On a flat calm day it was an hour’s motor across to Kos Town Harbour, Mandraki. I had to dodge a big Greek ferry at the entrance – there was no way he was giving way, though I’m getting quite used to it all now.

Despite not having a shower block Louise manages as usual to scrub up well using Camira’s external washing facilities, lol.

More importantly for her is the supply of electricity that allows her to dry & straighten her hair and as you can see the result is very nice.

Yes….. We were headed out to eat yet again!

We introduced Nicolas to a taverna we had been at the previous year with Diane when she visited us. We must have left an impression as the woman in the Taverna squealed with recognition when we turned up!

As usual it was busy, a very deservedly popular restaurant.

Evening views of Mandraki & Kos town:  you can see wee Camira in the third picture above.

Although undeniably touristy we like Kos.  We spent Friday & Saturday wandering about and of course stocking up for the rest of the trip.

Unfortunately this involves the dreaded enforced supermarket visit, so frequent Ouzo stops were required to anaesthetise the unfortunate attendee.

The next destination was to be the island of Nisiros and we planned to leave on Sunday.

As I said in the previous post Louise & I had a holiday in Kalymnos a while back, in a place called Kantoni I think or something very like it. We used to go into the main town some nights to the harbour and I remember a friendly old Greek man with impeccable manners who insisted on giving us pistachio nuts – it’s stayed with me all these years.

Anyhow from the very same harbour we used to get a wee boat that took us for the day to, what was then, a  deserted beach with from memory a couple of tavernas. It turns out that beach is on Pserimos – it’s now a small village over the hill from where we are anchored and we reckon we can find a path up and over to visit it.

But first, how about this for an anchorage – it’s now crowded we don’t have it to ourselves ! – Nicolas’s yacht and a day tripper have arrived scandalous !

Blue just blue and more blue ……………

We set off up over the hill with our bag of rubbish and down past farms and goats to the other side. It was quite a walk about an hour. We did recognise the place when we got there but has inevitably grown with bigger more organized trips arriving from Kos now, as well as Kalymnos. I imagine when allowed again it will also be joined by boats from Turkey. It’s still unspoiled though and when the trippers leave I imagine it’s just the way its always been. I think the villagers must appreciate the income but equally also appreciate when we all leave.

Up up and over…. its a hard old country to eke out a living from the land.

The village and beach now

 and ………. having had a beer it was time to head back passed goats heads , skins and the live versions too

At the top. In the distance is Turkey …..  or as I called it the Orc armies in tents at the foot of Mount Doom.

More boats had arrived in our absence

The next planned stop had been Kos Marina for showers and stocking up etc but the Marina was bunged full of charter boats so we couldn’t book a place. We arranged to meet up with Nicolas who had also been turned away and was now in Mandraki Harbour in KOS town.

He kindly booked us a space so that was our next passage planned for tomorrow.

The plan today, Saturday 19^th Sept was to head south to the island of Kalymnos, but the weather wasn’t favourable so we sheltered in Xerocampos in the south of Leros.

We had been here before and used the buoys put out by the taverna owners, but now they had all been lifted as a result of an incident with a boat that had been left long term and the Swiss or German owners had gone home. It had parted / dragged from the buoy it was on and had caused damage to itself and other boats, so as a consequence the Hellenic Coastguard ordered that all the buoys be lifted.

It was now only possible to anchor. But Greece being Greece I imagine the buoys will be back in place sometime soon!

The original planned route was direct to  Chk Flag/ No. 5

We ended up spending two nights in Xerocampus (3)

On Monday morning with Lily lodged in the Stak Pak –the bag that holds the sails when you are not using them we set off for Kalymnos.

Louise & I had been here on holiday a while back and really liked it but unfortunately it doesn’t lend itself to sailing or rather berthing. It is a large lump of granite for the most part with little shelter except in the main port of Pothia , which as I say we loved , but not with the boat!  Alternatively an anchorage on the west side Emborious which is where we are headed now looked favourable – just need to shift the cat to get the sails up ! If there’s wind ?

Chk Flag after way-point No. 5 is our ultimate destination today

It didn’t happen. After a nice motor through dramatic scenery for 6 miles or so we managed to pick up a buoy in Emborious bay. Nicolas being on his own finds this more problematic so once we were secure I swam over to his boat and helped him – it was worth it got a cold beer in payment!

Well yes – we are eating again! at the beach taverna.

You can see it’s getting quite a bit busier now –this tends to happen the closer you get to the main charter base of Kos and in addition the large number of boats based in Leros.

Emborious beach taverna & it seems my nephew is successfully branching out with his “Paradise” franchise in Greece.

