I had wanted to take a rest day here in the (free) Khios Marina but when I saw that the winds for Thursday, tomorrow, were even stronger I decided to get to the haul out in Langada. It is only 10 miles to the north of here. The waves and wind were even worse than coming in yesterday. I could not make any headway against the wind and waves without hoisting a triple reefed main sail and then I had to bear off the course and tack against the wind. It was a wild ride slamming into the waves. I estimate that the wind was somewhere around 30 knots. I was making reasonable good progress but when I tacked back to the shore hoping to find a lttle smoother waters it only got worse and then I became concerned that I just was not going to be able to check my position to enter the inlet where I am going to go on the hard.  Because I could not leave the helm on the auto pilot or the wind vane in these nasty waves. So, about half way, I turned back to the Khios Marina. That was another wild ride surfing on the waves. I was back at noon. I took a galley sink bath to wash the salt crust outof my hair and face ad cleaned up the boat from the hobby horse ride.

Why am I doing this? I could be playing bingo with my peers.

The forecast for the next couple of days shows no improvement at all. So, I might be wasting away here in Ouzoville and strumming my Bouzouki for a while.

But just to tease the wind has dropped at least 15/20 knots in the last hours. So, I’ll just keep an eye on the water and take my chances. I like to be in Amsterdam by the weekend. I want to try and recover my 1200 bucks of VAT on the engine I bought last November before the Nov 5 filing deadline, in Holland. So, please, everyone stretch your hands over these wild  waters and pray with me.