Sailing Day 8

September 10:  Today, the weather was fine and the winds calm.  We motored the whole way to the island of Ithaca and its pretty  port of Vathi.  Strangely we went from Vathi to Vathi.  "Vathi" in Greek means "deep," presumably a characteristic of the natural harbors.  In any case the distance was about 22 nautical miles.  We left around 9 am, stopped for lunch and a swim a little after noon, drifting, and arrived in the harbor around 3 pm.  Our speed averaged 6.7 knots.

We were cruising through the Thalassa Sea, which is a wide basin fringed by islands.  The islands remind us of the San Juans,  with fewer trees.  They are surprisingly bumpy with mountains rising one to two thousand feet above the sea, and harbors tucked into deep bays.  They were formed from volcanos and limestone uplifts, The soil is thin and stony yet the isles still look very green.  The uplands are covered with shrubby flora called maquis and often prickly.  Where people have built villas, they have planted cypresses and eucalyptus trees and olive groves.  The tides in the Meditterrean are insignificant but the islands have bathtub lines of bare rocks where waves have scrubbed off the vegetation and soil.

In deep water, the sea is an amazing shade of dark cobalt blue.  In shallower or sandy areas, it is a paler turquoise shimmering with white highlights in the sun.   It is salty enough that even Phil can float easily and just cool enough to be refreshing.  Massive cloud formations hung over the mountain tops.  The forecast said lightning was possible midday but we saw no sign of it.

  

At Vathi, we checked out a north side mooring area, but it was full.  We went over to the main town quay and was able to "Med moor" to it.  This type of mooring is very similar to using a lazy line on the bow with two stern lines, except in place of the lazy line, we use the boat's anchor to secure the bow, dropping it about 3 boat lengths from the sea wall, then backing up to the wall.  This type of mooring as well as that using a lazy line puts the boat close enough to the pier that we can use the gang plank to disembark and embark off the stern.  No ferrying with the dinghy is necessary.

After securing the boat, Betsy, Jan, Ron, Varis and I hiked uphill to a couple of churches and great views back over the town and the harbor. We walked about 3.5 miles with 600 feet of elevation gain.  It was hot and this was far enough.

The island of Ithaca is the legendary home of Odysseus, who was the leader of the island-state of Ithaca in around 1500 BC.  Homer also lived on the island around 800 BC and is presumed to have written about Odysseus' role in the Trojan war in the Iliad and his great journey home in the Odyssey.  Others in our party took a taxi to an archeological site on the northern part of Ithaca that is claimed as Odysseus' Palace.  Although there is scant archeological evidence to match the different sites described in the Odyssey, sailors can still recognize the winds and currents described by Homer. 

We had happy hour and then dinner on board.  Betsy, Jan and I collaborated on sausage, onion and potato sauté with sides of sauerkraut, green pepper, and carrot sticks.  We had to cook the sauté in two batches to have enough to have enough for 8 people.  It was hot in the galley, so we ate on the outdoor lounge/cockpit deck, where it was much cooler.  

After dinner we strolled through town after viewing a 'super yacht'  just down the quay from the Debs II.  After researching on the Internet the name of the ship, I discovered that it is a 55 meter long yacht that is available for rent - for only $187,000 per week.  Check it out; it is called the Shooting Star-London.  It has 6 state rooms with "lots of volume."  In town, we bought gelatos and a Christmas souvenir ornament for the year, a miniature Greek sailing boat.