From Tilos to Astipalaia April 22, 2011

A tough day at the office...





Choppy even within the protected bay





Sunset after the storm

From Tilos to Astipalaia April 22, 2011
We continue our Greek Island hopping and are now sailing from Tilos to Astipalaia, a distance of about 60 nautical miles. This is our longest run yet through the open Aegean Sea. Typically we’ve picked anchorages that are within half day’s sail, to allow time for less wind or tacking. But now we’ve finally run out of the short hops and its time to head to sea for a longer voyage. We try to time the right weather window, but this is spring gales season and it is next to be impossible to time it perfectly, or you end up waiting for a long time. The prevailing wind is north west, with gale warnings at mid-Aegean about 5 days out of 7. Today is no exception, but at least the wind is slightly to the north, forecasted at 15 knots, and yesterday it was relatively calm so the sea has not built up yet.