Nisyros

Somehow this blog is out of order. it should be read before Kos...

A leisurely start, we cast off and weighed anchor at 11:50am on the 7th September. Great to have extra crew to help with the lines and anchor.

Nil wind at first so we motored.









At the very start of the journey there is a handy short cut between waypoints 2 and 3 above. It is narrow and shallow so you need to be awake, but beautiful and of course always great to share these moments with close friends. Once we cleared the gap, the wind came up and straight at us so it was a beat all the way to Nisyros.

Greg and I lay out the sunbeds on the trampolines which for me was a first. We were just getting set for a little doze when we noticed that we didn't seem to be going in the right direction??


I went up to the helm to be faced with blank screens and the boat was cruising on manual and being turned by the wind. The girls hadn't noticed so it was a good thing we hadn't dozed off! No rest for the wicked....

We checked all the systems but ended up under the guest bed with that pesky 40amp fuse. Unfortunately, it was not the problem.... right next to it were two relay switches, both making quite a racket and both searing hot. We pulled them out, let them cool and replaced them. Everything came back up but we remained unsettled. Once in port we pulled them out again, cleaned all the contacts and the problem seems to have abated, but will need to be fixed.

Two harbours on Nisyros, this one being Pali and the main ferry harbour, Mandrakion around the corner.

A very safe harbour. We were fortunate that we got there when we did choosing a spot on the mole looking across the water at the town and mountains behind. Beautiful.

No sooner were we set when in they came in droves eventually completely filling the available space and then some.


The port policeman was as efficient and courteous as we've seen in Greece. He asked me to come to his office by 9:00pm which I did and his administration was complete. He wondered why I hadn't filled out a new Crew List in Symi?? "Mate we didn't even see Port Police in Symi." He didn't seem surprised and said I should get it done in Kos, Nisysros was not a port that this could be done.... 22 Euro later, a further 10Euro for the power and water and we were sorted. A good deal really.

This island is famous for this active crater.

Although there were bus loads of tourists, we enjoyed the walk across to the bubbling mud all to ourselves while the hordes were being lectured to up top.

The place wreaks of sulfur a bit like Rotarua in NZ but fascinating and a first for Sal and the kids.

They regretted the fact that they had done school work in the morning as this should have been a 'project'....

And at the very top of the island, a church in the most obscure and difficult place to build one.

All over Greece we have found churches in this type of setting leaving not a clue as to who, why or how they were put there.

Kos - Not quite as planned!

We were assured by another catamaran owner that we would have no chance getting into either Kos harbour or the Kos marina, that we’d have to anchor outside and dingy around. 

As we arrived, there were a number of boats at anchor outside but we sauntered into the amazing circular old harbour in the heart of Kos just to take a look…..

‘The book’ says yachts can go stern to on the wall to the right as you enter the harbour if there is room. Well, there was heaps of room so without delay we dropped anchor and Med moored on the wall. Not quite believing our luck and being a little gun shy these days, we inquired of our new neighbours as to whether we’d be kicked out for any reason? “No, you can stay here for free as long as you want”

We got set took the bikes off and surveyed our new home….. But wait! Over there on the other side, are those power boxes and doesn’t there appear to be heaps of vacant space? 

More enquiring of our neighbours…. “yeah, you can park there but you have to pay.” Well, being the power and water sluts that we are, "c'mon everybody, we’re moving," up came the anchor and across we went.

Picked a nice spot on the wall but as we were about to reverse, out came Mr Wavy Arms…. “You can’t park here, it is reserved, but you can park over there….” Great, we repositioned and parked right at a power and water post, plugged in and we’d just have to go get the bikes later…..

A long walk around the circular harbour, the bikes were duly collected and at around 5:00pm a nice uniformed chap arrived and asked how long we wanted to stay… “Three days, maybe four”…. “THREE DAYS! There is a ferry arriving in 10 minutes and you have to be gone, you can park right across there for free!"

