On Friday we had a nice wee sail back 21 miles to Kos marina. Diane helmed most of the way.

 

I told Diane we had an option of dropping her off by rubber dinghy nearer the airport at Kardamena or hiring a scooter and taking her on the back.

She wasn’t impressed  at being:

“ Put ashore in a rowing boat or hanging on the back of a scooter, after all everyone back home thinks i’m here in the lap of luxury”

After chilling on the boat we headed out for our last meal of her wee break.

   

Bye Bye until next time

The next day we headed back to Nisiros. We had got up at silly o clock 05:30 to let Diane see the dawn at sea but it was overcast ! Lucky white heather eh?

We arrived back and berthed next to Rob who we had met on our 1st visit a few days before.

 

Diane managed to attract Noel , a Belgian who took it upon himself to help in every boat that arrived . He either cycled round on his bike in his swimmers  or got his dinghy out . Rob reckoned he did it in  the hope of a bottle of wine etc as payment. It gave rise to a new saying  “Doing a Noel” He was well smitten by Miss Diane, and having figured out she was unattached, kept giving her the eye.

That night we booked a table at Ellenis restaurant in Palon. Noel wasn’t invited, lol.

    

Nisiros is famous for having a live volcano. It appeared in James Bond’s Moonraker.

“Tell M little Nelliie’s met with a warm resshepsion” said Sean.

We hired a car to see the volcano and tour the island, little did we now we were going to have a Bond adventure as well. We were the only ones at the crater early in the morning, In the last 3 pics you can just see Louise & Diane in the middle of the volcano.

        

We then went to Nikia a UNESCO heritage site for coffees and a view of the volcano we had been down into earlier.

    

The lunch stop was in Emborios having 1st visted a geothermal fissure in a cave which was like a natural sauna.

The taverna we ate in was one of the best mezes we have ever had and the view from the hill top village was magnificent down the valley to the volcano.

       

After lunch the adventure really took off . We hadn’t intended off roading but that’s what happened . We took a track which seemed to head down to the coast but it just kept getting smaller and steeper, whre Diane got out to clear the rocks and “ Throwing the discuss” .Eventually we were sliding down cinders and the car was up to its bonnet in them. We were stuck half way down a mountain track. We tried to reverse the car out, push the car out, but the wheels just kept spinning and burrowing deeper. Eventually we decided no option but to continue downwards! It was steeper and hairpin after hairpin on these slippery cinders. We managed some how to edge the car out and Louise ran ahead while I drove the car. I couldn’t even feather the brakes. After what seems like an eternity we hit a “better” road – if you imagine a really bad Forresrty Commission track you won’t be  to far wrong. By now the disk brakes where solid with cinders and the pads were whining like jet engines. It was a brand new car!!

 

Diane rock clearing and throwing the discuss.

We limped back into Palon turning heads all the way and explained we were having a bit of trouble with our brakes. The people were lovely told us not to worry it would be easily fixed. We all felt really bad.

Later that afternoon we drove the 4 Km to Mandraki the main town but it was spoiled a bit by our earlier adventure and the damage we had caused not to mention the embarrasment of driving  a squealing machine.

         

Giving up for the day we returned to Palon & gave the car back. Time for a beer.

We arrived in Kos Marina mid afternoon and Miss Diane was arriving later that night about 9:00 PM.

We were much impressed with her luggage as she was only allowed 6 kilos carry on allowance and no hold baggage. She managed 3 pairs of shoes in it as well ,lol.

We decided just to eat locally that night and head into Kos Town the next day

  

1st night taverna.

Breakfast on board and then a walk into Kos Town to explore. We visited  the old Hammam, Socrates Plane Tree, saw the damage caused by last year’s earth quake, the old town.

             

Lunch was a massive Gyros in the old town just off the harbour

  

And so to bed

We had booked Kos Marina for the 25th to meet Diane, but the marina is notoriously hard to get into as it is a charter base and very busy, especially at the weekend. So we headed from Nisos (Island) Tilos to Nisos Nisiros. A lot of “os’s” around the Aegean. It was only 18 miles but a very nice sail with full Main and Genoa , a rare occurrence.

We didn’t do much exploring as we thought we might come back this way once we picked Diane up.

So we spent a few days just chilling on the boat & at the nearby beach at Palon Harbour.

 

And on the Monday we headed over to Kos.

Well, it’s good to be on the move again, this time we’re going to the island of Tilos about 42 miles away, so an early start of 06.30. Tilos lies between Nisiros and Khalki and is kind of off the beaten track.

