Friday 18 September 2015 – Pandeli Bay, Leros

We tried to get up early and get away in good time.  We partially succeeded.  We managed to slip our mooring at 8:50am, better than we had done before, but still rather late.

The weather is still nice.  It is a bit cooler, much to my relief.  The forecast is for a force 4 or less wind, but on the nose.  There is no realistic possibility of tacking to our destination this time.

So we set out without putting the sails up and we motor all the way to Leros.  We have been here before, and we will return because it is this island where we will be leaving the boat for the winter.  However, today we are not going into the town we went to before, Lakki.  Instead we are going to anchor in a bay on the east coast we saw last time, from a nice restaurant.

We get to Pandeli Bay at about noon.  There is a pleasant breeze and both the air and water temperature are much more acceptable.  The air is about 26C and the water is 25C.  We have a little trouble setting the anchor and had to have a second go, but we then seemed well placed.  Richard swam out to the anchor with his facemask and snorkel and confirmed that it was well dug in.  So we had a very refreshing swim and then lunch.

The bay is quite pretty.  We are looking up at a hill with 6 windmills on the top and 5 more larger ones, with structures for sails below.  There is also a castle at the end of the hill, which at night is lit up.

We just stayed on the boat all afternoon.  Richard did pump up the deflated side of the dinghy in case we wanted to use it, but we couldn’t be bothered.  We really just wanted a nice relaxed day and that is what we have had.

We are both reading the same book.  The new version of the Millenium books written by another author (the original guy having died).  We have eaten on board and are looking forward to a quiet night’s sleep.  The wind did pick up in the bay this afternoon, but now it seems to have settled down to a force 1, so that should be fine.  There is a bit of a swell coming in, but I hope that will just rock us to sleep.

I have been very careful of my back and am taking the pills I got from the pharmacy.  It seems to be a lot better and I hope I can give up the medication in a day or so.