Off to Pythagorion – In Theory

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Samos was our next stop, and once again took up Garry and Marti’s recommendation to stop at Pythagorion. So after summing up the square of the two shorter sides and finding that they equaled the sum of the longer side of the right triangle – as well as exhausting all the other bad jokes about Pythagoras – off we went to Samos, where the subject of my appalling sense of humour lived a long, long time ago.

Our somewhat cunning plan was to put La Mischief in a marina and catch a ferry across to Turkey so we could see Ephasus and Pamukkale. Great idea in theory but for the fact that the ferry wasn’t running on the day we needed it to run because of a lack of paying customers.

So time for Plan B, which was to enjoy Samos for a few days, get a new water pump and a float switch for the bilge pump (as my second electronic float switch had now stopped working – two years after the first had failed). I’m now very much a fan of the old fashioned Rule float switches.

But first, a drive around the island, checking out all the beaches and sites. After an early morning swim, we checked out Samos Town (Vathi) and picked up some boat parts and checked out the old town. Glad we chose Pythgorion over Samos Town.

The drive round Samos is 155km, so makes for a good day. We were recommended a great little village called Manodates (where cars don’t get a look in) up in the mountains for lunch. The road up passed through sub tropical rain forest and on certain sections we were glad we didn’t encounter any oncoming traffic. The lunch was really nice, the home made wine not so. After some more beaches and swimming, we pulled into see what was left of the ancient ruins of Ireon, and the Temple of Hera. Unfortunately there is only one column remaining – but still worth a look.

Next day it was boat repair day. Whilst the others went exploring/relaxing on hired beach chairs, Dee and I got to work. First step was to ride into town on the foldable bike and pick up a new Sureflow pump (less than half the price of my Jabsco) and a new bilge float switch. There was another Aussie boat on the same marina pier and Melinda kindly offered her husband Dave to come and help. The fittings for the Sureflow were quite different, so back on the bike and into town to see what I could do. Wasn’t all that lucky and tried to butcher something up but it didn’t work. So in with the old one with Plan #3 to get it fixed in Kusadasi.

After Mojito’s on La Mischief with Dave, Melinda and a young Pommie guy called Ash (sorry Ash if you read this – Dee deleted your friend request by mistake and can’t find it) who was crew on a Jenneau 57 and was turning 20 alone. After drinks on La Mischief we e walked the kilometre into town to celebrate Ash’s birthday and you guessed it – another round of Mojitos (and dinner).

We’d checked out of Greece the night before, so it was an early 6am start to sail to Kusadasi in Turkey.

For photos of Samos see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10203935477420214.1073741967.1620379103&type=1&l=d20872d876

Arki – Greek for Very Cute little Village.

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After the cushion overboard episode and a quick swim, we decided we would live with turning on and off the water pump manually and headed north to our planned first stop in Arki. With the Northerly well and truly set in, we motored all the way, up the east side of Leros, past Lipsi and onto the wall at Arki. Garry and Marti had given us a hot tip for a restaurant at Arki, and we managed to tie up side on to the small wall.

What a cute little spot Arki turned up to be. You’d be lucky to find 30 people living permanently on the island, and rumour has it that they are all related. It was a great place for a swim straight off the back of the boat and by now Dee and I were back in the groove and swimming 30-40 mins a time.

After the swim we headed up to the Church of Metamorfosis, up on top of the hill outside of the small village. We took in the views and headed back to the boat for some more quite delicious French Red and Bubbles if I remember correctly.

Then it was off to our recommended restaurant (the one ending in 1956), for some very delicious Greek food. We were struggling with ordering the right amount of food and once again managed to over order – but not to worry, La Mischief was only a 50m crawl across the small square.

Weather Reporting for Dummies
Weather Reporting for Dummies

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Cute Little Arki
Cute Little Arki
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June 2015 – The Adventure Continues On

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With Dee and I back in Greece, and a serious lack of blogging going on (due to numerous excuses I have to say), its well and truly time to fire up the blog and let you poor folk shivering away in the Australian winter know just how good cruising around the Med is. We got to Greece in early June, spent a couple of days recuperating in a seaside hotel close to the airport, before hopping on the plane to Leros with our five heavy bags full of boat parts and half a blow up windsurfer/SUP (as Emirates decided I couldn’t bring the sail section).