A glance back across the harbour revealed that two more yachts had parked where we had been but there was still room so off we went before anybody else arrived. Anchored reversed and felt a little silly about being right back where we started….. we’ll have to collect the bikes later.

Completely set and very comfortable and a nice uniformed lady arrived to inform us that we were parked in the space reserved for a tripper boat and that we’d have to move along one place….

“OK, we have so far moved three times and on two occasions, someone in a uniform similar to yours has told us to move and where to move to. This was where we were directed and why can’t the tripper boat just park next to us instead of us having to up anchor and move 10 feet?” “This is their spot, look see, here is there sandwich board.” “OK, wouldn't it be easier if we just moved the sandwich board?”….

And along came the company representative who had clearly not had much PR training and she went off like a parrot…. “You park here because you don’t want to pay your taxes!!”.... Huh? Na, we didn't get that one either......

Things escalated…. but we are now seasoned at this and simply but quietly refused to move. The tripper boat circled the harbour…. Parrot from PR   “you are keeping all those people on that boat waiting, don’t you care about that?”… “Yeah, we give a rats….” And it circled….

Nothing for it but to pour and nice cold Vodka and Tonic and watch it all unfold from the helm. The uniformed lady had given up and left, but Parrot from PR would not quit…. The tripper boat finally gave up, quite easily parked alongside and then it all got super comical!

The captain of the tripper boat had obviously informed his 100 or more passengers that the reason for this long delay was us! So now, not only did we have the parrot, we had the entire passenger list abuse us from the the tripper boat as they filed off. From “we’re going to sink your boat” to death stares from minors as their parents made arses of themselves. All we could do was laugh at the whole pantomime….

We went out on the town and gave it a good shake. Greg and I riding one and pulling one got the bikes home at around 2:00am along very crowded pavements. Made it with no mysterious bruises or scrapes but only remembering when we spotted the bikes in the morning.

The next morning I radioed the other side and asked if there was space. To our great surprise, there was and we could come over right away. Imagine that, a reserved space with power and water…. for little old us! 

We’d have to collect the bikes later….

We weighed anchor for the third time in this harbour but half way out to the anchor, the anchor chain snagged on something very solid and ceeeRUNCH!, the boat came to a sickening halt with the bow dipping right down as the chain ripped the front section of the anchor guide right off! The damage was not obvious from above but it was the sound of it that nagged, we got the anchor up and were duly directed into our reserved spot. Once set I decided to take another look at any damage to the bowsprit.

 

I had to get right out over the front to see it, but what I saw was not good at all….. The 8 or so bolts holding the front of the anchor guide up onto the spar had ripped right out, bending a large piece of stainless steel in the process which was now hanging by the bolts at the back.

This was going to be expensive, it was going to take a long time and the boat was going to have to come out of the water……

I spoke to the guy taking care of the wharf and he made a call, “There will be someone at your boat in 10 minutes.” And in 10 minutes there was…. He took a good look and "it was going to be expensive, it was going to take a long time and the boat was going to have to come out of the water…… This is not a part that you find in any chandlery, it will have to be ordered, let me make some calls”

We could sense the Fraser’s sailing holiday with the Wilkinson’s was not going to involve a lot of sailing….

“I've just called the workshop and you will not believe this…. We have a charter yacht, a Lagoon 440 like yours which had the same problem. We have temporarily fixed it for the charter season but we ordered the part and it is sitting in our workshop!”

And clockwork prevailed. We sailed over to the Marina the next morning, the 100 tonne hoist at the ready, we were up and out and on the way to an hotel within minutes. The haul out included a power wash of the hulls and I had told the guys who were to repair the anchor guide that I’d also like them to repair the keel damage and to replace the auto pilot relay switches while they were at it, and I’d like a new layer of anti-fowling seeing we had the boat or of the water.

This was Thursday morning and we would be back in the water and off to Turkey on Saturday morning with all the issues we had with the boat fixed, insurance claim in!

