Ten days ago we returned to Greece but we were unaware that we were flying in to Storm Daniel too! We touched down at Preveza airport in high humidity, and storm clouds built overnight, bringing torrential rain, strong winds, thunder and lightning. Our boat was due to be relaunched the next day and we watched with some trepidation as boats along Preveza town quay were driven into the harbour wall, their owners running the engines in forward and using all their fenders in an attempt to prevent damage to their sterns.
We debated whether to delay the relaunch, but we have limited time to make our way to Sardinia and the next morning was fairly calm so Merryn was launched. Whilst we were away the boatyard had cleaned out our diesel tank as we had sludge in our fuel. Unfortunately, they had not refilled the tank which was completely empty, so there was a delay whilst they brought fuel to the dock. The wind started whipping up to 25 knots and we had a challenging departure as they refused to let us wait until the gusts abated. Luckily we sustained no damage bar a lost fender. The clouds darkened and the wind grew stronger so we abandoned plans to go to Preveza and found a safe anchorage north of the marina.
It was only the next day, safely tucked up in Preveza Marina, that we heard about Storm Daniel. We had visited the port police to complete all the paperwork required to ‘check out’ of Greece. The port officer expressed surprise that we intended to leave the relative shelter of Preveza and head off to Italy. It was only at this point we were able to get a reasonable internet signal and read all about the storm that had swept across Turkey and central Greece causing terrible floods and a number of deaths. We did as much preparation as possible whilst we waited another day for the weather to settle. We then sailed to Mongonissi on the south of Paxos where we intended to spend a few days waiting for better conditions for the passage to Italy.
On the crossing to Paxos we had thirty knots of wind for a few hours and then the wind dropped completely. Mongonissi was a haven of tranquility and we enjoyed more glorious sunshine and late summer swims in crystal clear water. We also visited the beautiful town of Gaios which was far too busy when we tried to moor there in July.
After two days the weather forecast showed Storm Daniel heading slowly south-eastwards so we felt it was reasonable to depart for the 180 mile overnight passage to Roccella Ionica in Calabria, Italy. We had fairly strong winds and a moderate sea for most of the trip, no moonlight, a boat speed of seven and sometimes eight knots – fairly tiring when doing solo watches – but a magnificent view of the Milky Way with constellations appearing much brighter than we had seen them before. We arrived in Italy tired and happy to celebrate with a beer!
It was only when we regained an internet signal that we read about the dreadful devastation and loss of life that has been caused in Libya as Storm Daniel moved further southeast.
