Wednesday 2 September: Refugees, giant octopus, monster sharks and goodbyes

Saturday 29th August: 0n arriving back last night from dinner in Skala, Patmos, we found a note from our neighbours saying they think our anchor line maybe over theirs and as they were leaving at 8.45 in the morning could we be sure to be there to help if needed. So we responded with a note, no problem.
So, this morning we bought in the gangplank and readied Clio in case we needed to go out to untangle. Before the Polish crew left they had an altercation with the fuel delivery guy for an unusually long time, lots of yelling followed in Greek and Polish and we have no idea what that was all about. When they let go of one of their land lines, their boat quickly moved towards ours, indicating that their chain was not going straight out from their bow but under at an angle across our bow, and consequently under our anchor chain as we arrived after them last night. Eventually they headed out and sure enough our anchor chain was over theirs. They did not attempt to lift our chain which is the normal procedure, but sat there blowing their foghorn at us and telling us to come out and fix it. So we moved out with Clio and Chris raised our chain and Francis was able to lift their anchor with our trip line and disentangle us. Meanwhile there was a large motor boat trying to squeeze in between us to moor at the berth we just vacated. We called to the Polish skipper to come closer to us to release some of the tension to allow Francis to retrieve our chain-lifting hook, but he refused and we had no choice but to let our hook go with his anchor. He very quickly motored away while Chris tried to bring up our anchor so that we could go back in to tie up. But we soon realised that in moving around and helping the Polish boat our anchor had got caught under the anchor of a very large motor boat and it was not going to budge.

Luckily for us a young Turkish guy could see from his boat on the quay what was happening and came out in his dinghy to help us. After much jiggling of the chain and getting the stink boat to raise and lower his chain and Chris being told by the Turkish guy, "lady up, lady down, lady up etc., we were free at last and minus one €35 hook. Skipper was not impressed and we hope we don't run into the Polish crew again in our travels.

After all the drama that started the day, Gary and Sue set off to explore the Monastery and windmills of Patmos. Meantime Clio's water supply was replenished by the very friendly Dimitrios, our Australian born and raised water man. He told us that he had also had an encounter with the Polish crew who had asked him to be at the quay at 6.00 that morning, which for the Greek equals ‘middle of the night’. He arrived at 6.00 am only for them to say ‘oh no, we don't want water we want fuel’. So we were not the only ones happy to see the back of them.

After Sue and Gary returned from their explorations of the grotto where St John got his inspiration to write the book of the Apocalypse (maybe a tip for Stephen King?) and the Patmos Monastery (convincingly disguised as a castle), we enjoyed lunch on Clio's deck and then headed out to anchor in lovely Yeoryios Bay (with the beautifully layered shore) for the night. Cloe and the new outboard showed that we had made the right choice, as well as Andy’s excellent suggestion of the little anchor on an 8m shock (elastic) cord is proving to be working perfectly, allowing us to stretch it to get on land and release it to keep Cloe in deeper water. The dynamic duo ferried us quickly and dry ashore to the taverna for a simple but nourishing meal and the exquisite views over the bay. To top off that evening’s treats, we watched a big orange full moon come up over the hills, magic.

Another perfect day sailing as we headed to Arki on Sunday 30th August,. Clio cruised along at a nice 8 knots with helmsman Gary at the wheel. Arki is just a very little village around a very little quay (room for about 6 boats),at the end of a dogleg bay, consisting of a couple of restaurants, as far as we could see. We tied up to the quay and after lunch an enterprising Sue went exploring while the rest of the lazy crew dozed in the afternoon heat. Sue discovered a small pool at one side of the quay with 20 or so little handmade model boats of all kinds (e.g. fishing, war, coaster), anchored to the bottom with fishing line all made by one of the locals.

