Thursday, 17th May 2018
Birthdays and Battleships

Symi: We sailed up to the little harbour just around the corner from Symi port, first at anchor, then on the little quay. We had to move off the little quay and back out to anchor on Richard's birthday because apparently a "tanker" was due in. Fine. It turned out this tanker was not delivering goods, but loading what looked suspiciously like crates of arms and ammunition by the army. Where this was headed, we don't know - it was not showing up on AIS to state its destination.

We enjoyed R's birthday, he had lots of messages and cards and a few presents smuggled aboard, along with banners and balloons (we don't normally do a lot for birthdays, but this one was a decade, so more appropriate). We had managed to go into Symi by bus and stock up on a few bits and pieces, including the all important cake (it turned out to be more of a mousse than cake, but still nice). The day was finished with a very garlicky, shellfish & fish supper overlooking the boats (including ours and the tanker full of weapons) in the harbour.

From Symi we sailed to Rhodes - for a quick overnight stop - we have visited here before (see previous entry in May 2015). The following day we set off at dawn for the 70nm passage to Kastellorizo; we started well, goose-winging (going downwind with sails set either side for the non-sailors), but after a few hours the wind died and we ended up having to use the engine for the remainder. The notable points of the trip were the proximity of various Turkish warships (three seemed to meander near us for a good while), and the constant vhf radio calls by other warships in the vicinity belonging to other countries - Nato ones, US warships calling up Russian warships, Polish warships and the like - we couldn't see them but they must have been within 30 odd nm. The further east we go, the more naval presence there is….

It's a long crossing but we arrived in little Kastellorizo after 11 hours at a very respectable 7pm, and watched the sun go down over supper in the cockpit. It is noticeably hotter here and the water is becoming more bath-like. Kastellorizo is miles from anywhere else in Greece, and literally within spitting distance of Kas in Turkey. It would really make sense for it to be part of Turkey, but it is fiercely Greek and wants to remain so. Apparently there are a few hundred permanent residents on the island - numbers swell significantly in season due to visitors: allegedly there is an agreement that if the permanent population falls below 85, it will be ceded to Turkey - whether that is true or wishful thinking on Turkey's part, not sure. It is a barren rock of an island with a very pretty port, all pastel coloured houses, cafes and tavernas and the clearest blue water. There is the usual Greek mixture of decay and disrepair along with what seems to be quite of lot of renovating work going on. We like it. The resident wildlife consists mainly of cicadas, grasshoppers, cheeky little birds, water snakes, little fish and the most tame, languorous turtles who seemed unconcerned by people or boats. And cats and more cats - they live, like cartoon characters, in the dustbins. Throwing your rubbish away brings howls and mad leaps out of the bins - whether howls of delight at new scraps to be investigated or not is anyone's guess.

We are here for a day or two, exploring, swimming with the turtles, and checking weather for the next big leg. From here to Cyprus is about 30 hours - so an overnighter. There is no way to log a passage plan as one might with Falmouth coastguard in the UK, so we will post our departure and expected ETA to friends/family and clock in on arrival. And hope for a smooth crossing.