Fools Afloat. Day 11.

Day 11     Tuesday 12 June 2018

0720hrs. Jackie tells me Tim is up. I get dressed and go aloft. Bang my head on the Perspex hatch cover, Tim is nowhere in sight returning to the galley I put the kettle on and there is Tim zonko on his bunk.



Tim on the far side of the harbour photographing us?

Breakfast is boiled egg and bread.

David emerges from his cabin as we are washing up.


As we are in Simi for a second day we are determined to stretch our legs.

Tim eventually finds his boots after lifting every hatch in the saloons deck. He sets off upward on the North side of the island the Stopportons walk to the South side of the harbour and start ascending the 575 steps to the old fortress and church atop the hill.

From the far side of the harbour we can make out Tim walking up first one long flight of steps stopping looking around then descending back to the harbour side to attempt another set in the hope they will lead to the top. We watch Tim take a few various stairways but turn back. He has yet to find his way up to the top of his side of the hill. We / he now disappears from view.

Even on our side there is a myriad of backstreets and alleyways. Houses are built into and on the side of the hill and are crammed in everywhere. It seems to be Italian style architecture some in a severe state of ruin this was caused by the retreating Germans blowing their ammo dump on this side of town in ’43. Numerous bunkers and small MG emplacements still can be found around the outer edges of the harbour guarding the approaches. Must have been a soft draft here for the Germans. Certainly better than the Russian front! We stop and chat to an English couple who are staying in a studio apartment on the top near the fortress. They recommend Jannis’s coffee shop for a break half way up. We are built of sterner stuff and so tabb on.

 

An old bomb shell forms the bell at the top.

The church of Panaghia tou Kastrou, on the top of the hill.  This church is set amoungst the old walls of the fortress, mainly crumbled, the fortress was another Knights of St John fortification.   Apart from a further two small rooms of worship on either side of this small hill there is not much else. We snap a few photos then start back down.

We stop at the Olive Grove Café run by two English ladies. They have been on the island for twenty years. Still as English as…? This was a lovely shaded courtyard. In general conversation it transpires that one of the owners worked at Strawberry Fields, the very caravan site where Tracey has her caravan. This was in the days before Chris bought the site. Another customer nearby hears us talking to Madam and asks do we know Cornwall ?Are we from the Westcountry? It is a small world and again on this holiday we are speaking to visitors that have come from Cornwall. Her name is Jane  Walker and she  paints.  She is here on vacation staying opposite in a small villa, painting with her good friend Kate. She tells us she can be found, in the summer months, painting, sat on the back of her orange hulled sailing boat in the Fowey River. "You must look me up when next you sail past."

Back at the harbour we wander through the various alleyways checking out a few shops and gradually start to return to the boat. Turning a corner,  there is Tim going shopping. Mike joins him. We buy chicken for a ruby tomorrow night when we will be anchored off, wine, veggies, ham etc. Returning to the boat we crack a few shandies.

Whilst the others have a snooze Mike goes walkabout around the point and the old boatyard. An area of the harbour not much visited by tourists I suspect, no souvenir shops and very few bars. This is though the road to the beach. Its E5 for a sunbed and they are packed in like sardines. The water is azure blue but shelves very quickly on the edge of the beach. Mike walks on along the coast road and explores amongst various German WW2 machine gun posts. Intact in the main, complete with steel ladders dropping fifteen feet to the entrance door.


Returning to the boat, Jackie is on deck reading. The others soon reappear after their snooze. We await  the waterman. As his name suggests, he's the guy with a long hosepipe that will refill our fresh water tanks. He is due sometime between 1630 – 2000hrs. We all take showers, obviously as the water will soon be replenished. The boat is topped off about 1730hrs. It is quiet on the quayside. Most of the day tourists have returned to Rhodes on the grockle boats and Simi is returning to its usual sleepy self. In the handbag and leather jacket shop opposite, the same two girls who have been on duty and on their feet since 0900hrs for the last two days and seem not to have sold anything will close about 2200hrs. Long, long, hours.

Mike had suggested a nice resto he found on walkabout this afternoon with views out into the bay.

There is a voice hailing us from the quasyside. It is Jane and Kate. We welcome them aboard. Jane lives in Fowey and has a boat on the river, hull painted orange from which she paints. They are fascinated by the Garmin which Tim is plotting for tomorrow’s course. They chat. Jane has done her Coastal Skipper nav part in Plymouth and practical in Aruba. Tim questions how is this possible as there are no major tide changes in the Carribean? They are off somewhere on the point for dinner as are we soon.

Dinner. The view was fantastic but alas the cost was considerably higher then we had previously paid and for not as good a quality as we had had elsewhere. Tim had salmon. A beautiful looking cross section fillet and was asked veggies or potatoes? Tim chose potatoes. When they arrived it was freshly made crisps. Hot and quite delicious if you wanted crisps. We are growing lads we need spuds! I suggested returning them but the waiter insisted they were good and fresh not out of a packet. We told him that crisps was certainly not what we would expect with salmon regardless how fresh they were. I suggested to Tim we reorder some potatoes but no.  This certainly took the edge off the meal and we all felt for Tim. David seemed very sleepy throughout the meal. He had been feeling a bit woozy for a few days with his dizziness and I suspect the day sat in the heat beneath the bimini didn’t help. Not only were the starters as expensive as the cheaper main courses but we knew we would not be offered any complimentary drinks or dessert here. Tim asked for the bill and we left. E88. I felt bad as it was my suggestion from my afternoon walk. David went straight to bed and as soon as we knew he was safe below decks we went ashore to a small café and bought two ice creams, treble scoops and logged on. There was no Wi-Fi at the resto.  Another mark against it.

Lovely view out to sea from Simi but the resto did not live up to expectations.

Whilst we were sat enjoying our late night ices Jane and Kate walked past, unfortunately before we noticed them, otherwise they could have joined us for a late night drink.