28th October - Agios Nikolaos, Crete

At last we’re safely settled in our winter berth in Agios Nikolaos marina on the northeast coast of Crete. 

Judging by the warm welcome we got from the other over-wintering folk when we met them at the regular Sunday BBQ yesterday, we think we’re going to like it here.

In Vlikhada marina on Santorini we soon got fed up with the suspense of not knowing when a weather window would open to get us the last 75 miles to Crete.  Our mood wasn’t helped by the fact that the marina entrance there is open to the southeast, the direction of the wind and swell. Finally, the wind went round westerly one night. All night the swell was crashing over the seawall onto us, drenching the deck with seawater, but the wind direction was good to sail south to Crete.

We set off mid-morning into a swell big enough that we had to put our harnesses on for safety.  Everything that wasn’t well stowed down below went flying about as we lurched and rolled all over the place.  The wind let us sail for 10 miles or so, but then it fell too light to fill the sails in the rough sea. So the engine went on and stayed on until we reached Crete.  At least the swell eased until we were purring along in almost calm water by the end of it. 

We made landfall at Ag Ioannis Point at midnight and decided to anchor for the night in Spinalonga lagoon just around the corner.  We inched in on the chartplotter in the dark and dropped the hook in a small inlet half way down the lagoon. A blessed silence fell when we stopped the engine.

When we woke next morning we found ourselves in an idyllic bay under a rocky hill with the town of Elounda on the far shore.  At the entrance to the lagoon stands a rocky island enclosed by massive Venetian fortress walls.  If you’ve read Victoria Hislop’s novel ‘The Island’ you’ll know all about Spinalonga island and its poignant history as a leper colony until 1957 when a cure for the disease was found.  Its sick inhabitants were sent here and forced to stay until they died or recovered. The little landing stage and the arched gateway into the fort are a grim reminder that for most of those who arrived here, there was no way out. Nowadays the island is deserted and visited only by tourists but it still has a desolate air, even on a sunny day.  

This is our last blog entry for 2010.  We are looking forward to being shore-based for a while, to making new friends, to exploring the island’s ancient sites and beautiful countryside……and to going home to Devon to visit friends and family.  Goodbye for now, and see you in the spring!