Photos to come when I have a better internet connection!
Simon flew out to Kos on Monday July 30th with our 17 year-old grandson, Kai, for ten days sailing before Lin came out with Becky, Andrew, Charlie and Bobby. We had booked a little hotel in Merikhia, Ilios and Irene, originally with the idea of going to get the ferry from Pothia next morning, only we then found that there is no ferry from Pothia to Leros on a Tuesday. We were greeted as we arrived, our bags carried in and we were immediately offered a free drink before we went to our room - there was a double bedroom, bathroom and a sitting room with two more beds and a little kitchen.
Next morning we had a very good and cheap breakfast before we went to get the bus to Kos town, ready to get the Blue Star to Leros in the evening, leaving our bags at the cafe on the ferry quay. I wanted to get to the Wind shop to buy a data pack, so we walked all the way to the old Wind shop, my having forgotten that it had moved, so we had to walk all the way back into town to the new shop, where I got my data pack and Kai bought some fancy earphones. We had lunch at the women's cooperative restaurant, and Kai did a bit more shopping for a bluetooth speaker and some sunglasses, but it was so hot that we walked out to the marina to sit in the wonderfully cool air-conditioned library. I read, while Kai listened to music and read on his iphone.
We walked back into town, had some dinner at a grill and went to get the Blue Star at 8.30, arriving in Leros at 10.30 and taking a taxi to the marina, where I went straight to bed. Next morning we unpacked, did some shopping and had lunch at Poppy's before motoring up to Arkhangelos.
The bay was quite busy, but I decided that there was room close inshore by the little chapel because the wind was forecast to be a steady Force 4 northerly, which would keep us off the shore. We had dinner at Stigma and I went to bed. About midnight Kai called me - 'grandpa, we are getting very close to the shore', as indeed we were - the local wind had swung to the west. I took the kedge out in the dinghy and went back to bed - it was enough to keep us off the shore.
Next morning, Thursday August 2nd, we had a good force 4 north-northwesterly wind for a fast fetch to Agathonisi, which we reached about midday.
There was not room on the town quay and Kai did not want to take a line shore, so we went alongside the ferry quay. Soon after we had tied up the Anna Express came in and Lucio and his family came ashore. They were just arriving for their regular summer holiday in Maria's rooms in Agathonisi, but this year they had come by a roundabout route, flying to Armenia, then through Georgia and Turkey to Izmir, from where they had got a couple of ferries to Agathonisi. Soon after Kai had gone off to see them a policeman approached and told me I had to leave because a naval ship was arriving in twenty minutes. I phone Kai, he came back, and we left the quay to free anchor off the beach.
Not long after we had settled down again Nisos Kalymnos arrived on its return trip and dropped its anchor a few metres off our stern.
It was getting a bit crowded in the anchorage, so we decided to go round to Spilia, a little bay just round the corner. A catamaran had free anchored off the beach and a French boat had a line ashore near the entrance to the bay, but we dropped our anchor just behind the catamaran and had room to swing free, though again rather close to the shore.
Kai did not want to take a line ashore so we decided that he would drive and I would take the line, but just as we got lined up a couple of people started snorkeling just where we wanted to back down, so we gave up and laid the kedge instead.
Kai kept changing his mind about whether he wanted to stay in Agathonisi and see his friends or whether he wanted to go straight off to Arki. In the end we stayed two days because Kai met a Greek girl, Athena, who stays on Agathonisi for her holidays every year and who used to tease Kai. Kai was very put out that she remembered Charlie but not him, but he spent Thursday evening with Athena and his Italian friend, Alexandr, and Friday evening with Athena.
The catamaran left on Friday morning so we decided to anchor further in to Spilia with a line ashore. All went well, with Kai on the wheel, and I got our webbing line over a rock, but there was quite a strong wind blowing down the bay and by the time I had got the line ashore Kai did not have any slack to get it on the cleat. Suddenly the reel to which the line was attached exploded, showering Kai with broken plastic, and the line flew off. I retrieved the line, gathered up the bits of broken plastic and we decided to let the boat swing free.
We left Agathonisi on Saturday morning to sail to Arki in a Force5 northeasterly wind. When I gybed round the headland all hell broke loose - the port lazy jack line broke (I had just tied the shackle on with a bit of thin rope when putting it back after our adventures in Limnos), so we had bits of rope hanging over the side, and the rope holding the preventer on the boom also broke with a loud bang. We tidied it all up and had a brilliant fast sail to Arki, where we tied up to the quay. To add insult to injury the aft heads (the wee loo) outlet had got blocked with scale - Agathonisi always piles on the disasters for us - so I had to get the pipe off and clear it out as soon as we got to Arki, as well as fixing the preventer and the lazy line.
