Fools Afloat. Day 8.

Day 8 Saturday 9^th June 2018

0700hrs. Another clear blue sky. Flat calm, no wind. This was Suzie’s last morning aboard the Chrysanthi.  Her cab was booked for 0800hrs to take her to the Airport. All had begged her to stay another week but alas she had family commitments. We all hugged and wished her a safe homeward journey. She passed her bergan up onto deck and Mike took it onto the jetty where we were soon joined by Tim. He was to walk her the short 500 metres to the taxi rank. There was no point in him seeing her away at the airport. This would only incur more cost. With Suzie now departed we were down to four. That meant promotion for the Stopportons and with that extra responsibility!!

0835 hrs. The order was given, “Prepare ship for sea.” Well something like that. Perhaps not quite so dramatic. We set about tasks. The spring line was taken in, hatches closed and all loose items stowed. With David at the helm, the motor was fired, Tim let slip the aft warps and on command Mike let go the forward warp. Meanwhile Jackie was finishing the last furl of the Bimini. Within minutes we had passed through the harbour mouth and Kardemena was falling astern.

There was no wind. It was mirror calm. We motored onward towards ?????. Several times we cut the engines hoping for some wind to fill the gib. Nothing. On we motored. Toady we had a mere ten miles to cover we had done almost five before we managed to find some wind. The sails barely filled but with the correct trim set by Tim and good helmsmanship by Jackie we managed a steady 5 knots.

The entrance around the mole was narrow but of a good depth. Tim stood in the bow, forward lookout and directed David at the helm to a berth. The harbour was fairly deserted there were ample moorings. Having chosen, with good teamwork we were soon tied up and congratulating ourselves on our performance.

1100hrs. Palon Harbour. Nisiros. 36*37’.24 N 27*10’.44E.  Alongside. Soon a Turkish gin palace arrived, stern to like us. It had a male crew of two and the owner and his wife. They docked with the minimum of fuss apart from when David pointed out the potential trip hazard with their gangplank passing under  our starboard aft warp. Someone on board was not happy with this and they moved a few meters away. Again with total proficiency.

This was in total contrast to  a French yacht that was attempting to come alongside on our port side. All, bar the ‘Captain’ on board, could see he had his motor going too fast and had not aligned his reverse in line with his anchor and chain. Many shouted ‘slow down’ but the guy seemed to be flustered. He hit the boat moored on his port side bounced off and was headed for us on the rebound when he managed to regained control and took her out for another couple or three attempts. Eventually with Tim, David and a few other guys on the quay shouting instructions they managed to get the boat stern to and tied up. It seems they had problems with the anchor chain not feeding out correctly. At this point neither Mike or Jackie had any input, we were busy literally swabbing the decks. We had run a hose from the shore and filled our water tanks and took the opportunity of the fresh water to wash down the decks. It is surprising how dirty they can get. Mostly dust blown on board when in harbour.

The Captain. A strict disciplinarian.

This sleepy little harbour is not on the general tourist route. The grockle boats seemed to have by passed it. At this time of day it had an innocent charm but later tonight? Who knows, there were berths a plenty. We shall see how many yachts arrive. Literally twenty metres from our stern lay a charming looking Resto called Ellinis. We noticed that they advertised a laundry service.

 

We gathered up all sheets, pillowcases, towels, tea towels and such personal kit that needed washing, counted and listed all items then Tim and Mike walked over and dropped it in their laundry room. An area out back of the resto with a solitary washing machine. Because Tim and I were considered good looking fellows the charge would be E8 per 5 kilo. Before I could ask, we were told if we had been ugly, the cost would have been E10.

The Captain at Ellinis updating the log.

Ellinis resto was one of those blue and white tablecloth restos. Tables facing the boats, good overhead cover and with just the right amount of potted green shrubs to add charm. It looked clean and well kept. Not only was the menu comprehensive but the English speaking owner, his waitress, cum laundry girl and chef were also polite and keen to answer our questions.

We returned to the boat and suggested we go ashore try a beer and check out the Wi-Fi. That occupied another hour. The place was quiet. Charming but quiet.

The afternoon, hot with a gentle breeze was spent under the bimini reading or in Mike’s case catching a few zeds for an hour. It’s tiring this sailing business. 

A short walk around part of the harbour, the other half we can do tomorrow, brought us to the car hire ‘shop’. Now this harbour and village is small. 36*37’.24 N 27*10’.44E. The bike, quad, car hire business is very much a local affair. As we approached the young girl stood up and said ‘Calimira’, Good morning. We replied likewise but as our path took us away onto the North harbour wall she soon sat down again. Business here cannot be that fast. The visiting yachts might offer some half day rental business and there seems to be a few Greek tourists but this lovely harbour of Palon on the Greek island of Nisiros is seemingly a forgotten back water. The larger harbour option is Mandraki a few miles away on the same coastline. Here there is also another caste of the Knights of St John.

 

Returning to the boat Tim was already at ‘our table’ we had booked it earlier, reading from his laptop. We waved at the young girl whom David had named Aphrodite, popped below decks changed t shirts and emerging into the saloon was met by David who had just woken. “Common David, scrans up.” We walked across the road and had a very pleasant meal. Fillet fish with salad and chips for Tim and Jackie, Lamb chops for David and stuffed Calimari with chips for Mike. Callimari here is the whole squid with wings and is a feast in its own right without the stuffing, vine leaves, rice and herbs, salad and chips. E12. About the same as you would pay for maybe a dozen calamari rings in batter at home. The tables started to fill and when we left at 2130hrs there were still people arriving. They closed a little after 2300hrs. David had left shortly before us, he was so tired he was virtually falling asleep at the table we paid for the meal, in cash, E120 their comms for the credit cards was poor!

On board we spent about fifteen minutes in the cockpit, ‘sans alcohol’ before retiring. 

 

The local supermarket.