Simply Symi

On the 30th August we left the tiny island of Tilos heading 24 miles east to Symi, happily sailing in on a reefed beam reach in a north westerly 5 gusting 6 with 2 metre swell pushing us along, arriving mid afternoon in the almost landlocked bay of Panormitis on the south west coast, with nothing there but a very large and well kept Monastery and a windmill marking the entrance.

Having dropped our anchor we soon realised that we might have done so in the turning circle of the 2 ferries that come in daily depositing numerous tourists to the monasteries, the next one due to arrive in half an hours time. We quickly got ourselves sorted to lift the anchor and re-position, jut in time as the ferry arrived earlier than scheduled!

Panormitis

Having spent a reasonable peaceful night, we ventured ashore early to explore the monastery and had a chuckle at the first sign we came accross!.

We then departed to check out the numerous dramatic and deep anchorages on the east coast, but not being in favour to a long line ashore, opted for Pedhi Bay, where we chilled out on board for a couple of days amongst many other boats, as we soon learnt it was a Turkish holiday all week and Symi being so close to Turkey, it was clearly a favoured spot amongst the Turks!

Pedhi Bay

Pedhi Bay at Dawn

After 2 peaceful days, we finally decided to venture into Symi Town. We had been told by numerous sailors that the mooring there was far from easy, the port having a very deep channel (over 20 metres) running through it and if you didn’t get the anchor in the right place, it could easily flip on its back and cause all sorts of problems. Cross anchors were also an absolute given. We had also been told that the best spot was as far down on the right hand side because a) it was shallower, and b) it was quieter at night, plus there would be someone likely to blow a whistle at us to direct us to a space he wanted us to go, so if it was on the left side, and there was space on the right, to ignore him!

As we entered the port and motored past the clock tower, a loud whistle started blowing in our direction with a man signalling for us to come in right at the entrance, where the depths were between 30-40 metres. We tried to tell him that it was too deep and dutifully followed our advice and ignored him, choosing our spot, where we promptly dropped our anchor and safely reversed to the quay. Oh boy, was that a mistake!. The man, furious, was standing at our stern, screaming and gesticulating at us in Greek, much to the amusement of our neighbours! Only then did we realise that he was not in fact the harbour master, but was the Port Police! We tried to explain why we had proceeded into the port without stopping, but he was having none of it, but finally having managed to tell him we were a UK registered boat, sailing under a Greek transit log, coming from Tilos, did he manage to settle down. Still he issued an order for us to walk all the way round the other side of the port and present ourselves to the main Port Police office for “punishment”. This we duly did without delay, and 20 minutes later in the midday sun, we arrived to be told that Symi Port, being so close to Turkey is a schengen port and every boat is required to stop at the entrance to check in. Fortunately we weren’t in breach of any rules so after lots of grovelling, we were sent on our way. It seems our “punishment” was the walk as we could have gone to the office on our side of the port, 3 minutes away. Suffice to say our neighbours were relieved to see us return not in handcuffs, fearing a night in a Greek cell was waiting for us!

Symi Town is full of muted blue, amber, cream and rose-hued houses built layer upon layer up both sides of the step inlet. It is so quaint that the locals have to put up the daily onslaught of tourists shipped in from Rhodes, although they do seem able to detach themselves from it. Needless to say, you could almost feel the town sigh with relief when the last ferry of the day leaves.

Symi Town

On our second day, we walked up the steep hill to the top to get the view of the bay beyond and the inlet from above. Hot, but well worth it.

We had some time to chill as Nick Godliman, with his wife Melinda and an old friend Ed and his partner Roza had hired a 51 foot Dufour just across the water in Turkey and were planning on coming in that afternoon for a catch up. Their arrival was rather late as, depsite my previously mentioning they would need to get the necessary papers to leave Turkey and enter Greek Waters, it was not something Nick had pre-planned and therefore his route has to take a detour to a Port of Exit in Turkey first. Suffice to say, by the time they arrived, there was no room in the inn, so they dropped anchor in the bay immediately outside, with depths of 30-40ms. His charter yacht only carried 80 meters of chain, but thankfully there was not a breath of air that night. Not happy to leave the boat out of sight, Nick called us to say they were in a restaurant in sight of the yacht and did we want to join them, which we duly did.

It was a good evening, meeting Melida and Ed again (15 years I guess it was since I last met him, not changed a bit) and his partner Roza. Sadly David was still feeling under the weather, from the cold and chest infection I had passed onto him, so when Nick suggested we come back to his yacht for a night cap, David called it a night. Being Mrs Nosey as to what a new 51 foot Dufour looked like, I jumped in their dinghy with them and went aboard. Wow, 10 metres longer and 1 metre wider made it seem absolutely huge, not that I liked it much, very minimalist and characterless!

As we approached in the dinghy I told Nick that I thought he would have a problem with a rather large Turkish gullet moored next to him, as with no wind the boats would all move and lie in different directions. Sure enough, within 30 minutes, the bimini on Nick’s yacht was about to be taken out by the huge bow spit on the gullet. Nick, not knowing where to move to (as the bay was now rather full), happily listened when I suggested he pick up his anchor, do a 180 turn, drop it again and reverse to take a line to a buoy near the waterfront, to stop the boat from swinging. This we duly did, without anyone having to get in the water thankfully, and with the line to the buoy secure, we proceeded to tighten up on the anchor, to soon realise that the buoy was  also attached to a little fishing boat, which in turn was attached to the shore, and as we tightened the anchor, it became clear we were about to rip the cleats off the poor little fishing boat! We quickly released the tension and I suggested that Nick take a second line ashore, just in case the wind got up and the angle changed, to ensure he didnt put too much pressure back on the little boat. After some kerfuffle with the line in the dinghy, which nearly saw one or both of us in the water, (David will have some sympathies with this) we got it sorted at which point I bid my farewell and left them to it. I doubt Nick’s neighbours at 1am were not too happy about the noise but at least it meant they could all have a safe nights sleep!

Symi Town by Night

The following day, we bid our farewells to Nick and the guys, who had managed to get into the Port but not clear Greek Customs and so had to head back to Turkey, our next stop being Rhodes, where Steven is coming out to join us for 5 days!