I didn’t post yesterday because it was just a day of sightseeing. But we did have an interesting
time. We were advised to start out
early to the volcano to get there before the crowds on the bus from
Mandraki. So we started out at 9am
and got there in good time when hardly anyone was there. The experience was fascinating. You walk right down into the crater
where there a numerous holes emitting steam and making sulphur crystals. It is hot and there is a strong smell
of the sulphur. We tried to also
walk up to the other two small craters, but I couldn’t manage the path because
it came to a gap that led to a deep crevice and you had to scramble around it.
Richard went on but the path only took you to see the craters from outside, which
we could do from the road and the neighbouring village anyway.
We also looked at the two hill villages. But the island is small and the whole trip only kept us busy
until lunch time. So we have lunch
on the boat and then go to the beach for a swim as it is now getting very hot.
Today we left in good time to go to a neighbouring island called
Tilos. It is very small and said
to be off the beaten track. It is less than 20 miles away, so we don’t have a
long passage to make. The weather
is nice, but when we get out of the harbour we can see that there is a big fog
bank over Tilos! We proceed on the
basis that the sun should burn it off and it does appear to go away as we get
nearer. We had hoped there would
be some wind, but there isn’t much. By the way, our wind instrument has put
itself right and all is now working properly. However, the glitch may be the writing on the wall telling
us to plan to buy new equipment soon.
Anyway, the passage. After
a little the wind, which is from behind gets up to a force 4 and we put the genoa
up. We aren’t in a hurry, so we
sail for much of the time doing only 3-4 knots. However about 5 miles out from our destination the wind dies
completely and we have to motor.
We get in just before lunch.
The island has a very pleasant little harbour with pick up lines on one
end. There do not seem to be enough
lines for the whole of the quay, but we are directed in by a man who appears to
be in charge and we get a line, so we are nicely settled. We decide to have lunch out, not least
to get the wifi code from the restaurant whose wifi we can see from the boat. We have too much to eat on such a hot
afternoon, and I drank some wine watered down with sparkling water. It was all too much for me and I felt
like I might pass out if I didn’t get into the sea. So we walk around the corner to the beach and find a café which
lets us use their sunbeds and parasols having ordered a bottle of water and an
ice cream. We get quickly into the
water. The beach is stony and it
is hard to go in. Richard swims in his sandals, but I take mine off at the edge
and go in on my bottom! But the
water is lovely and amazingly clear.
It cools me off and I feel much better. We spend the rest of the afternoon on the beach and have
another swim before leaving at nearly 6pm.
We have dinner on board and a walk around the town. We found an ATM where we could withdraw
300 euros, so things are looking up.
We have spoken to Colin. He
is flying to Greece tonight arriving in Rhodes in the middle of the night. There is a high wind coming in here
tomorrow night, but the forecast for Rhodes seems fine. So we will make our way to Rhodes town
tomorrow. It will be a long
journey. We have spoken to the
agent. The Mandraki harbour in the
centre of town won’t have space for us (we didn’t book to turn up until
Sunday), but we can get into the new Rhodes Marina. So a long journey is
fine. Colin and the family will probably
be too tired to come see us tomorrow anyway.
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