Wednesday, July the 22th – 22:00 – Patra / Greece

The day started early with a dinghy trip to the bakery. A “real” bakery with an assortment I am used to in Greece. The anchor was lifted at 7:20 local time and after a stop for a refreshing bath at the entrance of the big bay Ormos Aetou I headed for the strait between Peloponnese and mainland-Greece. After entering Patraikos Kolpos the wind came back! A great sailing wind of 20+ knots was blowing, but guess from which direction? Little hint: I was heading east…. YES! Right! The wind was coming exactly from east. Together with a short, steep and choppy sea it was difficult to make way east and I had to motor-sail again. Sometimes, when bigger waves were stopping the boat, the speed OG was dropping below 3 knots. I couldn’t reach the harbour I had planned and decided to go into Patra instead. When I was entering the harbour it was still blowing at F5 gusting F6. I would normally have gone into the marina but with the stronger wind blowing and me sailing singlehanded, I decided to go into the commercial harbour and look for a more comfortable place. I found one behind two tug-boats and since someone wanted to help on the pier, it didn’t take long and I had secured the boat alongside the central pier. A few minutes later someone from the port authority appeared on a motorbike complaining that I entered the harbour without asking permission. I didn’t know that that was common in Greece although it really makes sense for a bigger port like this. I got permission to stay on the central pier.

20150722 Patra Odysseus breakfast
Odysseus breakfast

20150722 Patra alongside the central pier
Patra – Alongside the central pier