Winding Down (as the wind winds up): First Half of the Season

One last anchorage with Three Sheets then time to take Songster to Leros Marina to put her to bed for two months while we escape the heat and do some land travel.  We spent a few nights at Archaggelos, a pretty anchorage with a great Taverna that is just a few hundred metres north from the main island of Leros.

Archaggelos

We would have liked to stay a few more days as our contract with the marina did not start for a week but a meltemi blow was predicted for that entire week and we thought it best to get where we were going before it set in.  So we said goodbye (for now) to Reg and Phoebe – you will be, and already are, missed.

The Commonwealth Gang

So Greek, so pretty

These fishing boats are so cute! But of course I can't say this to burly Greek fishermen

This meltemi business is rapidly getting old.  The latest blow has been going for 8 days as I write this and predicted to go for another week.  I have heard of people going crazy from the mistral in France and I can well believe it.  We have had a howling wind of 20 plus knots constantly with gusts nearing 30 knots.  Lakki harbour in Leros tends to be a bit rolly at the best of times but this has been so relentless that both Bob and I have been experiencing a bit of mal de mere at anchor and have to regain our land legs every time we go ashore.

 

Why do I get the feeling that we are in the worse part of the Med at the moment?

Deceptively quiet - on shore we had to hold down our dinner plates so they wouldn't be blown away

While rocking and rolling we started getting Songster ready to be left for two months – Lots of cleaning, polishing and checking systems.  While scrubbing cupboards I had time to reflect on our season so far.  We have gotten more comfortable with Songster and I think Bob is more content with her.  There is still a lot to learn but we are taking our time to evolve into better sailors while enjoying the travel and people.  We haven’t put in a huge number of miles but have strengthened our skills and made some fast friends.  We have been to 14 Greek Islands and two Turkish anchorages - a bit of a break then we are looking forward to getting back into it.

 

So after ten weeks of rocky barren islands we are looking forward to some greenery – next stops: Italy, Switzerland, France, UK, Ireland and beyond.