Crete

Arriving at Aghios Nikolaos


Sitia

Sitia

Amorfos

Amorfos

Amorfos

Pighardia

Khalki castle view

First Mate at Khalki castle

Khalki town from on high

Looking to the hora and castle

Jack Tar has arrived in Crete, but not without a bit of fun enroute! But to first step back. Before leaving Khalki we managed a walk to the ruins of the old high town or "hora"and then climbed up to an ancient castle above where the views were spectacular. Next day we sailed for Karpathos, the island halfway across to Crete described in the pilot as sea-swept. The forecast was for mild winds but they quickly changed to 35 kts on the beam and became very lumpy. So, we really scooted across and the First Mate retained her composure and was well all the way. Must finally be getting her sea legs. We arrived in the harbour at the capital, Pighardia, to find the harbour too exposed for what was now a gale warning, so shifted to a sheltered anchorage in Amorfos Bay, a beautiful seaside resort area. There we rode out the gale and then set out for Sitia in eastern Crete. Again the winds increased beyond the forecast, this time to 30 kts on the nose. We were forced to sail below the course required to clear Cape Sidheros, the eastern tip of Crete, and its associated reefs and with a southerly set of up to two kts, had to tack a few times to make it round. Sitia looked pretty good when we finally arrived and was an attractive holiday town. Today we motored for want of wind to the marina in Aghios Nikolaos which we will report on later. So far the Cretan scenery has been wonderful, with much more vegetation on the slopes than most islands we have recently seen. And Crete seems to be one giant wind farm with literally hundreds if generators whirling on all the hilltops; which tells you something about the place!