Weather: Medicane meets Greece today

The storm is classified as a Medicane, the meteorological word created from "Mediterranean" and "hurricane". This classification occurs when average peak gusts of over 112 km/h are expected and the storm depression forms a real eye, like a tropical storm. This is clearly the case with the low pressure system "Ianos". It is approaching the southern Ionian Sea from the west and, in addition to the storm and high swell, will also bring thunderstorms with extremely heavy rainfall.

Meteorologists expect the Medicane to reach the islands, especially from Lefkas southwards, towards the end of the afternoon today and to keep a firm grip on them throughout Friday. Crews are therefore strongly advised to find a storm-proof berth as quickly as possible. This is not so easy in the area, as there are only a few perfectly sheltered harbours with mooring lines. Instead, crews often moor with stern lines to the pier and bow anchors in small municipal harbours. As there is often not much room for long chains in these harbours and many crews do not weigh anchor thoroughly enough, things can sometimes get dicey in the harbour in extreme storms, especially if neighbouring boats are drifting.

As the wind moves across the islands with the eye during the storm, shifting wind directions are to be expected depending on the crew's location. For the area around Lefkas and Nidri, for example, it shifts from an almost easterly direction to north-westerly, so a harbour with protection in this direction must be sought. If no harbour with mooring lines can be reached, crews should check whether they can deploy the bow anchor with even more chain and, if possible, run it in correctly and also deploy the second anchor. It is important to coordinate this with the skippers of the neighbouring boats, as it won't help if all the chains and irons are lying on top of each other later. Alternatively, if you want or have to stay in a bay, you should choose it very carefully, as there are various wind jets in the Ionian Sea that are notorious, for example from Kalamos' south side or on the north-east side of Ithaca.