Patmos to Kusadasi
Posted at 11:23 PM, Oct. 17, 2009
Well the last blog had us at Patmos where we stayed a couple of nights before heading eastwards for a short 10 mile sail over to the island of Marathos (off Arki) where we able to pick up a mooring in the bay and go ashore at the Pirates Taverna for dinner. The pirate king said on arrival that the Belgiums were here last night and asking whether we had been there. Vee and Daniel sorry we missed you by a day and hope you enjoyed the bay quite apart from the culinary delights !! Sabine enjoyed being able to swim off a sandy beach and also to check out all the goats wandering around with bells around their necks – presumably so they could easily be found before being prepared for the taverna dinner men
Emma and Sabine at Marathos looking for goats
From Marathos it was a 22 mile sail to windward, just laying through to Pithagorion on the island of Samos, which is the southernmost island of the Eastern Sporades Group. The depths in the town basin looked pretty marginal for us so we motored in slowly, got down to 0.2 metres under the keel but we eventually dropped anchor to go stern to – slowly – but hit the mud about 6 metres off so anchored in the bay. Result being a short dinghy ride ashore. Pleasant but small town with the entire waterfront consisting of restaurants and relatively quiet – one guy said about 15% less visitors than last year as the island attracts older people and they still have money to spend on holidays! We had one night in the bay but with a worsening forecast and southerly to boot (which would set up quite a swell in the bay) we moved around to the marina which is about a 20 minute walk from the town. It turned out to be a good call as the 20 knot plus southerly wrapped into the bay and bouncing around on anchor with 1.1 metres under the keel does not allow much of a safety margin.
Pam entertains Sabine on the garage door
The Heikell pilot describes the marina as incomplete however that is not the case now – the marina fingers and walkways are completed, there are a couple of restaurants, a well provisioned supermarket, a chandlery, car hire place as well as an 80 ton travellift and good engineering workshops on the marina itself. The marina was quiet and about 70% full with prices that matched those of Kos. The daily rate for us was EUR43 inclusive of power and water. I would think a good option for wintering over and the island has a substantial airport. The main downside seemed to be the lack of security – although it boasts CCTV there is no evidence of this, the place closes down at around 2200 hrs and the gatehouse is not manned. In speaking to the engineer he said it was a better marina for business than Kos (where he had worked for 7 years) as there are no charter boats, only private boats in the marina.
We rented a car and drove around the island and were much impressed with the mountain town of Manolates - high in the mountains on the northern side. This is steep countryside and yet covered in vineyards and olive groves on seemingly impossibly stony and inaccessible slopes.
"Main street" of Manolates.
We pretty much covered the whole island and some pretty steep and rough roads. Also checked out the various “ports” around the island and found that the town of Samos itself has a small boat harbour filled with local fishing boats and apart from this is quite open to the north. I would not stop there.
Emma, Hugo and Sabine look down on Samos town
Further along the northern coast is what looked like an industrial town called Karlovasi that would provide good shelter from the meltemi and has good depths. Did not appear to be set up for yachts though and there was only one yacht there that was moored side on to the main shipping wharf. So not a place to head for with a few days stopover in mind. On the southern side of the island the only place worth stopping is Pithagorion. This town is named after Pythagoras the famous Greek mathematician who was born here and the harbour wall features an oversize bronze statue of him complete with various instruments and formulae.
We cleared out of Greece at Pithagorion on Sunday 4 October and took advantage of the fresh southerly to sail the 18 miles across to Kusadasi in Turkey passing through the Samos strait which is only a mile wide, separating Greece and Turkey. The only place to go is the Kusadasi marina, a huge setup with several restaurants, swimming pool, tennis courts etc. etc and very good security. It appears that many boats winter over here.
Thanks Sabine for drinking my milkshake!
So Monday 5th October saw me with a 2 hour drive north to Izmir to collect John, Karen and Jack who had arrived in the previous night from Auckland, and then a 2 hour drive south to Milas/Bodrum to deliver Jason, Emma, Hugo and Sabine to the airport for their flight back to London. A day of enduring crazy Turkish drivers whose main sporting interest seems to be passing on blind corners at speed!
We checked in to Turkey one day and then amended the crew list and checked out the next day. The marina office were agents and did the check in but when it came to check out they said it would take all day as they were busy so we did it ourselves – so now a little unsure about the stated requirement that it is necessary to use an agent.
The plan now is to pretty much reverse our path, with friends aboard, and get back to Kos by 13 October to give us a couple of days to winterise the boat.
Cheers
Keith & Pam