The last couple of weeks started gently enough: we were pinned into Paroikia, the port town of Paros, for a whole week whilst we waited for the meltemi winds to calm down. Escaping from the rocking motion on board, we took a bus inland and visited the old town of Lefkes. Lots of beautiful and tiny alleyways, white washed houses with blue shutters lining every route. Little shops selling artworks and trinkets and, of course, tavernas and bars everywhere. It was great to wander the streets, and relax with a cold beer when the heat and multiple steps got too much.
It has not all been touristy sight-seeing, however. We managed to find an electrician (from Birmingham, no less) who, we hope, has fixed our windlass: it kept blowing fuses and we have now substituted the fuse for a proper circuit breaker – let’s see if it cures the problem.
When the winds finally abated, we sailed out and returned to Despotika bay, enjoying peace and quiet, with both a beautiful sunset and a lovely moonrise.
With light winds forecast, we then left Paros and spent a night at anchor in a bay at the little island of Schinousa, then left on a longer passage to Asatipalaia. This is an isolated island, the first of the Dodecanese, but over thirty miles from both the Dodecanese and Cycladic islands on either side. It has a special affection for us as we first visited the island over 15 years ago, to celebrate the 50th birthday of one of our good friends, Martin. He and Anne have had a place on the island for about 27 years, and they are both fantastic hosts. As we arrived, dropping anchor in Livadhia bay on the South of the island, they were just returning from a sailing trip, and bringing their boat to their mooring in the very same bay, just 50 metres from us! I swam out to greet them, and they joined us for a drink aboard.
With yet more strong meltemi winds, we stayed in Livadhia bay for nearly a week, taking advantage of Anne and Martin’s unstinting good hospitality: evening drinks in Donny’s bar followed by a meal in one or other taverna in the old town on the hill above the bay. The only hiccup came when our dinghy outboard – an old machine, rarely serviced – failed to start on one of the trips back to the boat after a long evening eating and drinking. Martin came to the rescue: finding a mechanic on the island who was able to service and fix the machine. Martin even drove me and the outboard up the hill to the workshop, and bring us back – thank you Martin!
All good things have to end, and after a week in Livadhia it was time to move on. We wanted to head East, across to Leros and the adjacent Dodecanese islands, and on Saturday a weather window opened. We started with a sail around the South of the island, stopping for lunch in Maltezana, before rounding the island and spending the night in Vathi bay – an almost completely enclosed bay on the North of Astipalaia, and one where the only noise to disturb our sleep was the clanking of the bells on the herds of goats, and the crowing of cockerels in the morning.
The next morning we weighed anchor and headed across to Leros: despite relatively light winds forecast, we found a confused and lumpy sea – not pleasant for the six hour passage, so we were relieved to arrive in Lakki bay , and enter calm waters for another night at anchor. Our season is drawing to a close, and we will soon be leaving Merryn in Leros for the winter. We still have a few more weeks and, with a bit of good luck (that is, an end to the incessant meltemi), we will try and explore some more of these islands before returning to Leros in October.