Back to the Dodecanese

We left early to sail from Pori on Koufonisia to Lipsi on Friday May 26^th

We had a good southwesterly wind, so we motorsailed with the genoa on a beam reach, covering 60 miles in under 8 hours, arriving in Lipsi just before 2. We took the washing to the laundry, did some shopping, had dinner at Manoli’s, collected the washing first thing on Saturday morning and set off to spend a few days chilling on Arki. There was very little wind, but just after we left Lipsi there was thunder and lightning and pouring rain just a few miles away, south of Patmos. It looked as though it was very localized and was moving slowly south eastwards, so we reckoned that we would avoid it, though we put the ipad and our phones in the oven, just in case we got struck by lightning. By the time we had reached the north end of Lipsi the lightning by Patmos had died out, but a much bigger and wider storm opened up about five miles to the east, though it didn’t seem to be getting closer. There was only a little rain and we got a good place on the quay at Arki without any trouble.

Soon after we arrived we went over to see Nikolas and his family. He had come back from Poland at the end of April, but Carolina and the children had stayed because she has opened a second-hand children’s clothes shop and has got a small business grant which means she has to keep it open, so she won’t be out until the middle of June. Christos said that he was counting down the days until he could see his grandchildren – he has made even more model boats for the marina.

We spent five days on Arki, 

walking, swimming, reading, doing a few boat jobs and eating our way through Maria’s menu. The weather was mostly sunny and warm and the sea is warming up so we have been having longer swims, but we had some cloud and one stormy night with a lot of rain, which gave the boat a good wash. Boats came and went – at one point on Sunday we were the only boat there,

but the quay was full by evening every day. We walked to Tiganaki beach at the bottom of the island

and to the Italian fort at the top of the island 

– the island is too small for any long walks! Most of the goats were in the farmyard, climbing up walls

so we only saw a few sheep and stray goats on the walk. No sign of the donkeys.

We left Arki on Thursday, 1^st June, another windless day, and motored down the east coast of Lipsi to anchor in Arkhangelos, where there were about a dozen boats. Boats came and went during the day, including a huge luxury gullet, but only a few people went to eat at Stigma. We rowed over, 

had a beer and a snack at Stigma, 

swam in the afternoon, and went back to Stigma for dinner, a delicious bifteki with a tomato sauce and a moussaka that Georgios had made for the family. The garden at Stigma is increasingly beautiful as they plant more and more flowers and shrubs, which they can water now that Georgios has made a water boat to bring fresh water over.

After all Simon’s vain attempts to fix the anchor light, when we were in Lipsi Lin said as we walked back from dinner, ‘someone has left their anchor light on”. It was ours, which had somehow fixed itself, so we were properly lit at anchor in Arkhangelos.

On Friday we walked up to the summit of Arkhangelos to look for the ruins of the monastery. There were only a few bits of wall and heaps of stones, 

but fantastic views. 

Partheni and the airport

We could see across to Astipalea, Levitha, Kinaros, Dinoussa and Naxos. The walk up was rough and quite steep, so we walked down by going along the ridge and then zigzagging down to the dinghy. For lunch at Stigma we had tourlou, a kind of Greek ratatouille, and fried fish, (Bogue, Gopa in Greek) that we had never had before. Our fish book is rather dismissive of it, but it was beautifully cooked by Georgios. 

On Saturday 3rd June we motored down to Lakki (no wind again - and it is getting hot) and moored in the marina. We said hello to our friends, did some shopping, had a beer and lunch at Poppy's and pottered around. Richard sailed off to Lipsi just as we arrived in Lakki. Frank and his daughter Katy Jane were in the marina with Claus rewiring the boat before they set off for Lipsi (and maybe the Atlantic) on Sunday. In the afternoon we set off to cycle to Pandeli for a swim, but it looked like rain, so we turned back at the top of the hill. 

On Sunday morning we had a longer bike ride to Alinda, 

where we visited Lin's cousin Simon's old acquaintance from their Filoxenia travel company days, Marianna Angelou, who runs a wonderful hotel in Alinda, Arkhontiko Angelou (http://hotel-angelou-leros.com), the restored family mansion, with a beautiful garden. 

Marianna was preparing a delicious coconut cake when we arrived.

We then cycled over to Pandeli for a swim and lunch at Psaropoula, where Leena is now working as a waitress. 

After lunch we cycled back to Lakki.

Lin was very pleased with her achievement, cycling a hilly 10 miles on our grotty IKEA bike. She only got off and walked up the steepest parts of the ride.

Up the hill above Platanos

along Alinda bay

13% hill up from Agia Marina to Platanos