As it was a bit hot on the very well protected quay of Arki, we decided to head back out and go across the bay to Marathi (with the over-charging hippie in the bar up the hill) to tie up to a mooring buoy. The water temperature fell from 27 to 24° due to the strong Meltemi brining up the deeper cold waters, so that afternoon we had a very refreshing swim and snorkel, followed by Chris’ famous veggie bake for dinner and movie night, showing ‘Mediterraneo’, a 1991 movie showing the Greek (Mediterranean) way to gently deal with a group of occupying Italian soldiers. Very enjoyable to watch while bobbing in a Greek bay.

Monday 31st August, and we’ll have breakfast (top-middle photo) at the pirate’s restaurant from which buoy we’ve been swinging all night, and a swim before we make our way to Agathonisi. The swim resulted in our first monster shark sighting in the Meds: a small (and dead) pretty little dog fish (top-left photo). After saying hi and bye to Andy and Steph on the way, at their anchorage just off Arki, in the most crystal clear water you can imagine. Another perfect sailing day for our guests (top-left and bottom left photos) and us, as Clio scooted along at 8 knots in a 18 kts wind for most of the way. We pulled into the little fishing port at Agathonisi and tied up stern to on the quay (carful, the rudder will hit the bottom if you come too close). Sadly the tiny village is again overrun with refugees who come across from the Turkish coast in up to 6m inflatable dinghies which they puncture after landing (see example photo left of octopussy) to make sure they can’t be sent back in it. They land on the other side of Agathonisi island, then walk over the hills for two hours to get to the port. There are so many young children and babies, it is heartbreaking to see. There was a family sat on the quay in front of Clio with three young girls. Chris and Sue bought some cookies to give to them. The saddest thing I have ever seen was the haunted look in these young girls eyes. Later in the day Chris and Sue spoke to some of the young men and wished them good luck, they were very polite and grateful for our well wishes, we just wish we could do more.

Gary has taken to the buoyant, high salinity, water and enjoys a swim with Francis to have a look at the local underwater and under rocks wild life. On our way back, Gary spots a young little octopus and Francis races back to the boat to get the U/W camera. We had a bit of a play with the little fellow (or lass) and 5 minutes of octopus video (bottom right photo). Very exiting!

Good to see this group of about 80 people safely transported away on a ferry in the evening, hopefully headed to a better and safer future somewhere in still prosperous Northern Europe. As there are many young people and young families making up the groups we’ve seen so far, this may be a blessing in disguise for the receiving countries with quickly aging populations.

Tonight Gary and Sue made dinner: a delicious zucchini and cheese slice from the oven, a great salad and very tasty peeled figs with honey, nutmeg and yoghurt. The recipes will be eternalized in the Clio cook book, so we can enjoy their culinary inheritance long after they have left us.

Tuesday 1 September, and we wake this morning only to see that yesterday's group of refugees have been replaced by yet another group of desperate people and still the Greeks and some of the tourists do what they can to help. A bit more tender approach than the Ozzie way.

We need to move on today as Sue and Gary will be leaving us tomorrow afternoon in Samos to catch their boat back to Turkey for more holidays and sightseeing. We motored away from Aganothisi and make our way to our final stop in this trip on Samos. Not a lot of wind today but, just enough to unfurl the head sail and gently cruise along 4 kts in 8 kts wind.

On arrival in Samos, it was time for the girls to indulge in some shopping after a feast of gyros for lunch in the restaurant 10 m from Clio’s stern. For dinner we went up into the back streets of this touristy place and found a very popular restaurant with the locals and enjoyed a 3-course meal of delicious Greek fare.

Sue and Gary explored Pythagorion this morning (Wednesday 2 September) with some of the obligatory photos of the Pythagoras statue, while Clio's decks got a good wash. It is so nice to be salt free even just for a little while. At 4.00 it was time to say goodbye to our good friends (bottom centre) as they make their way back to Turkey for the last leg of their holiday. Thanks for being such great crew Sue and Gary, and we hope you enjoyed Greece, the Dodecanese islands we visited, and Clio’s hospitality. We’ll see you back in Oz.