We anchored off in the north of the island in Ormos  Playiou, a quiet little place with not much going on.

   

So, next morning we decided to head round to Ormos Livadhi which is the main village and has a bit more going on. However, it was “full at the inn” when we got there the little harbour’s was full so we anchored out in the bay. We were not happy with the holding so we beetled back round to the bay we were in the night before.

Next morning we went ashore and as we thought, not much happening in this small village, a cafe bar and one taverna which was kind of on the end of the owners house. Anyway, we jumped on the bus which gave us a wee tour of the island and took us round to Livadhi. While buying some bread we met an English couple who were in the harbour and were leaving the next morning so we though we’d try our luck next day. Bingo! we got in, tucked in nicely at the far end. Just as well,we were badly needing water. So once filled up and plugged into the shore power we headed out for a nosey around.

         

Nice place, long pebble beach lined with small pensions, tavernas and quiet bars. We did notice there were a lot of Brits there which I thought strange as it is not a particularly large island and I wouldn’t have thought that well known. Anyway, it’s a lovely wee place and perfect for chilling for a few days. We found a nice restaurant, I think called Michalis’ and a couple of very good Giros Tavernas which kept us satiated while we were there.

       

The island has a lot of cats on it which reminded us of our wee Tiger in Kalamata. One in particular took to lying on the dock in front of our boat. Not sure if it was us it took a shine to or Gordons flip flops.

 

We’ve been liasing with Diane and we were hoping Harry and her would make it out for a visit.  We are close to Kos which has a marina and would be fine to lay up there for a week and have some time with them. Unfortunately, accommodation is limited for Harry so he’s staying at home and Diane is coming out for four or five days on 26 June. Next time Harry!      

We left Ios at dawn for Astipalaia which was about fifty-four miles.

   

We managed about four hours of good sailing, the wind was coming and going so had to motor sail the biggest chunk of the passage, hey-ho. Approaching Skala the wind got up round the cape and we had a bit of a race with another yacht, as it turned out he went into one of the bays just before Skala making the whole race a waste of time, but adding a bit of excitement.

Entering the harbour there was a fair wind blowing making the stern too mooring very difficult with the cross wind. Didn’t help that another yacht, which was lying across the bows of some boats at the other end of the harbour was screaming something at us as I was dropping the anchor leaving us wondering if there was some reason we shouldn’t be going in where we were. As it turns out, he was seemingly asking us if we had a long line to tow him off the other boats. Why wait till we had dropped the anchor?? Duh?? Anyway, we got in beside a nice French couple and were tucked up safely watching the antics of others mooring with the cross wind.

 

Skala is a lovely place, all wee sugar cube houses rising up the hillside to the Chora and the castle at the top. The architecture is very typical of the Cyclades albeit we have now left the Cyclades and are in the Dodecanese Islands. There is no charge for the harbour or the electricity but they charge ten Euros for the water which unfortunately was limited to one hundred and fifty litres per boat. They haven’t had rain for two years and the water is very scarce. Camira was looking decidedly grubby as this has been the case in a few places and she hasn’t been washed since Milos which was nearly a month ago.

        

While in Skala we hired a moped for a couple of days to see a bit of the island. It’s a volcanic island and very beige as I would say, no vegetation and to be honest not a particularly pretty island but it does have some beautiful bays for anchoring in. We more or less did the island on day one of the moped, getting to most places except Panormous which we followed the signs for on both days but just seemed to run out of road. I don’t think there is actually a place called Panormous or if there is, we certainly didn’t find it. The other place we almost got to was Vathi until the road ran out and turned to dirt track and was really hard going, so we passed and just took some pictures from a distance.

         

We stopped for lunch in Skinhouda, the bay immediately East of Maltezana and ended up in a fantastic tavern doing the usual Greek food but with just a bit of difference, attention to detail as they say. We decided there and then we would come and anchor in the bay and go for dinner one night. 

     

While we had the moped we went up to the Chora and visited the castle and had a meander around. Some quite dangerous drop offs.

               

Day two of the moped we just used it for a bit of shopping to stock up and for a trip to the beach which we don’t actually do very often.

Wherever we go, Camira is the smallest boat; however it has never been as obvious as it was while we were in Skala. After the French people left we moved into their spot which was next to a sixty foot yacht and gave us good cover from the prevailing winds and then a seventy-six foot Grand Banks motor boat came in at the other side of us. We looked like the tender to either one of them, so much so, a couple came round and asked us if we were not feeling just a bit overwhelmed. It was quite funny looking.

