Rat war all night! No thanks.

35° 23’ 3000’’ N, 25° 02’ 5200’’ E

Sailors often seek advice from each other online. As we consider spending a night in a bay on the island of Dhia, north of the main city of Crete, Heraklion, we come across this warning from a British sailor:

“The anchorage is beautiful, and the water is crystal clear. But be careful about spending the night at anchor. The island is infested with rats, and you can hear them screaming all night. Don’t attach a line to the shore, stay far from the coast, and don’t cook food with too much flavor. Rats are excellent swimmers.”

Perhaps this is just a sailor’s tale. There is no quality control even on this part of the internet.

Nevertheless, we choose to sail past Dhia and find another place to drop our anchor for the night.