Katapola, Amorgos – 15 August Festival of the Virgin Mary - There is something appealing about people who take
their religion both seriously and joyfully.
To make a public festival of it is exciting. In this small town the church service started
at 0930 and the boat parade followed the service. What was lacking in quantity of boats and
organization was made up for with enthusiasm and excitement.
I love a parade.
There were eight fishing
boats, a power cruiser and an American sailing cruiser. Crucifer, acolytes and priest led the
procession from the church to the town quay.
Many of the faithful boarded boats while the rest assembled on the quay
to watch the parade. There were two
orderly passes of the boats by the quay with fireworks (probably an out of date
flare or two), whistles and horns, hand waving and cheering. Then the water space beside the quay was
cleared. Several of the fishing boats
demonstrated how fast they could go and how close to the quay they could get. Perception was tucked in at the end of the
quay. It was a sight to behold.
The American sailing
cruiser, Traumerei, didn’t actually join the parade, but her skipper couldn’t
pass up the opportunity to blow his own horn.
It is a conch from
This sort of display is
missing the
After the festivities we had
an easy sail to Schinoussa. This little Cyclade
(rhymes with “me body”)
This ancient city dates back
5500 years. It is the capital city of
the largest of the
The harbor is confused, but
workable. The Internet café works. The market refilled the larder. The boat has been washed and the water tank
filled.
We stayed in
Naoussa,
After a lively sail from
All of the
above numbers are in the Beaufort Scale. It goes like this:
|
Wind |
Speed |
|
|
Probable |
Wave
Height |
Force |
Knots |
MPH |
Description |
|
Metres |
Feet |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Calm |
Sea like
a mirror. |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1-3 |
1-3 |
Light Air |
Ripples with
the appearance of scales are formed but without foam. |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4-6 |
4-7 |
Light
Breeze |
Small
wavelets, still short but more pronounced.
Crests have a glassy appearance and do not break. |
.1 |
.3 |
3 |
7-10 |
8-11 |
Gentle
Breeze |
Large wavelets,
crests begin to break; foam of glassy appearance, perhaps scattered white
horses. |
.4 |
1.5 |
4 |
11-16 |
12-18 |
Moderate
Breeze |
Small
waves becoming longer; fairly frequent white horses. |
1 |
3 |
5 |
17-21 |
19-24 |
Fresh
Breeze |
Moderate
waves taking a more pronounced long form; many white horses, chance of some
spray. |
2 |
6 |
6 |
22-27 |
25-31 |
Strong
Breeze |
Large
waves begin to foam and white foam crests become more extensive, probably
some spray. |
3 |
10 |
7 |
28-33 |
32-38 |
Near Gale |
Sea heaps
up and white foam from the breaking waves begins to be blown in streaks. |
4 |
14 |
8 |
34-40 |
39-46 |
Gale |
Moderately
high waves of greater length, edges of crests begin to break into
spindrift. The foam blown in well-marked
streaks. |
5.5 |
18 |
9 |
41-47 |
47-54 |
Strong |
High
waves; dense streaks of foam. Crests
begin to topple and roll over, spray may effect
visibility. |
7 |
25 |
10 |
48-55 |
55-63 |
Storm |
Very high
waves with long, overhanging crests. Foam
in great patches is blown in dense white streaks making surface of the sea
white. The tumbling of the sea becomes
very heavy and shock-like. Visibility
is poor. |
9 |
30 |
11 |
56-63 |
64-72 |
Violent
Storm |
Exceptionally
high waves; the sea is completely covered with patches of foam. Visibility is reduced. |
11 |
36 |
12 |
64+ |
73+ |
Hurricane |
The air
is filled with foam and spume; sea completely white with driving spray,
visibility very seriously affected. |
14 |
47 |
7’s and 8’s are too much
wind to be fun. We were not well
prepared and did not perform well under the circumstances. Perception made up for out short comings and
we arrived without incident.
23 August Again, in honor of the Virgin Mary, there
was a festival in
We left at 2300 (
It is hard to imagine why we
would want to leave the
Phyl & Fred
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