One more island

Agathonisi, Greece

As the end of our cruising season approached, we continued south through Greece, selecting islands that we had not visited while looking for a good hiding hole to wait out the coming Meltimi winds.

First stop was in the Oinousses islands. We went to the only harbor, Mandraki, and when the anchor was down, we quickly determined that it would be a great place for northeast winds. In its heyday, Madraki was home to some of the most wealthy ship owning families in Greece. Today it is quiet and a bit run down. The harbor was surrounded by little churches on little islands. The waterfront was quaint but deserted. The construction on the breakwater was sure to drive us nuts if we had to sit there for several days of weather.

We asked a fellow cruiser for recommendations of where to eat in Mandraki and their response was the best place to eat while we were in Mandraki was onboard Berkeley East. We took their advice, had a nice meal on BE, a good nights sleep and set off the next morning to continue our search for a Meltimi hole.

Next stop was a little cove on the island of Chios, suggested by friends as a good place to hide from the wind. On paper, the cove looked good, a bit small, but protected from the northeast, which was our goal. As we entered the harbor, we saw that there were no boats there, so there was plenty of room for us, but the wind and waves were coming from the southeast, pushing Berkeley East into the harbor sideways. We quickly accessed that while it might be ok during the Meltimi, it would not work for us until the wind came up, so on we went to one more island, this time Fourni.

There were many coves to choose from on Fourni, but since the sun was dropping upon our arrival, we quickly set the hook as soon as we found water shallow enough. It seemed like the perfect spot, until a swell rolled in during the night and BE’s gentle rock turned into a rock and roll. So when morning literally rolled around, we went off in search of yet another Meltimi hole. Five coves later, at our last possible choice, Vlichada, we wondered if we should stay or move on. With the wind building and the day fading, we dropped the hook in a beautiful cove for what turned out to be five days of big wind. And as big wind goes, we were as comfortable as we could be. It was a good Meltimi hole that we had to ourselves except all the goats.

When the wind lightened on day six, we were ready to move on. We needed to check out of Greece before returning to Turkey so we headed back to our starting point Pythigoria on the island of Samos. While checking out we were reprimanded by the port authority for not properly clearing out of Lesbos. After so much time in Turkey we had forgotten that some Greek island authorities require that you check out of the island before going on to the next island. We put on our best innocent faces, claimed ignorance and apologized, vowing never to do it again and we were reluctantly allowed to check out of Greece without having to return to Lesbos to correct our mistake. After one final Greek fish dinner, we were off, to one more island.

A few more days in 2014 on one more Greek island was all we needed before taking Berkeley East into the marina for the winter. We chose Agathonisi. This time we weren’t looking for a Meltimi hole protected from the northeast, as the forecast was calling for south winds that shifted to the north in the middle of the night. So we needed an anchorage that is nearly impossible to find, one that is protected from both the north and south. We tucked BE into a beautiful, tiny cove on the west side of East Bay which seemed to fit the bill with a bit of land to north, south, and even the west. After a day of snorkeling, swimming and kayaking, we spent the evening making plans to stay for a few days and explore the island. But the morning light brought new conditions, a swell from the east that was not in the forecast, and definitely not right for this anchorage. So up came the anchor and off we went in search of just one more island.

Sadly, we were out of islands that had the protection we needed close enough to our winter destination, so instead of one more island, it was one last sail to Turkey. And after two weeks of cleaning and polishing, Berkeley East was tucked into her space in the boat yard ready to rest until spring.

Previous Comments

20 Jan 2015

Nigel

Mary and Larry, I’m delighted to see some more notes and pictures added to your blog. I look forward to following your travels in the Spring.