Envoy is still in the marina at Rethymno, northern Crete.
Monemvasia is a particularly interesting and romantic medieval Byzantine town located on a steep fortified island rising dramatically from the sea and connected by a causeway to the village of Yefira on the mainland.
Local inhabitants first moved to the natural rock fortress in the 6th century to resist raids by pirates and by the 13th century Monemvasia was an important Byzantine commercial and cultural centre of about 40,000 people before being taken over by the Turks. Several churches here were built in the 12th century and still in-use, although during the long period of Turkish occupation they were used as mosques. Now many formerly ruined houses in the narrow cobbled lanes have been rebuilt as holiday homes, small hotels, tavernas and shops, while retaining much of their former charm and character.
Impressive gateway through the walled town of Monemvasia
There's lots of quirky shops in the narrow cobbled lanes
Part of the town’s violent history is that its Turkish inhabitants were massacred when they surrendered to the Greeks after a three month siege during the War of Independence.
In former times the causeway had a drawbridge and fortified gatehouse and we anchor off the ruins of the gatehouse and use long lines to tie stern-to the shore.
Impressive Monemvasia Island is known as the “Gibraltar of Greece”
It's rare to tie stern-to shore in New Zealand although it is done around Port Fitzroy at Great Barrier Island. As this is our first time to tie stern-to this season it brings to mind some of the pros and cons of using this system:
-You keep your stern to shore and bow to sea so that if there's any swell you minimise rolling motion and only have to contend with more comfortable pitching.
-With your stern tied securely to shore its very safe in strong winds coming over the stern and with your anchor laid well out (with typically 50 metres of chain deployed) in deeper water the bow is unlikely to move (anchors don't drag uphill).
-You can tie stern-to shore in a tighter spot than you can anchor in as you don't need to allow for swinging room during wind shifts.
-More boats can fit into a given anchorage area as they don't need swinging room.
However:
-Lines to the shore can be a means of rodents and insects coming aboard and we thread the line through the neck of a plastic soft drink bottle with its bottom cut off to try to prevent this.
-It's not so easy to leave in a hurry, especially at night, as stern lines need to be retrieved. Leaving when anchored is far easier.
-If the wind changes and becomes strong on the beam it can place a lot of pressure on stern lines and ground tackle. Boats are known to break inadequate lines or drag anchors sideways.
-Other vessels sometimes anchor close-by across your anchor chain or come right next to you stern-to the shore.
-At anchor the boat swings to the wind so the cockpit is always sheltered.
After spending two nights with lines ashore we concluded we'd not be in a hurry to do this again without special reasons. Incidentally if an emergency arises while tied stern-to, such as dragging sideways, it's best to let your stern lines go and allow the boat to swing out into the wind to reduce strain on your anchor. Lines can be retrieved later.
Envoy moored stern-to shore
Detail of stern lines - ideally these should have been set at a wider angle to each othet
We'd not visited Yefira previously and enjoyed pottering around the village and the small, shallow, taverna-lined harbour for local fishing boats.
Yefiron's harbour for small local boats
Here we find a fresh water tap and are able to replenish our supplies using Chris's pumping system to discharge the water from jerrycans into Envoy's tanks.
Envoy with Monemvasia in the background
It's now a week since I went to have my ears treated and I was advised to see a doctor to check on them about now, so we find the one and only doctor in Yefira and drop in to see her. An examination confirms they are OK and she advises me to put three drops of pure alcohol in my ears if they get wet. Diane laughs saying she thinks I've generally got enough alcohol in my body without adding more. We ask how much we have to pay and she says the 15 minute consultancy is free.
Monemvasia is a particularly interesting and romantic medieval Byzantine town located on a steep fortified island rising dramatically from the sea and connected by a causeway to the village of Yefira on the mainland.
Local inhabitants first moved to the natural rock fortress in the 6th century to resist raids by pirates and by the 13th century Monemvasia was an important Byzantine commercial and cultural centre of about 40,000 people before being taken over by the Turks. Several churches here were built in the 12th century and still in-use, although during the long period of Turkish occupation they were used as mosques. Now many formerly ruined houses in the narrow cobbled lanes have been rebuilt as holiday homes, small hotels, tavernas and shops, while retaining much of their former charm and character.
Impressive gateway through the walled town of Monemvasia
There's lots of quirky shops in the narrow cobbled lanes
Part of the town’s violent history is that its Turkish inhabitants were massacred when they surrendered to the Greeks after a three month siege during the War of Independence.
In former times the causeway had a drawbridge and fortified gatehouse and we anchor off the ruins of the gatehouse and use long lines to tie stern-to the shore.
Impressive Monemvasia Island is known as the “Gibraltar of Greece”
It's rare to tie stern-to shore in New Zealand although it is done around Port Fitzroy at Great Barrier Island. As this is our first time to tie stern-to this season it brings to mind some of the pros and cons of using this system:
-You keep your stern to shore and bow to sea so that if there's any swell you minimise rolling motion and only have to contend with more comfortable pitching.
-With your stern tied securely to shore its very safe in strong winds coming over the stern and with your anchor laid well out (with typically 50 metres of chain deployed) in deeper water the bow is unlikely to move (anchors don't drag uphill).
-You can tie stern-to shore in a tighter spot than you can anchor in as you don't need to allow for swinging room during wind shifts.
-More boats can fit into a given anchorage area as they don't need swinging room.
However:
-Lines to the shore can be a means of rodents and insects coming aboard and we thread the line through the neck of a plastic soft drink bottle with its bottom cut off to try to prevent this.
-It's not so easy to leave in a hurry, especially at night, as stern lines need to be retrieved. Leaving when anchored is far easier.
-If the wind changes and becomes strong on the beam it can place a lot of pressure on stern lines and ground tackle. Boats are known to break inadequate lines or drag anchors sideways.
-Other vessels sometimes anchor close-by across your anchor chain or come right next to you stern-to the shore.
-At anchor the boat swings to the wind so the cockpit is always sheltered.
After spending two nights with lines ashore we concluded we'd not be in a hurry to do this again without special reasons. Incidentally if an emergency arises while tied stern-to, such as dragging sideways, it's best to let your stern lines go and allow the boat to swing out into the wind to reduce strain on your anchor. Lines can be retrieved later.
Envoy moored stern-to shore
Detail of stern lines - ideally these should have been set at a wider angle to each othet
We'd not visited Yefira previously and enjoyed pottering around the village and the small, shallow, taverna-lined harbour for local fishing boats.
Yefiron's harbour for small local boats
Here we find a fresh water tap and are able to replenish our supplies using Chris's pumping system to discharge the water from jerrycans into Envoy's tanks.
Envoy with Monemvasia in the background
It's now a week since I went to have my ears treated and I was advised to see a doctor to check on them about now, so we find the one and only doctor in Yefira and drop in to see her. An examination confirms they are OK and she advises me to put three drops of pure alcohol in my ears if they get wet. Diane laughs saying she thinks I've generally got enough alcohol in my body without adding more. We ask how much we have to pay and she says the 15 minute consultancy is free.
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