Farewell to Greece

Sailing in Dodecanese and the Eastern Sporades archipelagos has been fantastic and we look forward to visiting more Greek islands next year.

After the regatta finished in Rhodos we had a few minor repairs and headed north for our rendezvous with Sue and Peter Condos in Mytilene, Lesbos. It wasn't all "plain sailing" with the Meltemi blowing from the NE, N and NW every day, sometimes with avengeance. At least we knew the islands and where the gusts were likely to come from, but on the first day, Sunday 28th August, as we headed for Kos Marina in the north of the island, the Meltemi picked up between Turkey and Kos. In gusts of 32 knots our main no 1 reefing line broke and we changed to the no 2, finally taking the main down in the lee of the island where there was some calm water. The next day was a full on work day, turning the reefing line and splicing 3m onto it. Judy went up the mast to assist in refitting the lazy jacks, washed the dodger and refitted it, picked up some more gas and then wandered into town.

Nisos Kos is the birthplace of Hippocrates, the father of western medicine and also where the Cos lettuce originated! The harbour is quite spectacular with the medieval Castle of the Knights of St John outlined against the distant mountains. The old town is amazing but overrun by tourists and we would love to revisit during the "off season".

We then headed for Nisos Leros and ended up in Patmos, having made excellent progress. Found a wonderful anchorage to the east of the town and settled down to a good night's sleep. We were underway at 7am with a light breeze which eventually died completely so it was motoring all the way, through Nisos Fournoi where we'd spent a couple of wonderful days previously, arriving at an anchorage in the north of Nisos Passa with good shelter from the NE and NW and good holding.

Arrived in Mytilene, Nisos Lesbos the next afternoon and Sue and Peter met us at the dock. They could see us entering the harbour from Peter's stepmother's apartment and were texting us. The next four days were a whirlwind of wonderful local tavernas where Peter "ordered" the best fresh fish dishes and vegetables that we'd tasted in a long time. The little fishing villages and harbours were still quite busy but we found the village dairy for fabulous sheep's yoghurt in earthenware pottery, high in the hills. The visit to Peter's grandfather's village of Akrasi with it's famous "platia" was a highlight (see photos). Sue was the "guest chef" on our day cruise to the Bay of Geras and created a wonderful capers and lemon sauce for my lamb fillets.

(See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frMHMnDiZHI for a great little film of this village).

The public marina wasn't up to much, but itwas the best place to leave We got to know all the nooks and crannies of the ancient city of Mytilene and were sad to leave "Kinabalu" while we went sightseeing.