In Leros it was not all fun and cocktails. Before the play comes the work. In no time at all I had Dee scrubbing the decks, removing the effects of a Saharan red mud rainstorm. We worked through a long list of boat jobs – 60 odd jobs in total. Dale had reconditioned one of our shower sump pumps and machined up some latch locks so we gratefully fitted those. It took us a little longer than we thought to work our way through our list. After a week and a bit, the day before Kim and Jane were arriving, La Mischief was looking pretty darn good (to quote George of the Jungle) and we were getting closer to finishing when, bugger me, the fresh water pump’s pressure sensor refused to play ball!!

Never mind, it was out to the airport to pick up Kim and Jane at 7.30am (ouch) in our hire car, and we finally gave ourselves a break and spent a day being tourist – breakfast at Skippers (at the marina), lunch on Pateli Beach, looking up at the castle, a quick drink at The View to guess what, check out the view, and then back to Ostria for dinner, an old favorite. In between, I organized for someone to look at my pump, and for some fibre-glassing work to be done.

In Leros we also found time to socialize with the other yachties – a great past time given the stories and information they have. We had drinks on a Seawind 1160 from the USA and Dee keenly did the grand tour to see what Camelot was like. Also ran into a couple of Australians in Garry and Marti – Garry being the guy who set up the original Cruising Helmsman magazine and his wife.

Next day, it was time to pick up Tiki and Scott to bring us up to the full compliment of crew. Of course we needed to check out another restaurant and as the request was for live music and seafood, we headed to the Pateli Beach Bar. Logistics were somewhat of an issue, but with three slim girls and some slow and steady driving, we managed to deliver 6 people to the restaurant in the hire car. Certainly not OH and S compliant.

Being the weekend it was impossible to order a new pump until Monday, so we decided we would cruise down to Kalymnos for a couple of days, until the pump was ordered and delivered from Athens. We headed for Emporios on the NW side, and had a great reach down in 20kts of breeze, before making our way into the bay and picking up a restaurant mooring. Emporios was a cool little spot, with sugar white houses set against a pebble beach with crystal clear water. Out came the two SUPs and much swimming and paddling was done. Tiki and Scott had arrived from France with a suitcase full of wine (and a few clothes), making our pre-dinner drinks on the front of the boat a very delightful occasion.

Dinner was according to the restaurant name written on the mooring ball, so off we went in our dingy to Artistico Café, just off the beach under some tamarisk trees. The name suggested music, as did the posters and photos, and George the proprietor did not let us down with an impromptu jam session with House of the Rising Sun being the highlight.

After a windy night, we got up to find one of our front cushions blown away, due to a combination of some good French wine being spilt the night before and us forgetting to re-attach the cushion to the boat following the cleanup exercise. So off in the dingy to comb the shoreline to no avail. Meanwhile Kim had gone for a swim and a beachcomb and heroically returned with a somewhat damp cushion. Disaster averted.

Now that we were finally on the water, we’d decided that we would push on with our dodgy water pump rather than going back to Leros for a new one. So then it was off to Arki.

For photos of Leros see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202129610274664.1073741933.1620379103&type=1&l=9feb07d97f (includes photos from last year as well)

For photos of Kalymnos see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202129600234413.1073741932.1620379103&type=1&l=e7ee7e7a6b (ditto about last years photos)

Too Late for the Party

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Ios is known as a party island, but by the time we got there in mid-September it was well and truly starting to wind down.

We arrived and parked in a beautiful bay called Ormos Milopotamou in incredibly crystal clear water – the visibility was awesome. We could just about see the anchor 40m away from the boat. Best viz we’ve had so far.

Safely anchored, we snorkelled into shore and had a look around. The bars and nightclubs that were going full tilt in July and August were now in their death-throws come mid-September.

With names like “Farout”, the bars were out to attract the young crowd. Ios attracts a lot of young Australians and there was quite a bit of evidence of this with Ozzie flags and paraphernalia scattered around.

It was great that it was uncrowded – I don’t think it would have been good in the middle of the seasons with lots of drunken Australians. We took advantage of the uncrowded beach and pulled up a couple of beach chairs and had a cocktail as we watched the sun go down.

Next day, we motored the short distance around to the main port, where for a change we picked up laid lines rather than dropping our anchor.

Our cunning plan was to leave the boat in Ios and catch a ferry across to Santorini. This plan was (luckily) foiled when we discovered all the early and late ferries were fully booked.

