As we sailed off the next day, we didn't know it at the time, but we leaving a storm hole to go into a storm. We were due to meet up again with our lead crew and the rest of our flotilla at the port of Atheni on the island of Meganisi. We were quite excited about this as we'd been there before and enjoyed some great Greek dancing.
We had plenty of time ahead of us and not too far to go, so decided to do some sailing in the Zaverda Bay. We had a good but not particularly fast sail until lunchtime. The wind then suddenly dropped completely. At about the same time our VHF radio came to life with a message from our lead crew, telling us a big storm was brewing and we should head immediately for port.
I looked over my shoulder and saw that the sky was an ominous black and the clouds were racing along. I realised that we had encountered the calm before the storm and ordered the sails to be taken down as quickly as possible.
Thanks to my efficient crew, we just had time to drop the sails, don waterproofs, take a bearing on our destination, and secure everything we could, before the storm caught us.
As you can see, the waves started to build very quickly and Milia was plunging up and down through them. She was handling the conditions really well, so I felt confident that as long as I held onto the wheel, we would be alright.
I began to change my mind when it started to rain, and visibility completely disappeared. We couldn't even see Meganisi - our world shrank to just boiling sea and howling wind. The wind kept getting stronger and stronger. At the start of the storm we thought winds of over 20 m.p.h. were strong, but they seemed nothing when we recorded on our instruments a wind speed of 34.6 m.p.h. We were experiencing force 7 winds and it didn't look good outside the safety of our boat.
This picture was taken before the rain and lost visibility; at that point taking photos wasn't practical and there would have been nothing to see. As the entrance to all the Meganisi ports is hard to spot from the sea, and we knew there were small islands just off the entrance, I had to make the hard decision to delay putting into the safety of harbour and stay out in the open. It was the only option as I couldn't risk hitting rock.
A few minutes later the rain eased and we could start to see again. We spotted a configuration of small islands which, when compared to the chart, could only be the approach to Port Atheni. What luck! We motored inside the entrance and spotted a number of boats sheltering at anchor in a calm spot in the lee of the wind.
We joined them, and put down our anchor. It was great to be still and flat! As the moorings are some way down the inlet and were out of sight, we called up our lead crew for instructions. We reached them on the VHF, only to find they weren't there. The anchoring wasn't suitable for the conditions, and they had already had an anchor pop. They had decided that mooring at George's Taverna, at Vathi, was the safer option.
It was the next port along, and not far, but it did mean putting out into the storm again, this time motoring across the waves, rather than having them push us along. We were quite relaxed by this time though, as we knew we could make safety.
Within 30 minutes, George's moorings were in the sight and the lead crew were ready to moor us. We were very pleased to see them and most of the rest of our boats (a few had taken shelter elsewhere and would join us the next day). It was lovely to warm up with a hot shower, change into dry clothes and then to join everyone in the taverna to share our adventures.
For me, the star of the show was our boat Milia - what a performance she had given, and she had kept us safe and given us lots of confidence, should we encounter a similar storm again!
Lots of love, Eddie, George and Yorkie xxx
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