Day 6 Thursday 7th
June 2018
0625 hrs. We were woken by
the violent rocking of the boat and the sound of items crashing to the floor
and glass breaking. We both flew out of bed. Considering the difficulty we
normally experienced extracting ourselves from the bed it was nothing short of
a superhuman miracle worthy of Clark
Kent. The sounds of glass breaking and items falling lent speed to our exit. It
was impossible to stand and we were being bounced from wall to wall. Mike undecided
weather to enter the saloon without shorts, thus ‘bollocky’ and perhaps cause Suzie,
or myself some degree of embarrassment. Or should I put my shorts on first and
let the boat sink. I opted for modesty. Still being thrown around we emerged
into the Saloon. Tim was on his knees in shreddies picking up broken wine glasses
and Suzie was busy chasing items that were rolling around the deck. It seems
either we had been hit by a tsunami or one of those damn Greek ferries had
motored past at some ridiculous speed and sent a series of waves into the
harbour. The Greek ferry Captains have seemingly little respect for other
smaller sailing craft. Might it be that they reason they are trying to keep to
a schedule and earn a living whilst we are merely pleasure craft on vacation?
0950 hrs. We weighed
anchor. Sailed out of the harbour, moved the helm to port and were away, headed
for the coast of Kos. We were initially on motor, then, once clear of land put up gib and main.
We sailed along at 4 knots. Not very fast but at least we were sailing. The sea
was flat calm. Unbelievably so seeing as we were some distance off the nearest
land. Depth under the keel gave us 26 meters. Eventually off the coast of
Turkey we lost what little wind we had and therefore resorted to the engine
once again.
Not poor
harbourside maintenance but the results of the July 21st 2017
earthquake.
1230hrs. Kos, Old harbour.
We chose this mooring over the new marina. Our thinking was that it might be
cheaper. It still cost E37 inc electricity and water. We went stern to onto the
quay that ran at the base of the old castle walls. This castle was built in the
late 1400’s by the Knights of St John. Mike ran out the anchor. Janni on shore,
guided us in. After tying up beneath the walls of the old castle we decided we
were taking up too wide a berth and therefore upped anchor went out and then
astern to line up better. Once we had powered up the boat from the shore we
cracked out a few beers, G+Ts and some fruit cocktail. It was hot. As a matter
of course we set up the bimini and Jackie and Mike disappeared below decks to
rustle up a salad. We even managed to find some choritzo hiding in the back of
the fridge. That went in with a handful of peppers and Feta cheese, onions,
toms, and peppers. Strangely no Kos lettuce despite the fact it is from here that
the lettuce gets its name.
Mike and Jackie
decided on a walk and took themselves off to investigate the old castle beside
us. We eventually found our way up to the drawbridge entrance but alas it was
closed. It seems an earthquake on 21 July 2017 shook two huge cracks in the
walls at both ends and as such the authorities closed it to visitors. In fact
the square where we were to eat tonight had suffered badly as well. This is the
square with the tree of Hypocrates, he of Hippocratic Oath, the father of
medicine. The tree is supposedly more than a 1000 years old but has been proved
to be nowhere near that age and by the looks of it will not last many more
years.
We walked back down to the
harbour plonked ourselves in a front seat beneath some shade and ordered two
iced cappuccinos. E10. The robbin’…???
We had spotted a small green land train, the sort of thing which young
families take their children on for a ride around town. Shall we? Of course
not. It was all too twee. But we did. I had to elbow quite a few six and seven
year olds out of the way to get good seats! The ride around Kos town lasted for
about 30 minutes but we saw enough to convince us the old town of Kos had
nothing to recommend itself to us. The main drag was all fish and chips or
burger bars, tacky souvenir shops, football and tee shirt selling shops and bars
advertising ‘Football’ the general rubbish one finds in most seaside towns. As
we alighted we agreed the best looking Restaurant we had seen was earlier this
afternoon, in the square beside the castle. This was to be our recommendation
to the crew.
We were to take on water in the
morning and so there was no excuse for not taking a shower tonight. Dressed
in our ‘run ashore’ rig we returned to the Restaurant. Here we were greeted
warmly and ordered cocktails all around. The Stopportons opting for
Margarittas, David a Negroni, Tim a G+T and Suzie a Radler. OK that’s a shandy
but so what. We were all completely happy with the ambiance and decided we
could happily eat here. We selected from the menu. Apart from the delicious
fresh baked complimentary bread rolls we skipped starters. David had Lamb, Tim
and Jackie Salmon, Suzie ???? Mike the
Risotto in ginger and lemon with Langoustines. Deserts were bought this
evening, unusual but this was more a restaurant than a Taverna. The waitress service,
the wine handling and tasting, not exactly a sommelier but it was far superior
to that we had previously encountered. We enjoyed a couple of bottles of Greek
white as recommended by Laura the waitress.
It wasn’t Elkie Brooke’s but she was OK.
Towards the end of the meal David
decided he was feeling somewhat under the weather and returned to the boat. No
sooner had he left than Laura brought out five complimentary gin and ginger
cocktails. Jackie and I made short work of David’s. The meal was superb and
made all the more enjoyable by the electronic organ player and his selection of
soft jazz music. He was joined at one point by a female singer and the sounds
of their performance echoing off the walls of the ancient buildings added
mightily to the evening. ‘There will always be Kos.’
We returned to the boat where
David joined us for a last drink.
2200hrs. In bed.
