Cruising with Emily

We are so excited that Emily - our first family member to visit us on SY Matelot, is arriving on 13 September for a 10 day visit.


Emily comes loaded with goodies and fab items for the boat!


We head out for Nisyros the morning after our rendezvous in Kardamena, stopping on the way for the obligatory champagne swim at Yiali.



A treasured piece of Yiali pumice floats by amongst the bubbles...




On to Palu where we find our old friends Werner and Hannalore from SY Zaijian. We have not seen them since last December and we enjoy a catchup over drinks.

It is Emily’s sense of glee and adventure which has us hiring scooters the next day to explore the island although Pippy is way outside her comfort zone especially when expected to ‘lean in to the corners’. “Eeeeeha! I’m loving this, but I’m scared!!”



We see Nisyros through different eyes as we follow the narrow winding road high up to Emporious and Nikkei. A quick glance as we round a corner reveals the hazy blue sea far down below wrapping itself around Yiali and Strongoli and reaching out to the land masses of Kos Island and mainland Turkey. Small white handkerchief shapes identify the sailing yachts criss-crossing this stretch of azure blue sea. High up on the ridge we explore these ancient villages, in between turning downhill, wind rushing past our ears, to take a look at the crater itself.

Back in Palu it is hot and we are going to find the special beach we have heard about at the end of the road on the south eastern side of the island and take a swim. Several parked scooters reveal the start of the walk around the headland, which is like a massive slice of cake showing many stratas of volcanic material laid down over the island’s long and explosive history.




The layers go on and on...

The (Black Pearl) beach (named by us) appears below us as we round a corner and soon we are swimming in the dark water. The black ‘sand’ comprises fine multicoloured granules of rock ground small and smooth in gorgeous dark colours of black through to red,.. Small fish gather around our feet as we disturb the ocean floor and the sun tries to inject some golden light into the water but only the strongest rays make yellow geometric patterns on the bottom and they are quickly absorbed into the darkness.



Emily swims a long way out but soon returns, perhaps unsettled by the feeling of mystery which hangs in the air here where the eons of time are recorded in the many layers of rock and ash on the cliffs, perhaps worried about what is sharing the dark water with her.

It is getting late in the day and we still have not visited Mandraki the main town on the island. We explore the town and climb up into the Monastery in time to see the light fade over the roof tops before scootering back in the darkness to Pali harbour and SY Matelot. Pippy at least is relieved to get off the bike at last!

The next day we passage across to Palamutbuku on the Datca Peninsular to rendezvous with our friends Andy and Brenda from SY Deep Blue.

It is a lively catchup over dinner at Merhaba Restaurant and we enjoy meeting Brenda’s parents who are sailing with them despite the fact that Brenda’s father is suffering from a troublesome hip replacement. We do not yet realise how troublesome… It is always lovely to visit this remote Turkish village and it does not disappoint this time.

The north west breeze the next day allows Deep Blue to fly their spinnaker so they outsail us across to Panormitis on the SW end of Simi where we raft up and plan to eat dinner together on board Matelot. Panormitis (Monastery Bay) is a wonderful natural harbour surrounded by hills. It is also impossible to get any VHF reception in here as we later discover when trying to call up some emergency medical assistance for Brenda’s father who dislocates his hip while sitting in the cockpit of Deep Blue. With father strapped in the cockpit we wave a sad and anxious goodbye to Deep Blue as they leave for Rhodes, arriving around midnight where a waiting ambulance takes him to hospital for treatment.

This is the last we see of Deep Blue....

Father is back on board the next day and eventually makes it back home to the UK safely. We eat dinner alone and turn in early.

Our next plan is to show one of our favourite places on Simi (Nanou Bay) to Emily. It is an amazing place where massively high cliffs plunge straight down into the tiny valley below where there is a chapel almost on the water’s edge and some trees. Dark green pine trees grow vertically straight out of the cliff face in places and – impossibly - half way up the high incline someone has painted a flag – a blue background with a pale yellow cross. The water is crystal clear turquoise blue and warm and sometimes when we visit here we see lots of friendly fish.

We later discover this bay is in fact called Thessalona...

Today there is room for us to anchor off the beach in a very light on-shore breeze… hardly any wind at all. We are lulled into a false sense of security as we relax and swim in the sunshine. However we do not leave the boat and just as well, because after an hour or so and in a matter of seconds the breeze freshens and we decide it is time to leave as the anchor stretches out and the beach seems suddenly very close. Richard starts the engine, then moves the throttle into gear… into gear…into gear… nothing happens. The engage button is jammed in the hole! Moments seem much longer as Pippy dives for the cockpit locker where the spray can of CRC is stored just as Richard manages to wriggle the button free and the boat is able to move forward. That was a bit of a tense moment!

Simi Harbour is our next stopover and we find ourselves a good spot before the afternoon entertainment starts. It is not long before a Swan 50 footer has their anchor pulled up and we see the sole crew member on board trying unsuccessfully to re-anchor the boat alone. Richard volunteers to help and enjoys the experience of reversing the large yacht back into place then blithely rows himself back to Matelot and vaults up on to the bow like a 20 year old.

It is around this time that we meet up with Rob and Sarah from SY Serafina, a lovely 45ft Naijad, who we met in Antipaxos (in the Ionian Sea) this time last year and have not seen since. Rob and Sarah are standing in our cockpit when Richard does his trick and are slightly impressed when Emily blows his cover and tells them how old he really is! A really nice catch up follows that evening on board Serafina. This cruise is turning out to be quite a social experience.

