“What’s that over there?” asked Hilary. I looked over my shoulder. Bright red flames flickered in the night sky, not far from where we were on watch in the cockpit of Margeo IX, our Bavaria 51, chartered out of Athens.
It was June 2022 and we were five days into our week of chartering, of which I was the skipper. The previous day we had arrived in Perdika having sailed from Ermioni. The trip had been mostly carried out under engine, for there had been little wind save for the last few hours before we arrived at the small port on the southwest coast of the island of Aegina, south of Athens. As we left Ermioni the skipper of another yacht remarked that other boats were seeking refuge before the storm arrived. Storm? What storm? I had checked the forecast and noted winds up to Force 6, but surely there was no need to panic? Surely we would have a quiet
