Peter Robinson

I had a lovely swim at White Rocks Bay and then motored at 5.5-5.8 knots back. the oil warning light only came on at the end when I manually adjusted the revs directly on the engine to give me a bit more control of the boat while manoeuvring. David came to give me a hand which was most appreciated and we chatted for 15 mins or so which will have messed up the average speed on this passage. otherwise all is good

I left it about 3 hours between little trips. while waiting I adjusted what I thought would keep the throttle cable tight in. I got the anchor up and headed off. the engine was starting in low revs. as I tried to accelerate I r alised I couldn't. I must have tightened the nut incorrectly. I quickly put the auto pilot on and got the boards up and ratchet on and happy days it was back to normal. I quietly motored to White Rocks Bay enviously watching the lucky guys sailing in the other direction - me having no genny at the moment. anyway, I safely arrived and all seems well..the engine is still screaming - even louder than before in fact - in neutral so I turned the engine off as soon as I could. I will start the engine again briefly to reverse on the anchor in a moment

I left the overnight anchorage at about 9am. I woke about 7 but as I had watched the England football (England 0:0 Ghana, disappointing) I was tired. my initial idea was to try to make it to White Rocks Bay in the Argostolian Gulf but that was by some distance too far. instead I travelled 5 miles and stopped. I dropped the anchor in about 8 metres with plenty of chain out but didn't set the anchor properly because I am backing onto the buoyed off swimming area, and in any case the weather is settled and I am not leaving the boat. in fact the plan is to do the next leg this afternoon or evening once the engine has had a chance to cool down and the oil return to its ambient viscosity. the engine screaming when out of gear is becoming more of a problem. one to discuss with David I think when I get back

As I had no Genny and I am having to nurse my engine I was thinking if doing a few hops a day to get to Argostoli and help to get up the mast. just as I was thinking this I noticed a favourable breeze so left the anchorage under mainsail alone, basically running fairly downwind with a preventer. I was only making 1.5 knots or so but was happy with that as progress was progress and any time under sail is giving the engine a rest but after a while the wind dies completely so I decided to motor to a convenient anchorage. I chose Lourdata after some umming and aahing and motored without trouble..the oil pressure didn't fall below 1 bar at 1,500 revs so happy days. I dropped the anchor in about 5m of crystal clear water in sand. the plan is to perhaps do another leg this evening if I can identify one of a suitable length that finishes at an anchorage where I might get some sleep

I had just finished my dip and Duolingo and was thinking of supper and a shandy when the boat started bouncing a bit. my initial thought was that it might be the ferry but then I realised to was the wind and waves from between Cephalonia and Ithaka. I quickly closed the windows, started the engine, got the anchor up and got the genny out. the sailing was a bit lumpy with speeds of between 2.5 and 3.5 knots and I had to gybe once from starboard to port tack but then once I round the headland to head for Scala the wind and waves died and I could see the other boats at anchor were sitting in no wind. I turned the engine on and motored the last couple of miles - so about 2.5 miles under sail and say 2 miles under motor. a horrible split but there was no avoiding it unless I settled for a bouncy rubbish anchorage where opposite winds and waves met. I found a spot in about 8m and dropped the anchor on what I thought was sand. if it was it was very hard because even with 50m of chain out the anchor didn't bite. I changed position a bit and found a bit more sand and happy days. there is definitely sand coloured rock about which makes it more difficult. anyway, safely in now. time to sort out the snubber, out the old girl to bed and have that shandy

Gentle motor from the port. A chap helped with a line so I could reverse out but a fully it wasn't necessary. the boat gently came out of the berth. I headed out of the port and dodged the incoming Levante Ferry and anchor in about 6m of chain with 30m out..I will put a bit more out when she has settled when I add the snubber. Not sure how long I will be here. if some wind arrives I will drift southwards

I wanted to wait until the wind started before I left Zakynthos. it was due around 2pm but at 1ish I saw a gulet leave the nearby wall and raise it's mizzen immediately. it seemed to fill and was still full as it passed the little island on the same track as we were going to go. I decided to leave then which in hindsight was an error. Once out in the bay it was clear there was basically no wind at all and so I had to motor for just less than an hour including getting the anchor up, etc. the wind did eventually just about start from the west and we bobbed along between 2 and 3.5 knots. the promised increase in wind never materialised. When the boat reached the Cephalonian coast, I avoided the shallows at the south eastern tip of the island but the combination of swell and no wind meant that the engine went back on. as we headed to Poros the wind got stronger from the north (where we were headed) and the waves became fairly steep until we were bashing into a nasty chop. at this point the wheel literally came off in my hand. We quickly.got back on course using the inner helm and then while I fixed the wheel we stayed on autopilot. basically the nut had worked loose. we came into Poros with a strong wind and after some confusion as to the location of the berth and Naxos' ability to reverse in a straight line we went bows in. unfortunately the bow line slipped and the stem got a few scrapes against the port wall. other than that, all good. the engine held up pretty well with the oil pressure warning light only coming on during manoeuvring.

We left as soon as there was wind enough to get the sails out although there was some difficulty getting off the berth as it was pretty tight and the wind was blowing us directly on. Eventually with a little help from Matthieu my French mate we managed to get off. it would have been an awful lot easier if access to the stern portaide cleat was easier. We got both sails out within a couple of hundred yards of the marina entrance and sailed comfortably out of the inlet leading to the town. the westerly which was forecast had become a southerly in the gulf so a lot of time was wasted tacking out of the gulf, although in fairness the wind did change direction a bit the closer we got to the entrance / the open sea. once we were out we had a lovely gentle sail with the wind more or less behind us. we started with a full main and full genny but soon moved to just the genny. the wind picked up and at the end of the run we were doing around 4-5 knots but as we reached the island the wind became very strong and despite putting the main back up but heavily reefed and having little genoa we were moving fast enough for me to want to reef down further. we dropped the main again and motored the last three quarters of a mile into the bay into a wind of at least 20 knots true. The guys helped with getting us on to a buoy but we also put down the anchor as well for safety. we were only about a hundred yards from the beach and the taverna. other than the excitement at the end it was a lovely sail

Aimed to leave the anchorage at around 10:30 to get back to the marina before the winds picked up. very gentle uneventful downwind sail almost all on one tack, gybing just in the approaches to Argostoli. Managed to return to 'my' berth at the marina. unlike yesterday, no dolphins about that I saw. winds around 15-20 knots true probably for most of the trip. I will pull the boat back towards the hammerhead when the winds ease and I can do it safely