(photo header Kostas Andreou)
The Express Pegasus is reported back in service and is expected to leave Volos at 9am today. We will be keeping an eye on MarineTraffic.com for any further Spirograph antics.
And she finally set sail at 12:30!
Passengers have been warned that she may be prevented from entering Skopelos harbour by a forecast of bad weather, but we will monitor her progress.
Golly, this is exciting…
1640 update: after a mystery almost-hour moored in Skiathos, she is steaming into Skopelos harbour right now. Cue crowds, band, tickertape…
1649 update update: Whoops! We spoke too soon: she reached the mouth of the bay then swung around 360 degrees and steamed back out, perhaps defeated by the southerlies, and is currently steaming towards Alonissos…
1700: Nail-biting stuff, this: no one in the harbour has a clue where she’s headed, but the heading as she sailed off suggest she may try to get into Agnontas, although there are still people down on the quay looking baffled…
1718: Lawks-a-mercy, she’s now steaming in to Patitiri harbour on Alonissos. Current idle speculation is she might stay there for the night (which should make conditions onboard convivial, as there are no hotels open there at this time of year…), try to get into Agnontas, where two men and a dog just reported huge swell, or head back to Skiathos for the night. Let’s hope the bar’s well stocked…
1730: And don’t tell anyone aboard the Pegasus, but the afternoon Flying Cat (Number 5) has just slid calmly into dock at Skopelos harbour.
1744: We now hear that foot passengers have been turfed off the Pegasus in Patitiri to await the Flying Cat, which they’re assured will bring them back to Skopelos. The Pegasus is heading back to try to re-enter Skopelos, but may have to run for either Skiathos or Volos (bad news for vehicle owners aboard, not to mention shops awaiting supplies for the long end-of-carnival weekend). We should know the result in about twenty minutes.
Almost as dramatic as waiting for a new pope to be announced…
1817: Well, she tried to get in, but failed and spun around again. She is currently heading west along the north coast, probably to the relatively sheltered mooring at Skiathos, although if not, Volos. The Flying Cat bringing the marooned foot passengers from Alonissos is equidistant between the islands, and as a pink mackerel sky spreads over the Aegean this lighthousekeeper has some homemade fishcakes with coriander to cook.
Express Pegasus attempts Skopelos two times
F/C 5 arrives with refugees from Alonissos as Thessaloniki erupts in a mushroom cloud.
18:45 Flying Cat 5 heads back to Alonissos.
18.10 hours Express Pegasus outside the harbor of Skopelos with calm weather. Photo Kostas Andreou.
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