There was still a fresh wind gusting down into the bay, but we were confident enough to set out to explore and to do some shopping. We left the dinghy on the quay, and walked up the hill towards the chora. While I had been pursuing a blue church on the crest of the hill, Mo's instincts were to traverse right. She proved to be correct, as we must have crossed over at the saddle and so began the steep descent into Simi harbour between shops and restaurants. By the time we reached the bottom our knees and thigh muscles were really aching.
Simi is dominated by a distinctive classical style of architecture, and is very attractive. The harbour was busy enough for the time of year. We walked around the harbour to the clock on the end of the quay, then retraced our steps to find a taverna for a drink. We picked up some fresh vegetables and fruit, and other supplies, and caught the bus back to Pedi: driving such a bus through the winding narrow roads must be harrowing. The fare was just 1€.
We were trying to relax after lunch as the wind picked up and the boat began veering around on the chain. Fortunately I went on deck, in response perhaps to the sound of a nearby concrete mixer, to find that we had dragged down close to the small boat harbour quay. We recovered the anchor and got under way amongst the strong gusts. We were about to re-anchor when we noticed that another unattended yacht was dragging on the other side of the bay, and bearing down on an anchored gulet. The gulet crew seemed to be observing her, but not doing anything about it. At first I considered going alongside with Fuga, and getting Mo to take a tow rope on board, but the proximity of the gulet and its dragging anchor made this seem too hazardous. We anchored ourselves, and prepared our kedge anchor, chain and two long warps. By now the Swiss flagged yacht was in 25metres of water, still bearing down on the gulet, which was slowly letting out more chain on two anchors. We put the outboard on the dinghy with the gear, and set out to see what we could do. Mo took the end of our line and secured it on board the yacht, and the gulet crew now put in an appearance and took the anchor off in their dinghy. Together we managed to pull the yacht clear and into shallower water, whereupon they dropped our kedge. The yacht's crew returned as it grew dark, and were duly grateful, remaining safely anchored with the kedge all night.
We were up early, as the crew of the Swiss yacht were busy recovering the kedge at 0800. As they only had a small dinghy, I went to help. We had to 'motor' the kedge out, as it was so well stuck in. They handed over a gift-wrapped parcel in thanks. We discovered a large Euro note attached to it later, and were somewhat embarassed, until we remembered how grateful we were to the Spanish fisherman who did us a similar favour. We had breakfast, and relaxed for a while before setting off for Ciftlik, where we had arranged to meet Brian and Debbie on Chinook. The wind had dropped away overnight, and we now had to motor the first leg downwind to Karaburun. After that we put the sails up, and had a pleasant gentle sail for the remainder of the trip. Brian and Debbie were in the anchorage as expected, and we anchored nearby amongst a surprisingly large number of yachts. Later they came aboard, and we caught up on news since we had parted in June. The 'Swiss chocolate' proved not to be, but a traditional marzipan confection from Berne instead.
We spent the morning relaxing. After lunch, we set off with Chinook towards Marmaris. As we went, we took photographs of each other. Later in the evening we got together with Fiona and Terry in the bar at Yat Marine. It was billed as their good-bye bash: they are planning to join the Vasco da Gama rally to India now that Fiona's leg is nearly mended. We enjoyed happy hour, then had a meal in the restaurant before returning to the bar for karaoke. As we returned to the boat at 0100, we found a deserted and dismasted Kealoha 8 next to the lifting dock, her crew still in town it later transpired. The travel lift was still operating at that hour!
The weather being very unsettled, we were disinclined to move on with our plan to return to Rhodes for some supplies. On Saturday we visited Kealoha where sore heads were the order of the day, and procured some telephone credit and other essential supplies from the marina shops. David later came over just before setting off for the airport on his way home. The following day, we were invited by Jill and David for drinks and lunch on Souris Rose, a traditional displacement motor yacht. Mo enjoyed the tour of the boat and particularly the galley, and the engine room smelt of hot metal and oil like a real engine room should.
Monday dawned, and there was a brief but violent thunderstorm that kicked up gusts over 50 knots. Later the wind dropped out again, providing poor racing conditions for the Marmaris regatta. There was yet another farewell drink for Roam 2 and Espere in the bar, preceded by dp and substantive nibbles on Chinook.
