On the rocks.

Today was going to be a short day of little interest, but it turned out a bit more exciting, again.
We woke to find a brisk Southerly wind, as predicted. We considered staying put but the Halberg Rassy that had been anchored behind us was now close in front of us as we had both swung, and he seemed to be dragging towards us. So we raised the anchor and left.
The plan was to go to one of several harbours on Meganisi, an island some 10 miles to the South that we were familiar with. These should provide shelter from the strong Southerlies that were predicted to last until early tomorrow.
We reefed the main sail and set off. We soon also reefed the Genoa and were sailing hard upwind in 25 knots making 7.5 knots over the ground - great fun. The winds were predicted to rise further during the afternoon and evening. These Southerly winds come straight from Africa and are warm and carry Saharan sand. Today the temperature was in the 30s and the rain deposited red sand on the boat. It is a bit like standing in front of a hairdryer and chucking dirt around.
We closed on Meganissi and sailed into Port Vathi, the main town on the island. Now you need to understand that berthing decisions are complex. There are considerations of the wind direction and strength, the difficulty of berthing including depth, whether there are bollards or rings, or nothing, whether there are lazy lines or whether an anchor will be needed.
In addition to this there is the over-riding consideration that if the berth is part of an organisation beginning with M (Marina) it is forbidden as we might be charged, and that would just spoil our M's day.
Anchoring round here is also a bit of a challenge as the water is often very deep until close to the shore. The preferred technique is to anchor and take a line ashore in order that the position of the anchor visa vie the sea bed is maintained irrespective of the wind. This is however a bit tricky with just two on board. We have done it many times but it can be a challenge particularly in windy conditions.
All the berths in the town harbour were taken, there was no easy anchoring to be had and the M was verboten.
So we abandoned Vathi and headed for Nidri, a town on Lefkas. Nidri is known for several things. It is the base for a community of live aboard yachties. It has shops and fuel and it is also the site of a storm disaster in September 2011. We actually were here some two weeks after this happened.
The circumstances of this were that there was a strong Southerly wind and high temperatures, like today. This triggered a thunderstorm that produced a violent downdraft into the harbour at Nidri. Several boats were sunk at there moorings and a catamaran was capsized with loss of life.
We motored across to Nidri from Meganisi, a short crossing of 3-4 miles. In the middle of this crossing is the only hazard in the area which is a rock and shoal just under the surface known as Vos Heiromiti.. This sits 1/2 a mile SE of Scorpio, the Onassis private island.
The rock sometimes has a stick on it but I have rarely identified it clearly. It is easy to avoid and is in the consciousness of all sailing the area.
I was looking to see if I could identify the rock when suddenly a yacht under full sail, some 400 metres away, stopped suddenly and rotated 90 degrees. It had hit the rock! Over the next 10-15 minutes we watched in fascination as the crew dropped the sails. The yacht pivoted round a further 90 degrees but seemed stuck solid. Eventually it started moving and was free. It  motored at full speed towards Meganissi.
I am sure significant damage must have been done but it seemed to stay afloat.
We arrived in Nidri to find the main anchorage completely packed. Many of the boats were long term liveaboards, bristling with apparatus, but a bit unkempt. There were a couple of wrecks in the bay and the overall impression was of the set from Waterworld.
We motored further up into the bay to find the wind strength increasing. It seemed clear that the land topography is such that Southerly winds are funnelled and focused down into the bay. A glance at the wind speed showed 38 knots so we retreated back to the open sea.
The wind had piped up and was blowing a steady 28-35 knots. We motored over to Spartachori, the other main town on Meganisi. It was heaving with boats. At our first attempt at berthing at a Taverna we were shooed away as we were not part of the flotilla he was holding spaces for.
We had a go at anchoring and taking a line ashore however we were being blown off our position before the dinghy and M could be deployed.
On the opposite shore we spotted a free slot between some other boats and went in stern-to with no difficulty.
So not such a quiet day.
Curry for tea.