Samos & The Family!

After arriving on the island of Samos just as the Meltemi started and a rather challenging mooring onto the town quay in Pythagorion, one of the first things you notice is that the island is very lush and green, a far cry from the majority of the islands we have visited to date. Coming  in a couple of days earlier than planned was a no brainer,  as the forecast showed a force 5-6, which really means out here a force 7, gusting 8, and with Danie, (Chantal’s sister), and her two nieces already ensconced in a hotel around the corner. We were lucky to get in, as we were not the only ones with that intention!

Pythagorion is a cute and very lively place, built on the original site of Samos (capital). Right in front of us on the town quay were numerous bars and restaurants, for which the one directly in front of us had a license to play loud music until around 3am ! Not the best position, but that didn’t manage to spoil our stay, as we soaked up the atmosphere and met a lovely Canadian couple next to us called Paul & Paulette!

The Castle of Lycourgos Logothetis, built in 1821

On our first evening, we managed to surprise the girls by creeping up behind them at one of the bars and all had a good catch up, gossip and of course food and drink !

We hired a car for 2 days, the first day being just Chantal & I, as we drove round to Vathi, now called Samos Town, and around the bay to check out where Seaclusion will be staying for the winter. Vathi itself was a little disappointing, a large town, but a little soulless, Pythagorion being a much more pleasant place to stay. The small yard which will be Seaclusion’s winter home was anything but. We were very impressed, by both the set-up for the yard and the couple that run it. There was also a small jetty to get the yacht set-up and a concrete slipway to get lifted from. We then visited a couple of the villages up in the higher hills of the island, Vourliotes where we stopped for lunch in the tiny square, and then Mytilinii,  all around there were lush forests and so much greenery, that you would not naturally associate with any islands in this area of the Aegean.

Vathy, now called Samos Town

The Old Towns of Vourliotes & Mytilinii

Karlovasi, North West tip

Day 2 of our trip by car, with the addition of Danie and the girls, consisted of a visit to the nearby monastery of Panagia Spiliani, which went deep into the hillside and caves, but also had wonderful views to the south coast of Samos. The next stopping point was the Eupalinos Tunnel, which was built to flow the natural spring high in the hills down to the town of Pythagorion, it measured over a mile long and given it was made many hundreds of years ago, was a technical phenomenon of its time, as they carved the tunnel from both ends and met in the middle only a few inches part.

The Monastery of Panagia Spiliani

The Eupalinos Tunnel

We then made the trip over to the north coast of Samos to the Katarraktis Waterfalls, where after a 15 minute walk, the girls (and I include Danie and Chantal in that!) having forgotten their swimming costumes that were in the car, bravely continued up the river in their underwear to the first waterfall for a quick swim and a shower under the waterfall. Fortunately they weren’t the only ones, and only Danie’s looked like underwear!

The following trip up to the bar consisted of the most rickety and steep stairs I have ever had the misfortune to encounter, made out of planks and branches as hand rails. Danie, being a building surveyor and used to climbing up ladders and scaffolding found it the most daunting, probably used to all that health and safety stuff in the UK!

We ended the day with a drink and a swim in a lovely bay on the beach.

With the winds still very strong and not wishing to scare the girls on their first sailing trip, we stayed put in Pythagorion, had a day at the hotel pool where the girls were staying, and just chilled out on land, perfect.

Finally on the 17th August, after the winds settled, although not the sea yet, we set off for the downwind sail to Agathonisi. Sadly, the swell swinging our stern out and around repeatedly, poor little Nathalie was a tad sea sick, Although I might add, she was not the only one after a “sisters catch up” the night before went on until the bar closed around them, my wife does have a good sailing stomach in downwind sails, let alone when she has a hang over!. We stopped in our peaceful anchorage for the night, swam, Chantal (GI Jane) jumped on the paddle board and went off to ask the other boats in the anchorage if they had any sea sickness pills, our store having been unknowingly depleted. She soon came back triumphant, pills in hand, but not in a water proof bag, being the skilled paddle boarder she thinks is, that is until she collided with the dinghy and much to our amusement, promptly fell off, quite how she managed to keep the pills above her head and semi dry, one can only guess! We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out and ate on board.

The following morning, we headed off to a lovely anchorage we had spotted previously, but not stopped at on the south of Lipsi. The sea sickness pills seemed to do the trick for Nathalie, although they did knock her out for most of the sail.

The bay was so lovely, that we decided to stay put for 2 days, swimming, jumping off the boat and Chantal giving the girls paddle board lessons. We ate in the taverna one night and on board the other.

Both Nathalie & Annabelle took to the paddle board almost instantly, for once listening to an adult, ie Chantal when she told them what direction to go in, as there was a fairly strong offshore wind! Fortunately they didn’t take a leaf out of their mother’s book, who soon got the hang of it and decided to paddle out towards the boat and beyond, forgetting Chantal’s words of warning about the winds. All went fine until she tried to turn round and come back. After a tumble into the water, and regaining control of the board, she soon realised she might not get back. Fortunately both I, on the boat, and Chantal on the beach had been watching her, and as I was about to jump into the dinghy to be the knight in shining armour, Chantal swam past the boat heading towards her sister. She then took control, and I was entertained as she tried to paddle back to shore against the wind, with Danie trying to sit still on the front. I might add, the board is designed for 1 person! When I saw they were safely back, I returned to my book!

Time to move on, we set sail to the northwest coast of Kalymnos, in much calmer winds which gave  us the opportunity to teach the girls how to helm.

On arriving, we hooked up to a rather large buoy, as the water was too deep to anchor, and hoped the wind would continue, as it has done for weeks now, through the night to keep us off the buoy by enough to not let it bang the hull. We spent the afternoon, swimming, paddle boarding, and just generally having a giggle.

More lessons for Nathalie

The girls mastering our lovely inverted ladder!

We went ashore by dinghy for a bite to eat at the local taverna, a requirement for using their buoy but sadly returned to the boat to find the buoy hard up and banging the hull, there being no wind whatsoever, typical. Chantal then spent the next hour trying all sorts of things to minimise the noise, suspending fenders off the bow, sadly not to much joy, and so after a bad nights sleep, we were happy to depart the next day for Kalymnos Town,

With still now wind, we motored around the headland, the girls, for the first time being able to sit up at the bow.

We arrived at the quay with very few spaces left, in fact, just as we were trying to line up for one slot a large English Oyster zoomed in and tried to nick our spot. They soon thought better of it as David started gesticulating at them!

Life in Kalymnos, famous for sponge diving.

After an afternoon of exploring and a great night out, we then had a fantastic sail to the last stop for the girls, Kos, and back to the marina and a rather tricky mooring with a strong beam on wind. Danie was rather impressed!.

We then showered and changed for our last night, this time banning all mobile phones from coming with us and what a giggle we had, great meal, finished off by a not so great waffle!. The following days, we were having to wait in for the engineer we had booked to replace our failing electric toilet, Danie and the girls went off to explore Kos town by bicycle, before heading back to pack and make their merry way to the airport, not before Danie made one of her classic blonde comments, saying she needed to get rid of her euros because of Brexit, much to our amusement!.

All in all, we had a great 10 days, lots of fun and relaxation, although exhausted from all the chatting, we did enjoy our first night to ourselves, eating on board and flopping!.

So, back to just the 2 of us, we departed Kos on the 25th August to head southwards to explore the islands of Nisyros, Tilos, Symi & Rhodes.