Lakka, Paxos – Sunday 2 September 2018

The night was not particularly comfortable.  There was a significant swell all night until daybreak really.  I did manage to sleep, but it was interrupted. So we left in good time at 9:30. When we got up we found that we had turned in the night, but there was no problem about the boat which set his anchor right next to our boat.  Raising our anchor was a bit of a minor drama.  First the windlass strained to get it up.  For a moment I thought we might have snagged something, but no, when it finally did come up it was just filled with gloopy mud.  It reminded me of Newton River, but worse.  It took quite an effort to get the mud off.  Well we can certainly say there was very good holding there. 

As I said before due to a badly fouled hull and I think fouled propellers we are making lower speeds.  So it took us about 4 and a bit hours to get here.  Again there was little wind and what there was was on the nose, so another motor job.  We kept being passed by loads of boats all seemingly headed in the same direction.  The pilot book says this is a delightful place but very busy in July and August.  Well we when got here even though it is now September it was very busy.  We had to hunt around for a space to anchor. Our first attempt didn’t go well . Unlike yesterday the anchor did not hold.  So we had to try again.  This time I did get a nice little tug on the line as we went in reverse.  But we like to make a physical inspection to be sure.  So first priority was to get in the water and get Richard with his facemask to look at the anchor.  Again the water is very warm and the temperature is also quite high.  So although a first dip was a bit refreshing that wore off quickly. Another problem is that there was poor visibility in the water and Richard could not see the anchor. So we hope the tug I felt was a good indicator, especially as there are a lot of boats about and one right in front and another behind.  So if we drag anchor it could be a disaster.  

We had a late lunch on the boat and then spent the afternoon sorting out the dinghy to go ashore this evening and swimming to keep cool.  To find the little pipe to pour petrol into the outboard involved taking apart the whole starboard outside locker.  In the course of doing that we managed to open the camp shower (we use that for a stern shower after swimming) and spill half of its contents into the cockpit.  Regrettably some went through our cabin hatch so there is a damp spot on the bed which should dry before we go to sleep.

So at about 7pm we set out for the town.  Much to our pleasant surprise the outboard worked right away.  But good things don’t last long and it stopped about 50 yards from the landing spot.  That wasn’t a big problem and Richard rowed the last little way.  Boy, are there a lot of tenders tied up here. There are only a few rings and hoops and they look like spaghetti junction with all the painters tied to them.

The town is very sweet and has shops, bar and restaurants galore.  We ate on restaurant that was recommended on the CA website and it was very good.

Getting back was a challenge.  Firstly our painter was twisted up with many others.  In the dark, even with a torch it was very hard to see which was ours and how to unravel it.  When we finally accomplished that of course the outboard wouldn’t start so Richard had to row back.  Luckily it is a calm evening and we got back to the boat with no trouble.

So now it is getting on and we are tired.  We like this place so much we may stay another day.