Shamballa Cruising Yacht Club: On the Edge of the Medicane Numa

Our first two weeks at Lefkas Marina were wet, windy and wild. A Medicane was brewing in the Ionian sea just west of Lefkas. A Medicane is a Mediterranean hurricane or cyclone. Unlike in the tropical Caribbean, where hurricanes occur many times in a single season, Medicanes are rare and there have been only about 100 recorded in all of the Mediterranean in the last 80 years. The Ionian gets about one such storm every three years.

The course of Medicane Numa

Eye of the storm west of Lefkas

The Ionian and Aegean hit by heavy rain

As the system built up in the Ionian between Italy and Greece, we received daily rain and spectacular thunderstorms followed by short periods of sun with stunning effects.

Rainbow after the storm

Low lying, rain heavy clouds

Double rainbows

After a week or so of this weather the storm front culminated in a wild night of torrential rain, hail and high winds. Our cockpit enclosure could not handle the onslaught and the cockpit was sopping wet in the morning. Fortunately the hail did not cause any damage. We had visions of the dodger and bimini being torn to shreds but all was okay. We did have a leak in the front hatch and are still drying out the cushions.

Wet cushions drying in the cockpit

Unfortunately parts of Greece did not fare so well. The low pressure system over the Aegean sent torrential rain to our beloved Symi resulting in flash flooding and massive destruction to the island.

Photos of Symi courtesy of the news services

Then at the height of Medicane Numa, the town of Madra, northwest of Athens also experienced flash flooding which resulted in the deaths of 21 people and massive property damage.

Photos of Madra courtesy of the news services

Of course as in most natural disasters, the devastation is exacerbated by poor infrastructure and planning. So the steep hillsides with inadequate drainage and town planning of Symi and Madra contributed to much of the destruction just as the draining of the wetlands intensified the flooding in hurricane hit Texas and Florida. We humans do tend to make a mess of things where Mother Nature is concerned.

So as the residents of Symi and Madra dig themselves out of the mud and rubble, the marina bloomed like a dessert after the rains. Sails were hauled up to dry, overdue laundry hung up and cushions out to dry. The local chandleries had an increase in sale of Sikaflex and silicone to plug up newly discovered leaks around stanchions and hatches. And in the distance were snow covered mountaintops glistening in the chill sunshine.