Our northern tour - part one

Simon was very keen to start the summer with a northern tour, before the northerly winds set in, to visit islands we had never sailed to before, towards his project of visiting every inhabited Greek island. 

Thymaina

We left Arkhangelos at 7.40 on the morning of Thursday May 3^rd in a light southeasterly wind, so we motorsailed 28 miles up past Lipsi, Arki and Fourni to arrive at lunchtime at the little island of Thymaina, between Fourni and Ikaria, where we anchored in the bay off the village. 

On the way up we didn’t see a single other yacht, but in the afternoon a German-flagged ketch came in and anchored in front of us.

After a bit of lunch, we went ashore to explore and walked up the hill to the church on the headland, 

which had very good all-round views.

 The village was very quiet and the majority of the houses were shut-up -  probably holiday homes of those who had left the island. 

There were a few men drinking in a couple of bars, but there was no taverna open and only a tiny shop. Another meal on board and an early night, ready for an early departure.

On Friday, May 4^th, there was again little wind as we set off at 6.30 to motor-sail up to Chios. The previous day there had been quite a bit of swell, which had us rolling, but today the sea was flat. Again we met some dolphins, though these ones just gave us a couple of rolls and headed off. 

Karfas

At lunchtime we anchored off Karfas on Chios and rowed ashore to meet Costas and Lin, who had put up Majd, Manal, Luna and Dana in their house before the latter went to Athens to go to Germany. Costas and Lin had done a huge amount of work supporting the refugees, setting up and running a ‘people’s kitchen’ to feed the refugees and to give them something to do, preparing and cooking food. Costas video phoned Manal, who was so excited to see us all together.

Kardamyla

We rowed a long way back to the boat (the bay is shallow so we had anchored a long way out) and motored up to Kardamyla on the northeast coast of Chios, arriving at 5 having covered 65 miles. 

Statue on the quay dedicated by a shipowner's wife, Irene Tsakos

There was one other boat on the quay, a British couple in their yacht, who had arrived a bit before us. Kardamyla, although quite a big town, was even quieter than Thymaina, though the Port Police were active, coming to ask for our papers and charging us 6 euros harbor dues.

On Saturday morning, May 5^th, the gas ran out as we were making coffee for breakfast and Simon could not connect the other cylinder because it had an idiosyncratic fitting and he did not want to strip the thread of the regulator, so we set off at 6.30 without any coffee. There was a bit of wind to start with, so we motorsailed for a while, but the wind soon went round and died, so we had to get the sails down. We had planned to go to Plomari, on the south coast of Lesbos, but then decided that it made more sense to go to Mytilene first, especially as we wanted to get gas, so we motored across to the southeast corner of Lesbos, then round the corner and up to Mytilene, logging 46 miles and arriving at 1.30. 

Mytilene

On the way in to Mytilene harbor we were summoned by the port police on the ferry quay, who quizzed us about where we had come from, obviously checking we were not people smugglers, and told us where to go in the old harbour and then to go to the Port Police. We went stern-to the harbour wall, the only yacht there, 

and went to have lunch in a little taverna in a back street. The food was OK, but the pigeons flying around were a distraction, especially when they shat on our table.

Mytilene old harbour

There was a big naval presence in Mytilene harbour, with the costguard boat, the tax police, two gunboats and Teresa May's contribution to patrolling Europe's borders, HMS Valiant

After lunch Simon went to the Port Police office only to be told that we did not need to go until we left – the port policewoman phoned the guy on the ferry quay and gave him a balling out. Simon then went off to find gas, ending up at the marina at the other end of town, where the receptionist called the gas man who brought the gas. While he was waiting Simon went and chatted to Paddy and Sally on Skylark, who had followed us up from Kardamyla. By the time Simon got back to Mia Hara the noise in town was horrendous – music blasting out from speakers in a disco on the quay – so we decided to go into the marina to get a bit of peace. The marina was half empty and the staff called us to go alongside, which entailed a rapid reorganization of fenders and lines.

We had come to Mytilene to meet Lin’s second cousin’s son Michael, who is working with the refugees in Lesbos Pikpa. We invited Michael to join us for dinner. He was not feeling well, but recommended a restaurant, Nan, which has been established by the women from Pikpa to provide a way of giving work to refugees and integrating them into the community. The food was wonderful, mostly middle eastern and Indian. On the way back the noise had got far worse as a large crowd blocked the harbor road, singing, chanting and letting off flares to celebrate the narrow victory of AEK in a football match. We were very relieved that we had moved to the marina!

The night was not entirely quiet, as we had the anticipated thunderstorm. We decided to stay another night in the marina and arranged to meet Michael for lunch in a nearby tavern on Sunday. Over lunch Michael told us about the organization of Pikpa, which sounds very impressive. It was set up by four women and now runs a centre for vulnerable refugees, just north of the airport, which has accommodation for about 100 people, living in a former children’s summer camp; a support centre, Mosaik, in Mytilene, which provides a wide range of classes, in English, Greek and Arabic, IT and Yoga, with a literary workshop and storytelling for children and adults, all for refugees and the local population, and has a bag workshop, where refugees make bags out of old lifejackets and bits of material; and the restaurant Nan, where we ate last night. Michael was not feeling well, but he offered to show us around Pikpa the next morning and told us how to get to Mosaik.

It was a grey and rainy day, so after lunch we went back to the boat to do odd jobs and have bacon and egg for supper, after our large lunch.

