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A violent storm hit Poros a few days ago thrashing the harbour, causing havoc amongst the yachts tied up along the dock, demolishing walk ways and ripping up harbour walls. Lightening flashed across the horizon illuminating heaven and earth. Thunder boomed overhead.
A twenty minute tempest brought chaos to the island.
One yacht sank, one caught on fire. The lucky owners who were on board as it began managed to run for the safety of open water but dozens more boats were holed and damaged.
The wind was fierce, a tempest. Yachts pitched into each other with terrific force and pounded the concrete dock as they surged up and down in the rough sea.
This yacht has come all the way from Australia. The sides are scratched and holed and the railing where the anchor came over has been ripped out. I hope they have good insurance.
They are a long way from home and must have spent months traversing the Pacific islands, going up to Thailand, dodging pirates and monsoons, sailing through the Red Sea and the Suez canal and finally into the Med to be bashed about in the 'haven' that is Poros.
The wooden bridge connecting one dock with the other
The yacht that sank was flying a french flag. Two divers were going down this morning salvaging whatever they could. Papers and passports were hanging out in the sun to dry.
The tempest began very suddenly just after 9pm when many of these yachties would have been out eating or having a drink. We were watching the Greek national football team playing Cyprus ( 2-0 to Greece) and although we could hear the wind and rain, saw the lightening and heard the thunder we had idea of the violence of the storm.
This yacht was next to the one that sank and has holes in it's rear end, the stern I believe it is called in marine-talk.
The next morning going down the mountain we were dodging branches from the pine trees and rubbish bins which had been whipped into the middle of the road but there was surprisingly little damage elsewhere.
It looked like being one of the last balmy weekends of summer and the boat harbour was full. This
freak storm took everyone by surprise and spoiled a dream holiday for some.
Twenty minutes! Fingers crossed about the insurance, some of those boat owners must be devastated, I know my brothers would be. This month is normally regarded as being the gale season here in Britain; we used to dread it when we lived right near the coast and had a three story house which was always the one which took the brunt of the wind - tiles would fly. i guess it was quite a shock when you found out about all the damage to the harbour and yachts.
ReplyDeleteIncredible how fast the storm passed over and how fierce it was. Couldn't believe my eyes. Those poor people. The French who lost their yacht have a free room in a hotel till they can sort out the mess. everyone must have insurance but does it cover acts of God and imagine having to sort it out in a foreign country.....like this one.
DeleteExactly, what a nightmare. I read this post last night, then couldn't stop thinking about it. My nightmare stopped this morning, whereas theirs goes on. I'm glad to hear about the hotel room.
DeleteI have been on a yacht in Greece when something like this happened. The storm came from no where. We anchored in the middle of the bay to get away from the other yachts. The wind was so strong the current changed and we were dragged from one side of the bay to the other. That time also, a yacht went over in the winds, the mast smashed onto the pontoon, tried to right itself and smashed onto the rocks. Due to ballast a yacht will always try to right itself. It was smashed to smithereens.
ReplyDeleteMother nature always has the last laugh. I hope no one was hurt.
Thankfully no one was hurt. Amazing. Those Australians were in their seventies but looked quite cool about it next morning. I guess sailing from Oz you've seen a lot. Some islands, myconos, are known for their strong winds but poros is usually a safe harbour and if the forecast is bad they can shelter in an arm of the bay. No time this night!!
DeleteEek good for them. They probably thanked their lucky stars that no one was hurt.
DeleteWhat a shock. I feel for those poor boat owners; there's nothing they can do. When we have strong wind here I always put my chainsaw in the car; the area is heavily wooded, and you never know what you will find.
ReplyDeleteGood firewood weather!! Here it shook a lot of olives down but did not do too much damage to the trees. The eye of the storm was one part of the harbour. at the far end where the charters tie up everything was fine...or they were tied up better.
DeleteHow dreadful for the owners, as you say, I hope their insurance will cover it xx
ReplyDeleteI went past today and the sunken yacht is still there as well as the most badly damaged. They've all been given free accomodation till they can sort out the mess. Where a yacht gets fixed around here I do not know...somewhere with a decent shipyard. Looks like some will be wintering here now whether they want to or not.
DeleteWow glad your ok and nobody was hurt.
ReplyDeleteMother Nature is menopausal at the moment I think. She is wreaking havoc everywhere