25 October 2008 - Larnaka -> Dhekelia -> Pila -> Larnaka

25 nautical miles

Wind... what wind? It started off with almost no wind so... sunbathing on a sailboat weather. The water was almost like glass, with just the faintest ripples on the surface.

We motored out for about half a mile to get clear of the kayaks that were practicing at the club and then... while I slept with my hand on the tiller... Raed sat on the foredeck and took pictures.

Actually we tried sailing without a rudder as this is something I wanted to try... we failed...

We just went round and round in circles... and then sailed backwards! When we got back I talked with Nikos about this - apparently you need to put more weight on the leeward side to come up to the wind and more weight on the windward side to bear away from the wind.

When the wind did come up a little we sailed off towards Dhekelia sailing club. Raed was helming most of the way - he helmed about one third of the sail today. We did about three knots on the way over there, and it was really enjoyable sailing.

But almost nobody was out sailing from Dhekelia Club save one lone bosun. We really liked the bright blue sails of the Bosun...

Apparently the Bosun dinghies were designed for the British navy. The crew sailing her explained this and said they were very heavy. Heavy means sturdy and sturdy means the navy probably cannot break it!

Heavy? Well... without much difficulty we could sail around it.

As the wind was increasing we then sailed off towards Pila - my target had been to get round Cape Pila and into Potomas. But the wind was too light for that.

Since the wind was light and Raed was helming I played with the GPS and learnt how to set complete routes - not just navigation to waypoints. Also to set the fields to display things that are more helpful for sailing than the default fields.

En route we passed an absolutely massive mooring buoy for the tankers that come in to the power station.

We saw PILA 1 buoy in the distance and it looked like it was close to Cape Pila, but in fact its at least a mile or more from the Cape.

There are three PILA buoys in a line on the southern side of the cape. I would like to have a chart so that I can see what they are supposed to indicate.

We passed Cape Pila and could see Agia Napa in the distance. It was about 5 nautical miles, so on a day with good wind it would be just about possible to sail to Agia Napa and back in a day.

But time was against us today [it being after 2pm] so we turned and made for home, passing PILA 2 buoy on the way back.

I wonder what the little entrance is for. Could someone sleep on the buoy?

Memo to self... remember to clean the lens of the camera case with fresh water. The salt water smears are what makes some parts of these photos less than pin sharp.

Whenever I am out on the water I am inspired by the beauty of it. I think God must really like water - two thirds of the earth surface is water.

I look at the sun glistening off the water and my mind is taken to the Son who created it all. God you are amazing!