Tuesday 22 September 2015 – Lipsi

Well we are still here in Lipsi.  Rather like Ulysses we are detained here longer than we hoped.  Yesterday was warm and sunny.  The forecast rain from 6pm onwards didn’t materialise.  We took an umbrella to the restaurant, just in case, and were the only ones to do so.  The bad weather didn’t arrive until about 5:30 this morning when we had a thunderstorm with huge amounts of lightening but very little thunder.  We do not know if it was a Sirocco as suggested by one of the mooring men. What it was, was heavy rain all morning and an afternoon with winds blowing between 8 and 20 knots.  The boat was moving around a bit and by the afternoon, when it stopped raining I was glad to get off and have a coffee in the nice bakery.

With this bad weather, and this being one of the few local harbours protected from a southerly wind, a lot of boats have been coming in.  The normal pontoon filled up on Monday afternoon.  They then put about 14 more boats on a wall on the opposite side of the harbour, usually used by fishermen.  Even more boats came in this morning and many are just anchored all over the place.  We are not sure what happens when the ferries come in!

With the heavy rain we of course discovered that we have a couple of leaks in the boat.  One, from the main hatch we knew about.  The padding on the top of the hatch has deteriorated and we had to pull it out.  That lets a drip in over the companionway.  Not dire, but annoying and we doubt there is much we can do about it without dismantling quite a lot of the boat.

The second leak is one we thought we had fixed last year.  That is water coming in through the mast fitting.  Richard tried to put some more sealant on, but only did it after it stopped raining and he is not entirely sure exactly where the leak is.  More rain is predicted for tonight and maybe he can then work it out.

The weather forecast isn’t great for tomorrow either.  So we are undecided whether we should go then or stay another day.  We do have lots of time before we need to be in Leros to put the boat away for the winter and we are running out of local places to go. 

Sunday 20 September 2015 – Lipsi (sometimes called Lipso)

We woke up early to get out in time to catch the 9:15 bus to the Chora.  We got to the bus station in good time only to find that the bus didn’t leave until 9:25. The ride up to the Chora only took about 10 minutes, but it is a 4k road with lots of hairpin bends, so we are not keen on having to walk any of it.  This was the closest we came to rally driving on Patmos.

First stop is the Monastery of St John.  It is at the very top of the hill village and is quite a walk up, though not as bad as the Monastery in Amorgos.  The weather is very hot and close.  There is quite a lot of cloud about.  That clearly is an indication of the bad weather that is supposed to be coming in.  The Monastery is a massive stone structure more like a defensive castle than a church.  Inside there is an interesting museum with all sorts of church relics including ancient manuscripts, icons and paintings, religious silverware and vestments.

The church itself is surprisingly small, but highly decorated.  All the walls are painted and there are dozens of silver chandeliers and incense burners.  We are not too certain what we are looking at, but it is impressive.

When we finish at the Monastery the book suggests we go to a convent on the other side of the Chora called Zoodochos Pigi.  It takes some time to find the place.  When we do, it is basically closed and having some sort of celebration.  But one of the nuns kindly opens the church for us.  Again, it is tiny but very elaborate with every inch of wall painted on and lots of silverware.  One amusing thing happened.  As we were looking at the church another man came in to look at it.  When we left, the nun came back and locked the church.  It was then that we realised the man hadn’t come out and was banging on the door.  We managed to get the nun to come back and let him out!  He was very grateful and said this was the second time this happened to him!

The next thing to see is the cave of the Apocalypse, where St John was supposed to have had his revelations.  The original plan was to take the bus back down to the cave and then maybe a cab to the port.  But we are much too early for the next bus.  We try to kill some time having an iced coffee at a café, but we are still too early.  So after speaking to the lady who runs the café we decide to walk down.  There is supposed to be a path, which is much shorter than the road and should take about 15 minutes to walk down.  We manage to find the path and the cave.  Again, we have no idea what we are looking at, and other than what I have already said, we are none the wiser.  However we do manage to finish our visit in time to catch the next bus down to the village.  So we arrive back at the boat by 12:30.

We now have to decide what to do.  The weather forecast is getting worse.  The anticipated winds are up to the top of a 5 or bottom of a 6, from the southeast.  The pilot book says this port is untenable in such a wind, and that means we should move.  So we decide we will go this afternoon.  We have a quick lunch, pick up our laundry and set out just after 1:30pm.  Quite a feat for us.

