Sailing

Sailing: the fine art of getting wet and becoming ill while slowly going nowhere at great expense.

Tuesday 31 May 2016

Our First Month at Sea



After Levithia we made our way to Leros which will be the subject of a future post.  But first, a month ago today we left the marina at Marmaris.  That deserves a bit of a recap and reflection.
Our first 30 days
In those 30 days we have sailed 223.5 nautical miles – not a great distance but a good start to the season.  We visited two Turkish harbours; Bozburun and Knidos, and have been to eight Greek Islands, seven in the Dodecanese group and one in the eastern Cyclades.

We have done more motoring than we would like as the wind gods have not been that cooperative.  We are learning some of the tricks in sailing in this part of the world.  The notorious meltemi winds build from the north and northwest and must just be waited out.  As we are generally travelling north we need to time our passages when there are more southerly winds.  This is alright as it gives us time to explore islands but at other times we must leave sooner than we want to catch the next weather window.

We are learning more about how Songster handles.  She is a relatively heavy boat so fairly sea kindly and doesn’t bob around too much.  We still are working out the best sail configurations for the various conditions in order to get a well balanced sail from this little ketch.

We have five more weeks of sailing before I must leave Greece for awhile to renew my visa.  Then we will put Songster in the marina at Leros for a six week rest while we do some land travel in slightly cooler climes.
 

Monday 30 May 2016

Kalimnos and Levithia



It was time to drop the mooring lines from Kos Town Harbour and make our way to Kalimnos to meet up again with Reg and Phoebe.  As the winds were not predicted to start until late morning, we took our time getting ready, had one last iced Freddo onshore and motored out of the harbour a bit after 10 am.  

We rounded the headland on the northern tip of Kos and decided to poke our nose into the harbour of Psérimos, a pretty little island just off the coast of Kos.  This tiny island of about 2 by 3 miles in size has only a few houses and is mainly a stop off for day trippers on gulets from Kos.  Now early in the season the harbour looked quite inviting but come July – August it would be quite crowded until late in the afternoon when all the gulets went back to the main island.
The tip of Psérimos with a ferry zooming by - That is Turkey in the background
We continued to motor sail to Vlihadia, a snug harbour on the southern tip of Kalimnos.  There was an empty mooring ball and the smiling welcome of Three Sheets waiting for us.  We moored – so easy – rested and then had a great dinner with our Canadian friends at a nice tavern ashore.
Quiet Vlihadia
Many of these islands are rocks and goats but definitely claimed by Greece
 
It was to be an early start the next morning for our 25 nautical mile passage to Levithia as the winds, although from a good direction, were predicted to get a bit gnarly by about 3pm and we wanted to be tied up in the bullet proof harbour of Levithia before then.  So we left Kalimnos just before 7 am, earmarking the island to return to for further exploration on our trip south in the autumn.  The heavy winds set in a good 3 hours before predicted and we had quite a ride.  There were gust to 30 knots and heavy seas with breaking waves.  I was at the helm for the last half of the passage and it took every ounce of concentration and strength to keep on course.  It was a good experience to know how the boat handled in such conditions but I don't plan to voluntarily go out in those conditions again.  When we arrived in Levithia the harbour was filled with others with similar tales and worse.  At least we had the wind behind us which is more comfortable than beating into the wind as some had done.  That really would have been quite awful.
Bullet proof harbour but waves crashing at the entrance
Lots of whitecaps even after the wind has eased
So after a stiff G & T, lunch and a Nanna nap we were ready to go ashore for dinner.  Levithia is a very special island.  It is inhabited by just one extended family, who do a marvellous job farming the rugged terrain.  This is a rare sight in these islands, most of which are barren, rocky outcrops denuded of trees by the over-grazing of goats and poor land management.  The island is only accessible by private yacht and the family caters for its visitors by providing top class mooring and fantastic home cooked and raised dinners for the yachties – On the menu were goat and lamb that were running around outside the gates.  Grandpa was cooking over a fireplace, the sons were waiting on tables and taking orders and Grandma and daughters were in the kitchen.  During the meal they came out to announce the winds for the next few days for everyone.  There were Finnish, Austrian, Greek, French, Canadian, British, and German sailors represented.   
Kid goats frolicking
Future dinner outside the gates of the taverna
 On the half km walk back to the anchorage after dinner, the full moon came out reflecting the boats lying peacefully at their moorings – Magic.
Full moon over the anchorage
Levithia is another island to which we definitely want to return.  It was a magically little island and we would like to go there again to spend a few restful days walking around and enjoying the hospitality of the family.
 

