Monday, 16th July 2019
Downhill all the Way "Home"

Since leaving the Sporades, we have had some of the best sailing in a good while. It took roughly five 40-50nm hops ("channel crossings") to get us from the northwest back to the Dodecanese in the East, with none of it on the nose. The first two got us to Skyra and Psara as mentioned in the previous proper log. From Psara, after a meal out with Jorge & Iris, we scooted from the centre of the northern Aegean to the east: Chios (Kardhamila in the north) and Oinoussa, an island just to the east of Chios. It was blowing a bit when we arrived in Chios (30ish kn) and there was no-one on the quay. We had a go doing it ourselves but started a bit on the early side and ran out of chain before we reached the quay (c. 55m of chain!). Oh well, you can't get it right all the time! We took it all up and had another go, by which time a couple of Turkish chaps had appeared from nowhere and offered to take our lines. Simple when you have a second chance…. But it reminded us of how far back East we have come - we can see Turkey in the distance.

We nipped across to have a couple of days on Oinoussa in different bays: the first one shocked us by how cold the water was. Having had bathwater of 26-28 deg C further north, this was barely touching 20-21 deg. We assumed it was due to freshwater springs in the bay, so moved further round the island only to find that too was cold. Some say refreshing. Richard says plain cold. A short hop (26nm) further down to the bottom of Chios to a favourite stopping off point, Kamara. The south of Chios is interesting and worth exploring by car which we did in 6 years ago (see blog then for detail), full of wonderful old "masticharia" villages and still heavily involved in the processing of the Pistacia lentiscus tree, the resin of which is used in everything from cosmetics to soap to liqueurs (Raki), antiseptics and other medicinal remedies.

Downhill yet again, another 45nm, even getting the cruising chute out for a time (a very short time) the wind starting very light and building to the end of the day to a F6 with gusts in excess of 32kn. Undecided as to where, we headed south, initially planning on Ikaria, where Icarus allegedly plummeted to his death having melted his wings after his escape with Daedalus from Minos. The other alternative was Samos. There is a gap to go through between those islands - Ikaria, long and cigar-shaped with crags, gorges and ravines: and Samos, cultivated, mountainous, home to Pythagorus, Epicurus, ancient luminaries, engineers, astronomers and architects. Straight down past is a group of islands, the archipelago of Fournoi. The whole area is noted for its winds, particularly through that gap and on the south side of the islands, where far from being sheltered from the prevailing strong NW winds, the steep mountains provide a katabatic effect such that the winds accelerate up and over the mountains to flatten you the other side. Sometimes.

We spotted what looked like another HR somewhere behind. It looked suspiciously like Yacht Ginny, who had left us in the Evia Channel before the Khalki Bridge to head up to the northern fingers near Thessaloniki. Talking on the VHF radio, they were minded to head for Samos. We told them about a sheltered anchorage not far from the gap and they thought that sounded good with the idea of going on to Marathokambo or Pythagorian another day. We heard from them that Marathokambo had now an extended harbour with facilities available, so although we like Ikaria and it also has facilities, we decided to opt for Samos also. Gusty arrival, but the evening calmed down and we could cool off (water now up a bit to 23 deg) and enjoy the beautiful surroundings, before heading all of a few miles the next day to Marathokambo. We had a very tucked in corner there (being such a small boat!), Ginny (at 45') a slightly more exposed position but perfectly secure. We ended up staying for 3 nights, in this gem of a place, to sit out some gales that were forecast. We saw 39 knots in the shelter of the harbour - what it was like further out I don't know, but I was very happy not to find out. It had everything we wanted, a beach one side, fishing boats the other, little cafes and tavernas, car hire, bakery, small shop, a man in a truck selling home produce, mainly beautiful fruit and mountainous scenery in the background. The wind howled so much we had to take our tent down in case it ripped.

Having stayed an extra day or two on Samos, we decided we needed to do the last leg in one hop and so headed off on Saturday for "home" island of Leros. It started with a N Force 6/7 and eased during the day to a lovely F4 and once again we had great sailing for another 40+ nm achieving 8.6 kn of actual boat speed (SOG a bit more with some favourable current). It was a utilitarian stop in Lakki, to sort ourselves out and catch up on news, but we like the place; it is a normal working town that exists and does when the visitors go home. It has everything you could wish for including things of an engineering nature. It also has Poppy's (formal name Murano), a café whose owner treats you like favoured guests and who offered tv coverage of both the Grand Prix and Wimbledon final for those foreigners seeking those comforts. So we joined some of our cruising companions; due to mix up of time differences, we sadly missed the Grand Prix that we really wanted to see but did catch a substantial amount of the tennis.

And so once more, we headed up to Archangelos, for lunch and one last swim, bbq and night on the water. This morning we were lifted by the usual crew. I am sure you will all be riveted to know we have an exceptionally clean bottom. Shows what surfing along for 200 odd nm can do. So it's evening piping, morning reveille, bleating goats and a walk to our small plane tomorrow for the home break. Next job, fix the central heating at home and get the machete out to tackle the jungle that is no doubt my garden.

Back for more in September.