Harmonica 01 Oct 2001 (This one is late being sent)
N 35 12 E 24 08

Dear Friends,

It has been longer than I intended since the last letter, partly because we sailed Gibraltar to Crete 24 hour watches with 2 people and felt consequently less imaginative & energetic; partly because radio reception to sailmail stations is getting worse as we head east. We really enjoyed our week looking round "The Rock" of Gibraltar; a young and intriguing mix of peoples. We had stopped to replace the autopilot & standing rigging, but achieved neither. We measured several autopilot drives without finding one which would fit Harmonica's elegantly slim bottom, and our advanced emails to Sheppards somehow got did not work out so that the rigging fittings were not awaiting us. Strangely, 2 manufacturers, (B&G, & Harken) told us that Sheppards was their agent in Gibraltar whereas Sheppards only stocked Raytheon pilots & knew nothing about Harken.

Jan flew from Gibraltar to UK to be with her mother for a few weeks as she had been unwell and was unable to join the boat in Portugal as planned. When Brian & Dave left, we sailed east with Sally the wind vane steering into an area between 3 high pressure systems and expected light westerlies with a following current. The currents in the western Mediterranean have been opposite to their normal directions throughout the passage. The wind went from W to NE to SE, so we left the edge of Algerian waters and headed just south of the Balleric Islands before having to turn on the engine. We found a moderate northeasterly & sailed close to the south coast of Sardinia to get "a passing view" but regretted it the next morning. True to form the current came from the east instead of the west, & gale forecasts came over the Italian VHF stations. Italian weather forecasts were geography lessons in a foreign language with 9 different forecast areas between the Riviera and Scicily! The wind dropped through the night, and by morning we had less than 10 knots of wind, over 1 knot of current against us, & short swells from 3 different directions somehow bouncing off the Sardinian coast. When the wind returned from the SW after dawn, Dave felt so determined to power out of the confused sea which had stopped either of us from sleeping that he left full sail up and roared off towards the north coast of Sicily. Not much has failed us on Harmonica in 13,000 miles, but it was not to last! When we decided it was time to reef, the mainsail would not come down. The pop rivets on the track were pulling out of the mast. Brian made the unforgettable comment from half way up the mast "I'll be fine as long as the boat doesn't roll", and the main was stowed away. Luckily, a good SW breeze stayed with us for the next 2 days and the headsail was all we needed.

On the way to the Strait of Messina & Reggio Di Calabria, we past the conical volcanic islands of Isole Eolie. Reggio was a lovely stop. A transhipment port facing Sicily across the Strait. Very few tourists, lots of ferries & trains, men fishing from the dock all day every day, lovers arriving by car every night, & several small hardware shops at least one of which had run out of 5mm drill bits before Brian & Dave had the track rivetted back on the mast. There was also a museum with some larger-than-life Bronze statues from the classical Greek period, which had been found recently in a wrecked ship. 3 days later we were off again. Still no mainsail since the bedding compound on the track takes 7 days to cure.


Well Harmonica has completed the voyage we undertook: Just over 13000 miles just over 13 months ago. Brian & Dave sailed into Xania, Greece on 26th Sept and Jan flew into Xiraklion the same morning after 3 weeks in UK. Harmonica is lying stern to the quay in the old Genoese harbour with 2 to 4 other boats around us. The tourist cafes on the dock are still full but the atmosphere is relaxed & friendly as we could have hoped. The Greek islands always seem particularly safe and trusting places. The port office says that, being a Canadian boat, we need our transit log, but tomorrow always seems a better day to get it than today. The souvlaki, the feta, & the retsina are all here waiting and look as if they still will be after another millenium.

Dave & Jan took a 2 hour bus ride to Sfakia where Dave's father, George, is on his 27th annual holiday in this small village on the South coast of Crete. It was the first meeting for several years and a lovely place for it to be. For Dave it was also the first sleep on land since January. We also checked the anchorage behind the new breakwater in Sfakia and decided that it looks secure. Cruisers in Xania expressed surprise at our plan to go round the south coast and Heikell's cruising guide tries to discourage sailors. The mountain of Lefka Hori rises over 2,000 metres and very steep gullies & canyons run out to the south coast. Last winter, a favourite taverna/hotel of George's was very close to being washed away by a December rain storm, and over lunch on the cleaned-out terrace, we were shown the pictures of the building's concrete foundations teetering over the washed-out gully. These people are not insured. The 18km long Samaria Gorge is the biggest & most famous of the gorges along this coast and at least two boat loads of hikers per day disgorge into the tiny town to be swept away by busses.

Time to clean the boat, repair some little things and find a good place for Harmonica to winter. We shall be back in Calgary from 14th December 01 until 31st of January 02.

Best wishes to you all

Dave & Janet
SV Harmonica