The transit across the various seas between Malta and Greece, the Aegean & Ionian mainly have had a deep low pressure area hanging over them these last few days. The captain of Azura, Neil Turnbull, has made no bones about it likely to be a bit rough. As it turns out, nowhere near as bad as the first time we were in this area onboard Azura, about fourteen years ago. We did need the assistance of a tug though to help us through the narrow entrance into the international port at Piraeus.
We think of Southampton as being busy. If Piraeus is a motorway, Southampton is a country lane. Many, many ships waiting outside and inside the harbour. Multiple ferries servicing the many Greek islands.
The late departure from Valletta and the rough weather have conspired to cause us to arrive at the busy Greek port significantly later than intended. Around midday, instead of the intended 0700. All of the morning trips had to be cancelled as some were due to last all day, like the one we had originally booked to explore the Acropolis and Parthenon. A return visit for both of us, even if mine had been around fifty three years ago. As it happens though, a dicky knee meant we had cancelled the all-day high activity trip, and instead replaced it with an afternoon sightseeing trip with minimal walking. The logistics involved in the reorganisation must have been nightmarish, but it all seemed to go quite smoothly.
We didn’t get quite as close to the Parthenon as we had hoped, but we did get some close views I have to say, that I did not remember the acropolis being as high as it is.
The trip was an easy stress free three hours. That’s fine. We saw mostly what we wanted.
The ship departed Piraeus with the captain warning us that there was still tough weather out there.
I have to say that the drivers of the ship have done an excellent job in minimising the impact of the 65mph (Force 8) winds that have been battering the ship all night. A little bit of motion, but nothing drastic, until about 0700 this morning.
Laying in bed the distinct roll we felt was very pronounced. It didn’t last long. Checking the navigation display on the TV showed that we had turned around in a wide loop. It didn’t take long for the captain to come on the tannoy to announce that the visit to Mykonos has had to be cancelled. it would have been a tendered visit (transfer from ship to shore and back via small craft each carrying about 100 passengers from fit to varying stages of frailty) whilst we might be able to get off the ship, there was no guarantee we would be able to get back.
Captain Turnbull was most apologetic and informed us that the plan was to head to our next port Heraklion on Crete. We would arrive late afternoon, giving us an evening securely tied up and therefore a comfortable nights sleep.
As I write this, it looks like we are about an hour away from Heraklion. Once again, the crew have done an excellent job of giving us a smooth ride.
A late update to confess my hypocrisy. I have now paid for internet access again.
Bills Posts 