It was a rolly old night & just plain uncomfortable so we cut short our plans to stay and the next day headed off south to Vlichadia a little inlet at the bottom of the island.

Planned passage for the day Chk flag after way-point No.7

Pictures from the passage numbers (3) to (5) between Telendos & Kalymnos. The villages on both sides look lovely.

It was 12 miles down to Ormos (Bay) Vlichadia where Nicolas had managed to anchor already. There was another , looked like semi-permanent boat also moored, so it was proving difficult for us to find a suitable spot in shallow enough water. After half an hour and five attempts we gave up trying and decided to head the further twelve miles to the small island of Pserimos.

Now 12 miles is nothing in your car but at 15:00 in the afternoon, bilin’ and thinking you had finished for the day and looking forwards to a cold beer it certainly saps your resolve to keep going for another two hours. I bet your hearts bleed for us !

However sometimes the fickle Poseidon can be just that & he gave us a lovely downwind sail for the rest of the afternoon to Pserimos.

Nice downwind passage for the afternoon

At roughly way-point (1) a Greek Day Tripper heading back to Kos came speeding past us.  It reminded us so much of holidays gone by . They were having a fab time and stopped all their dancing to shout over and take pics of us and especially Lily who was a big hit , lol. Wish I had thought sooner for the picture it would’ve been  cracker – we could almost touch them !

Day trippers having fun

At 17:00 we dropped the hook in a lovely empty bay on Pserimos. It is now definitely beer o clock.

Well the first part of our intended journey south was to retrace our steps backwards again. On the Friday 11^th September ( Mr Balmer would not approve – leaving on a Friday) we set off heading to Lipsi, clearing the east side of Agathanisi this time. From the log I note it was the usual confused lumpy sea, which settles down in the lee of the island and onwards. It was 31 miles or so back to Katsidia bay, which was now full, presumably for the loud Friday night club night until 04:00 so around to old faithful Lipsi bay (3) and anchored just of the chapel, a lovely spot.

On Saturday we went into Lipsi harbour (4) and had dinner in Manolis Tastes, a great taverna with a fantastic chef of that name. He was catering for a Greek wedding that night so Louise & I with others  were out in the little alleyways/ street which just added to the experience. We vowed to come back on our return journey

Sunday & Monday we moved to anchor in Kouloura Bay (Chk Flg 7), still on Lipsi. This is a little harder to navigate because of rocks but again a sweet spot, strangely we have no photos – that’s a first .

Route from Samos to Lipsi

From Kouloura we sailed the short 11 miles across to Leros and anchored in Plakouti Bay on the NE corner. It took us a couple of times to get the anchor properly set , but again a nice setting. Is there ever anything but in Greece ?

Waypoints to Leros

Plakouti Bay Leros & old faithfull Avon Dinghy just about hanging in there !

On Thursday 17th September we walked into Aghia Marina. Well we started to walk and a Greek guy in a big 4×4 stopped and gave us a lift , probably thought we were mad.

Plakouti Bay in the background and the walk in to Alindi & Aghios Marina

Aghia Marina is the main port with the usual assortment of port shops , tavernas & ferry connections.

Pictures of Ahgios Marina

After the usual supermarket stock up however, we spotted a rather nice looking restaurant and decided on lunch. Well, it was a bit posh, with very very expensive (but good) wine & food – and there we were flip flops, stringy tops and baseball caps. Ah well.

Views from Mylos’ Taverna

Some random bloke & too much wine

After the gourmet meal it was returning via the local bus to the boats at Plakouti. Ah well back to slumming it , lol.

Its now Friday 18th Sept and we are motoring around to Lakki. This was one of our first stops in the Aegean and at one point we had considered  wintering here and, we might do yet one year.

We anchored in the bay just off the town, things were now beginning to get a wee bit busier with more boats at anchor here. We visited the marina for prices etc and also to show Nicolas the little taverna near the marina that sells half chickens barbecued on a spit with chips and wine all for a tenner . I love it and the guy is Cretan into the bargain.

Drinks in the Marina Bar before visiting the Cretan Restaurant

Our Leros “holiday” over we were heading south to Kalymnos in the morning.

Well our attempts, or should I say Louise’s attempts to find us winter accommodation was looking dodgy. We had managed to find a house in Alindi on Leros but the roll up costs were going to be quite significant once you took water and electricity and Leros Marina charges into account, so it looked like we would winter in Samos Marina and not be able to take the boat out like I would have preferred, but that’s life, queue Esther Ranzen.

In previous years we had hired a scooter for two or three days and we had already visited quite a lot of Samos Island, Nicolas however hadn’t, so we arranged to hire a car for the day. Sara & Brian (fellow sailors) had recommended a taverna right at the western end of Samos. There were in fact two virtually side by side. One was run by a priest and the other by a wee lady.

