Apparently the major sin of inexperienced Med bareboat skippers is to not use enough chain. We were taught back at the Sunsail base in Vounaki that we needed about three boat lengths of chain out after free dropping the anchor. This worked perfectly in light air. But in Merikha, we came in and dropped about that amount plus or minus. A nice person in the rain grabbed our lines. We settled back and put away our foul weather gear and got out the cheese and crackers. A minute later another boat arrived and we helped them tie up. Soon they were headed back out at high speed, their anchor not holding. In about five minutes we felt a surge backward, and our anchor had broken loose in the stiff crosswind. Soon, even with a rookie crew (except for Renee) and a strong rain squall we had the lines cast off and we were headed out. Despite being a full boat width away from our neighbor, we captured his anchor. Soon, he came out from the wall, and we both started drifting toward shallow water.
We managed to get stabilized and back away from the shoal, and he found an iron hook on a line to untangle anchors. We decided the growing crosswind was too strong for the wall, so once untangled we anchored out, far from the ferries. We found a nice spot in shallow water and watched the wind build. Rod Heikell says this harbor is bad in a SW or W wind, but the wind did howl in from the NNW. We were protected from the swell.
The boat we tangled chains with went alongside the empty wall. We went to bed and were in a few hours awakened by whistles and boat horns.
One of the boats still Med moored on the wall either broke loose or tired of the rolling and anchored right by the ferry dock. The boat on the wall alongside headed at high speed to the shallow water ahead of us and then back toward the back of the harbor. They did not have an anchor down. Soon a 300 foot ferry appeared, and started blowing his horn. The stern of the ferry comes way back into the harbor as they leave. In the meantime the boat from the alongside tie up and gone past us in the 37 mph gale and blowing rain and
was tangled in some local small boat moorings near shore. Soon, they worked their way aground.
We managed to get stabilized and back away from the shoal, and he found an iron hook on a line to untangle anchors. We decided the growing crosswind was too strong for the wall, so once untangled we anchored out, far from the ferries. We found a nice spot in shallow water and watched the wind build. Rod Heikell says this harbor is bad in a SW or W wind, but the wind did howl in from the NNW. We were protected from the swell.
The boat we tangled chains with went alongside the empty wall. We went to bed and were in a few hours awakened by whistles and boat horns.
One of the boats still Med moored on the wall either broke loose or tired of the rolling and anchored right by the ferry dock. The boat on the wall alongside headed at high speed to the shallow water ahead of us and then back toward the back of the harbor. They did not have an anchor down. Soon a 300 foot ferry appeared, and started blowing his horn. The stern of the ferry comes way back into the harbor as they leave. In the meantime the boat from the alongside tie up and gone past us in the 37 mph gale and blowing rain and
was tangled in some local small boat moorings near shore. Soon, they worked their way aground.
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