5/7/2025 - Agios Onoufrios Beach, Crete, Greece
Starting the day at 0330 for a zoom meeting with the BOD of
Blue Water Cruising Club. Since I was up and it was quiet I caught up on my
notes and blog.
Warm and sunny with a light breeze. We had gently danced
around our anchor overnight and wrapped the anchor in the process. After a
little anchor adjustment we were settled again. The water was clear, and the
rock ledges looked interesting, so we went for our first swim this season. The
water was 19 C, chilly but tolerable. We snorkeled the rocks and saw many fish,
a small flounder was hiding in the sand as was a small rock fish in the rocks.
There were some beautiful shells providing a home for crabs. There were lots of
Potato Sponges and a few sea cucumbers.
At the opening to the cove was a fuel ship terminal and a
small tanker ship was offloading fuel. On the hill were storage tanks and the
road along the south side of the cove a constant line of fuel trucks coming and
going to distribute the fuel.
After several days of sailing, anchoring and high winds
Raffaellesco was one big salt ball, so we worked to wash down the hull and get
the big crystals off. Next was a rub a dub of the cockpit so we could put out the
good cushions. About the time we were getting ready to go ashore for a walk,
the wind picked up enough to keep us on board. This is a very small cove where
wind from the south would put us very close to the rocks on the north shore
but, so far, all wind and predicted winds were east and northeast.
We relaxed in the cockpit and watched the sun go down.
May 8, 2025 - Agios Onoufrios Beach, Crete, Greece
It turned out to be a crazy night at anchor. The wind picked
up and shifted in all directions starting about midnight. I was up and on
anchor watch until about 0330. It was a good thing that I did because the wind
shifted to the south, and we were blown to the rocky shore. There were a couple
orange balls marking a rock outcrop and within moments I was on top of the
ball. I ran to start the engine and pull in some chain but not before feeling
the thud of bumping on the bottom. We pulled off with the anchor chain and
hoped we did not do any damage. The wind finally shifted and subsided enough
for me to sleep for a little bit as we lay on a shortened anchor chain.
When the sun came up, I could see that there was only one
orange marker, the other must be wrapped on my prop! A dive to check the keel
and prop revealed no sign of any damage and an orange ball wrapped on my prop
shaft. It was only fishing line holding the ball, it was not too difficult to
cut away the line. We needed to reestablish the marker, but I have no fishing
line on board. The were a few fishing boats up by the beach so we rowed in to
see if we could beg some line. With no one around we started scouring the trash
cans and grounds for some discarded line. Suzette found a wad of line which we
untangled and confirmed that it would be long enough.
Returning to the scene of the crime, I located the shallow
rock and secured the orange ball to it with the line. At this point all was
well, no boat damage, prop cleared and marker in place.
We were underway for short motor to Chania by around 1000. The harbor at Chania is an ancient Venetian Harbor built in the 1600s. With a huge fort protecting the entrance to Starboard and a beautiful light house to port you could feel the ancient history of ships arriving here. We went to the Municipal quay, and we were waived in by Siros, the resident Port Captain. This would be our first mooring where we had to drop an anchor and back into the quay to secure the boat, no sand line nor mooring hawsers. We did well in the light breeze and secured the boat easily. The quay appears to be the original stone quay and much higher than most places we have visited. Siros asked that we come see him in the morning to check in.
Also on the quay were the catamaran Amuri from the no name cove and the catamaran Dreaming of Infinity from Kithos. Being on the Municipal quay meant being emersed in the old city. The tourists passed back and forth on foot as they made their way about town, some from a cruise ship, some who had flown in and others who arrived by ferry. We were a spectacle as we were flying an American flag and displaying Huntington Beach, CA as our hailing port. Many people stopped to look, and several struck up a conversation. Of course, everyone wants to know if we sailed from California and we would share our story that started in Les Sables d’Olonne, France. There were lots of Americans that stopped to talk. It was fun just lounging in the cockpit and people watching.
We walked the quay and the main street to get the lay of the land. Clearly a touristy place, but quite beautiful and not, by any measure, crowded at this time of year. It was plenty hot and sunny; I was happy to return to my cockpit for a sundowner and more people watching. There were horse drawn carriages that passed with regularity to make this a very unique experience.
