So one month to the day after returning to Turkey we chucked the work duds and set sail on June 3 heading straight for a favorite anchorage of ours - Lakki harbor on the island of Leros. It was a bit of odd sailing that day (and continues to be) as we have no mainsail. Shockingly, after having sent it to the Sailmaker back in Didm for some minor repairs, he discovered that the material was totally deteriorated. He'd never seen anything like it, as the sail appeared in good shape, but you could easily just tear it with your fingers. Well, "boat" does stand for "break out another thousand", so we'll return to Didim in a couple of weeks to retrieve the new main they're making for us. Thankfully, our other sails are in great shape.
Our excitement, though, for getting to Lakki was that we had been in touch with pals Rachel and Oli on "Sunday Morning", whom we had met just last year and really wanted to reconnect with. We had a great reunion over dinner at a quayside Greek tavern in Lakki town - smiles all around - and will spend the next week or so with them, before they return to Germany, having just sold their boat - but another is certainly in their future.
Back at Lakki, then, the next day we buddy boated with Rachel and Oli up to Bleflouti Bay on the north end of Leros for some super strolls and views of our anchored boats in the bay. (Oh, ok, they beat us, but remember we didn't have a mainsail!) An unusual switch of the winds to southerly gave us a couple of excellent nights at anchor and then we scooted north to the next island, another favorite called Lipsi. Anchored off the brightly painted "Dilaila" tavern in the southernmost bay, we shared a great dinner and then, back aboard Sangaris, we fired up a Mexican Train (dominoes) contest (oh, OK, Oli won).