Crews Letter #2003 07   I love a parade

 

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen:

 

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  There were two orderly passes of the boats by the quay with fireworks (probably an out of date flare or two), whistles and horns, hand waving and cheering.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 Mexico.

 

This sort of display is missing the US.  Even the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in preparation for Christmas doesn’t capture the joy of the religious event as this parade did.  If anything came close, you could be certain that the ACLU would have it banned.  Unfortunately, US Courts believe that the religion of “no God” is not excluded by the First Amendment.  All others are.

 

After the festivities we had an easy sail to Schinoussa.  This little Cyclade (rhymes with “me body”) Island has on its south shore some lovely bays with sand beaches and good protection from the Meltemi.  We anchor in 6 meters of clear water.  The beach is white sand.  The swimming is good.  The sun warm and the breeze cool. 

 

Naxos Town, Naxos - 18 August 

This ancient city dates back 5500 years.  It is the capital city of the largest of the Cyclade Islands. We take an inland tour by car.  Beauty, history, open marble quarry and a quaint mountain top village fill the day.

 

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 Naxos for two extra days waiting for the wind to ease.  Naxos is another of the Cyclade Islands.  It is no coincidence that Cyclade and cyclone have the same root.

 

Naoussa, Paros -22 August

After a lively sail from Naxos, we found a quiet well protected bay just northwest of this town.  The sail was only 10 miles.  The weather forecast was 2’s and 3’s.  The trip started in 3’s, but most of it was in 7’s and 8’s. 

 

All of the above numbers are in the Beaufort Scale.  It goes like this:

 

Wind

Speed

 

 

Probable

Wave Height

Force

Knots

MPH

Description

Sea State

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 Naoussa Town.  It too was lively.  There was Greek music, dancing and the reenactment of a battle that took place here in 1537.  In that battle, Barbarosa and his men were repelled by the locals.  As in Amorgos, local fishing boats, fireworks, and flares played an active part in this event.  In addition there were costumed actors and actresses creating the confusion and excitement of a battle between Greeks and Turks.  It was easy to recognize the bad guys.  They were all dressed in black and carried pirate flags.

 

We left at 2300 (11:00 pm).  The party was just getting started.

 

It is hard to imagine why we would want to leave the Eastern Mediterranean.

 

Keep a Tight Luff,

Phyl & Fred

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