Leros to Siracusa (5 Jan - 18 Apr 2014)

Leros, Agamar boatyard Arbutus was on the hard for three months at Agmar boatyard in Leros, Greece. At the beginning of December Paul flew home to France and I flew back to Canada to spend Christmas and the holidays with our families : ). Our visits home may very well be our last until the end of our trip. Christmas 2014 will be in the Caribbean and 2015 in New Zealand...who wants to join us for Christmas 2014 or 2015??? Please bring the turkey. After a month in France, getting nice and plump, Paul returned to Leros and worked on the boat. I joined him three weeks later and we worked some more. Everyday there was something to do. Some of the major jobs we did include: varnishing all of the interior wood, sound proofing the engine with some super high tech foam composite, installing a holding tank, adding a fresh coat of anti-fouling paint to the hull, replacing the toilet hoses, engine maintenance, removing water that got inside the rudder...etc.

At the boatyard we met the nicest French coulple Dennis and Veronic who were there for a week getting their boat ready to sail for the season and we met a loveable Sweedish guy Anders. I was sad to leave the boatyard because of their clean shower with hot water and we had electricity for our small space heater, but I was anxious to see Arbutus on the water again. We were ready for our launch date on February 25th...and it was a success...we didn't sink. . We ordered two new 50 watt solar pannels from Effi, the kind and very helpful woman who works at Leros marina in Lakki so we sailed south. Before reaching Lakki we had a stop at Pandeli and anchored in the bay, attaching a stern line to a big bolder in the bay. We also stopped at Xerokambos bay and picked up one of the laid moorings owned by a Kyam taverna. The kitchen wasn't open yet but we still got some warm drinks.

When we arrived in Lakki we moored bow to the port's quay where it was free. But after two days a strong southeasterly wind was announced so we decided to turn the boat around hoping to reduce some of the discomfort that awaited us with the surge. Just as we finished a local Greek sailor stopped to tell us it wasn't safe to stay on the quay with the forcasted southeasterly wind. He told us to go beside his boat at Lakki marina...but we didn't want to pay. However he reasured us it was off season and it was free. So we moved...and the next afternoon the marina attendant visited us to make us pay for the night. But we got a warm shower and an excellent wifi connection. We were still exposed to the surge that entered the bay....I felt seasick because the boat moved so much. But were glad we took the advice of the Greek sailor because on the public quay it was rough.

The southeasterly wind would continue for the next two days so instead of paying to stay at the marina we decided to find protection at Ay Marina at Alindas bay. Before leaving the Greek sailor told the safest place on the quay to moor. However when we reached the small port, dropped our anchor, and slowly approached the quay I saw a lot of floating ropes...old laid mooring lines...a few seconds later our engine stopped. The propeller got caught in one of the ropes. Thank god our new Fortress anchor that I brought back from Canada in my luggage bit and stuck so we didn't crash into the surrounding fishing boats. Paul had to dive in the cold water (with his wet suit...couldn't have been that cold) and detangled the rope. After recomposing ourselves we tried again further down the quay where it was more shallow but the anchor didn't bite this time. So we said screw it and abandoned any hope of eatting pizza for dinner that night at a pizzeria we dined at previously. We anchored at Plakoudi bay just 4.5 nm North. We wanted to make our way South to Kalymnos and gave it a try with a weak 5 knots of southerly winds forcasted. Turned out to be 10 knots completely against us. We didn't want to use the engine, so the wind decided we would sail North to Lipsi island, and I'm so happy it did. We had the entire quay to ourselves and the owner of the small nautical and fishing shop told us we were the first boat of the season. Paul bought 30 euros worth of new fishing gear and almost two months later (the time I am writing this post) he has yet to catch one fish. hmmm.

We left Lipsi with a plesant northerly wind that took us to our familiar mooring buoy at Emporis Bay in Kalymnos. We took our bikes on land the next morning and biked all the way, up and down numerous hills, to reach Masouri where we bought the rock climbing guide. In the neighbouring town of Myrties we visited the small and crowded fishing harbour and spoke to some of the local fishermen. We wanted to know if there was space available for Arbutus to stay for a few days. There was one spot free that could accomidate Arbutus. The space is normally taken by a tourist boat taking passengers to and from Telendos but she was on the hard getting painted. So we were lucky to get the spot.

Our two week stay in Kalymnos was incredibly memorable. There is sooooo much good climbing on this island with so many more routes being discovered. We met some great people. Julien a Swiss climber who is on an amazing adventure of his own....a motorcycle trip from Switzerland to India. We met a young German couple, Clelia and Jan and their sailboat Lupo. We met them on Telendos island, just a stones throw away from Kalymnos where they were climbing too :)

I can honestly say I love the Greek islands (the ones we visited) because of the kind, gracious, and welcoming Greek people we met. On Telendos we were fortunate enough to meet Yannis. He was painting his fishing boat when we started chatting with him, he asked if we were climbers and when we said yes he was happy and excited to give us information about the sectors on Telendos. He also invited us for a drink at his restaurant and studio (hotel). We spent the next three nights with Yannis, Clelia, and Jan and on the third day Yannis dusted off his climbing gear and joined us for a great day of climbing.

We could have stayed a lot longer on Kalymnos and Telendos....but then we would never make it to Vancouver... We had a brief stop in Pothia where Paul installed two new 50 watt solar pannels which have changed our lives on board. We have cold beer! The pannels produce enough engergy to allow us to turn on the fridge and keep it on all the time!

Our next stop...Southern Crete...for some more climbing. We saild from Kalymnos to the island of Astipalaia. We anchored in the bay of Maltezana to seek protection from the strong northerly winds which would start in the evening. Well at 3:30 am we were not welcome to stay in the bay because mother nature rudely kicked us out...40 knot gust into the bay pushed Arbutus towards the sea. Paul was already awake and outside on deck when the anchoring alarm went off. I got out of bed after the alarm and helped Paul TRY to reset our anchor. O.M.G. is it possible to anchor with 40 knots of wind??? for us and Arbutus it wasn't possible after three attempts and two different anchors. So we took to the high seas...I was upset...we've never sailed in such strong wind before. The monitor vane did a good job, but the waves were so big and we always went off course, so Paul was outside most of the time. When I went outside to take the helm to let Paul rest...I puked 10 mins later...and went to bed shortly after that... We left Astipaliaia around 5am and arrived at our anchorage in Crete at 9pm exhausted. Southern Crete was fun. There was a lot of sand...so much sand IN THE PORTS. It was only safe to enter some ports with the dinghy. We anchored at Kali Limenes for six nights and hiked along the coast to climb in the gorge at Agio Farango. So beautiful.

Our sail from Sfekia, Crete to Siracusa, Sicily was difficult. Five days and four nights with the last three days sailing against the wind and waves. It would have been longer had we not decided to turn on the engine the last day.

Siracusa was a nice change from our deserted anchorages in Crete. Italian food is delicious and we indulged. We stayed for six nights at the anchorage, toured around Siracusa, filled the boat with pasta and pasta sauce, and did the laundry.