We tied up at the wharf at about 4 pm after a lovely sail. Palon is a snug harbour with tavernas lining the waterfront. A fresh beam wind made berthing a challenge, as it usually does in our old boat. With new paint I am even more anxious about it. But all went well.
Tainui doesn’t drive backwards with any predictability at all, so that I have been coming in bow-to. Much easier, but that means we hang off our stern anchor (3/4″ terylene line with 12′ of 3/8 chain and a 44 lb Danforth) – which wouldn’t be sufficient in a fresh beam breeze.
The other problem with stern anchoring is that on departure I have to haul anchor and chain in by hand, which is a needlessly tiring experience.
Our departure from Symi was marred by a fouled anchor – this is apparently very common in the Med. We had picked up chain stretching almost right across the harbour from a local boat. We cleared it OK but I think it would be easier to dive from the boat to do it.
Some girls leaving Palon harbour here at Nisos Nisiros had the same problem and it took us an hour to clear their anchor.
I will remember Palon as the place where I was even more tired than usual. Chris went for a long walk and returned with armloads of wildflowers and praise for the view from the hills above the little town. I just dozed in the cockpit and worried about our continuing coolant loss, the seized Aries bearing, the anticipated westerly and things like that. So it goes.