Friday 27 May 2016

Kos



The weather did turn nasty and as we were leaving the harbour of Knidos it started raining.  It rained for the entire 17 nm passage to Kos.  We were soaked to the skin despite having on wet weather gear.  At least the wind was behind us and at a good speed most of the way to Kos.  It would have been a great sail except for the rain.

We anchored at the base of the medieval Nerantzia Castle, sharing the anchorage with Three Sheets.  During the night ferries came and went and the anchorage was a bit of a rolly but after the wet sail we still slept soundly.
View from our anchorage - clock tower and castle walls
Three Sheets and Songster
Songster with the castle walls in the background
Kos is the third largest island in the Dodecanese group after Rhodes and Karpathos.  Kos is the birthplace of Hippocrates and renowned for its Asclepeion, or healing temple.  We were looking forward to spending a few days exploring this island.

The next day was bright and sunny.  We arranged to meet up with Three Sheets for a ‘goodbye for now’ lunch as they were moving on to the next island.
Lunch with Reg and Phoebe
After our goodbyes we explored Kos Town, did some shopping to resupply the pantry and then back to Songster to watch the sun set over the castle.
Statue to Hippocrates - note the Maltese cross and caduceus
Love these pebble mosaics

Hippocrates Plane Tree - supposedly a direct decedent of the one that Hippocrates stood under while teaching his students - Well a good story anyway.
Sunset over the castle walls
After two nights in the anchorage we decided to move into the town harbour as the winds were predicted to get a bit stronger.  We got up early while it was still calm and motored around the corner to the harbour were Christos, the harbour master, caught our lines making the dreaded Med mooring easy.
Kos Town Harbour
One day we hired a scooter to explore the island.  Just a few km from Kos Town is the Hippocrates museum and Asclepeion.   
A rather spooky sculpture of Hippocrates near the Asclepeioon
Ruins are dotted all over the island.  Here you can see examples of ancient Greek, modern Greek, Ottoman and Venetian architecture.
The museum was closed so we moved on to the centre of the island to the delightful mountain village of Zia.  It has wonderful outlook and is known for its amazing sunset views.  We were there at 11 am for a cuppa and considered coming back at sunset (which is after 8pm here) but ran out of energy – next time.  
Views from Zia
Zia Taverna
We made our way to Antimachia via Pyli and the main road.  There was a Venetian fortress here that we wanted to see.  It took a bit of doing to find it but it was well worth the hunt.  The fortress was built by the Venetians in the early 15th Century.  The fort was badly damaged following a massive earthquake at the end of the century.  The Knights of St John came along and refortified the walls giving the curtains walls its unique architecture.  The fortress protected the residents of Kos from frequent raids by the Ottomans and corsair pirates during the 15th and 16th Centuries.  Two church buildings have survived in very good condition, the Church of Aghios Nikolaos (dating from the 16th century) and the church of Aghia Paraskevi (18th century).
Venetian Fortress
The curtain walls
Church of Aghia Paraskevi
Church of Aghios Nikolaos
Bell outside the 18th Century Church
Remnants of frescoes
The massive fort was deserted and we had the place to ourselves.  There was evidence that at one time it was a staffed tourist attraction but the cafes, seats and signage have disintegrated with neglect.  We had a blast scrambling over the parapet walls and investigating all the nooks and crannies.  The grounds were covered in enormous thistles which attacked some amazing bees.  We also spied a few lizards.
 
This has got to be the largest bee I have ever seen
This lizard thinks we don't see him
 We continued on to the south of the island to check out another anchorage at Kefalos.  The anchorage was well protected and the setting quite beautiful.  The village was very peaceful this early in the season and we had a delightful lunch at a beach side Taverna. 
Quiet Kefalos
Back to the harbour to do a few errands with the help of the scooter and get ready for an early departure the next day to meet up again with Three Sheets at the next island up the chain, Kalimnos.