I was operating on about 10 hours of sleep over the last 60 hours so it was early to bed for a very long and restful night’s sleep.
May 9, 2025 – Chania, Crete, Greece
Another warm, sunny and still morning. All the hatches are open,
and the screen is in at the companionway. The quay was already bustling with
little delivery trucks servicing the restaurants and the early morning joggers
out for a run. Spiros waived me in around 0900 to do my check in and payment,
12 eros/night! I will say that Greece has had the cheapest marina prices of any
place we have been. Spiros pulled out a town map and marked the location of the
important places, chandlery, butane supply, groceries and Saturday market. The
Port Authority was next door making our check-in very convenient and quick.
With formalities complete we were free to explore the city.
We loaded up the wagon with our two empty butane bottles and
headed to the Marine store and butane store. We had two different maps showing
the location of the Marine store, but we could not find it. Wanting to make
progress we went on to the butane store. Along the way we passed many fancy and
familiar clothing stores, Suzette will be back to check these out later. We
managed to find the butane store and exchange our empties for full tanks. Two
bottles of butane cost 18 euros, this was the cheapest we have found. A bottle
lasts about 1 month for the stove and the entire trip for the grill.
We tried once again to find the marine store approaching the
navigation with an open mind we found it. This was a great little store, and
they had many of the things I was looking for and at very reasonable prices.
Time to get this load back to the boat and have some lunch.
In the afternoon we walked the alleys and streets of the old
town. There are more ancient buildings here being used than anywhere we have
been. They must have escaped the ravages of war being so remotely located. We
enjoyed a Gelato as the day was hot and sunny and explored the some of the
ancient buildings.
We checked out a lot of dress shops of which Just Brazil
turned out to be a favorite. The designer of many of the dresses was there to
assist. She was Brazilian and had her designs made in Greece. Suzette was
loving the dresses and tried on a dozen before deciding on a sexy mid drift
exposing number. Not to be left out Suzette found me a good looking pair of
navy blue linen pants. All shopped out it was back to the boat for cocktails
and people watching.
May 10, 2025 – Chania, Crete, Greece
Up and on deck enjoying our coffee and the already a warm
day as we waited for the fuel truck to arrive. We were half full, but we had
some long runs planned and guests coming so I wanted full tanks. I called a
company yesterday to deliver fuel, no fuel docks in this part of the world. The
fuel truck arrived early, and I waived him down. About halfway through filling
our tanks another fuel truck arrived which turned out to be the company I
called. How embarrassing as an altercation between the two fuel truck drives
occurred on shore. The guy I flagged down snaked the other company and they
were not happy about it. For me the guy I used was about 15 cents per liter
cheaper and other boats on the quay made use of the guy I called in. 280 liters later we were full and done with refueling.
Next chore was a hike to the laundromat for a couple loads of laundry. This was a very nice laundromat. Our timing was good with plenty of available machines we got 3 loads done in no time. We met some very nice ladies from Montana that were touring the Islands by plane and ferry. They asked if we were from the boat on the quay, evidently, they were one of the passersby yesterday and noticed us lounging in the cockpit. The dryers here seem to be consistently poor so even though we used the dryer we had to hang our laundry in the boat to finish drying. With that done it was time for lunch, so we did not go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.
On the way to the grocery store we stopped at the marine store to get a cable that I needed but he did not have one large enough so we will be on the lookout elsewhere. We did not need a lot of groceries, just some fresh fruits and vegetables. Yesterday on our walk we had used one of our burlap shopping bags as a cover to sit on the wall and eat our gelato. We managed to leave it behind when we left, we have had that bag since the beginning of our trip. As we were leaving the grocery store there was a homeless lady begging outside and low and behold, she had our bag. I was ready to buy it back from her, but Suzette said no!
We made another stop at a great little shop we found
yesterday for nuts and dried fruits and stocked up. Back to the boat to stow
our groceries then hit the town. There were this huge ship storage buildings on
the quay and one had been turned into a museum. The Museum of Nautical
Architecture had a wide variety of ships and related items with the center
piece being a Greek replica ship that was built as a project to demonstrate
construction methods and the ability for the craft to sail the Aegean. Sort of
like Thor Herydal they wanted to prove that it could be done.