On Monday morning, May 7^th, after doing some shopping, we walked into town to see Mosaik, which was very impressive. On the way we passed a large mosaic, on the wall of a building. The squares of the mosaic were made by refugees from many countries and by locals and put together as the 'magic carpet'.

In Mosaik were invited to come and see the bag workshop, where two men and a woman were hard at work sewing. 

There was a display of bags for sale, of which we bought several. We looked around the main building, where several classes were in full swing, with a lot of students, and saw the library. 

We then took a taxi to Pikpa, where we met Michael, who showed us round.

Pikpa is very choosy about who it takes money from and who it takes as volunteers. Volunteers have to work for a minimum of two months and to have relevant skills and experience. There are about fifteen volunteers at any one time, in addition to the permanent staff, who include two nurses and a psychologist. There was a range of buildings, the residents living in wooden cabins, of which they were building more. There was also a large kitchen, in which the refugees could cook their own meals, and a kitchen and dining area where meals were cooked for them several times a week. When we were there they were preparing food packs for distribution to the residents. There was also a very well stocked and organized clothes ‘shop’ where refugees could come to get clothes and shoes, a kindergarten for the young children, a vegetable garden and a forest school.

 Michael was obviously feeling unwell, so we did not stay too long. We then went down to the main road to catch the bus back, but hailed a taxi, which turned out to be the same one that had brought us there!

Plomari

We left the marina at 11.30 and motorsailed, then motored, to Plomari, on the south of Lesbos. On the way we passed a fishing boat, hauling its nets.

In Plomari we moored on the quay in the harbor. 

There were two other yachts already there, so we went between them, because we were not sure of the depths, and later a Gibraltar-registered Russian skippered charter arrived. 

Plomari was once an industrial town, with a soap-making factory, a factory making brikettes from olive stones.and many others, nearly all of which are now derelict.

Plomari is where Lin’s favourite ouzo, Barbayanni, is made, so we walked a mile or so along the coast road to their museum and factory tour, which was very interesting. Barbayanni is still owned and run by three brothers, the sixth generation of the family, and is the longest established ouzo factory in Greece. The guy who showed us round explained that their ouzo is 100% triple distilled and made to the highest standards, not topped up with industrial alcohol, like the cheaper competitors. In addition to aniseed they use a secret recipe of local herbs to give their ouzo its distinctive taste. We sampled the ouzo, of course, and bought a bottle of their strongest ouzo, Aphrodite, 48% alcohol, which was delicious.

We walked back to the harbor, showered, and went out to dinner at a local taverna. The one we had planned to go to, top of Trip Advisor’s list, was not open, but the one we did go to was friendly and the food was quite good.

Sigri

We left Plomari at 7.30 

to motor round to Sigri, at the southwest corner of Lesbos. At first there was no wind, but later it got up to ten knots on the nose, so we kept motoring. We got to Sigri about midday and anchored in the bay south of the town. 

The harbor is being reconstructed and a naval ship docked on the quay soon after we arrived.

Sigri is a quiet town with a Turkish castle 

There was a large mansion in the centre of town, which was some sort of (ecclesiastical?) museum, but was closed up.

We visited the wonderful geological museum, featuring the petrified forest of Lesbos, but covering much more than that. 

The garden was full of butterflies.

When we got back from the museum we had a swim, which was not too cold, and cooked dinner aboard. Late in the afternoon a Swiss yacht arrived and anchored in the bay, the only other yacht we had seen since leaving Plomari.

Agios Evstratios

We left Sigri at 6.30 on Wednesday 9^th May with a moderate southerly wind and motorsailed to Agios Evstratios on a clear sunny day, arriving at 1pm after a quick 47 miles. 

Agios Evstratios was a prison island under Metaxas and then under the Junta, the most famous prisoner being Mikos Theodorakis. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1968 and rebuilt. In 2009 it was declared that by the following year Ag. Evstratios would be a ‘green island’, powered entirely by renewable energy and using only bicycles and electric cars for transport. We didn’t see a single bicycle, electric car, solar plant or wind farm, or any recycling bins, though we did see some wind vanes lying on the ground by the cemetery. But this is Greece!

We tied up behind an Amel 54 alongside the big new harbour wall 

and walked into the little town for lunch, having delicious oven-cooked lamb and potatoes with peas and tomato salad. 

We then walked up the hill to the cemetery, which had a good view over the town, rebuilt after the earthquake.

On the way up, we passed the Museum of Democracy, which was completely shut up, then went back down and round to the beach and back to the boat. It is a pleasant little town with few tourists and, it seems, not many visiting yachts.

Soon after we got back to the boat two men arrived from the Port Police and told us that we had to move because a very large ship was coming in at 4 in the morning. They told us we should go inside the entrance to the fishing boat harbour, assuring us that there was enough depth and offering to help us, which we accepted because it would be tricky getting on to the quay with a Force 4 wind  blowing off it and little room to maneuver in the harbor entrance. We cast off and motored round to the fishing harbor, intending to turn in the harbour entrance and tie up along the starboard side. However, we ran aground on the approach to the harbor entrance, so there was no room to turn and we had to reverse onto the quay, which was tricky with the wind blowing the bows off and little steerage in reverse. Fortunately, the port policemen took our lines and hauled us in and we managed to tie up without hitting anything. The French Amel 54 decided that they did not want to risk the manouevre and so would leave before 4 in the morning.