because it is a far more interesting town and a gateway to more interesting sights than the ports we have seen cruise ships docked. Word is, it's political?



We managed to go alongside in a space reserved for 'big boats'. At 44 feet we don't fall into that category, but we were pleased to be permitted because it is so much easier. No anchors, no reversing, just straight in, tie up, connect up and you're done.

Sunset/cocktail hour from the helm. Another place, another breathtaking view and as always that ever present question... "how can this be"





Deep in the back of the new harbours, tucked up into the bib of the old town is the ancient Venetian harbour. So quaint. A tiny bay surrounded by restaurants with tables to the water's edge. Small fishing craft nosed in cheek by jowl around the perimeter to add to the genuine feel of the place and so much sea food on display.

Lobsters, Atlantic prawns (Mozambican I would have said), Sea Bass, Snapper, bugs and bream...



We were joined by our dear friend Kerry Stern who just happened to be touring in Italy and thought 'what the hell'. Here dining in one of those aforementioned restaurants on some of those aforementioned sea creatures.

Kerry had arrived the night before this and as always provided the excuse for us to go a little overboard... literally. After giving the Greek wine makers a fair shake, Sal had gone to bed, defeated. I was not far behind and I left Kerry to a last fag and a tidy up.

Just dozing off I hear this plaintive "Help me... Help, help, help"

Champaigne corked myself out of the depths and onto the deck to find Kerry in the water between the boat and the wharf! She had decided to get rid of the garbage and didn't make the gap.

This is that gap... I measured it, it was 35cm wide!

How she didn't smack her head on the boat or the dock on the way down remains a mystery, but had she done so, Sally and I would not have heard a thing. I would have been making a rather unfortunate phone call to Andy back in Sydney the next morning. Never mind the substantial pile of paperwork I'd be dealing with right now!



As you see, she survived fully intact. Here I'd left them to finish off the last drops of wine at the restaurant before coming straight home, both accepting that after the previous evening it was home to bed for an early one..... yeah!

This is some hours and several Raki's later. Will they ever learn?

Chiania - Xania - Hania - Ciania.... take your pick!

Another thing to get used to in Greece... every place comes with several similar but different names. Then there is always the Greek alphabet for good measure. This place is pronounced by the locals as Hanya' with the emphasis on the final 'a'.

A 27knot motor past some imposing scenery got us into Chiania at 3:15pm. Slime lines, power and water. 7ish euro per day to dock, 50euro cents per Kilowatt! with air con (which is essential) this was expensive. To give you and idea, we used 434kilowatts of power 217Euro. 9000litres of water 27euro and we were there for 15days = 116Euro

Another visit to the ATM was required!

I have said that we prefer the smaller more intimate places, this place is big but enchanting. The waterfront promenade would be at least a kilometer long. Straightish through the marina running into a substantial horse shoe shaped bay facing the picturesque and historic entrance to the harbour.

This is the oldest harbour in Greece (we are told) and the place where they commemorate the final routing of the Turks after 400 years in 1913. The Greek flag was first raised here last year on the 100th anniversary.








The entire length of the waterfront is wall to wall but tasteful and imaginative taverna's, bars and night clubs with the obligatory trinket shops and tour operators thrown in..... and then more bars.

Venture beyond the promenade into the labyrinth of narrow and narrower cobbled streets with very cool shops and yet more bars and restaurants.

While these venues seem to be infinite, they are all doing a roaring trade and I'm told that Crete doesn't really shut down in the off season, most of it remains open and it is used as a winter retreat by northern Europeans and is large enough to sustain itself.

Hard to believe that Greece is in dire financial straights. We paid 20 Euro for 2 Vodka and tonics (AUS$32) and the place was packed with 18-20 something young Greek kids and they are their till 4:00am?

Mind you, there were no bouncers, no bar brawls no vomit and no young girls careering toward that life long cringe moment.

The promenade behind our boat at 8:00am 

We were moored in the expensive seats if people watching was the ticket. Behind us, within 10 paces in one direction was a Night Club pumping out 'House'. In the other a tapas joint featuring Cretan music which to my ear is an exquisite blend of Greek, Turkish and Arabic.

The promenade behind our boat at 9:00pm

Sit in the cockpit after 9:00pm and you could become psychotic trying to separate the clashing music and the mesmerizing view. Sit on the starboard side and bounce to the House, on then Port side and be transported into history.

Go for a walk and try to keep your jaw from dropping. A kaleidoscopic adventure for every sense.

The promenade behind our boat at 2:00am

Note the captions on the three time lapse shots.

The Summer Amy is behind the blue power box on the right of the top shot and the boys below are playing the Cretan music in the Tapas bar to the left of that suspended sign about 15 paces from the boat.....till 3:00am

So, how did we get any sleep?

That Cretan Music did the trick lead by the Mandolin (Cretin Lute) played with such skill and ease that it was hard to imagine the sound was coming from one instrument. Accompanied by a Cretan Lyra (small Lute played with a bow) an Arabic bongo drum and an acoustic guitar all woven with that wavering doleful voice making you wish you understood the words but feeling as if you actually did..... and sleep came easily.




The highlight was the arrival of Mark from Ios on a ferry only about 100 clicks from here. Amazing place this planet!

We hadn't seen him since late March and in that time he had worked, saved, spent time surfing in Indonesia, partying in Split, Havr, Mikonos and Ios and was in serious need of some sleep and some home cooked food!



He slept a lot, social media'd a lot, we chatted a lot and he spent so much time with William and Summer who could not wait for him to wake nor let him sit when there was fun to be had. Here we are on the West coast of Crete at a beach called Sfinari. It was the first time we'd seen actual breaking waves in the Med and it felt a bit like home.

And once again, it was time to say goodbye. Jack and Stina were with us for the month of July and in that time we covered more than 300 nautical miles in all conditions. We motored we sailed, we spinnaker-ed, we Med moored, slimelined, went alongside and anchored. We dingied, cooked on board and tavernered, swam, snorkled, fished, hiked and drove and it got to the point where we really did not know how we ever did or were going to cope without them.

They are back in Sweden now, and somehow, we have.