Santorini to Crete (18.5 hours)

I have to consult the "Ship's Log" for the details of this sail but it does seem that whichever direction we go, the wind is "on the nose"!  As we eased out of Vlikadha harbour at 7.00am, after returning the car and picking some mint from Dimitri's little farm, and made our way south to Crete, the seas were smooth with a slight swell, a slight cloud cover and 4 knots of breeze from the SW.  The mainsail was up and the fishing line out!  By mid afternoon the wind had moved to the W and we were sailing.  There was little offshore breeze to take us into the bay at Khania (Chania) and because there was no detailed survey for the anchorage, nor was it included in Rod Heikell's Pilot Guide, we felt quite intrepid as we found a tiny harbour and anchored off in 9m depths.

Fabulous sunset, gentle sailing conditions

Our anchorage was revealed when we awoke next morning

Our first impressions of Crete can really only be told with photos (click on the photos to enlarge them).  We loved our time in the old harbour at Khania, stern to a high quay with lazy lines and of course our new plank to take us ashore :)

The next three photos are quite funny....we'd been really annoyed with the scratching sounds coming from the shore, and a lament rather than any tuneful singing....and then we caught the culprit ;)

She suddenly saw a young unsuspecting family.....

A few scratches and then a cry of "money money money"

We hired a car one afternoon to drive through the mountains to Paleohora, a tiny town on the south western rugged coastline, 75 miles from Khania.  There was an onshore southerly breeze from the Libyan Sea when we were there and unpleasant on the shore but we found a wonderful family taverna for local fish and salad washed down with another local variety of very drinkable white wine.  The drive through the mountains was so circuitous that at times we wondered whether we would every get there, but fascinating!  There were some sober reminders of the German occupation high in the villages.