Stuck in Sami
October 4, 2022
We arrived in Sami 12 days ago. Now, Sami is a pleasant little town on the east coast of Kefalonia with a sheltered harbour so it is a good bolt hole in unsettled weather. It is also well provided with restaurants and shops including a reasonable chandlery and an excellent laundry. There is water available on the quay so the only thing we lack while there is mains electricity and even this is not an enormous problem. We have a bank of new batteries this season and although two of our solar panels have died, the other 3 produce a reasonable charge and we can top this up by running the engine for an hour or so each day.
However, though we quite like Sami and whilst we do not necessarily feel the need to move on a daily basis, rarely do we linger in one place quite this long. So why this time?
Well as I explained in my previous post, we originally went there because we’ve had family staying nearby. The forecast looked very uncertain before their arrival so we arrived a couple of days ahead of them. I was quite anxious before their arrival because I so wanted them to have sunshine for their holiday . As it turned out, it was pretty good most of the time and we had a splendid week together although for various reasons we only managed to get out on Rampage once. We went across to Agios Andreou – a small bay on the southern end of Ithaca. We didn’t attempt sail however, partly because it was only a fairly short distance and partly because our guests enjoyed being up on the bow, sunbathing and photographing the view.
When we got back to the harbour in the late afternoon we found that the pier where we had been before was completely full so instead we went on the inside quay, in front of all the waterfront restaurants. This had pros and cons: the outside arm or pier of Sami harbour is constructed to allow sea water to wash through openings in the support structure; the constant sloshing noise this sometimes generates can be very tiresome. On the other hand, on the restaurant quay we had the delight of rowdy diners, sometimes singing karaoke, sometimes being entertained by a ‘professional’ singer. Either way it was generally fairly painful to listen to and drove us, on several occasions to shut all our hatches when we went to bed. Thankfully as I mentioned last time, it is now much cooler at night so this was tolerable. On the plus side we were much entertained by all the restaurant pussycats and when Gracie spent a couple of nights on board we were given a running commentary from her on their various antics and activities.
The family flew home late on Saturday evening, having spent the day with us on Antisamos beach and we had hoped to move on the following day. However when we got back to the boat late on Saturday afternoon there was a significant wind blowing so we immediately had to rig springs and a kedge anchor to hold us off the quay. We then deflated the kayak and stowed it below before deciding that we needed to dismantle the bimini. This last was a bit of a rigmarole because we had fairy lights wound round the frame and our main solar panel is secured on top of it. Nevertheless we had no option as the bimini itself was flapping ferociously and starting to get damaged. As the family set off back across the island towards Argostoli airport that evening, there were dark storm clouds over the mountains and we braced ourselves for a long night, taking turns on anchor watch. Thankfully, this proved unnecessary as the wind dropped sufficiently to allow us both to go to bed though I woke at about 5am when Duncan went up on deck to check that the anchors were holding.
It remained blusterous all day Sunday and we were glad to be on the inside wall of the harbour as waves were breaking over the outer quay, at times sending spray into the cockpits of those boats that were on the pier. Yesterday it was quieter inside the harbour but still very windy up in the channel between Kefalonia and Ithaca. It wasn’t until today therefore that we were able to escape. And even then we had some trouble. Initially we were delayed by another boat, also trying to escape but which collected no fewer than three other anchor chains in the process of hauling their anchor. Clearly they were going for some sort of record. Anyway it all took them some time to sort out.
Once they had gone we let our stern lines go and while I took in the main anchor on the winch, Duncan hauled the kedge. All appeared to go well and the main anchor came up without any difficulty, albeit heavy with thick, glutinous mud. The kedge however was even more dug in and it became obvious that Duncan was not going to be able to free it manually. Instead we had to take the line round the capstan which took a few minutes to rig.
Now I should perhaps explain for those who may not be aware, how a kedge anchor works. With Mediterranean mooring the idea is that you drop your main anchor and then reverse back so that the boat is moored at right angles to the quay with the anchor chain straight out in front. If a kedge is needed however, this has to be dropped at an angle off to one side i.e. not straight out from the bow. Now when we rigged the kedge this was not an issue as the harbour was not very busy and there was plenty of space. However by the time we came to leave three days later, other boats had come in and as we tried to haul it, it became apparent that one of these had dropped their anchor over the top of our kedge. Nobody’s fault, just one of those things. This not helped though, by the fact that the boat concerned insisted on hauling in their anchor chain rather than letting it out to create some slack and enable us to extract ours from underneath. Anyway suffice to say it was all a bit tricky but we did eventually get away!
We are currently en route for Sivota on the southern end of Levkada and we are much looking forward to a change of scene.
Rampage Blog 
Leave a comment