under which Hipocrates is reputed to have taught (but not actually)
Having spent two days at anchor just outside the harbour, under the castle walls, we moved into the harbour during the morning, and moored stern-to under the castle but on the inside. We were helped in by one of the 'marina' staff, John, who was very pleasant, proactive and helpful to everyone. We were able to connect up to power, with the prospect of taking on water at an additional cost of 6€. The wind was very fresh from the starboard bow, and I was not convinced about our bow anchor as I had misjudged the distance off so that we only had 20 metres of chain out. Accordingly I laid our kedge (Fortress) and took the strain on that.
The first job was to endure the entry formalities, firstly to the Passport Police at the ferry terminal, followed by the customs in their office nearby. Customs relieved me of 30€ with great good humour. Then to the Port Police on the opposite side of the harbour (with my existing transit log) who charged another 15€. They would not stamp me 'out' as I had not brought my insurance certificate.
On the way back, I found the Wind shop, and returned later with the phone and the old SIM card, having lost the envelope with the pin number in it. After trying to register a new SIM card to the old number unsuccessfully, I had to buy another SIM card with a new number.
By now we had company in the shape of a boat called Blithe Spirit alongside, with Laurie and Jenny Brooks. We spent a while swapping information about marinas and other such matters: they are at present in Marti marina. Mo was keen to get off the boat, so we decided to walk into town to try to locate a car hire firm, taking the opportunity to sit and have a drink at a bar. The town is very attractive, with its castle, harbour and boats, ruins, old buildings, flowers and trees all intermingling. There are literally hundreds of bars, restaurants, and tourist shopping opportunities.
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| Ruins, old buildings, and flowers | The well nestles under the branches of the tree under which Hipocrates is reputed to have taught (but not actually) |
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| Surely the biggest bourgonvilia? | One street and a church in Kos |
The following day we planned to go to Lidl by bus, having decided the car idea was uneconomic. We were unsure whether they would accept a debit card, so searched for ages for an ATM. It is surprising how you can always find them when you don't need them. We discovered the buses only run every 2 hours in the middle of the day, so decided on a taxi instead. We were thus able to load up on essential supplies. During the afternoon, an English couple on holiday (both connected with the army) stopped by and started asking questions. As the conversation (centred on sailing) developed, we asked them on board and they had a drink with us until it was time to catch their ferry back to Bodrum. Later, a search for gas proved futile: the only sources were apparently the fuelling station in the marina (some way to the south of the main town) or a gas supplier in a street at the north side of the town. Neither had any stock and expected some 'perhaps in two days'.
We set off to find the Dia supermarket, and once again seemed to go the long way around. Mo insisted on bringing back plenty of wine in boxes, as well as tonic water and milk, so we were grossly overloaded but managed to stagger back to the port. At this point Mo sat and guarded the booty, shading our two frozen chickens and smoked salmon from the sun, while I took our documents into the Port Police to get stamped out. This was not so simple, as I was first sent to find the 'Tax Office' three streets away in order to pay tax of 0.88€, before returning with my receipt to get my stamp. Fortunately everyone knew where the Tax Office was, as certainly I would not have found it from the directions I was given. The name outside was of course written only in Greek.
Back at the boat, we topped up our water and prepared to set off. The next door boat had unfortunately laid his anchor over our kedge line, so this had to be passed under his chain to clear it. We were glad to get away, ravenously hungry, and simply motored for a while so that we could get some lunch. As the wind freshened we made sail, and decided to head for a bay, Ormos Maratho, on the north side of Nisos Pserimos. This is not blessed with an anchor sign on Rod's maps, or mentioned in his book, and was no doubt only of use in the south westerly wind we were experiencing. We had the rather desolate and rubbish strewn bay all to ourselves, barring a handful of goats onshore. Later we received a late night visit by a military rubber boat launched from a patrol vessel offshore: they landed on the jetty and then motored off. We wondered if they were fishing.
We got up after a night only disturbed by some spats of heavy rain. These had once more found the weaknesses in our saloon windows, despite the applications of Creeping Crack Cure. They are going to have to come out! I swam to the beach, inspected an old boat drawn up on the shore, and the myriad piles of mainly plastic rubbish washed up there. We set off around 11 am, at first enjoying a fresh westerly breeze. Then the bottom dropped out of it, and after a while it came in from NE, before once more coming in from the west where it stayed for the rest of the day, but varying considerably in strength and direction. We were at least 2 miles off the lee side of first Kalimnos and later Leros. From time to time we were headed, but later as the wind gradually backed we were almost able to make our course. We arrived in Lipsoi at 6 pm, and enjoyed the last of the evening sunshine anchored amongst a gaggle of Austrian boats, owned or chartered. We had logged 33 nm although the direct route was only 28 nm.