Instead we high tailed it up to the chora, in our case by foot (the rest of the crew took the bus) up some nice stairs. The chora is pretty cool, packed with bars, restaurants and shops as well as some archetypal Greek churches perched high up with great views.

We decided to designate it dancing night as surely there would be some great bars to go dancing in. This was in fact the case but all the bars were dead, bereft of people. This didn’t however stop Dee who managed to dance despite the empty dance floors.

Next day was Dockers vs Port and after a mixup in times we decided we needed to high tail it to Santorini and watch it there.

 

For our photos of Ios, see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200527878912381.1073741903.1620379103&type=1&l=8aee168a64

A Hidden Gem of an Island

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It was thanks to a nice lady in Siros (who fixed my watchband for free), who said we must go to Folegandros, that we ended up here.

We arrived after a long sail with geneker pulling us along nicely. The wall is quite small but we found a spot and did the usual anchor out the front and back tied to the wall with the gangplank out the back.

Later that evening two Greek guys from Samos, Dimitri and Christos, pulled up beside us in their motor boat, a traditional Greek fishing boat that had been fitted out for cruising. I helped them tie up and in return they gave us a gigantic bottle of wine. I suggested they come on board and help us drink it. We had a great night with them, first on La Mischief and later on their boat. It was interesting to get their perspective on the Greek crisis and life on Samos. We left them when they hopped on a bus up to the Chora, somewhere they had specifically come back to go to.

The Chora was indeed the highlight of the island. It’s perched on the side of a cliff face, a sort of mini Santorini. Still further up the cliff is a church, with a wonderful meandering path up to it. To get the best possible view, you climb on top of the church to look down onto the Chora. Great spot for sunset.

The Chora is an oasis of shady trees on an otherwise barren island. Its largely enclosed in a medieval kastro dating back to the 13th century, a tangle of narrow streets spanned by low archways bursting with colourful bougainvillea and hibiscus against the backdrop of white houses and blue frames.

The whole chora comes alive at night, lit up beautifully with restaurants and little shops. Perfect place to stop and eat Greek food at one of the many restaurants.

Next day we went to hire some scooters but got turned away because of a lack of international drivers license. Uh??? They did however rent us a car, so off we went to explore the island. We drove up and down the entire island, stopping off at a number of the beaches, which were delightful. It didn’t take long. We nearly got stuck driving up a steep road from one in a thoroughly gutless front wheel drive car but somehow managed to get enough grip to keep going. We also went back and explored the chora during daytime.

Next day we said goodbye to Folegandros – a real hidden gem of an island – as it was off to Ios.

For photos of Folegandros see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202316501586830&type=1&l=76ea69b34f

Venus De Milo Territory

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Mylos sounded interesting so we penciled it in. It’s where a farmer dug up the Venus de Milo a few years ago. Most of her is in the Louvre in Paris, except for her arms that disappeared following an altercation between the Sultan’s Governor and the French, who had a brief skirmish over her.

It was a 50nm sail/motor from Naxos and as it was late in the day, we decided to anchor in a bay on the east side of Kimolos, a neighbouring island. We anchored in just enough sunsight to have a swim before darkness descended.

Next morning we had a blustery sail in a southerly – something of a change from the regular nor-westers. Made our original choice of anchorages very suspect so we just kept on going through the mini cruising area enclosed by Milos, Kimolos and Poliagos where Rod had suggested there was a number of attractive well sheltered anchorages. The wind of cause then swung round on the nose as we cruised up the north coast of Milos. We had a look at anchoring off a small island with a cave half way towards the turnoff to Ormos Milou, the sunken crater at the centre of Milos. Instead we kept going to Adamas, the main port in Milos and pulled up on the wall. It wasn’t very crowded so finding a spot was easy.

Adamas was pretty low key so we caught a bus up to Plaka and wandered up to the very top where there is an old Frankish castle with some amazing views. The old town with its lovely lane ways was nice to wander around as well.

The next day was a big one. We left early(ish) to make sure we had time to visit Kleftiko, an amazing spot on the south-west tip of Milos, not to be missed under any circumstances. We anchored off and lowered the dingy and went exploring the white cliffs, swim throughs and caves. A spectacular coastline, not missed by the tour boats that started to arrive in droves. Our cunning plan to get there early worked a treat as we beat most (but not all) of the tour boats.

We parked the dingy up on the beach and snorkelled through a few of the caves, which was fun.

Then it was back to La Mischief and off to Folegandros.

