Summertime Voyage

We had booked a berth in Kos harbour for our pick-up of son Chris and partner Ebba. From our previous experience it was clear that supply was lagging behind demand in terms of berthing accommodation in both the harbour and the marina. Clearly in need of some supply side Trussonomics. Wet weather gear! We arrived at Kos harbour although the short trip from Kalymnos was in high winds with reefs fore and aft and full harness and wet weather gear. On entering the harbour the marinero started yelling instructions. We were just getting lined up when all of a sudden the steering jammed!!!!!! The air was blue as the marinero and I yelled at each other. I could steer to port but turning the wheel to starboard took all my might. Amazingly we managed to get in. At this point the marinero told us we could only stay for two nights and if we did not agree we had to leave immediately. I think I would have agreed to almost anything at that point. I was envisaging that our nylon rudder bushing had fina...

It was a bit noisy in Vathi, with the late night party running into the early morning cockerels. So we left the following morning for a short sail round to Kalymnos town. Adopting the position We were hovering around looking for a berthing spot when a fellow signalled to us and indicated that the berth next to him was free. Very neighbourly! At that point a large chap appeared and started trying to wave us away with loud invective. Nice guy however continued to quietly and calmly indicate that we should come in where he had shown us. So in we went. Excellent museum on Kalymnos. Had wind powered directions. We got lost! Our helper had a friendly Scottish voice and told us that the waver and shouterer was a restaurant owner who was trying to reserve space for tripper boats to feed at his restaurant, and we should pay him no attention. So we didn’t. Aesculapius. God of surgery. Looks like an old colleague. Came up in a fishing net! Dean and Jan, our new neighbours were proud owners of a v...

Samos is a large island, but less afflicted by tourism than Kos and Rhodes. We moored up on the town quay of Pythagorion, the main town on the South coast. There is a lot of history here, as there is almost everywhere round here. But Pythagorian is quite special. It has been a major town since the earliest inhabitation of the island by Ionians around 4000 years ago. X2+Y2 = H2 Most noticeably Pythagoras was born and lived here, but there were other notables including Polykrates and Eupalinos. Polykrates was apparently quite a good guy and a revered leader who developed the community on Samos in a very positive way. However he was eventually crucified by the Persians for his troubles. It is often better to be a cruel and bad leader. The good guy always seem to get the rough end of things. No good deed remains unpunished. Eupalinos' Tunnel Similarly there were extraordinary building works performed by Eupolinos in around 600BC including a phenomenal water system involving hidden aque...

Following a peaceful night at anchor on Leros, we had a quick morning dip and then set off NW towards Patmos. The wind had a bit more W in it today so after half an hour of motoring we were able to sail the rest of the way close hauled. Leros to Patmos Half way between Leros and Patmos someone has put a pair of small islands and associated reefs. They are quite tiny and at the normal passage making zoomed out view on the Chartplotter it would be easy to miss them. Fortunately we didn’t miss them, or is it that we were fortunate that we did miss them? Hard to tell sometimes. Patmos approach also requires a bit of attention with various rocks and shoals about. We berthed safely. Although it is a managed harbour with a kiosk and Port Police, there is no-one to help with berthing. So we were planning a leap ashore when a nice local chap appeared and took our lines. In previous trips it has almost always been the case that those lying in the cockpits of the boats adjacent will usually sprin...