In the evening, we went for dinner at AlmyVita, a restaurant on the quay just down from our boat. The dinner was fabulous! We do not go out to restaurants very often, partly because we are usually disappointed in the experience and mostly because Suzette is a great chef. This was a memorable dinner of which I have a few great food memories: fillet Minon in Frankfurt Germany, freshly shucked oysters in New Orleans, French toast and applewood bacon in Buelton, CA to name a few. We preordered a 1.6 kg fresh caught grouper. The chef prepared half of it as a ceviche and grilled the other half. We arrived at 1900 and had a seat perfectly oriented to watch the sunset. The matre’d helped us with an excellent Cretan wine selection, but first a superb Negroni. They brought a couple of very tasty pallet teasers and then the ceviche and several types of bread, not chips. The matre’d then brought the fish and painstakingly removed the bones and plated it with fresh vegetables. A delicious pallet cleanser of citrus and frozen yogurt was served. Finally, a very light citrus tart for desert. A most memorable meal overlooking the Med.
May 11, 2025 – Chania, Crete, Greece
Up early with a surge from the north swell sneaking into the
marina had us underway by 0800. The wind was light, but the swell was running
3-5’ south. We quartered it well beyond our turn to head into Rethymnos. Once
we cleared the Firing Practice Range we turned about 100 degrees and made a course
for our marina with the sea quartering us aft. We had checked the firing range
and there was no activity today. As we approached the harbor we called in to the
marina on VHF but received no answer, so we preceded in. We were greeted by a
very large sea turtle swimming by and waived in by the marineros. This was an
unusual mooring, stern to the quay with a mooring ball at the bow. We landed
easily at the pontoon and got lines ashore, but we had to deploy the dinghy to
get properly tied to the mooring chain. The reality is that we are too big for
this mooring and cannot get as much tension
on the bow line as I would like but with calm winds forecasted, I think we will
be ok.
We checked in with the marina and connected up the
electricity and water. We made use of this unlimited water supply to thoroughly
clean the boat, the drizzle left brown dirt, and all of our sailing left plenty
of salt. The whole time we were working there were two fishermen setting up on
the pontoon. They were using very long poles with a simple rigs, a colorful
float, a long leader, a small weight and a hook. They were chumming with
something to attract the fish, and they had a whole ritual for casting and
reeling in. They were there until sunset, but I never saw them catch a fish
bigger than about 4”.
Pizza night! We had the last of the Plavic Mali wine from Croatia with our pizza, a good wine but we have found some great wine here in Greece. It was Sunday night, and the town was bustling with music and revelers until about 0400 according to Suzette.
May 12, 2025 – Rethymno, Crete, Greece
Overcast and some rain in the morning with cooler temps,
ironically a relief from the heat of the last few days. After the rain we
mopped the decks dry and worked on some detailed cleaning of hatches and
stainless steel. I did some waxing to bring up the shine on the fiberglass.
Enough work for today, I dug out the bikes and we rode over
to pay for our mooring at the marina office and check in with Port Authority.
Another cheap mooring, 10 euros per night! There was no officer on duty at the
Port Authority, they said come back tomorrow after 0800. With that done for now
we headed back to the boat for some lunch.
In the afternoon we rode our bikes into the old town and did
the tourist route. The old Venetian port is the center piece with a beautiful
lighthouse at its entrance. The resident pirate ship was making the rounds
through the little port. Walking the alleyways, I would say that this is a much
more touristy town than Chania, to many souvenir shops and restaurants with
pictures of their food to lure you in. We walked across the peninsula and
around the Venetian Fort that was built in the 1500s to defend the city. They
were fighting off the Ottomans who desperately wanted this island.
From the fort up on the hill we could see rain clouds forming and decided it might be time to return to the boat and batten down the hatches. The rain never materialized, and the sun reappeared as we enjoyed a sundowner and a grazing kind of dinner to eat up some left overs.
I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how we will get from Lefkada, the place we will leave the boat for the summer, to Barcelona for one more, we hope, eye appointment at IMO and on to home in HB. I think I have a plan, but I only managed to book the long flight from Barcelona to Home arriving home on June 11.
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