Sailing with Moondance : Too Much Excitement For One Day

Emerald Bay

Is a favourite anchorage on the Northern side of AntiPaxoi (Antipaxos) since my work with Sailing Holidays last Century

It was a pleasure to return and find the Bay moderately empty. That did not last. A few boats left, then from 11am to 3pm tripper boats arrived - stayed for an hour - then left.

Laura and Anika swam over from their hired runabout. Two Kiwis working remotely in different parts of the world. An Archaeologist and a Civil Engineer. Neither with boating experience had been told how to start the engine, forward, reverse, throw the anchor over and if there are any problems, we will find you via gps tracker. They anchored in the middle of the bay just ahead of me and of course their anchor dragged in to mine. The tripper boats did a fantastic job maneuvering between us to get in and out of the bay. When it came time to leave, they realised they were stuck and Anika swam over to lket me know. In 4metres of water it was no trouble to free them. They stayed a while longer before leaving.

A New Zealand Catamaran - Tiki Tour was in the bay and I was invited to a BBQ ashore in the evening. Dave and Diane have been sailing for 8 years with their children Kiera and Finn. It was a pleasure to meet them and hear their stories.

I spent a morning snorkeling in the bay - clarity of the water is amazing. I scored two pair of sunglasses.

The next day - Turnaround day for charter boats saw a few more charter boats arrive. Then the Tripper Boats came in enmass. Stayed for an hour then left, to be replaced by more Tripper boats. All of the boats in these photos were beside me at some stage during the day. Only one went over my anchor. I dived, drew a diagram and gave it to the skipper. All very professional. I lowered his large fenders to suit Moondance and chatted to some of the people on the boat. No prizes for guessing which boat it was from the photos. The skipper gave me a litre of Grappa and suggested I drink it slowly.

I had to growl at a few people who thought my rope tying me to a rock had been put there for them to play with. The thought of drifting into the superyacht on one side of me at that stage was not pleasant.

When they left, two superyachts took their place. Phew - for a while until a charter yacht with 3 Spaniards aboard tried to squeeze between me and a superyacht - by going over my anchor. It was not going to happen. Sign language and a bit of looking big prevailed and they eventually moved on - after anchoring many other people emerged from the yacht. It is amazing how many people fit on charter yachts.

Tomorrow is another day, but one day more here is would be too much excitement for me. I will now contemplate what menu the superyachts have. Maybe they will offer me leftovers?

No leftovers. I moved to a free anchor place in bay and stayed to watch todays show - and clean to yacht. I thought it a much better place than Preveza, my next destination.