Although we were looking forward to a mini break from the boat, the hotel was just not us. Huge, packed and with buffet meals to feed over 1000 guests in two hours per meal time. It had a nice beach and swimming pools but catered mainly to Russian tourists who, let’s face it, are culturally a little different.

The Starboard Keel damage

Repaired Keel

I spent most of the time at the boat watching the most professional workmanship you could wish for. A very thorough job was made of both the anchor guide and the hull, the anchor guide now being 20% or more stronger than before. The part itself cost 2400 Euro but they discounted this because they’d be left with my bent piece, they could use that and save themselves a bomb. The relay switch repair was free and the whole thing cost 3900odd Euro not including the haul out and bum clean.

So impressed were we that we inquired about and will in all likelihood be wintering the boat in KOS.

A very nice surprise is Kos. Designated cycle tracks everywhere, waterside tavernas, piazzas, cobbled streets and minarets all expanding out around the circular old harbour.

To be enjoyed when we return, as you can imagine, events here somewhat over shadowed our stay.

Sublime Symi and a great start for the Frasers

A short 1.8 nautical miles to Symi harbour from where we were securely anchored we decided to dingy in and see if we could reserve a mooring for a few days.

We found the Port Police guy who simply informed us that there would be space and sent us on our way. Back in the dingy it looked like a mass exodus was underway so we could not get back to the boat fast enough.

Dingy up and we were motoring into the harbour within minutes.




A very friendly port supervisor directed us to an ideal spot on the wall in town and helped with our lines. We plugged in the power and water for the cost of just 8Euros and happiness descended upon the Summer Amy.

We hadn't seen so many catamarans since the start of our trip.... you'll notice, they take up a fair bit of space. No wonder they charge a premium when they do charge.

A truly beautiful town is Symi. Described in 'the book' as "like discovering an exotic plant in the desert," a must if you're headed this way.

A specific architectural design and controlled colour scheme is effective and perfectly suits the setting.

A small enough town to walk around, but also great for the kids on their bikes.

The Frasers made it after being told the previous evening that the ferry was full which meant they'd have to catch the afternoon ferry. It is expensive to burn a whole day when your holiday is finite so they took a chance on a cancellation. When they turned up at 7:00am they were sold a ticket and no mention of the full ferry. Greg was our first customer at the youth hostel we opened in Portugal back in 1981 and we have been great friends meeting in various parts of the world ever since. We got them accommodated and shortly thereafter introduced them to one of the more arduous activities we have to endure..... and here's a picture

We spent a very pleasant couple of days in Symi, sampling the various restaurants and bars. We taxi'd over to Pedi Bay to see what we would have anchored in if the mutiny had been successful.

It would have been manageable although once there it is so beautiful we would probably have stayed and bussed into Symi.

The next destination was open book so we decided to do another couple of Greek Islands before heading into Turkish waters.

The debacle of Rhodes, more rude locals and some high tension on board...

A 10:00am start for the 'last' leg to Rhodes. Huge harbours and marinas, parking should not be a problem. Rhodes is on everybody's bucket list so we were looking forward to getting there, hooking up with the Frasers and checking the place out for as long as it took.

A 10 - 15 knot SW induced the sails to make an appearance and with motors assisting we made good time.... until one of the motors started to play up.

Hmmm... not that much experience with Diesels but the problem had to be fuel. Dirty fuel, water in the fuel, blocked fuel filter... but fuel for sure. Where to start? Hot engine so opened up the access doors to let it cool and we continued on one engine and the sails. Strangely enough we didn't seem to lose any pace ??

Once the engine had cooled and after shutting off the fuel supply it turned out to be quite easy to find the filter and replace it. Got it all sorted, but she wouldn't start? I knew from somewhere in the long gone that when a diesel engine has air in the fuel lines it needs to be bled but nothing in my memory had a clue as to how to do that. Sal asked if there wasn't some sort of pump? Back down the hatch.... what's this black button? pump, pump, pump, try that Sal! Vrooom whew! Who's the freakin genius then? Maneuvering in a big harbour on one engine was not going to be an option.....

