Agathonisi to Kalymnos
Posted at 10:38 PM, Jul. 4, 2009
Well only a few days left on this trip and the month has flown by. At Patmos a few days back we met a neat English couple – Tim and June Perfect – who spend half the year in Cambridge and the other half in England or sailing on their centre cockpit Westerly 43 and we have been cruising with them since. Tim’s mother was a kiwi and he can boast an early relative who witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Perfect Lady - "There was a painted ship upon a painted ocean...." ??
So from Agathonisi (scene of the big RIB gunboats in the last blog posting) we attempted to sail the 15 miles or so across to the town of Lipsi on the island of the same name. Continuation of the calmish, fine weather and we alternated between motoring and sailing before anchoring off Lipsi late afternoon. Went ashore for a wander around the town and to find a free wi-fi café which we did and apart from drinks they provided a power cable and various items of food to snack on which they did not charge us for. Pam had earlier spotted a restaurant promoting spaghetti lobster for a very reasonable price so the four of us dinned in style before retiring to our respective boats for the night. The following morning we called into a bakery (yes wood fired) and bought some local bread and the old Greek lady gave us some other bread also – so our memories of Lipsi are very much a nice little town and very friendly people.
Approaching the Lipsi waterfront
From Lipsi we had another quiet sail down to a bay at the top of the island of Leros for lunch, swimming and relaxation and then late afternoon a gentle sail (race) with Perfect Lady on down the eastern side of Lipsi to Pandeli which we had very much enjoyed with Nicki and Richard a week or so back. As we pulled into the bay and were preparing to go stern to into the rocks and tie off there was Ted and David off Elixir waiting in their dinghy to take our line ashore. Three boats flying the NZ flag side by side tied off right in front of the beach – a few drinks on Savarna seemed called for and then we adjourned for what I said previously was the best moussaka in the Med - the waiter (we had nicknamed him Manuel but really Nicos) recognised us and we again got a table a few feet from the waters edge. And the mousska was just as good the second time around – although the free grappa was not offered this time so maybe they did see how we disposed of it at our last visit.
Up anchor the following morning and a bit of sailing with Elixir for a photo shoot and one of the results is inserted below.
One half of the mutual admiration society.
Savarna sailing on the wind out of Pandeli (photo courtesy Elixir)
From Pandeli we sailed down to the bay at the bottom end of Leros, anchored off and visited the little old church stuck in the most impossible place as you can see.
Little churches everywhere
It was here that we split tacks with Perfect Lady stayed put while Savarna had a boisterous sail for the 15 miles or so down to Kalymnos on the island of the same name. The weather forecast finally has the meltemi lined up after several weeks absence and it was due to start blowing on the Wednesday – and they got that right. The Pilot says this is a boring dirty place but to the contrary we found it delightful – this is regarded as the sponge diving capital of the world and the sponge institute still operates today. There is a called new and long concrete jetty that has been built in the NW area of the harbour and although the power and water boxes are all quayside they are not yet connected up. We approached the whole set up very slowly as it looked pretty shallow so it was bow in to have a check – the guy with the restaurant stood by to take our lines and assured us it was 4 metres deep so we spun around to go in stern first. As we realised my worst fear (grounding the rudder which is a first time) I realised his interest probably lay in getting us to eat at his outdoor restaurant a few metres off the back of the boat. Anyway we had to pull well off and while tied off astern we needed to dinghy in a few metres. The rudder is still turning ok but when I dived I can see it has scraped the hull so I suspect it has been pushed up the stock a fraction. The set up looks good here but the ballasting extends for a way off the quay and with a 2 metre deep rudder it is a place we will not be tying up to again.
So it is now Wednesday night 30 June and we head off tomorrow to Kos, and haulout the boat Friday morning as no room in the marina. The option of leaving the boat in Kos is a financial decision as for us to book through until 30 April 2010 it is 2,000 euro’s cheaper than at Marmaris. Also there is an Australian/Greek woman (Sophie) there who is in a senior role and a good communicator so she will be most helpful.
Cheers for now
Pam & Keith