Skipper and First Mate Down but not out!...Featuring How to Kill a Cockroach!

The photo is a big blurry but this is the monastery at Palomitis



When are we going to realise that there are limits to what people of our age should be doing? Never we hope! However some things that happen this week give us pause for thought.

We find that life on board can be a bid sedentary at times, so after saying goodbye to Terry and Diana we head for Palomitis Bay (we call it Monastery Bay) and anchor in the sheltered waters, promising ourselves a catchup on our personal fitness. Every day we swim, increasing the distance each day.

On Sunday 30 August we both have huge swims at Palomitis, then a one and a half hour walk up and over the hill, then a 5 hour sail in the afternoon. You would think we would know better! However, after our walk we decide it is time to head out for our next stop Nisos Tilos. We are feeling strong, fit and well.

Once we are clear of the land, the sea state increases to 2-3 metres with the occasional bigger set and we have wind of 25 knots apparent. We are sailing on the wind towards our destination 25 miles away and have one reef in the main and the genoa rolled up to slightly less than 50%.

The boat loves it and so do we, although Pippy does suggest a couple of times that we take another reef in the main and we have it set up and ready to go. Actually it is the sea state which makes it hard with the typical Med steep and very short sea. Any less sail and the waves will knock us back too much - we need to power through it. We roll the genoa in and out a few times and fortunately we only have to tack twice in 5 hours but that does it. Pippy takes her turn on the helm as we lay across and Richard grinds during tacks and genoa adjustments. To her horror Pippy glances over during one tack and sees him standing up like a cowboy over the winch. "Richard! For goodness sake sit down or you will get catapaulted over the side!" (The thought of having to do a man overboard in these seas does not appeal!) "I can't sit down and get the right angle over the winch - the fenders are in the way!" yells Richard. Fortunately that is our last tack and we can lay in to our destination, but we will have to find another place for the fenders to give a proper angle for the winchman (or woman!) when sailing in these conditions.

Richard wakes up the next morning with his right arm throbbing. He thinks he has damaged it with too much grinding. We are moored stern to in the town of Livhardia on Tilos and the sun is hot so we hurry to get our sun covers up to keep the boat cool. It is while we are doing this, bending down and hooking things at funny angles, that Pippy suddenly gets shooting pain in her middle back and difficulty breathing. She sits very still while Richard administers Nurofen to both of us. What a pair of old crocks! After some relaxation, some stretching and time for the Nurofen to kick in, Pippy comes right, but Richard's arm is painful. We put it in a sling and that seems to help take the weight off it. Three days later and it is on the mend but still a problem.



While we are moored stern to on the town wall in Livadia, we suddenly start seeing cockroaches, blatant cheeky cockroaches which pop out in broad daylight and waltze across the deck in front of us. One of them crawls up from under the steering quadrant and Pippy swats at it but misses and it disappears from sight again. Armed with a can of residual cockroach spray we unscrew the quadrant cover and give it a good dose of spray. The bilges get treated too. Unfortunately Pippy leaves the tool box at the bottom of the companionway and then falls over it backwards on her way down. Just winded, nothing broken, but we are having quite a week and try not to imagine what would happen if we were both truly incapacitated.

More internet research and a further determined spray of the bilges down below sees a cockroach stumble on to the galley bench in front of Pippy's eyes. Not wanting to let this one get away she uses her guaranteed fail-safe method of eradication, a clenched fist and that is the end of that blighter!

We are staying here for a couple of days and 'taking a break'. There is a fab walk along the waterfront of this beautiful town and lots of crystal clear water to swim in. We catch the bus to Eristos a long sandy swathe of beach with no buildings on the shore and barren hills all around. Tomorrow, Friday we will probably leave here and anchor out for a few nights.


Life's a beach....

Capn Buck and Pippy signing out for now!