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We were right about alcohol being major cause of the previous evening’s argument with neighbors– in the morning the skipper was very pleasant and we worked together to make sure they were able to leave without our anchor chain getting in their way. After they left, we had some last swimming, paddleboarding, and diving shenanigans before packing it up for our last passage: the trip back to the Alimos Marina in Athens.
The forecast was not clear, whether there would be sufficient wind to sail on any part of the passage. So we motored out, but then about halfway there we saw that we did indeed have enough wind. So we quickly raised sails and were able to sail the rest of the way in!
We started out on a close haul (close-hauled for a catamaran: about 60 degrees off the wind), but then the wind shifted to being directly across our beam for a beam reach, and finally ended up in a broad reach for the last few miles. We were able to get up to a maximum of 7.3 knots, with an average speed over ground of about 6.8 knots. Pretty good! The best part about that sail, is that we had at least 2 hours of sailing with me at the helm and trimming the sails on my own. The other sail we had was short so not as much opportunity with sail trimming. And this is where I was able to get back to one of my comfort zones, which is sailing in good winds!
On a bareboat charter like this, where you have planned an itinerary with various sightseeing stops and stops for adventures like deep water solo climbing, sailing can often take a back seat to the main requirement of getting to the next desired destination. So it can be that instead of getting a lot of sailing in, you end up spending most of the boat time either motoring or docking, whether stern-to in a port, stern-to with anchor lines run to shore, or docked at free anchor. And you often need to tailor the itinerary to include stops for topping off the water and also charging under shore power if your boat is not equipped with a generator (ours was not). So across our entire trip, there were only 3 passages where there was opportunity to sail, and we were able to take advantage of only 2 of them.
But I did have a good time on that final sail in to Alimos Marina. First trimming up the jib to get the telltales flying, then going back to the mainsail—using the mainsail sheet until about a broad reach, then letting out the traveller as the wind gets around to the back of the boat. Then of course re-trimming the jib for the new mainsail trim. I was able to get the sails trimmed to a good efficiency, so much so that we were able to catch up to the sailing catamaran ahead of us, who had not trimmed their sails correctly as the wind veered around.
Well all good things must eventually come to an end, so as we approached the marina walls we pulled in the jib, turned back into the wind, dropped sails, then motored our way back in to the marina. I was able to use the VHF radio to call the marina and get authorization to enter, then it was only a matter of confirming the pier and berth before we were able to get the boat docked. Since the corridor was so narrow, I let the coach take over the helm to get us safely in the berth without colliding into any neighbors. Once we were docked, that marked the end of our 7-day bareboat charter. A good time was had by all!
The check-out procedure was fairly painless—as we finished docking, the divers quickly came to inspect the hull and propellers, to confirm they had taken no damage. Then the check-out person from the chartering company came to perform the final checkout. After he had gone, the last steps were to get shorepower and water connected then wait for the fuel truck to top up the fuel tanks. The fuel truck comes by land, so fueling was also painless. EUR 410 for 222 litres of fuel. Not too bad! The sailing with motors off kept the fuel consumption from going to high. With the fuel sorted out, that marked the last thing we needed to worry about before heading out to dinner. After dinner we spent our final night sleeping on the boat parked in the marina.
— FIN —
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