Rhodes Harbour loomed, fenders out, lines ready, in we go. There's a good spot. As we position for anchoring a chap with a loud voice and waving arms explains that we can not park here, it is reserved. "Where then?" "Nowhere, you must anchor outside with those other yachts" "We don't want to anchor outside, we want to stay for a while and would like power and water" "Then go to another island!"..... end of dialogue!

"Efharisto".... which means 'thank you' in Greek, but not really what I meant. I made it sound much more like an expletive. The finger probably clarified that intention.

There was another harbour for large yachts... I mean the sorts of boats on which you might see the Murdock's or the Packer's. Not letting a tiny detail like that deter us, we motored past the anchored flotilla and unhappy looking yachts and into said harbour. A neat little gap between a Turkish Kaique and a fire fighting craft just big enough for us to sneak in and no waving arms to be seen.... Anchor, position, reverse and even somebody to take our lines..... we're in! Who are the freakin geniuses now?

Nicely set and planning to provision and clean the boat when a Turkish crew member on our neighboring boat leaned over to inform me that at 5:00pm we must all move to make way for the returning ferry.... Oh. Hold the accolades folks, what time is it and where is that next island?

It was 3:15pm, late and Symi was 22 nautical miles away. Sod it and sod Rhodes, we were out of there.... Unfortunately it meant that the Frasers, who were due the following day from Athens would have another leg of their journey to link up with us. So off we set in a 20 knot SW with sails up and engines running we made for Symi.

A really beautiful town in a picturesque natural harbour we followed a monohull and a catamaran in. We watched them turn full circle and head back out toward us.... not surprisingly at that time of day the harbour was full. Still, there was anchorage space just off the front of the town, the only problem being the depth. The land dropped away from 10 meters right up close to 40 or more meters within a very short distance. We don't like anchoring in anything deeper than 10 meters because if you get snagged, it would be too deep to dive onto and release.


We dropped anchor right up close to the parked fishing boats and tavernas and found ourselves being waved away by the locals.... what is it with eastern Greece? Ignoring them we dropped the pick, but it just slid down the steep slope into the depths as we reversed and failed to bite. We noticed the other late comers all having the same problem and by now the sun had dropped below the horizon.

There is another anchorage called Pedi Bay about 5 nautical miles, or 45 minutes away and we watched as 6 or more yachts hastily made for that. The charts showed that the underwater topography was the same there so we decided go for another closer anchorage in a bay around the corner.

Nearing dark we spot a small beach near a taverna. The bottom rose from 60 meters to 5 in less than 20 meters.

As we go to drop the anchor the female taverna owner, clearly forgetting we may represent custom that evening, aggressively claps her hand as if ejecting a goat from her premises! The anchor fails to bite and slides into the depth.

We move around the bay, more failures and more unwelcoming locals. Tensions rising and mutinous mutterings from the crew eventually has the captain putting his foot down, our only choice at this juncture was to successfully anchor in that bay which we finally do as darkness descended.


We acknowledged that it was more the attitude of the locals, starting in Rhodes that was so unsettling, disappointing and the underlying cause of the tension. We had done more than 50 Miles in biggish winds, we had had engine problems and Sal had done 7 anchor distributions in all. Not the best day so far and it was not over quite yet...

At 3:00am  I am woken by that intuition that develops when living on water. Up on deck I notice we have swung in a light breeze and are almost on top of a little speed boat. Nothing for it but to start the motors, move the boat back to the original position, dig out the other heavy anchor, lug it off the back into 60 meters of water and hope it is enough to hold us against the breeze so I could get some sleep.... it did and I did.

Pigardia to Lindos..... longest leg yet... We think?