We are not going far.  The aim is to make it to Lipsi, about 10 miles away.  Lipsi is the island where Calypso kept Odysseus for many years.  It is supposed to be a charming place, but the harbour is small and only has one pontoon for visiting boats.  So we are a bit concerned about getting a place.

For a change, the wind is not on the nose, but it isn’t very strong.  So we put up the genoa and just motor sail all the way.  We are pleased to see that there are places on the pontoon available, although unfortunately all the places on the inner part (where it will be more sheltered) are taken and we have to moor on the outer side of the pontoon.  We have a deuce of a time trying to moor.  The wind is a cross wind, just strong enough to push us around.  We are not helped by the man on the boat we are meant to moor next to shouting that we are snagging his anchor with ours.  This is rubbish because I have barely put the anchor down and can see it suspended only a few feet down in the sea and not touching anything.  In the end, we just wind up in a space about one boat space away from that complaining boat.  It isn’t a great job, but we are safely in. 

As the afternoon goes on we see a lot more boats arrive and they make an even worse job of mooring on the pontoon than we did.  So we don’t feel too bad.  By 6 pm the pontoon is nearly full, so we are pleased that we did come away when we did.

Richard has paid for us to stay here for three nights.  The weather forecast is getting worse, with suggestions that it will rain for the next three days!  We are a bit worried about how long we can be here before our tank fills us and we run out of water.  There is water here, but it is not drinkable.  However, if we run out we will just have to fill the tank with it.  It will be fine for washing and we will just use bottled water for making coffee and tea.  We only drink bottled water in any event.

So we have settled in.  We went to a café for a drink and find they have internet.  We may be able to pick it up from the boat with the aerial, but we haven’t tried yet.  We have eaten on board, but expect we will use the local restaurants for part of the stay.  It is a bit rocky on board but we hope that will quieten down.  Richard hopes to take the time to do a few minor repairs.  We shall see what the weather does.

Saturday 19 September 2015 – Patmos

We got up fairly early and managed to leave our anchorage before 9am.  The weather seems to be on the turn.  Although it is still hot and there is little wind, for the first time we have seen some clouds. 

But as I have said, there is little wind and what there is again is on the nose.  So it is another day of motoring.  The sea is glassy for most of the journey.  We have decided to go north to Patmos because it is supposed to be an interesting island and being north means we can travel with the prevailing winds back to Leros in 10 days time or so.

However, the weather forecast has something new in store for us.  It says that by Monday evening, the wind will strengthen and go around to the south east for two days!  This is going to cause us headaches because the majority of the harbours around here open to the south because the wind rarely comes from that direction.  That means it will be difficult to find a harbour that will give good protection in a southerly wind.  We are on our way to Skala in Patmos, which the pilot book says is “untenable in a south-easterly wind”, whatever that may mean.

But we carry on and arrive in Patmos at lunchtime.  There is plenty of room on the quay and we put our anchor down and reverse into a nice large space between two larger sailing boats.  We do not take up electricity (which we don’t need and which involves paying a deposit for an electronic key and having to wait for the harbour office to open when we want to leave to reclaim our deposit) and the water situation is a disappointment.  There appear to be taps on the electricity towers, but there is no water.  If we want water we have to call up a water tanker.  We don’t want to do that just to wash the boat, even though it really needs that.  So we just pay the 6 Euro mooring fee and call it a day.

To cool off we shower on board and then have a walk around the town.  The bit where we are moored isn’t very interesting, but if you walk just a few hundred yards up to the town it is very sweet.  We manage to do some food shopping so that we have plenty of provisions on board in case we have to hole up in some remote anchorage after Monday.

We have been scouring the pilot book to find a place which will be safe in this south-easterly wind.  It is also forecast to rain on Monday and Tuesday overnight!  Richard thinks he has found somewhere, but it is small and we hope we will be able to find a berth.  But we will worry about that on Monday. After all, the weather forecast could change.

In the meantime we are sussing out how to get to the Chora to see the sights.  This is the island where St John had his revelations and wrote the book of Revelations.  So there are a lot of churches to go to and the cave where St John heard from God about the Apocalypse.  OK, so what’s a nice Jewish girl like me fussing about some Christian saint.  Well, it’s all part of the culture I guess.

This evening we had dinner in town and walked around finding the bus station where we will catch the bus to the Chora. 

