After losing the wind just south of Olympia last night, we motored ahead to round the Peloponnesus peninsula overnight and try to catch the northerly Aegean winds for our final full day of sailing. Sunrise found us in the shipping lane passing the easternmost of the Ionian Islands – Kýthera – and its smaller neighbor, Antikythera. This area is known for its ancient shipwrecks, and a particular Roman shipwreck in the first century A.D. was one of the most important discoveries to inspire the science of nautical archaeology.
At 0800 sharp, the captain called the crew to sail stations to set all square sails two jibs and topmast staysails in a 20-knot northerly wind. We were sailing to the southeast at a healthy six knots, probably a little faster than we should be sailing since we would have to motor north to Piraeus overnight. But what a great open sail it was!
Nautical archaeologist Robyn Woodward gave a talk on the science of Nautical Archaeology entitled “Neptune’s Locker” and made us all wish we were going to the National Museum of Archaeology in Athens to see some of the treasures and clues to everyday life that have been excavated from ancient shipwrecks. She also talked about the Antikythera mechanism that was found in the wreck and is considered the world’s first computer, built in the third century B.C.!
Today’s lunch was the Sea Cloud’s signature parmesan pasta wheel, with an exquisite truffle sauce featuring the Croatian truffles that our chef had acquired earlier in the voyage. Most of us spent the afternoon looking through brochures in contemplation and discussion about our next voyages, and a number of us took the final opportunity to go up to the fo’c’sle for final photographs of the Sea Cloud in full sail. There was a palpable resignation on the decks when the sailors climbed aloft for the final furling of the voyage and we prepared for the farewell dinner.
After dinner photography expert Jonathan Aguas showed the composite slide show of photos that our shipmates had contributed, which brought back so many memories of the past ten days, including many things that we had forgotten. But then, it’s the full and varied exposure to the richness of all senses that makes these voyages so special. See you on the next one!
