Roast Goat & Bloomers Khalki, 15th May 2015

Several sporty sails later and we are on Khalki (or Chalki or Halki) about 30nm off of Rhodes. We had a quick overnighter on Nisyros after a thunder and lightning trip from Kalymnos. This is a very special volcanic island, for those who didn't see our trip last October, you can find it under "Pali" - really fabulous. Here the Orthodox priest in his black robes and long hair is also head of the surrounding islands' Harley Davidson Motorbike Club. When it gets a bit chilly in the evenings, the Harley Davidson leather jacket goes on over the cassock - wonderful!

We made tracks to Tilos, to meet up with friends Colin & Shirley (Malo 37 Silent Wings) - they heading north, we south. We have been ships passing in the night / day for some years now and it is always fun to catch up. We shared a pre-birthday dinner at Gorgona's - lovely aubergine and green bean starters followed by special roast goat - very good. And then it was birthday time for Richard. We had a lazy start of opening a few presents, lots of cards, emails and online messages. He did a bit better than last year's gales and no presents! We then set off again, further south to this lump of rock off Rhodes island with precious little on it bar one pretty little port. Another sporty sail 8kn+, with a bit of lollop due to stronger weather further west. We completed birthday with a barbecue of "special steak" cut for us by the excellent butcher on Kalymnos.

Today, Friday, has been a lazy day of sightseeing around Halki, visiting a little local museum of a "traditional Halki House". High ceilings, artefacts of daily life, including cheese and bread making and a bridal suite were all laid out. One interesting feature here were examples of Anthia's grandmother's bloomers as worn by the women of Halki in the 1900's - all starched cotton and beautiful lacework, framed and hung on the walls! A display of knickers no less.

Symi (off Turkish coast) tomorrow and Rhodes after the weekend, to miss the crowds. Looking forward to that.