The American Connection.
09 September 2015 | Pandeli, Leros
Chris and Francis
We’re waiting in Pythagorion on the Greek island of Samos for our next crew: the American couple Kathy and Charlie arriving today, Monday the 7th of September. So we stayed tied to the quay for today doing a little shopping and getting our laundry done which was picked up and delivered on scooter, great service. Chris spent some time wandering through the local museum checking artefacts and an archaeological dig complete with wells and remnants of a swimming pool. Francis gives Clio a very good fresh-water washing to get the accumulated salt off her decks and hull. Something that hasn’t happened for a while as fresh water is not always available or cheap enough to wash decks with.
Being tied up to the quay has some advantages. One of them is that restaurants are 10 m from our cockpit and that night we indulged ourselves by ordering a pizza from the restaurant right in front of Clio. They delivered to the end of our gang plank (passerelle) and when we finished Francis returned their plate to them. Fabulous service and great pizza.
It is now Friday 4th September, still high-summer, and it is very warm and we decide that anchoring out will be a bit less sweaty. So before Diamondos, the Quay-Master, comes at 8.00 to collect another €10 from us, we moved out into the anchorage just outside to hang around until Monday when our new crew arrives.
The next day, on Saturday 5th September, we take Chloe for a ride around to the Marina to get some bits for Clio from the chandlery. But of course it was siesta time and it closed just when we had tied Cloe to a bolder. On the way back we saw more evidence of refugees with two long inflatable dinghies washed up on the rocks and a number of life jackets dumped where they came ashore. On checking Francis retrieved a couple of new looking ones which we can put to good use instead of them lying on the beaches and being carted off to the dump. There must be so many strewn along the coasts of all these islands where they land. We have also seen a number floating in the water where they have been washed back out to sea after they have discarded them (we hope). That day we also make a small video clip of Cloe and the new 6HP outboard skimping over the surface of the bay, carried on its own bow wave (planning). This is to send to our Dutch friends and dinghy/outboard competitors Rein and Annette, showing we are not rowing a leaky dinghy whilst sitting on a crate anymore.
We moved back onto the quay on Monday morning, the 7th September, and were lucky to get the last available berth in the harbour. An Australian catamaran tried to come in next to us but the only vacant spot apparently belongs to the port police (=Hellenic Coast Guard including police duties in ports) so they were not allowed to tie up. They had to go out and anchor outside, sorry guys. After giving Clio a final wash inside and out Chris walked to the airport to greet Kathy and Charlie. It was only 2.5 kilometres but in the 35 degrees it was a bit of a trek. Luckily on arriving in the arrivals lounge Chris read that the flight was running late so happily settled in and enjoyed the air-conditioning surrounded by a group of very noisy and garrulous Greek taxi drivers also getting refuge from the heat.
We thought they would arrive at 12:30, but as it turned out the plane landed at 13:30. At last Kathy and Charlie had arrived and were transported back to Clio via taxi. After settling in and having been thoroughly briefed on safety and given the grand tour, we headed to the beach to cool off and indulge in a drink by the sea. They brought also beautiful gifts of chocolate, cheese and licorice from the Nether Lands, thanks Ellen! Kathy and Chris then hit the supermarket to stock up on supplies, and some moderately extensive amounts of liquids of all kinds, even some non-alcoholic!
We enjoyed a lovely dinner and then attempted to sleep while the locals and tourists partied with very inclusive sound volumes until the wee hours of the morning.
An early start today, Tuesday 8th September, getting away before 8.00 to save spending another €10 in fees. We head for the island of Lipsi and were lucky to get a nice northerly breeze to push us along. On the way we stopped in Arki (a small island South of Samos) and had a swim and snorkel in the lovely clear blue water of the bay where we had said our goodbyes to Steph and Andy a week earlier. The Arki bay was an underwater flora and fauna delight and one of the most pristine Mediterranean bays Francis had seen in a long time. We got some very nice underwater pictures of a variety of sponges, a couple of red algae with a white ‘exo-skeleton’, and some beautiful ‘decorated wrasses’ (photo bottom-left). As the wind was picking up and we expected some Meltemi-gusts, we postponed the planned lunch and motored the rest of the way to the port of Lipsi.
Before reaching Lipsi we spotted a life jacket floating and moved in closer to investigate and check it was empty. Chris attempted to catch it with the boat hook. As there was a bit of swell and wind this was not easy and Chris and Charlie spent the next 5 minutes or so running around the deck chasing it. In the end Chris gave up and handed the hook to Francis and told him to catch it himself! Which, of course, he did (grrrr!).
When we arrived at the quay the yacht before us slipped into the last available spot inside the port and we had to tie up on the outside of the mole. That is a bit more exposed to the minor swell rolling into the bay, and the less minor swell caused by the ferries. We were the first to tie up there but within an hour that side of the quay was also full, not unusual when high winds are expected. We headed off to show Kathy and Charlie the lovely village and to take them to our favourite patisserie to indulge in delicious gelato (meaning ‘frozen’, derived from Latin). After a swim at the beach we returned to Clio. As it turned out we arrived back just in time. Francis mentioned earlier that he was not convinced that the anchor was holding properly and about five minutes later Clio was swinging her portside towards the quay. We luckily managed to let go of our lines and get the anchor up before any harm was done. We took her a little further out and lowered the anchor this time with more chain to get a better hold. In the meantime a large Turkish gullet had come in on our port side some time earlier and had tied a line across 5 berthing spaces and behind Clio so that it continually chafed on her stern and lifted Clio every time a swell came through.
Francis calmly and politely went across and asked the skipper if he could please move his line 2 metres across to the next cleat to get away from Clio. He bluntly refused and so there ensued some ‘enquiries’ from Chris and Francis asking why he could not do it. No reason was given and he said complain to the port. So Francis spoke to the quay master , who then joined in the yelling at the Turkish shipper. We think he said something like "Turk, move the line or I’ll get the port police." Whatever it was it did the trick and the line was moved in about 30 seconds and all was well again. Lots of excitement to start Kathy and Charlie's trip.
By then it was after 6, so time to enjoy several glasses of wine during the sun-downer . Francis and Charlie went off in search of pizza for our dinner. They scored two excellent pizzas from the local pizzeria and had a great time when it turned out the shop had run out of big take-away boxes and had to construct big ones out of smaller ones. The pizzas were still warm by the time they returned to the two ladies-in-waiting and tasted excellent. The gullet left at 6 the following morning, and we were happy to find that our new dinghy still had air in it.
Wednesday 9th September and we all enjoyed a good night’s sleep, even the less sleep-inclined in our new crew. Today we made our way to Pandeli bay on Leros and again we had up to 20 knots wind pushing us downwind with just our headsail on. Maybe we should just sell our main sail. There is quite a bit of swell from the West, so we think there must be a bit of wind in the Cyclades stirring things up. Even so we made good time to reach Leros by midday.
As we attempted to anchor Chris missed the sandy bottom patches a couple of times, but third time lucky we got the anchor to hold, so we settled down to lunch and a lazy afternoon. Our not-so-new-anymore crew is settling in very well and take wholeheartedly part in strenuous activities such as napping, swimming, reading and even enjoying sun-down activities involving wine, chippies, cheese and olives. They are a very adaptive and pleasant bunch!