Peace at last!

We left Lipsi on Monday 28 July and motored down to Lakki, where we planned to put Becky, Andrew, Jade and Charlie on the catamaran to Kos to get their flight on Thursday, but the catamaran was fully booked, so we had to change our plans and take them to Kos. In Lakki Becky, Andrew, Jade, Kai and Charlie took a taxi over to Crithoni Paradise for Charlie to swim in the pool with his armbands while Lin and Simon did shopping and clearing up. We got our outboard back at last - it had been waiting for parts - and it stalled almost immediately. The repair people took it back and returned it within an hour - they had cleaned an amazing amount of muck out of the fuel pump, apparently a result of having got seawater in the fuel. They had been reluctant to open the fuel pump before because the diaphragm is so fragile, but did it very carefully and it was OK and the outboard ran perfectly - better than new. On Tuesday all except Kai went back to Crithoni, where Charlie became rather over confident in the pool, took off his armbands and sank. Fortunately Andrew got to him in time to bring him up with a lot of spluttering, but it did not put him off swimming. After lunch Simon took Andrew and Charlie in the dinghy round to Merikhia bay, where Charlie did not want to go in the sea because the waves were a bit big and the shore a bit stony.

On Wednesday 30th we set off for Paleonisos on the East coast of Kalymnos in company with Richard, who was sailing down single handed to pick up his son and grandchildren from Kos. We picked up a mooring buoy and helped Richard pick up his. Andrew and  Charlie went over to Richard's boat to have a look around, and Richard later took Charlie to the shore in his dinghy,

where we joined them to have the most fantastic hamburgers in the beach cafe. Charlie went into the sea with his rubber ring and decided to swim out to the boat on its mooring, about 100 metres away, with Lin and then Simon keeping him company. Having arrived at the boat he decided to swim over to the taverna quay, now against the wind, and then back to the beach. That was still not enough for him - he decided not to come back with us in the dinghy but to swim back with Andrew - a good 300 metres swimming.
We all had dinner in the taverna, on whose mooring buoys we had parked, and set off next morning to motor sail to Kos.

We soon passed Richard, who was sailing down

and went in to Kos marina. Lin and Simon stayed on the boat to do the usual clearing up while the others went to the nearby hotel pool for their last swim.
Becky, Andrew, Jade and Charlie got a taxi to the airport at 5.30 pm and had a smooth flight home, though Becky and Jade had to get up for work at the crack of dawn next day. While Lin went for a long shower, Simon and Kai washed down the boat and we went for a light dinner in the marina cafe.
On Friday August 1st we set off early to go back north. Kai was keen to meet up with Richard's grandchildren. We hadn't managed to make any plans in advance, but we guessed they would be going to Lakki, where we went on the town quay, but they were not there. Having stocked up, tidied up and done the washing we set off next morning in the hunt for Richard. We looked in at Lipsi, but he was not there, and then went on the quay in Arki. A while later we spotted Richard coming round the corner - mission accomplished. Kai had a great time with his grandchildren, doing what kids nowadays do when they are socialising, sitting together, each watching a video or playing a game on his or her tablet.
On Sunday Richard set off for Patmos, but we decided to stay in Arki for another day to rest.