We wave goodbye to Serafina early the next morning and lay our course from Simi back to Kardamena on the south eastern side of Kos. The weather is due to worsen and we get away very early to make good headway before the wind fills in. We sail and motor in calm water and light winds all the way across to the ancient harbour of Knidos where we stop for a swim and lunch. Unfortunately we dally a little too long and by the time we nose our way out of here and around the cliffs, the wind has freshened considerably. We have two reefs in the main but are instantly hit by repeated catabatic blasts from the cliffs nearby and Matelot rounds up into the gusts. Soon we are clear and sailing in 37 knots right on the nose but our passage from here to Kardamena of 18.5 NM turns out to be a bit of a marathon. It is difficult to lay into Kardamena in the NW gale so we get as close as we can then pull down the reefed sails. The main is stuck and won’t come down and this is a problem we don’t really need. With a bit of brute force Richard manages to pull it down and we motor the remainder of the way. With the engine powered up to 2200 revs we make less than 4 knots into the wind and waves, which we slam into repeatedly. Arriving in Kardamena at 5.30 pm we are all saturated in salt water and make good use of the plentiful water on the quay.

Emily has been a true daughter of Richard Buchanan and actually appears to have enjoyed the sailing today. Good on you Emily!

As we hose the boat down we notice several metal ball bearings rolling about the decks. We track them back to the ‘cars’, which slide the main sail up and down the mast. There is a screw missing from the track and a gap has opened up, spilling the ball bearings out. This could be a major problem.

The next 24 hours are really full-on as we take a fun day trip to Bodrum where the shopping turns out to be fairly tempting.

The fish market on the waterfront at Bodrum.

We must now prepare to say goodbye to Emily and welcome the Cook and Clayton families on board by 9.30am the day after.

Skipper and First Mate Down but not out!...Featuring How to Kill a Cockroach!

The photo is a big blurry but this is the monastery at Palomitis



When are we going to realise that there are limits to what people of our age should be doing? Never we hope! However some things that happen this week give us pause for thought.

We find that life on board can be a bid sedentary at times, so after saying goodbye to Terry and Diana we head for Palomitis Bay (we call it Monastery Bay) and anchor in the sheltered waters, promising ourselves a catchup on our personal fitness. Every day we swim, increasing the distance each day.

On Sunday 30 August we both have huge swims at Palomitis, then a one and a half hour walk up and over the hill, then a 5 hour sail in the afternoon. You would think we would know better! However, after our walk we decide it is time to head out for our next stop Nisos Tilos. We are feeling strong, fit and well.

Once we are clear of the land, the sea state increases to 2-3 metres with the occasional bigger set and we have wind of 25 knots apparent. We are sailing on the wind towards our destination 25 miles away and have one reef in the main and the genoa rolled up to slightly less than 50%.

The boat loves it and so do we, although Pippy does suggest a couple of times that we take another reef in the main and we have it set up and ready to go. Actually it is the sea state which makes it hard with the typical Med steep and very short sea. Any less sail and the waves will knock us back too much - we need to power through it. We roll the genoa in and out a few times and fortunately we only have to tack twice in 5 hours but that does it. Pippy takes her turn on the helm as we lay across and Richard grinds during tacks and genoa adjustments. To her horror Pippy glances over during one tack and sees him standing up like a cowboy over the winch. "Richard! For goodness sake sit down or you will get catapaulted over the side!" (The thought of having to do a man overboard in these seas does not appeal!) "I can't sit down and get the right angle over the winch - the fenders are in the way!" yells Richard. Fortunately that is our last tack and we can lay in to our destination, but we will have to find another place for the fenders to give a proper angle for the winchman (or woman!) when sailing in these conditions.

Richard wakes up the next morning with his right arm throbbing. He thinks he has damaged it with too much grinding. We are moored stern to in the town of Livhardia on Tilos and the sun is hot so we hurry to get our sun covers up to keep the boat cool. It is while we are doing this, bending down and hooking things at funny angles, that Pippy suddenly gets shooting pain in her middle back and difficulty breathing. She sits very still while Richard administers Nurofen to both of us. What a pair of old crocks! After some relaxation, some stretching and time for the Nurofen to kick in, Pippy comes right, but Richard's arm is painful. We put it in a sling and that seems to help take the weight off it. Three days later and it is on the mend but still a problem.



While we are moored stern to on the town wall in Livadia, we suddenly start seeing cockroaches, blatant cheeky cockroaches which pop out in broad daylight and waltze across the deck in front of us. One of them crawls up from under the steering quadrant and Pippy swats at it but misses and it disappears from sight again. Armed with a can of residual cockroach spray we unscrew the quadrant cover and give it a good dose of spray. The bilges get treated too. Unfortunately Pippy leaves the tool box at the bottom of the companionway and then falls over it backwards on her way down. Just winded, nothing broken, but we are having quite a week and try not to imagine what would happen if we were both truly incapacitated.

More internet research and a further determined spray of the bilges down below sees a cockroach stumble on to the galley bench in front of Pippy's eyes. Not wanting to let this one get away she uses her guaranteed fail-safe method of eradication, a clenched fist and that is the end of that blighter!

We are staying here for a couple of days and 'taking a break'. There is a fab walk along the waterfront of this beautiful town and lots of crystal clear water to swim in. We catch the bus to Eristos a long sandy swathe of beach with no buildings on the shore and barren hills all around. Tomorrow, Friday we will probably leave here and anchor out for a few nights.


Life's a beach....

Capn Buck and Pippy signing out for now!