By dawn the Meltimi had blown itself out. After having built up quite a distaste for this narky, persistent, tension inducing wind I'd can't say after the previous day's sailing that I wasn't disappointed.... It would have been perfect for our direction once again, although in open seas it may have been a bit rocky until we reached the lee of Rhodes.

So at 8:30 on the 2nd September we got going. The trip was near on 60 nautical miles and even at 8 knots it was going to take 7 - 8 hours

The entrance to Lindos looking South down the coast

By 1:30pm a nice little 15 knot NW blew in so up went the sails. In smooth waters behind Rhodes we kept the engines going and managed 9-10 knots for the rest of the trip.

At 6:00pm we were comfortably anchored in the stunning anchorage that is Lindos. A massive tourist attraction by day, but by the time we got there, all the tripper boats had left, leaving us to share this beautiful setting with only four other yachts.





Under normal circumstances, this would have been a 2 - 3 day stop. Beautifully clean and clear water, inviting tavernas on shore and perfect protection from any wind. Meaning a good night's sleep for yours truly....

Alas, not to be. A South African couple swam out to the boat for a chat and they had extended their stay for those very reasons.

We dingyed ashore for a feed at the most attractive taverna. It had a jetty off the end of a rocky point with a long timber walk way making ou entrance rather special.

On the way in I failed to notice a rusted hole in the mettle steps up to the walk way. After a delicious dinner, kids on a separate table which made it feel like a date with Mum, I missed it once more, left foot into it while momentum kept the rest of me homeward bound....



So now Sal has a problem with her right foot..... and the captain with his left! Instead of me helping Sal into the dingy, it was the other way around, we must have made quite a sight.... and sound! Some ice and strapping and we're all good now.

I thought it is a good time to show you this picture below. I noticed that the Navionics App highlights the areas used and so by shear luck, (but for the spot in the middle), you can clearly see the ground we have covered so far. In the top left corner is the island of Corfu and in the bottom right Karpathos,... Rhodes yet to be highlighted. The red arrow is where the boat was when I discovered this picture.

1200 nautical miles. 200 hours per motor. 50 ports/harbours/marinas/anchorages..... and no talk of divorce or mutiny as yet!

Fry to Pigardia on Karpathos

At 10:15 on the 1st September, the Meltimi still handing it to us we cast off, weighed anchor and whilst inside the main harbour, reefed and raised the mainsail, swung east unfurled the headsail and in no time we were doing 7-8 knots.

The wind was NW and so for the cognoscente among you, that was the perfect direction for our best day's sailing yet.

On the port beam to waypoint 1. Quite rocky but fast. On the port stern quarter to waypoint 2, smooth as and faster, 7 - 9 knots with a little surfing thrown in. On the starboard beam to waypoint 4 in strong winds, but not enough fetch from the shore for the waves to get up, so smooth sailing and even faster.

At 13:40 the sails came down as we turned for the last leg straight into the wind and entered an impressive harbour we had been forewarned that space would be hard to come by, specially for a Cat.

We poked our nose into the main harbour where there seemed to be acres of space but no power or water, kept a note while we investigated the yacht harbour just around the corner.

It was full but for a small jut of quay at the very entrance next to a honking great sport fishing boat, the wind blowing straight into the entrance so mooring would be tricky but power and water right there!





Just as we'd decided it was too hard, the owner of said boat came out and waved us in. OK, so we dropped the anchor at an angle to hold our bow against the wind, there was no chance of the chain being crossed. Reversed straight back letting the wind push us slowly into place. He helped with the lines and after a lot of tying and retying we got set with our arse hanging right off the end of the quay.

No way could they charge us for two boats on this occasion!
.

Turned out they didn't charge us at all....

Pigardia is a pretty town in a classic setting, but I'd have to say that for us it was of no more interest than a brief overnighter. We had two days to get to Rhodes to rendezvous with Greg and Wendy Fraser and still had a long way to go.