The weather was not as bad as might be inferred from the forecast. We settled to a job: changing the shower tap in the heads, and this took much of the day cleaning out the old silicone, and letting new silicone dry. Later I went to see where they had put Kealoha, and found Chris on board doing chores. I managed to earn a drink by getting their printer to talk to the computer.
We got ourselves organised and set off for Rhodes. As we left the bay at 1000hrs there was no sign of the parade of boats in honour of Ataturk and Turkey's National Day. We arrived in Rhodos around 1500 hrs, and took a look in Mandraki harbour. The north quay for visitors was full, with a large space occupied by a Turkish gulet, just as it had been on our previous visit last year. The pontoon on the west side, too which many visitors clung in the past, has now been removed. A French yacht who entered ahead of us managed to find a spot between the many resident motor boats: we hope the owner did not return to displace him. We went around to the bottom of the commercial harbour, where we had been able to anchor before. There were two boats anchored there, so we had plenty of room just off the boat yard. We anchored, and laid a kedge to stop us swinging towards the big ship quays, and make us feel more secure as we did our shopping. After that, we went ashore leaving the dinghy on the beach, and within minutes had hired ourselves a Fiat Panda for 24 hours. There are two Lidl shops in Rhodos, the one we knew lies near the fifth basin, the so called boatyard. There was a new EU-sponsored dual carriageway road leading from the outskirts (past the commercial harbour) and around the so-called marina. We found Lidl, and opposite the Eurospar supermarket. We had had long debates about the amount of vinous supplies that we might consume over the winter, and returned with our first load.
We were up bright and enthusiastic in the morning, and set off once more to the shops. We had tested two of Lidl's cartons of Italian wines, and wanted to get some more. Perfect for taking along to another boat! Topping up with fresh fruit, veg and meat at Eurospar, we finished off with another trip around Lidl. The supplies were back on board, and by 1130 we set off again with 2 empty gas bottles. We changed these at one of the shops on Mandraki, run by a very nice lady we had met up with last year. We continued out of town, south along the north western coast, past the airport. Up to this point it was a rather disappointing sprawl of seaside development. We then turned inland towards the south east coast, along a road that the girl at the hire car shop had recommended when she gave us the map. It led through olive and pine forests, and up through a very pretty area. Unfortunately we didn't really have time to linger. Once we reached the coast again, we turned south to Lindos. This is the site of the ancient capital of Rhodes. There is a castle, and within it an Acropolis of which some of the columns are still standing. It was very much a tourist spot, and crowded even now out of season. We again could not stop for long, but it must surely be worth a proper visit. Returning north we grabbed a toastie at a taverna commanding superb views over the sea, and were back on the boat by about 1500hrs. It was too late to make it to Simi as we had originally hoped, but we were able to just about fetch Serce Limani. We reached it in the gathering gloom, and at first could not identify the entrance. On the radar, another bay further north looked as if it could be, but in the end we stuck with the chart plotter. There was a row of small buoys inside the north entrance, and we took these to be a fishing net. We planned to anchor, and a chap in a row boat said that would be alright, so we anchored beyond the two boats already there, as far up as we could near the moored small boats. Our friend then encouraged us to fall back on the anchor until our bow was near one of the buoys, to which he then attached us! His restaurant ashore is Captain Nemo's, and the buoys provided for his patrons. We felt bad about not going ashore, but it was too much hassle, and we would not have enjoyed ourselves.
We set off again for Simi, early for us. This time we entered the main harbour, and were able to go alongside the wall on the south side. I went along to the port police and checked out, then had to set off for the harbour master/coastguard on the opposite side of the harbour. It wasn't obvious, but people seemed to know where I was headed with my book under my arm, and kept encouraging me further along the quayside. I eventually found the office, which appeared closed at ground level, but was approached via steps up the side. I paid the dues of only 5€, and was stamped out of Greece forthwith. We had a quick lunch, and then set off for Datca. We had still not stowed the majority of our Rhodes purchases, which were piled up on the floors between the bunks, saloon seats, on the heads floor and in the stern cabin, so we were reluctant to go anywhere near Turkish customs. We headed for Kargi Koyu, a pleasant bay a mile or so south of Datca, where we anchored. There was more strong northerly wind forecast for the next two days.