After our friends Sabine and Rainer have flown back to Hamburg, it is also time to say goodbye to Asha and Helge and their sailing yacht Gegenwind. They will stay here a little longer since strong and, above all wrong, winds are forecasted on their route to Italy. We, on the other hand, leave Zakynthos in the opposite direction and head for Patras in the Gulf of the same name. The marina there is said to be out of service and does not answer the phone when we call them so we use an agent to book a berth in the port of Patras as well as water and electricity so that our generator (and ears) can finally take a break from its non-stop operation in Zakynthos.
After a week lying in the noisy port of Zakynthos, we take particular pleasure in being back out at sea in wonderful weather conditions. The receding silhouette of the Ionian Islands is slowly being replaced by the mainland’s encroaching coastline. Shortly before Patras, the wind suddenly freshens, conjuring up foam crests on the waves. In these choppy conditions, objects such as small fishing buoys are hard to see. So when I first catch sight of what looks like a multitude of black dorsal
