ONASSIS ISLAND, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS IN MEGANISI AND THE RAT PAYS
A VISIT - 6 to 10 August, Days 100 to 104
Monday morning and we prepared to leave our quiet spot at Vlikho
Bay. I went ashore for tomatoes and bread and picked a few figs from another
tree. I spent an hour at the Vilho Yacht Club topping up computer and phones,
enjoying a coffee in the cool of early morning.
We motored out past Nidri and turned east passing the private
island of Scorpios, once holiday home to shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and
his wife Jackie (widow of assassinated US President J F Kennedy). Some wind
appeared and we opened the genoa and cut back the revs of the motor. It was just
two miles to the bay of Spartochori where the pilot book tells of a taverna
with electricity on the pontoon, and popular with flotillas. We arrived in an
idyllic bay and came close to an empty pontoon. A man called us towards him
then asked if we had booked ahead by telephone. Well of course we don’t do that
and he told us that we could stay for two hours as the places were fully
booked.
Further into the bay lies a smaller tavern and we saw yachts
tied mostly bows to a wall. The man from there beckoned us but told us the
electricity was not working. We thanked him and checked the pilot book for the
next option. We came to Port Vathy, the capital of the small island of Meganisi
and took a space there, soon having our batteries on charge and fridge
connected to mains electricity. By evening 14 yachts were at this quay but
there are only 8 points to connect power and water.
We had unknowingly chosen
the day that a Sunsail flotilla come to Port Vathos (Monday) so the harbour was
really full. One of the leader team Matthew was finding the latecomers spaces
and one squeezed in next to us. Matthew was most courteous and helpful not only
to Sunsail clients, but to other boat users.
It is a picturesque harbour and we are just a few metres from
the main square and cooling trees. A bay to the west side has become a marina
and huge yachts and power vessels come in there. The evening stroll along the
whole waterfront past many restaurant tables is a popular pastime.
We don’t swim from the boat in the harbour so we get hot and
sticky and the hull gets dirty at the waterline. I have to clean off with a
scrubbing brush once we find a bay. We rowed the dinghy to a small bay with a
taverna and another Flotilla fleet, sailingholidays.com so we could swim.
There
are three supermarkets in Port Vathos supplying a selection of items, at island
prices, so we refreshed our stores, especially fruit, yoghurt and cheese.
We stayed there on Tuesday topping up the second ship
battery, lovely afternoon swim at the same bay as yesterday, and evening walk.
That flotilla was having fun events for the families, especially children and
we watched as they tried to run over a few upturned dinghies slippery from
washing up liquid, against the clock. There was a good atmosphere.
The central location in the heart of the town does not allow
good sleep as holidaymakers are up late enjoying the cooler air, but some motor
scooters were revving up and racing past the quay into the early hours, then
the refuse trucks come at dawn.
On Wednesday, batteries topped up, we motored around to the
next bay, Kapali Bay, one of a few facing north along that north coast. We
tucked right into a sheltered corner with stern line ashore to a rock just off
the beach which we called crocodile rock as at times it seemed like just two
eyes were showing. It was an idyllic spot and out of the main wind and swell.
In the early hours of Thursday we heard strange noises on the
deck and went up with a light to investigate. We could see nothing wrong and
went to sleep. In the morning we found tell tale signs off a rat visit including
a bag with two pieces of bread to toast missing from the cockpit, and a
dropping. A couple of oat flakes were on the carpeted side of the hull above
where a new packed of oats now had a hole.
We know that rats can climb onto bots along mooring lines so
we created a deflector and hoped the rat would not return. At 11 pm we were
just about to go to bed when Anita saw him come from the corner of the boat
attached to the rope and he disappeared into the galley area and behind the
fridge. We sat silently waiting for him to leave and after a time decided to go
to bed, leaving a couple of candles giving light.
We heard him in the galley as he knocked a bowl off the
surface and on the cabin sole (floor) was a small bag of millet. It was more
than four hours before we heard him on deck. I closed all the access points to
the accommodation and almost got to him near the swim ladder but failed to
knock him into the water.
I went back to bed allowing him to make his own exit, then in
the morning checked the whole rear beam area, his only hiding place, and he was
gone.
After sleeping late and swimming we moved from there, not
wanting a third visit, to the Abelike Bay to the west and anchored.
More wind
was forecast and we enjoyed cooling breezes. We observed various defences other
boats were using to keep rats off. The wind kept up into the evening and we
went ashore walking over the ridge to Port Vatho about 20 minutes away. It felt
so hot and airless there compared with the bay. We bought a few supplies and
came home.
After four sleepless nights we wanted to sleep but first discussed
the rat visit and for Anita how she reacts to fear. From years of bad
experiences she has learned to cope with difficult situations and she stops to
observe her feelings and why there are coming, even if not rational.
The wind died and anchored boats started to swing at their
anchors. There was still swell coming into the bay so it becomes uncomfortable
when the swell comes from the side. During the night the rolling in the swell
became worse for a while and we experienced our fifth sleepless night in
Meganisi.
It is however a beautiful tree covered island, with cicadas
singing. Anita had sight of a kingfisher too while swimming. I feel lucky to see
one in five years.
No comments:
Post a Comment