The two sailing boats either side of us left this afternoon and now we are flanked by two giant stink boats.  There is also a swell and the boat is rocking a bit.  But I have no doubt we will sleep well.

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.

Thursday 17 September 2015 – Vathi, Kalymnos

We had our rental car yesterday and saw some more of the island.  The most impressive was the Asklipieion.  This is the ruin of a 3^rd Century BC temple complex to the healing god.  There isn’t that much left, but they have rebuilt the steps which shows the scale of the place, enormous.  We also went to see some of the beaches on the tip of the island.  They are supposed to be spectacular, and were quite nice, but not a patch on say Hawaii, or even the New Jersey coast.  I guess we have just been spoiled.

Today it was the plan to make it to Leros.  Richard looked at the weather forecast last night and all seemed well.  The wind, as ever, is due to be on the nose, and we knew that would be the case here because we are travelling north west, which is where the prevailing wind comes from.  But as it is only forecast for 7 knots, that shouldn’t be such a problem.

We meant to leave quite early, but again it was 9:30 before we got away.  Just as we were leaving the couple on the boat next to us asked where we were going and when we said Leros, they said they were headed that way, but were not leaving today because strong winds were forecast.  So a hasty look again at the weather forecast, and yes, the winds are going to be more than suggested last night, but should only be a 4 or 5. So we set off.

We put up the sails right away and get a reasonable wind of about 10-11knots.  Although the wind is blowing from the direction we want to go, we can take long tacks and sail, not motor into it.  This all starts very well.  I have said I hate tacking, but that is only when we go back and forth in short bursts and hardly make any headway.  This kind of tacking, where we go for 3-5 miles on each tack and are making good progress is fine.

As expected the wind does build up and soon it has settled in to 15-17 knots.  We are still pointing up wind well and making good progress.  But the sea is now becoming rather lumpy and I decide it is time to take a seasick pill.  On we go and so does the building wind.  We are not going to try to get to Leros.  It will take too long in these conditions.  Our current tack is taking us towards Kalymnos.  We were there at Pothia on the way out.  So we will aim for another port.  R has identified one or two and it all depends where the wind takes us.

By lunch time the wind is really up.  It first started blowing 20 knots, so Richard took in a reef.  For myself, I would have done it earlier as we have been heeling well.  Then, within half an hour the wind was up to 26 knots and it was beginning to get rather challenging.  There is spray all over the place (we haven’t put the spray hood up in weeks) and I am so cold in the strong wind that I have to put a long sleeved top on!  So we wanted to go into the first safe harbour.  As we approached the island the wind went down at bit and the sea flattened a little.  So we could take the sails down OK.  Then, as we approached Vathi, the wind disappeared.  It is down to 2 knots, the sunning is shining and it is very hot and the sea is flat!

We go into the port, which is really just a little fjord type inlet.  There is a very small village and a quay where you moor on anchor, stern to.  As we approach the quay, a boat leaves and it seems a perfect spot for us.  However, we are warned by the man who seems to direct all the mooring to wait until a tripper boat leaves, because he has put his anchor down right across where the moored boats have to put theirs!  That takes about 10-15 minutes and then we have to wait for another two boats to leave, but finally we are in.  We hope we have put the anchor down safely, but the pilot book does say fouled anchors are common here.

We have a late lunch on board and then we are so hot we have to swim.  Luckily there is a little corner of the harbour buoyed off for swimming and it even has a shower.  So we cool off.  By the time we have done that the harbour has more or less filled up!  We didn’t for a moment think it would get full at this time of year.  We are pleased we got here when we did.

We had dinner out in one of the restaurants.  There isn’t much here, but there are 5 tavernas!  We hope the winds will be a bit kinder tomorrow and we will get to Leros.

Tuesday 15 September 2015 – Kos

We were up not too early, but early enough to make a decent start.  The weather is still settled and the forecast is for very little wind, but on the nose.  So we set out just on motor without even taking the sail cover off the main.  After a while we think that the wind is building.  Richard decides to put out the genoa to boost the speed of the boat a bit.  Then he decides that the wind is going up to 9 or 10 knots and as we don’t have very far to go, we should sail.  But of course, about 15 minutes after we get the sails up the wind dies.  So after a short time we give up, put the sails away and motor. 

Of course when we get within 3 miles of Kos Town the wind builds up to a force 4 and it is on the nose.  But it does not cause us too much trouble.  The marina remembers us and helps us to moor into a suitable space, so we are well tucked up.

