The beach at quarry bay consists of smoothed pebbles of marble, which glisten in the sun. The marble quarry at Fournoi dates to Roman times. There is a huge scar in the hillside were the marble was removed. At night the quarry is lit up, which looks dramatic from the bay, although we were the only people to see it on the day we were there. On the beach are abandoned pieces of marble that were probably ready for shipping. These included parts of ancient columns including capitals, a sarcophagus yet to be hollowed out, corner elements for an architrave and other large blocks of marble. It is difficult to conceive how these large blocks were moved from the beach to ships for transport. In researching about the quarry, it is suggested that the marble was used in buildings at Ephesus in Turkey, which we have visited on previous trips.
After spending two nights at picturesque quarry bay on Fournoi, we were becoming tired of the constant wind gusts that come off the hills. It was time to seek more shelter, so we sailed to the island of Arki. The main harbour is very small, only fitting a maximum of 12 yachts. We have learnt from previous experience that if you are to get a berth, you need to be in the harbour between 10 and 11 am, when boats are leaving. We left quarry bay at 7.30 am and arrived at Arki at 10 am to find a couple of spaces on the quay.
Arki is a sleepy village during the day with the main excitement being the arrival of the ferry. All the locals gather to collect the produce and goods being delivered, everything from bread, fruit and vegetables to step ladders and ironing boards arrive by ferry.
Arki is not overrun by tourists. Apart from visiting yachts and a few people arriving by ferry and staying in a holiday let, the only other tourism is visiting day trip boats from nearby Lispi and Patmos. These boats usually bring a small number of people to spend a couple of hours at the beach or to enjoy lunch at one of the tavernas. By 5.30 the day trip boats have all gone and Arki is left to the locals and the yachties. Life revolves around the harbour front, fishermen are repairing nets, children are kicking a soccer ball, racing bicycles or playing a game of charades and the tavernas become the centre of social interaction.
After spending a couple of relaxing days in the harbour at Arki, we went exploring for somewhere sheltered to spend the night nearby. We picked up a mooring buoy on the nearby island of Marathos. The buoys are put there by the restaurants, we were quite happy to go ashore in the dingy to try one of them as we had not been here before.
We are slowly making our way south through the Eastern Dodecanse islands with the intention of checking out of Greece in about 2 weeks time. As we write this, we have quite a nice afternoon at the south end of Lipsi. It's like being in a giant swimming pool with a sandy bottom and crystal clear water. Mid next week the forecast is for wind gusts of up to 37 kts so will be sheltering in a marina on the island of Leros.
Having almost completed the charter yacht catalogue over the last 25 years, we are fulfilling our long term dream of living the endless summer. In April 2017 we purchased our yacht and plan to spend several months every year in the Med.