We left Syros on a day forecast to have a very rare thing: winds from the south. We are heading as far north as we can this summer. Winds in this area are almost always from the north and sometimes very strong. We would absolutely take advantage of favourable wind.
First we had to get more diesel. Our 600 ltr tank was just below half, which means time to fill up. We arranged to meet a fuel truck just around the corner from our bay in the main Syros port of Ermoupoli.
Ermoupoli is a very big and active port. Big ferries are coming and going all the time, to the side there is a large ship-yard with 3 huge vessels being worked on:
We had a small adventure docking to get our 327ltr of diesel (hopefully all we will need until next year!….remember this runs the engine, makes our water and runs the generator) because the helpful diesel guy didn’t really know what to do with a rope we threw him, and our bumpers were too high so we made a gentle touch-park with the cement pier (amazingly I couldn’t see a scratch afterwards; the hull is very strong). We filled our tank and were on our way. (As an aside this means we can motor for about 100 hours or roughly 600nm. We could decide tomorrow to motor to Tunesia and be there in 4 days ;-).
Leaving the harbour we decided to setup one of our downwind poles. (Downwind means the wind is behind us). The Amel loves to sail downwind. We attached the 4m or so pole that holds the sail out, setup the 4 lines to control it and looked forward to a great sail.
Unfortunately, we had wind behind us, but never enough to sail. The forecast was for 15+ knots and we rarely saw over 10……so we motored the entire way. The sea was very smooth and was gently pushing us from behind…..but no sailing. It was as peaceful as you can imagine….except for the sound of the engine.
The other issue was that with the ‘odd’ winds from the south, our selected bay was going to be iffy. When we got into the bay, the winds of course had picked up and it was quite swelly into the bay…..it would be very uncomfortable to anchor. Luckily there is an unfinished ‘free’ marina in the bay so Victoria decided we should dock there.
I hadn’t Med-moored since last year, but the winds would be pushing us away from the dock so it was about as easy as possible…..I dropped anchor, let out a bunch of chain while backing up (love the bow-thruster) into our spot. We had some issues with the dingy stopping us from getting off the boat since the pier was high but we sorted it out.
We were comfortable and all tied up….but the pier was very busy with tourists and locals. People walking by enjoying the waterfront, were only 5m away from you sitting in the cockpit. I like a little more space. Plus you cannot jump in the water for a swim since the enclosed area is not as clean as a bay…..but you don’t have to worry about your anchor dragging and it is very easy to go for a walk.
The next morning the boat beside us left. The winds had shifted to the north and so was blowing on our nose….and our boat was backed into the pier and at a bad angle. I called up Victoria so we could pull in our anchor a bit to straighten us out……but it was no longer holding. Our friendly charter neighbour had somehow dragged over our anchor when they left! It was quite windy so I announced we were leaving and go to the bay, so we powered up, removed our lines and went to the bay to anchor.
We have been here for a few days now. The best thing about Andros and Batsi Bay is the thousands of fish! There is a bit of garbage on the bottom…..Batsi is a very busy tourist area, (busier than I like) and it has been quite windy so I haven’t been comfortable leaving the boat to go see the main town (Victoria went) but the fish are amazing. There are as many fish here as there are in the Caribbean on a reef. The fish are not quite as colourful (a bit of a mystery why this is the case) but there are thousands and thousands of them in this bay. There is quite a lot of underwater grass here and maybe that is good for the fish.
The other thing I like about Andros is Sappho’s husband is supposedly from here. You should check out the link.
Our next trip will be a bit long, but should take us out of the worst of the nasty winds for the rest of the summer. Looking forward to a bit more wind to sail, and a bit less wind at anchor!
Adventures on Spruzzo 