The only problem is that I have developed a terrible pain down my right leg.  As I am getting ready to leave the boat it gets worse and worse and when we get to the marina office I can barely walk.  A sit down in the office helps.  At first I thought it was my bad knee acting up, but it is becoming very obvious that the problem is with my back.  It has started to ache badly and the pain in my leg is suspiciously like sciatica!  I have taken some ibuprofin, but that does not seem to have helped.

At the marina office they phone the coast guard for us to see if we have to check back in to Greece.  To our delight the answer is ‘no’.  We still have our DEPKA (private yacht certificate) so we are fine.  That relieves us of one job.  Next we walk (me very slowly) in to town, with a first stop at the pharmacy where they sell me some stronger pain killers; I can only take them with food, so I won’t know how effective they are until tonight or tomorrow morning.

We are going to look for a Vodafone shop to top up the Greek sim on my phone and the internet device.  However, we have goofed.  We forgot that the shops all shut for the afternoon, so we have to kill an hour or so before the shop opens at 5:30.

We were worried about the immigrant situation.  It is very obvious.  On the beach just outside the marina we saw two collapsed large ribs, obviously used by the immigrants.  However the worst is the tented camp all around the police station and right at the entrance of the Mediaeval castle.  There are dozens of tents, many looking fairly new.  The inhabitants are mostly young men, but there are a number or women and families.  There are a half dozen portable loos just by the police station.  It is ugly and dirty, but there do not seem to be any problems with crime or aggression, that we can see.  However, the tourist shops and cafes seem particularly keen on tourists being here, so maybe they are suffering.

After we kill an hour having iced coffee, we get to the phone shop and top up our devices so we are now connected!

So after that we go back to the boat.  We have a quiet evening on board trying to save my back in the hope it will get better soon.  I have had this once before on the boat.  I think it comes from twisting around while sitting in the cockpit trying to look forward.  I should know better!

Nice showers at the shower block and then dinner on board.  It is a pleasure to be able to do the washing up and not worry where to drain the water!

We will stay here tomorrow.  We have arranged to hire a car, so we can see some of the interior of the island. 

Monday 14 September 2015 – Knidos, Turkey

Not much happened yesterday, so I didn’t post.  Really we just did domestic stuff including instructing the agent to check us out of Turkey.  We would have tried to do it ourselves, but everyone said it is nearly impossible, so we spend the £20, and it is done. 

We also had a pleasant afternoon on the beach at a café where for the cost of a couple of drinks we got nice chairs under umbrellas.  For a change the water was quite cool and refreshing.  We can’t understand why.

This morning we hoped to leave by 9am, but didn’t make it until 10.  We did some last minute shopping and filled the boat up with water and off we went to Knidos.  Although we have legally checked out of Turkey, everyone said there is no problem about coming here.  We wanted to do that because it is the site of a very ancient city going back 3 thousand years.

We left our berth and had no trouble taking up the anchor even though it was very close to that of our neighbour.  There is not a breath of wind and it therefore feels very hot.  There is no chance of sailing.  In any event all two knots of wind is on the nose, as usual.  We did see one boat going the other way with a kite up, but it was having trouble filling the sail in this lack of wind.

Knidos is a pretty harbour.  We were not sure what to do.  You can anchor, or there is a pontoon with alongside berths.  So we went on the pontoon.  I think I have nearly forgotten how to berth alongside after all this time.  But there was someone on the pontoon to take our lines, so all went well.

I had bought a bit of food to have on board, but not much and nothing very exciting for lunch.  So out of laziness, we have lunch and dinner at the restaurant on the shore.  As we are paying for the berth there is no need to do that, but it is hot and we have little on board.

In the late afternoon we go to the archaeological site and have an hour wandering around the ruins which are very interesting.  One point is that the town has a harbour on each side of a peninsular.  We are in the larger one.  The smaller one was used by triremes in ancient times, but has now silted up and only has a couple of small open boats in it.  But in ancient times they used both and dug a waterway between them so they could always come and go with the wind!  Very clever.

We have had a couple of swims off the boat.  Now after dinner the wind has picked up a bit and it is fairly comfortable, so I should be able to sleep and sit here in the saloon.

Tomorrow we go back to Greece.  The closest port of entry is Kos so we are going there, but with a bit of trepidation as they still have a major immigrant crisis.  We shall see.  All we have read says it isn’t dangerous, but it may be unpleasant.