To fix the lazy line Kai had to hoist me in the bosun's chair to fit a new shackle. All went well until it was time for him to let me down, when the halyard with which Kai had hoisted me slipped. I grabbed the lazy line to arrest my fall and got horrible rope burns on three of my fingers. Fortunately Kai got the halyard under control and lowered me safely to the deck. He thought the whole thing was hilarious!
It has been remarkable how few boats we have seen - there were only half a dozen in Arkhangelos, the same in Agathonisi and only six or seven boats on the quay in Arki, with a few in Marathi and none at all in the Arki anchorages.
On Monday 6th August we motorsailed down the 25 miles directly to Lakki in a very light northerly wind and stayed in the marina for two days. We went for dinner one night to Persiana, where Kai had a burger, which he thought was wonderful, and decided there and then that he would treat Becky and Andrew to dinner there when we came with them. Kai read his walking dead books, while Simon cleaned and tidied the boat ready for Lin's arrival
We had booked in to Kos marina for the night of Thursday 9th August to pick up Lin, Becky and the boys, who were flying in to Kos that evening, so on Wednesday we sailed down to Palionisos with a Force 4 following wind and picked up a buoy. There we did a lot of swimming, with Kai doing a lot of jumping off the boat.
Sue and Steve arrived a bit later and anchored further out, but did not leave their boat.
On Thursday morning we had another fast sail under genoa in a following Force 4 wind, arriving at Kos marina in time for lunch. After lunch Kai went off to the library, where he managed to get Netflix on the Smart TV, while I finished cleaning the boat. In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant with Sue and Steve . Lin, Becky and the boys, meanwhile, were sitting in their plane on the runway at Birmingham for two hours, because the flight had to be rerouted to avoid storms over Germany. The little boys were very good and we were all pleased to see each other when they arrived in their taxi about 11 pm. They were starving so we went to the marina cafe for them to have burgers and chips before going to bed.
Simon flew out to Kos on Monday July 30th with our 17 year-old grandson, Kai, for ten days sailing before Lin came out with Becky, Andrew, Charlie and Bobby. We had booked a little hotel in Merikhia, Ilios and Irene, originally with the idea of going to get the ferry from Pothia next morning, only we then found that there is no ferry from Pothia to Leros on a Tuesday. We were greeted as we arrived, our bags carried in and we were immediately offered a free drink before we went to our room - there was a double bedroom, bathroom and a sitting room with two more beds and a little kitchen.
Next morning we had a very good and cheap breakfast before we went to get the bus to Kos town, ready to get the Blue Star to Leros in the evening, leaving our bags at the cafe on the ferry quay. I wanted to get to the Wind shop to buy a data pack, so we walked all the way to the old Wind shop, my having forgotten that it had moved, so we had to walk all the way back into town to the new shop, where I got my data pack and Kai bought some fancy earphones. We had lunch at the women's cooperative restaurant, and Kai did a bit more shopping for a bluetooth speaker and some sunglasses, but it was so hot that we walked out to the marina to sit in the wonderfully cool air-conditioned library. I read, while Kai listened to music and read on his iphone.
We walked back into town, had some dinner at a grill and went to get the Blue Star at 8.30, arriving in Leros at 10.30 and taking a taxi to the marina, where I went straight to bed. Next morning we unpacked, did some shopping and had lunch at Poppy's before motoring up to Arkhangelos.
The bay was quite busy, but I decided that there was room close inshore by the little chapel because the wind was forecast to be a steady Force 4 northerly, which would keep us off the shore. We had dinner at Stigma and I went to bed. About midnight Kai called me - 'grandpa, we are getting very close to the shore', as indeed we were - the local wind had swung to the west. I took the kedge out in the dinghy and went back to bed - it was enough to keep us off the shore.
Next morning, Thursday August 2nd, we had a good force 4 north-northwesterly wind for a fast fetch to Agathonisi, which we reached about midday.
