Now the forecast calls for a nice blow from the North East to start on April 21 late. But in the morning of April 20, there is no wind. So much of the distance to our first port on Crete, Kissamos, is covered under engine. We make the most of it by also making fresh water and doing a few loads of overdue laundry. Finally, we manage to get the sails up in the afternoon. Beautiful sailing under poled out genoa, brilliant sunshine and warm. Krischan Hoech, who’s going to join us here, can see us coming in. But then, we round the breakwater of the harbor of Kissamos and find it is quite full with various coastal freighters. As we are contemplating where to put Kincsem, a guy appears on the dock and shouts at us: “were are awaiting the ferry - the harbor is FULL because of the forecast storm this evening. There is no room for you, sorry!” A bit surprising and also a bit of a problem given that there is no harbor or anchorage anywhere close that is protected against a blow from the North East. The closest place we can go to is Chania, some 35 miles away and it is already 4 in the afternoon. We waste no time and put the hammer down toward Chania - to the surprise of Krischan who’s at his hotel in Kissamos. He jumps into a taxi and scouts out the harbor in Chania for us. Luckily, there is plenty of room in the harbor. The wind also cooperates and dies quickly. So we get to Chania by sundown and soon sit in a taverna overlooking Kincsem and toast with our new crew Krischan. There are a lot of tourists here - mostly Greek and English. Kincsem is stern-to to the dock with 50 meters of chain out. Ready for the blow if and when it arrives.

The forecast blow indeed arrives overnight and in the morning, there are some good sized swells in the harbor. The gangway goes up and down by a foot so we have to pull the boat away from the dock so the gangway does not touch it. As a result, it’s a bit challenging to get on or off the boat but we manage, even our newest crew mate Krischan does not fall into the drink (although he claims he is having nightmares of doing so). Chania is a town grown around its Venetian harbor, which is very attractive. It also has a charming old town, with some evidence of the Turkish occupation. There is a church with a traditional Greek tower and a minaret on it! We stay for a day but even if we wanted to leave, it would have been difficult since there are high breakers over the entrance to the harbor although it’s only 20-25 knots of wind. I wonder how this place looks like in a real blow.

The next day finds us leaving Chania heading East toward Rethymno. The seas are still lumpy and the wind against us but we sail almost the entire way. The scenery is grand with high cliffs going up to the sea. Rethymno marina is not attractive - here, Kincsem is the attraction as the locals ride their motorbikes and cars on the dock and look us over. But Rethymno has a nice Venitian harbor and a plethora of bars and restaurants. There must be more restaurants here than locals - again, there seem to be quite a number of tourists. And the town has good shopping so we can check off a number of “rare” items on the shopping list, like the big 6V battery for our man over board light.