The next strong southerly was due to arrive and blow for 2 days, so we made tracks to Vathi on Ithica, about 5 hours away. This was another nearly enclosed bay with a tidy waterside village on the lower slopes of the mountains. Friends Tom and Camilla on the sailboat Bon Bini had arrived a few days earlier, and we initially anchored on their side of the bay. Polaris with Jim and Kate aboard arrived soon afterwards, and found a spot closer to the town quay. Then the charter boats arrived, coming in droves. The entry into the bay was a constant stream of incoming boats over a 2 hour period, it was amazing! They squeezed into spaces between and in front of all of us already anchored.
Polaris moved up to the head of the bay and we moved over to the eastern side where nobody was anchoring. (When a strong wind is due, you need to have more chain out so the anchor stays put, and with boats anchored too closely you can’t let out a safe amount of chain). In the early morning squall that arrived with high wind gusts and rain, we were very happy to be away from the masses. One boat dragged anchor and ended up on the sea wall before waking up and re anchoring, thankfully without obvious damage.