There was not room on the town quay and Kai did not want to take a line shore, so we went alongside the ferry quay. Soon after we had tied up the Anna Express came in and Lucio and his family came ashore. They were just arriving for their regular summer holiday in Maria's rooms in Agathonisi, but this year they had come by a roundabout route, flying to Armenia, then through Georgia and Turkey to Izmir, from where they had got a couple of ferries to Agathonisi. Soon after Kai had gone off to see them a policeman approached and told me I had to leave because a naval ship was arriving in twenty minutes. I phone Kai, he came back, and we left the quay to free anchor off the beach.
Not long after we had settled down again Nisos Kalymnos arrived on its return trip and dropped its anchor a few metres off our stern.
It was getting a bit crowded in the anchorage, so we decided to go round to Spilia, a little bay just round the corner. A catamaran had free anchored off the beach and a French boat had a line ashore near the entrance to the bay, but we dropped our anchor just behind the catamaran and had room to swing free, though again rather close to the shore.
Kai did not want to take a line ashore so we decided that he would drive and I would take the line, but just as we got lined up a couple of people started snorkeling just where we wanted to back down, so we gave up and laid the kedge instead.
Kai kept changing his mind about whether he wanted to stay in Agathonisi and see his friends or whether he wanted to go straight off to Arki. In the end we stayed two days because Kai met a Greek girl, Athena, who stays on Agathonisi for her holidays every year and who used to tease Kai. Kai was very put out that she remembered Charlie but not him, but he spent Thursday evening with Athena and his Italian friend, Alexandr, and Friday evening with Athena.
The catamaran left on Friday morning so we decided to anchor further in to Spilia with a line ashore. All went well, with Kai on the wheel, and I got our webbing line over a rock, but there was quite a strong wind blowing down the bay and by the time I had got the line ashore Kai did not have any slack to get it on the cleat. Suddenly the reel to which the line was attached exploded, showering Kai with broken plastic, and the line flew off. I retrieved the line, gathered up the bits of broken plastic and we decided to let the boat swing free.
We left Agathonisi on Saturday morning to sail to Arki in a Force5 northeasterly wind. When I gybed round the headland all hell broke loose - the port lazy jack line broke (I had just tied the shackle on with a bit of thin rope when putting it back after our adventures in Limnos), so we had bits of rope hanging over the side, and the rope holding the preventer on the boom also broke with a loud bang. We tidied it all up and had a brilliant fast sail to Arki, where we tied up to the quay. To add insult to injury the aft heads (the wee loo) outlet had got blocked with scale - Agathonisi always piles on the disasters for us - so I had to get the pipe off and clear it out as soon as we got to Arki, as well as fixing the preventer and the lazy line.
To fix the lazy line Kai had to hoist me in the bosun's chair to fit a new shackle. All went well until it was time for him to let me down, when the halyard with which Kai had hoisted me slipped. I grabbed the lazy line to arrest my fall and got horrible rope burns on three of my fingers. Fortunately Kai got the halyard under control and lowered me safely to the deck. He thought the whole thing was hilarious!
It has been remarkable how few boats we have seen - there were only half a dozen in Arkhangelos, the same in Agathonisi and only six or seven boats on the quay in Arki, with a few in Marathi and none at all in the Arki anchorages.
On Monday 6th August we motorsailed down the 25 miles directly to Lakki in a very light northerly wind and stayed in the marina for two days. We went for dinner one night to Persiana, where Kai had a burger, which he thought was wonderful, and decided there and then that he would treat Becky and Andrew to dinner there when we came with them. Kai read his walking dead books, while Simon cleaned and tidied the boat ready for Lin's arrival
We had booked in to Kos marina for the night of Thursday 9th August to pick up Lin, Becky and the boys, who were flying in to Kos that evening, so on Wednesday we sailed down to Palionisos with a Force 4 following wind and picked up a buoy. There we did a lot of swimming, with Kai doing a lot of jumping off the boat.
Sue and Steve arrived a bit later and anchored further out, but did not leave their boat.
On Thursday morning we had another fast sail under genoa in a following Force 4 wind, arriving at Kos marina in time for lunch. After lunch Kai went off to the library, where he managed to get Netflix on the Smart TV, while I finished cleaning the boat. In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant with Sue and Steve . Lin, Becky and the boys, meanwhile, were sitting in their plane on the runway at Birmingham for two hours, because the flight had to be rerouted to avoid storms over Germany. The little boys were very good and we were all pleased to see each other when they arrived in their taxi about 11 pm. They were starving so we went to the marina cafe for them to have burgers and chips before going to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.