We dined, slept and readied for an early start and a long run in potentially big seas up to Lindos, an anchorage about half way up the southern coast of Rhodes island.

Fry - Kasos... What was I saying about those Greeks?

7:45 on the 29th August we cast off. This was our earliest start to date in an attempt to get some water beneath us before the Meltimi arched up.

It made no difference, it was blowing NE, the water was agitated and confused with a swell of sorts hitting us on the port beam the whole way. We had life jackets at the ready but after 15 minutes or so, we'd all settled into the rhythm of it and it became quite enjoyable.



One issue with a beam sea is it requires a lot of input from the auto pilot which is of course, battery powered. Within no time at all we noticed the nav screen flickering. This could be one of two things. Either the fuse that let us down all that way back in Lakka was on the blink, or the batteries were getting too low to cope with the work load. It is nerve wracking when your navigation systems threatens to pop....
I checked the battery reading and sure enough it was low which meant either starting the generator or the engines to provide charge.

Well if you're going to use fuel, it may as well be for propulsion even though we were finally sailing and not motoring, so we motor sailed all the way to Fry.

Fry on Kasos is not touted as your dream destination but we could not complain about the welcome we received.... there was none!

The harbour is a large construction, but in reality there is very little room for small craft, ie; not ferries and the like. The only safe spot is on the left side of that thicker inverted 'T'.

There looked to be a nice big spot on the quay safe from the Meltimi surge until we made for it. We were told by local fishermen, in no uncertain terms, that that spot was for the Kasos Princess and we were directed to our nightmare on the other side of the quay. ie; on the right side of the inverted 'T'

It looked as though the outer mole was sufficient to  protect us, but there was enough water between us and the mole for a substantial and dangerous surge to form, but it did not form until nightfall. Too late to move and the entire night was spent moving fenders and tightening surge lines as the Meltimi built and the resultant surge lifted the boat and slammed it repeatedly against the quay.

We had planned to head off  the next day, but by 4:00am our trusty apps told us that the wind would strengthen, the next port could well be full and lack of sleep leads to bad decision making so we resolved to stay another day but move a boat or two inside the quay to create space and moor there safely until the wind abated.

At first light this procedure got under way and in no time we were in, safe and ready for some serious shut eye. No thanks at all to the locals.

After a nap, we were visited by the owner of the boat that I had carefully moved to make the space and if Arris was out of control in Heraklion, this boy was hysterical! I mean Hysterical! Malaka this malaka that, he went OFF!.... He and his mate made grand gestures in moving the boat to a 'safer' location.... less than a meter back toward us and if I wasn't so pissed off with these locals by now it would have been a good laugh. They finally went away and left us alone.

Now that we had a day and a night to kill in 'armpitville' we decided to hire a car and check the place out.

Well... it was sad really. Clearly there was a time when there was a higher rainfall here but it was as if the place had been cursed. Little churches in the most obscure locations, placed as if to ward off the dark spirits that had inhabited the island. Dry, baron, desolate, rocky and wind swept, why on earth would you live here?


Yet we met people who clearly love the place and others that holiday here every year?

The terraces you see in these shots literally covered these slopes and would have taken enormous effort to construct. We assumed they were once filled with olive trees and it would all have looked so much more inhabitable.

With only a quarter of a tank, we went to get some fuel for a trip to the south of the island but found the only petrol station shut, so, have hire car, go nowhere!

One nice chap we did meet called Joseph, a guy who holidays here every, year told us about 'the other port' so we thought we'd check it out.

If only we had known about this when we arrived! It was perfect, picturesque, clean and safe and to top it off, home to the nicest teverna we'd seen in a  while.

We had a swim, reminisced over a great meal about how different it would all have been if we'd moored here.... and who should turn up for a feed?....
Mr Angry from Kasos who's boat we had moved!

I asked our waiter to take him a bottle of wine. He turned that down for a coke, a broad smile broke out on his face and as with Arris in Heraklion, we became besties.