They are in a village called Drakei you can see on the map and are at the end of the line (road).

We travelled from Pythagorio along the north road through Karlovassi . It is the second largest population of the island and the commercial centre of Western Samos. It consists of 5 districts Paleo (Old), Neo (New), Mesaio (Middle), Karlovasi and the newer Ormos (Bay) and Limani (Port) of which the 1^st three were separate communities until 1950.

Paleo Karlovasi, the old town and Tambakika are were the old tannery industry was sited and now preserves elements of the local traditional architecture. Since 2002 it has been made an area of special natural beauty with many restrictions on construction and repair.

Karlovasi suffered a lot of damage in the recent 7R earthquake that hit Samos on 30^th October 2020 (of that more later !)

On arriving at the village for lunch we firstly walked past the two tavernas to decide which one to visit, the Pardre was out of the 1^st one like a shot to entice us in but we kept walking saying we were visiting the rest of the village (such as it was) and might return. Next door was the alternative eatery.

On balance we preferred the look of the 2^nd and  additionally the fact that C19 seemed to be rife in the church congregations due to the lack of protection & social distancing. “The Virgin Mary likes to see your face when you are praying” was a quote of a priest who had been recently fined for holding services, we decide on the latter.

Well the padre was livid and he stomped away muttering to himself, unfortunately we would have to pass his on the way back to the car, lol.

Just about to run the gauntlet

The eager taverna owners waiting to pounce in the distance

The padre has just stomped off out of shot . I wonder what neighbour relations are like and is she allowed in his church ?

Nicolas’s take on the proceedings

It was a long drive for lunch but enjoyable all the same.

There was an unexpected surprise when we returned the car at the end of the day.

The Dutch lady who ran the car hire office had possibly found us a winter house for rent. She arranged for us to visit her Dutch friend’s house there and then and et voila we had a winter billet arranged from November until end of March …….Eureka!

That sorted we were free to sail where we wanted for the rest of the season unencumbered with house rental searching.

Back in Pythagorio celebrations on Syeni on the eve before we set off again.

Yamas

The remainder of August saw us meandering around the Dodecanese.

When we left Patmos there was a period of extremely high winds forecast so we headed back to Lipsi to wait them out. We stayed one night in the harbour to provision up,then moved out into the bay across from the chapel for some respite as the night in the harbour had not been very comfortable ,a lot of snatching, and little sleep.

Then finally the next day around to Kouloura Bay on the south until the winds had blown themselves out. In the end we had eight days on anchor in Lipsi.

What was left of the Greek courtesy flag after the winds

A short 6 mile hop then followed to Archangel, a little island to the north of Leros. We had not anchored here before but had seen it on passing so fancied giving it a try. Happily there was a taverna ashore. It’s quite a beautiful anchorage and the views back across the channel to Leros are reminiscent of Scotland.

The Anchorage at Archangel evening & morning with Leros in the distance

Heading ashore via drinks on Syeni and views from the Taverna into the empty bay

Camira at anchor in the morning, Archangel

The next tranche of house hunting was beckoning so we heading back to Samos by way of old faithful, Blue Bay on Arki, It was hot & humid so the clear waters were very welcoming.

Blue Bay, Arki

We stayed a couple of nights.  One morning we woke up to a big Turkish Gulet that had arrived in the night and parked just behind us which in turn brought a fast Greek Coastguard rib armed to the teeth to investigate. They gave us a cursory once over too but nothing more than that.

We had been “out” now for quite a while the need of a good clean up, both for us & the boat was required, so the last passage back to  Pythagorio, Samos was the plan.  After a very lumpy 27 miles we berthed just before 17:00 outside Gregory’s  Bar in the harbour.

Lily as usual helped with her usual noisy arrival antics and shot off as soon as her door was opened and the passarelle deployed, No doubt glad to be on terra firma I suppose after a long stint on the boat.

Aw c’mon let me aff pleeeeeeeeze !

All cleaned up and out for dinner , Pythagorio

Before leaving Patmos altogether we sailed around to Ormos Grikos an alternative anchorage that we have never stayed in as the holding is not great and the water very deep.

It is said that John the Theologian lived in exile on Patmos in the 1^st century AD and to have received the revelation of God in the cave of the apocalypse hereabouts.

 

Ormos Grikos

Also an equally famous horse and donkey whisperer is known to frequent these parts dolling out carrots to the animals without losing his fingers on his morning trip into Scala for a coffee

Morning walk into Scala

Given our lack of progress in securing a winter billet we intended hanging about this part of the Aegean and continue trying to get something to rent in Samos or Leros.

