For a lot of us it’s a while since we did any proper cruising. Covid-19 came along and suddenly our freedoms to cruise around bits of the world was frozen in time. So, it’s not surprising after that enforced impediment to our lives that it is with a bit of apprehension that we get our yachts ready to go sailing again. Anybody who doesn’t get a few butterflies before setting off is likely to come a cropper.
Skylax has been sitting in a yard in Greece for three winters now, the longest we have ever left her. Sure, we have been out to check on her in the intervening years but not to launch her. The ever-expanding list of things to check is daunting: engine and fuel, seacocks, standing and running rigging, anchor winch, freshwater system, toilets, electronics – you name it and it needs checking over before and after we launch. The plan is to dawdle across the Aegean to Turkey and that means we will likely hit the meltemi [northerly winds] and that’s a test of any boat.
The Cyclades
The word Cyclades comes from the Greek kukloi, meaning a ring and for the ancient Greeks the islands ringed the sacred island of Delos. Not coincidentally Delos and nearby islands were at the centre of ancient trade routes. The islands have been used as stepping stones across the Aegean for thousands of years and today that is how most of us