 

When a big boat comes in my inquisitiveness gets the better of me and I like to find out who the people are. I sat for about three hours one night waiting to see who was on the Grand Banks but they never came out. Probably knew there was some nosey bint on the wee boat next to them just dying to strike up a conversation. As it turns out, we did get talking to the “boy”, gosh he was only about twenty something, it was his family’s boat and he and his wife were out on it for four months, The boat is actually up for sale just now, a cool 2.6 million Euros. The guy, George, was really nice, we exchanged flags, we got an All Blacks flag, brand new and he got our old Saltire which was hanging in shreds but he was really chuffed with it. Unfortunately they were leaving that day but we have an invite on for a beer if we bump into each other again……What shall I wear???? 

  

We left Skala on 10 June and headed round to Ormos Skinhouda for four days and for dinner in the lovely tavern, which didn’t disappoint. It took us three goes at setting the anchor which is unusual for us, the Rocna has been a great anchor and usually sets first time. However, once in it set fine and we enjoyed our four days swimming, eating and relaxing. We enjoyed Astipalaia, as I said, not the prettiest island but we enjoyed it very much and Skala is a lovely place to visit.

            

Looks like the Meltemi is about to start blowing. This is a bit unusual at this time of year, it’s not really meant to start blowing so strong until July.  There were a few Islands in between where we left and Ios that we would have liked to visit, but with the wind about to start we were looking for a safe place to hold up.

Ios is claimed to be the burial place of Homer, on a voyage from Samos to Athens the old blind bard died and his body was thrown overboard and washed up on Ios where the sea buried him on the beach. His body is now meant to be  buried on the slopes of Mt Pirgos in the middle of the island.  This is not Ios only notable thing. It is a very popular island with young people and backpacker hippy types…….who like to sunbath nude, so much so that there is a sign painted on a cliff saying “clothes  are prohibited” Just our sort of place, Ha ha ha  ha!

A bit Monty Python eh?

Actually, Port Ios and the Chora were very nice, and out of season it was very quiet. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the port quay, it was horrendous! The wash from the ferries was positively dangerous and you had to be pulled so far off the quay it mad it difficult getting on and off the boat. However, we had one night in here to stock up on water, food and the essentials of life. Thank goodness we did!

We made our way to Manganari Bay on the south of Ios to take shelter from the Meltemi for what we thought was going to be four or five days…….twelve! A lovely bay with great holding on a clear sandy bottom. Thank goodness, we had general winds of about 20-30 knots with gusts from between 35- 47 knots, being one of the highest we managed to record, but in actual fact, think some were higher.

  

Anyway, we managed to get ashore a few times to the two tavernas.

We even thought at one point there was a shop somewhere in the small village there. However, that turned out to be a mis translation between Greek and English, I think the lady thought we were asking where the taverna was. Here was me, armed with my shopping list and two rucksacs, what a disappointment! But the Cafe Fredo was good.

       

By day eight the supplies were running very low, in fact we were at the end of our wine, except for the wee sneaky bottle I had forgotten about (Editor’s Note: “ Forgotten”  – My Arse) and we also managed to buy a litre at the taverna. We only did this once as they were charging 9 euros for what you can buy in the supermarket for 3 euros. Our water tank only takes 120 litres so we have plastic containers that we had filled as well giving us another 75 litres, but for twelve days thats not a huge amount, but we did manage. Food was another thing. I normally stock up for three or four days re fresh foods like  meat  and veg etc. again because we only have a small fridge. Can I say, if we don’t see pasta again for a while it will be too soon. But it does go to show you what you can stretch basic store cupboard things to, although I wouldn’t like to have to do it too often.(Editor’s Note: Mama Mia me neither!) 

We did have a brief interlude of hope – a large charter yacht arrived and I sent a tongue in cheek message to their agent on line ( charter prices start at £120,000 minimum per week!) requesting supplies if their chef could see his way to sending over a red cross parcel, unfortunately it seemed to fall on deaf ears. No Krystal or Caviar this time.

On our last night in the Bay, we decided to go to one of the tavernas for dinner. We used to take the dinghy to the nearest cove and walk along to the taverna. On our return the wind had whipped up and let me just say, there was no paddeling necessary, we careered back to the boat using the oars for steerage only. Not one of our better plans but we mad it safely back anyway.