For photos of Milos see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202307079871293&type=1&l=0457340ee6.

Sand Between our Toes on the Beaches of Naxos

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The thing about Naxos is that the longer you stay, the more it grows on you. It’s the largest island of the Cylades and is the most fertile so lots of local produce.

We sailed past the marble arch on Nisos Apollonas and then rocked up to the small private marina in Naxos harbour and luckily found a berth. It’s a lot smaller than I remembered it, so it pays to get there early.

Deanne was keen to find a plate breaking Greek dancing restaurant and we hit gold in Naxos. They even poured a bit of fuel on the (concrete) floor and started dancing around that. We were very impressed.

The rest of our time in Naxos was spent wandering the small streets of the old city, especially beautiful at night with all the small shops and bars lit up, swimming at a couple of delightful beaches close to town, and sunset cocktails on Agia Anna, a beautiful sandy beach at the south end of town that’s not to be missed. It’s a tough life. Mt Zeus at 1000m is also the tallest peak in the Cyclades making a spectacular backdrop to our stay in the Hora.

In between we did a few boat jobs just to make sure we didn’t get too lazy. We also took on diesel from a truck that backed onto the pier – lot easier than going to a separate fuel jetty – although the downside is that you can’t use a credit card.

For photos of Naxos see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202275524122419&type=1&l=4b2fbf64e2

 

There’s Paros and then there’s Antiparos

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We needed to get to Paros a few days earlier than planned because of an imminent meltemi. Geez…how many times have I written “meltemi” in these recent blogs. At least I know how to spell it. And according to the Greeks its been a mild summers when it comes to meltemis.

We had a nice run under Geneker, two-thirds of the way across until the wind blew up and turned on our nose a bit at the end. The kite surfers were having a great time as the wind hit 30kts, just off Paros.

The wall at Paroikia in Paros was chockers so we anchored out off the beach. Wasn’t too bad. The bottom was a bit weedy but the anchor dug in and we deployed the fortress as a second anchor as well.

Then it was off to explore the town. The backstreets were similar to Mykonos but without the crowds. It was a very pretty place with a Frankish castle in the middle and a church dating back to the 4th century – how old is that. Wow.

We found some nice restaurants and had the obligatory drink at the pirate bar.

Next day we hired a car and drove around the island. First stop was Butterfly Valley, which definitely lived up to its name. Then we set off for Aliki where Kevin and Di were anchored up. We eventually found them and there friends holed up in a restaurant (where else) and we had a great chat and a beer or two. I’d stayed with Kevin in Sydney earlier in the year but hadn’t seen Di since the Balearics last year. A good but brief catch-up as we both had different cruising plans.

Our next stop was Naousa, which is also a pretty port and old fishing village on the north coast – a nice old town to wander around. We tried to call into Moriatis Winery – the winery that makes the aptly named “Meltemi” wine – but it was closed. So then it was back to the boat to check on the real meltemi.

Next morning it was off to the airport to pick up Dale and Karen. My form with picking up friends is at rock bottom and it didn’t get any better. The anointed flight arrived on time and everyone got off but no Dale and Karen. Ah! Checked phone and emails but nothing. It turned out that Dale coundn’t get any reception at Athens airport so had no way to let us know that they had missed their connection. In the end we correctly guessed that they would be on the next flight – and they were. Phew!!!

Despite being tired, they were keen to do some sightseeing, so off we went in our hire car and got on a short ferry ride across to Antiparos. It was a lesson in boat handling as the ferry captain went onto the quay without an anchor out the front, side on to the meltemi screaming down the channel.

Antiparos was very cutesy and we had a great lunch at a typical Greek tavern, with the octopus drying out the front, before driving down to the nice bay at the bottom.

With Dale and Karen fading fast, we did a quick wander around town, before heading back to the boat.

We new crew on board, we had to present ourselves to the Port Police, to get a new crew list stamped. This time, they wanted everyone in attendance and the young police officer was most particular. Previously in Greece, a couple of us had dealt with the formalities, leaving everyone else back on the boat.

One more day was spent checking out Paroikia, waiting for the Meltemi to blow itself out, before we sailing north-east to Ormos Ay Ioannou. Rod describes this bay as idyllic, with sun-baked rock eroded into wonderful shapes and clear turquoise water. I have to say – Rod nailed it. We spent a couple of days here, relaxing and swimming, tucked into the bay beautifully – the joys of having a cat.

