‘Kos of those forecasts again

Uncooperative forecasts required another holiday night in Kos. Dinner in a little taverna hidden away from the main tourist traps provided a delightful dinner.

Sad to see yet more of the earthquake damage to the old buildings. This one is right beside Hippocrates' tree and features in some of our ancient family photographs.

The big square with the modern agora is still in full swing and provides a perfect people watching spot in the evening.

If forecasts cooperate we should be at sea tomorrow.

Earthquake damage

Eventually dragged ourselves to Kos where we found that last year's earthquake damage was still very evident. The old mosque in the centre is a sad sight. There are before and after photos of the mosque, the beautiful bougainvillea gate, and an old wall by the ancient agora. Plus the scene at the harbour, where the disruption is clearly visible. All this EU health and safety is such a bind!

Farewell Symi, hello forecasts

A favourite taverna in Symi is the Meraklis, where the patron remembers us from year to year. However it was time to go and enjoy the sport of tangled anchor chains. The yacht in the second photo was wrestling with a crossed anchor in the middle of the harbour. We had to wait for two others to sort themselves before we could cast off.

The plan was to head west to ancient Knidos, to anchor for the night to break the journey to Kos. However the wind and waves were more troublesome than forecast, so we diverted into the sleepy little port of Palamut, where the shelter is good and the pace is slow.

Deceptive peace and troubled history

Another peaceful day in Symi, with visits to the bakery and to the beach.

The idyllic setting however has reminders of troubled times. The more distant one is the commemoration of the surrender of the islands to the Allies in 1945.

The more current one is the rather battered 40 ft yacht in the harbour. I asked about its history and learned that it washed up here with 73 refugees on board. The probable sequence was that it was chartered for a week from some gullible owner in Turkey, and sailed up the coast to somewhere across from Symi, loaded with refugees, each paying thousands of dollars, and sent across the ten miles or so towards Symi with no skipper or sailor to bring her safely into harbour. It is now abandoned. The owner has probably no recompense as it was probably an unofficial 'charter', and it sits here awaiting its fate. Happily the refugees are long gone, the locals here having been very helpful, (there was a volunteer group who fed, watered and housed them) and the authorities would have brought them to Athens.

Flags

The first photo is the view from the back of KJ to the cafe which provides morning Greek coffees and important toilet facilities. Ianni at the door chats to us each day.

The second photo is of the beach where we had to go following a morning's provisioning and other busy, hot tasks.

Finally the flags: from KJ's Irish flag there is a sequence of Swedish, Greek, German, Italian, French, British, and Turkish. Mixed company, united in puzzlement at Brexit.

Our Irish flag is generally thought to be a faded Italian one. Twice today we had greetings of Buongiorno from passers by.

Symi life

Fishermen come into the harbour early in the morning and sell their catch on the dockside. Very picturesque.

A peaceful day with a morning walk to the beach and some serious sun therapy and swimming.

The afternoon was part siesta and part heart-in-mouth watching other yachts docking. With the brisk side-wind in the harbour it isn't easy, but several showed how you really don't do it. There is little excuse for ultra-manoeuvrable catamarans, but they showed the folly of coming to a standstill on the water to drop anchor. The wind just loves to blow you sideways and you end up dropping anchor some way off the intended spot. We counted three that gave up in the end and went elsewhere.

As a result the evening ouzo expedition was delayed while we guarded KJ and our anchor.

Europe

KJ safely exited Turkey and was welcomed into Europe in Symi.

The first photo is the skipper taking down the yellow quarantine flag to signify we were cleared in to Europe. We have about 20 rubber stamps in our documents to prove it.

The highlight of the skipper's day was being tested by the harbour police for my command of Greek. They asked what was my view if the Macedonian issue. Thankfully the right answer emerged in comprehensible Greek. (That Macedonia is Greek, and that other Balkan country needs a different name other than 'Northern Macedonia'.). They almost gave us the freedom of the harbour.

Needless to say Maire had her traditional whitebait and retsina for lunch. Some traditions are fun to maintain.