We tie up in the old harbour at Kos Island a day before Pip and Jess arrive so that we can get organised and turn the boat around. However, there is such chaos in the water with lots of crossed anchors that we find ourselves still up and about at 11.00 pm and nothing much done. We have spent the day trying to protect our boat from being dragged off the wall by arriving and departing boats, when finally a large blue imitation tug boat arrives and lays it anchor over about 5 of us in a row, so that settles it, we can go nowhere until they leave early the following morning.
We greet our new guests off the 3.30am ferry and they are settled on to Matelot with a glass of Ouzo and water before we all head off to bed around 5.00am.
It is 6.00am when the fun starts and the blue tug starts to undo the knitted anchor chains. Lots of yelling and several boats later, we find ourselves free to leave around 4.00 pm that day.
Our day has not been without further drama as we discover a lot of salt water in the bilges and Richard goes on a witch-hunt through the boat to find the source. It turns out to be a recalcitrant salt-water exhaust hose which is in need of a haircut at the tail end. With some help from Mark on the Polish boat next door Richard manages to repair the hose and secure the safety of the ship.
We have managed some quick provisioning before heading out for our first stop at Vathi on Pserimos Island. Pip and Jess get their first taste of a short sharp Med sea as we sail into the wind on the 5 mile trip across from Kos. Pserimos is gorgeous – incredibly clear water over a sandy bottom, goat bells and barren hills. We all pile into bed early after swims and tasty orzo to recover on the lost sleep of the night before. Matelot is a very quiet ship and we wake up to a glorious morning.
Sunday 26 July
From Pserimos we chart our course for the eastern side of Kalymnos…The Meltemi is well established and blowing a treat from the north west. We spend most of the next week with two reefs in the main and a handkerchief for a headsail. It blows day and night but we don’t let it stop us from making the most of our time.
Dinner on board Matelot and we all pitch in to prepare lentil sausages and wraps... yum!Our first stop is Palionisou on the eastern side of Kalimnos. As we drop our sails and motor into the entrance of this sheltered harbour, we are hit in the face by the blast of heat which is coming off the surrounding tall hills. It is like going into an oven from the fresh sea breeze and we cannot wait to get the anchor down to go for a swim. It is reportedly bad holding in here so we plan to have a quick swim and then sail on to Xerokambos on the southern tip of Leros. However this is not to be as we try to hoist the main on our departure and it gets stuck halfway up in an increasing breeze. A quick turnaround to more sheltered water and some brute strength and ignorance joined to some rope soon deal to the sticky main, but we have wasted a bit of time and decide after all to stay over here in Palionisou.
By late afternoon the breeze has gone right down and we go ashore for a walk 200 meters up the stony path between goat and chook pens to the taverna for a cooling drink.
It is very entertaining as we meet the proprietor, Nicholas who is quite a character and offers Pippa Milne a job as a waitress for the summer season. Pippa and Jess swim back to Matelot while the older members of the crew take the tender. These girls are taking to life on Matelot like ducks to water. The wind is howling again but they are still up on deck. We are still on the eastern side of Kalymnos tucked up in Palionissos.
Back on the boat and Richard sleeps up on deck to keep an eye on things as the wind comes up again in the night and howls around us. We are up and ready to go by 9am – a late start – having had a famous Matelot breakfast of fresh fruit, muesli, yoghurt and honey washed down by authentic Greek coffee.
Richard has sorted out the problem on the main track and we are off. The seas are short and steep and we keep the motor on while sailing up hill to our destination 11 NM away.
Pip and Jess are both keen to sail the boat, catch on fast and aquit themselves very well. They are both naturals. Cap'n Buck issues some coaching as we go along. On arrival in Xerocambus we put out around 40 meters of chain as the wind is still fairly fresh and coming over the hills ahead of us into the anchorage. Richard wanders forward to install the anchor bridle and discovers to his horror that the bow roller is hanging loose where the bolt has come undone and we are about to lose the whole thing in the water. Some instant DIY and an hour of hanging upside down and Richard has it fixed. We sure are having our fair share of little dramas so far on this trip and are reminded to keep our eyes open for any potential issues on the boat which may cause problems, then fix them before they do!
The next morning Pippy, Jess and Pippa M go ashore to buy bread and veg in the tiny township. There is very little retail therapy available so foraging on the side of the road of this pretty settlement, for fresh figs, herbs, tiny wild tomatoes and plums (like berries which we don’t know the name of but are sweet and delicious), turns out to be a fun experience. We check out the plum berries with a local character outside his dusty old shop and he assures us they are edible and good!
We 3 girls forage ashore and find these freebies on trees on the side of the road. We don't know what the dark berries are but they are delicious and have tiny stones like plum stones...!Lakki Harbour is our next stop. The architecture here is fascinating, - a sort of Art Deco left over from the Italian occupation during the second world war. Many of these buildings are now being restored and we all very much enjoyed the ambience of this small port.
We stay a couple of nights here mostly because Pip, Jess and Pippa spend the second day ashore walking across the island to picturesque Pandeli and the adjacent town of Platanos. Richard is on boat watch as initially Matelot drags her anchor 100 meters while he is taking an afternoon nap just after our arrival and he is a bit miffed as none of the girls on deck notice! We know that he is enjoying a good book so does not mind too much having some peace and quiet while we go off walking. Pippa and Jess walk to Pandelli Castle on the top of the hill above the town. Pippy explores the picturesque island capital of Platanos, which is at its best, wreathed in bouganvillea, hibiscus and oleander flowers.
It is around 3k each way plus the walking in between, so we are all late back on the boat and not in the mood to move on just yet. We do manage to get on the internet for a short time while ashore.
Sorry... cannot upload photos on this internet connection. Tried one photo for 13 minutes but nothing happened so have given up for now. It is very sad as we have some wonderful photos to show.
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