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| The lovely harbour and village on Lipsoi |
We had enjoyed a very peaceful evening and night, the wind having become very light and backed to the south east overnight as predicted. After breakfast we launched the dinghy and went ashore, well timed to assist a German Najad whose anchor had become entangled with a very large 4-pronged anchor on the bottom. Landing between fishing boats, we were met by a guy from a taverna opposite, who insisted on helping us to tie up. He was very welcoming, and told us where to find the nearby bakers. We walked along the road, much of which was being dug up, and returned along the quayside. Having bought the bread, we decided to explore up towards the main church, overlooking the harbour. The area around the church, with blue, turquoise and white buildings, was very attractive and begging for sketch pad and paint. Returning to the harbour, we visited our friendly taverna for coffee. There was no sign of Rod's quaffable white wine: we were told that the wine made here tends to be sweet, but he gave us a glass of his dry white table wine to sample. There are as many restaurants to choose from as churches on the island, but we felt certain that a visit to To Johapi (centre in photo) to sample mother's cooking would be a must for any subsequent visit.
Our German friends had described an idyllic anchorage, which we took to mean one of the bays on N. Arkoi. We decided to pay it a visit, the winds being quite light and westerly. It was a short but most enjoyable sail. We anchored, swam, and relaxed in the sunshine. The island supports a small population and some concrete holiday homes. It was an attractive location, but we were not convinced we had found the idyll.
We set off in a reasonably leisurely fashion, motoring out of our anchorage and up to the north of the island to avoid beating. From that point we were able to fetch our course. We tried fishing, but to no avail, and as we neared our destination the wind freshened and headed us, so that the speed would have been too great. We anchored inside the outer harbour breakwater off the beach, along with a number of other boats.
The following morning, we went ashore. There were several wifi signals and one I had picked up from the boat was from the Pythagoras bar, so we went there to see if we could get the password. Although we were close to the Turkish coast, there was no Turkcell signal here. The hour's accumulated connection charge was 2.50€, but the two coffees which came ice cold brought the bill to 7.50€. This proved Mo's point that 10€ for two days connection to Wind via the mobile was not such a bad deal after all. This was particularly true when I found that reception from the boat was too marginal to be useful, so I had to return to the bar with the computer to get a connection! Mo found some shorts at one of the nicely stocked clothing shops, and we also found gas at the supermarket, so we had to return in any case as I had insufficient cash for the shorts, and the empty gas bottles were back on board. Brian and Deborah on Chinook arrived in the early afternoon, and we arranged to join forces for the evening meal on Chinook, Mo providing an appetiser and fruit to supplement Brian's stew.
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| What is it? A small tuna? |
Chinook were off at the crack of dawn, but we kept to our leisurely routine. The wind rarely sets in before the early afternoon. We had not really worked out a passage plan with objectives and distances, but we soon realised that we had a little more than a manageable day to reach Khios. We had to motor against an easterly wind through the Samos strait, and then as we reached and turned the corner it backed north ahead of us again. As we left the island, around lunchtime, a useful breeze did start to set in, but dead ahead, so that we needed to tack. Fortunately we had only done about two tacks when the wind gradually backed and strengthened from the west, so that in the end we were able to free up and still fetch the course, making nearly 7 knots in the fresh Force 5 wind. We settled on Kirkdilim Limani, just west of Teke Burun, where we felt we would be of no bother to the authorities, and vice versa, there being nothing there! As we packed away the sails, just short of our objective, Mo noticed the rod getting excited. and we pulled in a large fish. Once we had anchored at the head of the bay, with two Swiss yachts for company, we got out the barbeque. The flesh was quite red, so we think it was a small tuna. There was enough for two more portions to put in the freezer.
We went for a swim in the warm and very clear water, before setting off, quite late as usual. There was an easterly breeze blowing into the bay as we motored out, but this vanished as soon as we reached open water. In time, a northerly wind set in. This served us well until we reached the Khios straight, between the island and the Turkish coast. At this point we had to beat up the channel, in company with a bit of commercial traffic. We arrived in Khios 'marina' to find Jim and Kath on Hand Basket (USA) already in residence. They happily took our lines as we berthed against the concrete quay behind them. The marina was built about 10 years ago with European Union money, but has never been finished and put into operation. There is a motley collection of rusting ferry hulks, local fishing boats, a couple of yachts and some ribs moored here. No power, no water, no security of any kind.
We enjoyed a drink on Hand Basket, and then we all went in to the town to find a restaurant that had been recommended. It was right opposite the ferry berth, which provided some visual entertainment, but not in the most celubrious end of town. We came away with 'doggy bags' full of food, having over-ordered, but only 35€ down for excellent grub for two people with wine.
There being a long range forecast for high wind over the weekend, we were concerned about pushing on. We would like to see Nisos Oinoussa, home of many Greek shipping magnates, but it is a relatively long (35 nm) crossing from there to Lesvos. Accordingly we are trying to settle into doing some jobs, but it is a change of gear that does not necessarily appeal to the skipper. Hopefully we have fixed the generator exhaust manifold water leak, but only time will tell. It was a much easier job now that the back of the case has been sawn off. The water filter to the galley has been changed at last: resolving perhaps the peristent leak there. The spare filter was bought in Fuengirola, Spain, in 1996!