We have covered off Patmos in previous year’s blogs so I won’t include too many pictures of the anchorages, lovely though they may be. So more rather our meanderings ashore.

We shuttled between Kyma, Ay Georgious & Livhadia bays for about a week. They are marked in that order on the chartlet.

Kyma is just wee inlet that you can anchor across from a very chic taverna that plays jazz and is visited by tourists staying in Scala Patmos the main town. It’s like us watching them watching us. You are so close you can almost see what they are eating.

When the boat swings the other way you are quite close to the taverna Ready to head into town for the evening

Kyma also has the advantage of being able to either walk into Patmos town or , as we did this year motoring round in Nicolas’s new Hondwave dinghy.

Don’t think our old AVON would make the trip , lol more patches than Desperate Dan after a shave

Now one of my favourites when visiting Patmos is the pizza restaurant that I insist we visit. This year however Louise & Nicolas on returning from shopping advised me it was shut due to covid. I was sorely disappointed and only after letting me suffer for another couple of hours told me they were joking,  I was like a dog with two tails .

Pizza here we come

The bay marked 1 is Ay Georgiou’s and is the most remote and has only a beach taverna and a little church on a hill. When the visitors disappear at night you can only hear the goats. It is very beautiful and especially so this year again due to the lack of other boats

Nothing to do but chill , bliss

Livadhia Bay (chequered Flag) is more commercialized but still nice, having a taverna ashore and a taxi service into Patmos Town. Normally we head in late morning for our supermarket trip followed by lunch before returning to our boats in the late afternoon.

 

Patmos & Scala Patmos in particular is a bit more chic than other Greek Islands, it’s always nice to spend some time ashore here

It may seem like it but we are not out on the town every night. Louise is a dab hand with the limited cooking facilities and space on the boat and rustles up some great dishes.

Last night we chilled after negotiating a deal with the George & Barbara a Scots couple I had met in Lesvos Marina when Louise was back home. They had a inflatable paddle board that they were selling and Louise has always fancied one, so we bought it from them. That’s their boat in the moonlight – a lovely big Bowman.

George & Barbara’s Bowman

Now momentarily jumping back to today. It’s April 2021 and the paddle board has been sold on to Lorraine & Paul as the Camira crew’s back is too knackered to let her continue with her paddle boarding. It’s currently sitting all packed up in the corner of our porch at the moment awaiting delivery to them.

Bloody nuisance anyway & guess who had to blow it up

Next day we trekked back in to Lipsi town to do a bit of exploring and of course lunch. We found a taverna hidden away owned by a (French) Belgian with Nicolas being French we automatically gravitated there.

I see from the log today is another wee 16 mile hop across to Lipsi.

The wind is a forecast at 18 + knots from the northwest, so we were expecting a nice sail. We left at 10:40 and at 11:00 with the main & foresail set the wind died, so it was an engine job for three quarters of an hour until it picked up again, funny weather this season!

The last time we visited Lipsi we anchored in the main bay across from the chapel then moved into the town harbour after a few days. This time we thought we would try anchoring in one of the two bays to the south east of the main town. One is called Kouloura and the other Katsadia, the latter is our destination today.

There are a fair few rocks around Lipsi so a bit of care is required . Near the point 1 above a boat hit rocks and sank so we normally keep outside the 20 metre mark as long as we can. You then turn in at a passage between the land and an island , just beyond that is your spot to anchor. Again we are lucky because normally this area is teeming with boats and the last time we didn’t even try to enter here.

 The anchorage in Katsidia Bay

Just beyond the rocks in the distance there is a small jetty and beach which houses a popular taverna. We did visit it one night and Charles Dance was there. I think he is a really good actor but my word if he was chocolate he would eat himself. He held court at the next table with his partner and another couple,but they didn’t get a word in! In the end I think I understand why the wee fella shot him on the bog in Game of Thrones. Still rate him though as a luvvie!

 Someone else rich and famous in front of said taverna 

There are some nice houses scattered here abouts would be nice eh ? …dream on  Gordon …..

Waste disposal duty before heading up the hill and into town to the bakery

The views back towards the anchorage and into Lipsi town itself

Blue as only blue can be seen in Greece

One of Louise’s admirers on the walk in

Arrival at the bakery for coffees

And as it is prmarily a shopping trip some fortification is required prior so a visit to the local Ouzeri is necessary no ?

The little taverna at the end of the harbour and views of the town.

Laden with shopping its the bus back to Kapsidia

If you want fresh fish or local honey a wee local fishing boat visits you each morning but he knows how to charge that’s for sure !

Nicolas being ripped off , lol

Never mind a bit of anaesthetic and all is well again