Grikos Patmos and Samos

By mid-morning the day after my birthday we left Leros for a lovely sail to a great anchorage on the southeast of Patmos.  For once we were able to sail the whole way and it was a fantastic 19 nm passage.  There were free mooring balls in Grikos and it was heaven to be able to tie up to these – so easy and secure.  We went ashore, had another great Greek dinner and slept soundly bobbing on the sturdy mooring.

Approach to Grikos

Wonderful mooring balls

Not a bad view for dinner

We had reconnected with Three Sheets and planned to meet them in Samos.  The winds were predicted to be perfect for that heading so we said goodbye to Patmos with a promise to return and give it the thorough exploration it deserves.  The wind gods were not behaving and the predicted 10 knots were barely four.  We pottered along sailing as much as we could but had to resort to the iron spinnaker for about half of the trip.

Still the passage was not without its delights.  Just off Patmos we saw a square rigger looming out of the early morning mist.  We detoured to get a closer look and had a wonderful photo opportunity.  The ship was the Sea Clipper, a modern day Barquentine made of steel and able to carry 170 passengers in luxury.

Thr Sea Clipper

Three Sheets were making their way to Samos from Lipsoi and we caught up with them on VHF radio and Messenger.  Given we were ‘racing’ to Samos in 3 knots of wind, we decided that rather than the last one being a rotten egg, the winner could provide the Ouzo!  

After an 8 hour sail we anchored in the delightful harbour of Pythagoreio, the birthplace of Pythagoras.  We took the dinghy ashore to have a brief preliminary reconnoitre of the town and then on the way back stopped by Three Sheets to collect our winnings.

The next day we explored the town with Reg and Phoebe.  It was a very pleasant place.  The town is set up for tourists but not crassly.  The shops were quite nice, not the usual tacky tourist tat.  The streets were clean and well maintained and I thought the atmosphere was quite cheerful.  

The quaint streets of Pythagoreio

The waterfront and ubiquitous fishing boats

After dropping off our laundry we walked to the castle ruins.  There was a cemetery and church nearby.  We noticed that all the graves in the small cemetery had been interned within about 8 years or so.  We then saw some rooms near the graves piled from floor to ceiling with boxes labelled with names and dates.  We realised this was the ossuary where the bones of the deceased are stored after they are removed from the grave 9 years after death.  Bob had a peek in one of the boxes and sure enough ‘Alas, poor Yorrick’ and all that – a bit creepy really.

The Church with the cemetery behind the wall of the ruins

Castle ruins, the Mediterranean, a yacht and Turkey in the distance

We continued our exploration of the town and found a restaurant a bit away from the main tourist streets and as always here in Greece had a epicurean delight.

Octopus drying

Phoebe hamming it up while Reg chills with his ouzo

Our lunch - lamb chops, grilled sardines and Kleftido

Replete, we decided to find the Eupalinos Tunnel.  In the 6^th Century BC the tyrant Polycrates had commissioned the engineer Eupalinos to dig a tunnel through Mount Kastro to be used as an aquaduct to provide the city with water.  Two sets of slaves from Lesbos dug the tunnel from opposite ends of the mountain and 15 years later they met in the middle, erring in calculations by only a few feet.  It was an amazing engineering feat.  Sadly the tunnel was closed for renovations.  A great disappointment made more so by the very hot and sweaty walk we had to get there.  Summer has come suddenly and with a vengeance to this part of the world.

View of the Castle and Church on our walk to the closed tunnel

The following day we caught a local bus to the main town of Samos.  This capital town did not really appeal.  The waterfront seemed a wasted opportunity.  It was a very uninviting hot concrete walkway along a busy road.  The harbour itself was quite pretty but the EU money for improvements was not well invested.  We tried to find the Old Town but were totally unsuccessful despite asking directions and following signs.  It didn’t matter for in our search we stumbled upon a fantastic little restaurant on the hill overlooking the town and had a great lunch.

Samos harbour with a ferry - the lifeblood of these islands

A chapel near the restaurant

Back to Pythagoreio on another local bus, this one taking a different route so we managed to see a good slice of the island.  A quiet night followed in preparation for our next day sail.