After Victoria and I re-united on Rhodes (amazingly she missed me) we sailed 21nm north to Simi. The first bay we stayed in, St. George was gorgeous: high cliffs all around, crystal clear water and a large number of goats on the beach. Many Greek islands look like mountains risen from the sea with a few small green spots and little trees scattered around. It was surprising to see so many goats in such a small spot.
After 6pm or so we had the entire bay to ourselves. As beautiful as a movie set. During the day there would be several charter boats from Rhodes with loads of people coming in to be dropped off for a swim. We anchored well out from the shore and would watch the boats come charging in, stop at a few places near the shore and disgorge dozens of people either onto the shore or into the water with floats or masks. Many people take pictures and movies of Spruzzo as they come in. Maybe in the future we can search everyone’s photos and see how many pictures were taken!
The weather forecast was for higher winds so after 2 days we decided to move to a very protected bay just next to us called Pedi.
We anchored as close to shore as was reasonable in the centre to be away from other boats. I set the anchor 3 times and each time I could not get a good hold. We tried putting out more chain which helped a bit but ultimately I think the bottom in the middle was silty and just wasn’t thick enough stuff for the anchor to bite into (or we had bad luck or were messing up somehow…..but we have had good luck anchoring up until now). So as the wind picked up we decided to make for the very new marina just to the side of the bay. We got a good deal and the marina people were excellent. After we docked, there were 2 more boats that came in when it was *much* windier and they had a more exciting time trying to Med moor to the cement dock….one poor guy ended up totally sideways which I’m sure was not good for his (or chartered) boat. I feel guilty watching other people dock for entertainment….but I can’t help it and everybody does it and I do run over to help if it looks like it is needed. Watching other people docking is like watching NASCAR. I tell myself I’m watching to admire the skill but maybe I’m watching for the excitement of the accidents.
We had a few days of up to 40 knots (about 75 kph) winds and I doubled my lines on the windward side and I was very happy with that….the boat moved around less and everything just felt more secure. Will do that more in the future. You have to experience your 14 or so metric ton home bouncing around and stretching your screeching dock lines to appreciate this technique.
One day we walked over the small mountain to the main port on Simi. The port of Simi was very nice (a bit touristy) but the walk was so amazing! I’m still fascinated by the mixture of thousand year old construction (churches, walls, roads) with more modern construction. History is really mixed into regular life here. Victoria told me the old towns (hora) are always built up the mountain so there is some protection from unfriendlies arriving by boat. Amazing to imagine living in a time like that.
After Simi we sailed west to the small island of Tilos where we are now.
Tilos has a population of about 800, and is so small that Victoria’s Greek mother had never heard of it! The text at the middle-top of the island means ‘Big Town’ which I guess is relative 😉 We haven’t visited yet. If you ever want to go somewhere very quiet…..this is the place….especially in late September! The weather is still very nice (can be a bit windy) but there are very few people here.
We are going to stay here until Saturday (about one week) and then head north-west to Astypalea before heading south back to Crete. There is a nice anchorage close to our winter marina that we will anchor in for a few weeks before heading to the winter marina for Nov 1st.
Adventures on Spruzzo 