We even managed a dingy ride over to Naousa to show the rest of the crew.

On the second night, we got our first bit of rain since we relaunched La Mischief in June. A novelty as a thunderstorm went over.

With boat freshly washed, we pulled anchored and headed to Paros’ near neighbour and twin – Naxos.

For photos of Paros please see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202245508492047&type=1&l=c2396cd14a

Thermal Delights.

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Another short 20nm hop and we were in Loutra, a very cute little town on the West coast. Kithnos is Greek for Thermal Island and we were intrigued to see the hot thermal hot springs on this island.

King Otto, Greece’s first King, built an institute there to make use of the thermal hot springs. Its pretty run down so we satisfied ourselves with the rock pool at the far end of the beach, which the hot springs run into.

The town is very small, nothing much there except for a group of restaurants that line the water. The wall is really small so our plan to leave early and get there early worked a treat. And it was 6 euro for the night including water and electricity – bargain.

Next day we left for Ormos Kolona (Sand Bar Bay) – a place I’d visited last year – but this year it was buzzing with boats and people swimming and sunning themselves off the sandbar that separates two bays and provides a stunning backdrop, with yachts in both bays. We spent a couple of days there, with two lines ashore waiting out another (short) meltemi. The water was exquisite and the view from the restaurant looking down the sandbar superb. I was nice to chill out for a few days.

With the Meltemi over, it was time to head south to Sefinos and then to Paros.

We got to Sefinos early, but not early another to get a spot on the very small wall. So we decided to anchor off the beach, which turned out to be a good option as it was a very nice sandy beach. As you sail into Livadhi, Serifos’ main town, you are struck by the beauty of the Chora, with its gleaming white houses, on the hill behind it. The walk up there is a must do at sunset, all the way to the blue and white church on the very top of the 585m hill. The habour views are once again spectacular.

Sefinos was where we said goodbye to Karin who was off back to Uraguay. The number of women on board had dwindled down to 2!

Next stop was Paros to pick up Dale and Karen, where the boy/girl ratio would tip a bit more in my favour.

For photos of Kithnos see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202245510652101&type=1&l=6cf6b6dd79.

For photos of Serifos see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202245505931983&type=1&l=e4fedcf001.

Back to Reality

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It was good to see the end of the meltemi and continue our Cyclades adventure. Our cunning plan was to head West to Syros and on as far as Kithnos and then head south to Serifos and then back to Paros to pick up Dale and Karen. Then to Naxos and then head South West to Mylos before island hopping to Ios, where we will catch a ferry to Santorini for a few days. Then back East to Rhodes and finally to Leros where we will put La Mischief on the hard for the winter.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Leaving Mykonos, we headed for Syros – 20nm away. We had a beautiful sail across and headed to Ermoupolis, the capital of the Cyclades. We pulled up to the wall stern to, right next to some fellow Aussies in Ric and Helve on Tangaroa. The wall is somewhat challenging with large ferries coming and going, creating large wakes that threaten to push you onto the wall. Gangplank management in the order of the day. But the plus side is the vibe created by all the restaurants, metres from La Mischief – great for people watching.

Ermoupolis was a great town. In the age of the steam ship it was a very powerful and important town and you can still see lots of mansions with exquisite wrought iron lining the streets. Some are still magnificent, some are abandoned shells of houses.

The streets are lined with marble, the old town is a delight to wander through and the granite rocks that form the breakwater could make a thousand brilliant kitchen benchtops.

The town is the largest in the Cyclades and has a couple of big churches, one Catholic and the other Greek Orthodox. We took a short sunset taxi ride up to a wonderful town up on the hill, Ano Syros with winding narrow lanes and whitewashed houses, then walked down back to the boat. It was originally a medieval Catholic settlement and still boasts a wonderful 13th century church.

With our dose of town life over, with its obligatory visit to the boat shop and supermarkets, it was off to explore the island. We headed across its Northern top and down o a nice little bay called Ormos Grammata for a lunchtime swim. It was too narrow for a nighttime anchorage so we kept going south to Ormos Kini, where we were reunited with Ric and Helve, who had circumnavigated the other way.

They had to re-anchor as they had just discovered a large uncharted rock right in the middle of the bay. Wow – not on charts and not in Rod. Beware.

After an Aussie restaurant night, and another day of enjoying the bay and the cute town it was off west to Kithnos.

For photos of Syros see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202204249620601.1073741937.1620379103&type=1&l=87ebed591f