After the naming ceremony we needed to check out of Leros, the crazy part of sailing here in Greece is that every port we go into and out of requires a check-in and then a check-out (because we are a non EU vessel), Who is on the boat (passports required), registration papers, insurance papers, transit log showing where we were and then report where we are going. So much paperwork and all manual and normally conducted by either the coast guard or port police so every check in/out seems to differ slightly on their requirements, the main thing that is consistent seems to be have you paid your cruising tax which is about 120 Euros a month. We ventured over to Lakki where the main port is on Leros and checked out after spending a rolly sleep in the harbour.
Our next planned stop Kos, but we decided that a stop at Kaliminos island we found a cove with some fish farms on either side and because It was gusting hard so we never ventured ashore. A dip off the back of the boat resulted in Jacqui throwing me a line so I didn’t get swept away.
Our attempt to get into Kos harbour from there resulted in us going around to the south side of the island to a small bay outside of the Agios Fokos beach resort. We had tried to get into the Kos marina. We tried the VHF call to the marina and he said no problem meet you outside. Never showed up. Tried calling them and he said call back in ten minutes. No contact. Yea, so we said screw this and headed to the south side knowing we needed to be in a safe anchorage for the afternoon as the meltemi winds were kicking in . Anchorage was good, but it was blowing hard and we got stuck there for 4 days. couldn’t even get ashore in our small dinghy. After a few days the wind died down enough that we ventured in and caught a taxi into Kos port so we could check in with the port police and get the transit log stamped and checked out at the same time to save us another trip back there, we managed to figure out the bus for the trip back. The anchorage at Agios Fokos was very nice. And of course a swim off the back of the boat most days was the highlight for exercise whilst we were stuck there, needless to say some boat chores took priority for those days.
We noticed that things were starting to get a little hazy from the smoke from Turkey fires so decided to head to Rhodes next and checked out letting them know that we were heading to Tilos first and then Rhodes. Quick stop at Tilos and next morning decided we wanted to have a look at Symi before going to Rhodes. Did a drive by and found the anchorage very crowded so headed directly to Rhodes harbour. Found out that Symi is where all the tours go from Rhodes for the day. During all this time we had been experimenting with the sails, making sure that everything was working okay. Had a little difficulty with the furling main. Sail is old and stretched and when it doesn’t go in the mast correctly it can get bunched and does not come out properly.
Our look at the harbour at Rhodes told us that it was going to be very busy. We anchored outside of the marina because we were to check in the next day. Not a bad anchorage, a little rolly but we were secure. And of course a swim off the back of the boat.
Went to the marina the next day and had a few challenges with the stern-to berthing. Managed to get it all done with a LOT of help from the marina dock “assistants”. I had never experienced the stern-to berthing so was absolutely no help. After watching what was happening I hope that I will be much better at it. We spent 4 nights there and went in to see the old-town and castle. People actually still live in it and it looks as if it is part of the 14th century. Amazing!
Walked a lot! Rented a car for one day to stock up. Found the Ikea shop that is an on-line delivery pick up store. And a store that is just like the Aldi’s in Australia called Lidl.
Next stop Lindos! Lindos was another ancient town with the narrow streets and the Acropolis of Lindos. This was almost exactly like the Acropolis in Athens only slightly smaller. So much history!
From Lindos we headed to Karpathos and found a nice anchorage at Amoopi bay. Blowing hard but settled down and had a few days there. Went ashore for a wander around, stock up with water. The issue here in Greece is that the water from the taps in not potable so there is so much bottled water and of course the plastic bottles to deal with but with it being so hot and litres of water we were drinking we were constantly looking to replenish the drinking water stock. Had a few swims off he back of the boat. Took the dinghy in closer to the shore and snorkelled around the rocks.
After a couple of days set off for the island of Kasos just before hopping over to Crete. It was blowing hard so we had decided on no sails until we assessed more what was happening. Well … the wind picked up and it was close to 60 knots coming down off the island. We needed to find some shelter before the canopy completely ripped, so headed for a cove called Helatros and anchored still in 50+ knots of wind but luckily it was a very sheltered and secluded area where we could stay for a night. Wind finally settled down so we made the dash to Crete, ended up motoring a lot of the way because the wind died off and the angle to make it around the Cape was a bit tight to sail. Came into a town called Sitias and we have now been here a week +.
Sitias is a great little place with lots of holidayers that like to party till 6 in the morning as we experienced our first night. After the partiers left then the early morning swimmers came out or it could have been the partiers but I doubt that. We spent a week here with the plan to move around to Agios Nikolaos to the marina and pick up Shelley from Heraklion airport on Tuesday but again due to the weather conditions decided to rent a car and do some sightseeing and airport pick up from Sitia.
We headed to visit Toplou Monastery then Katos Zakros for lunch which was beautiful, the next day we picked up Shelley who arrived with no incidents … yeah! and whilst we had the car for one more day decided to hike the Chocholakies Gorge to a secluded beach for the day, great hike on a hot day and well deserved swim as reward.
One thing we are learning fast as much as we want the weather to cooperate to our schedule we now have to change our schedule to cooperate with this crazy weather pattern we are experiencing, extremely high winds doing all kinds of weird stuff close to land, big swells and rolly seas and always in the wrong direction…. what do you do….!!!!!! They are calling it the LOCAL EFFECT!
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