Adventures of Thésée: Symi, Safety, and Good Friends

Thursday 27th July...

Linda - We slept 😀 it was bliss. Dean didn't arise until 8.30am when I had to drag him out of bed. How lovely to have a lie in. One thing though, I was in panic mode. Of course, we don't have much of a reprieve from the Aegean winds at this time of year, and now another 3 night blow is already looming.

Here in Symi anchorage we have good holding with our trusty SPADE anchor which was well dug in. We could sit out the winds I'm sure, but we know for a fact it's a busy anchorage with changing winds. What i'm trying to say is.... we feel that we are safe and sound, but if other boats drag across your chain it could cause a big problem in high winds, plus boats swinging in different directions isn't exactly a sobering thought when you go to bed at night.

Thankfully, Dean took pity on me and managed to book a berth for Thesee in the marina. We found out our good friends on Impavidus and Eternite were also arriving from Turkey today, so it was a double jackpot scenario.

By midday we were safely on the quay. We were shocked this afternoon when a large fuel ship came into the anchorage. Lots of anchored boats were asked to move out of the way, and it was a bit of a free for all for a while. One anchored boat doesn't have a working engine at the moment. so a local boat had to tow him out of the way.

The large blue fuel ship

Big yachts trying ot anchor nearby

and getting shooed off by the marina Boss

Dean watching the goings on

Dean found some time for a small repair to our lazy bag. One of the webbing straps (which hold the lazy lines) had started to fray. He used his hot knife to seal the edges and avoid further damage.

Ready with the hot knife

Tonight we went to a local bar for drinkies with Impavidus and Eternite, then we sat on the marina quay with wine and crisps keeping cool in the winds.

We've booked in for 3 nights. Now I can relax and rejuvenate.

Friday 28th July...

Linda - A very windy day today, and at times quite scary watching the anchored boats swinging around all over the place. So glad we are on the quay and not out there in the anchorage.

The big fuel ship left (eventually), after sounding his horn numereous times to get nearby anchored boats to move out of the way. It's incredible how such a large ship can manoevre and turn on a sixpence.

Reversing off the quay

Now turning to port

From the above photo you can tell how big it was in comparison to the sailing yacht next to it.

We spent the day catching up on some paperwork and I made a lasagne. The temperature has dropped quite a lot, and it was a good chance to put the oven on for cooking. It's not been on for weeks.

Not a lot else going on today. A boring day at last? Well, no not boring, but definately relaxing.

Saturday 29th July...

Linda - This weekend's meltemi is still blowing on and off throughout the day and night. There's no need to put our fans on at the moment, sleeping is quite comfortable with the drop in temperature. It's less than 30 degrees at night now. It sounds ridiculous doesn't it, but it's quite a relief. So I'm off the sofa now and back in the bed 😂. Temperature right now is 37 degrees at 6pm.

Our forward heads is playing up a bit, and the tank doesn't seem to empty correctly. This morning Dean decided to open the cap and have a look inside the tank to see if there was anything he could do. Don't worry, it's empty at the moment, but it was still quite disgusting with the cruddy build up. Too much information? He's managed to try and dissolve the build up so we'll see how it goes.

The tank

This afternoon we took a walk around the bay and along the track on the opposite side. It leads to a lovely little swimming bay with a bar or two. It's called St Nicholas Bay, surprise surprise, he get's everywhere.

Along the track to the lovely little bay

Looking back towards the anchorage

Now we can see out to sea

Dean checks the solar lights stuck on the rocks

Some of the unusual rock formations

This is the little bay we're heading for

Dean takes a photo of me coming down the steps

Can you see in the above photo, I've been using an umbrella to keep the sun off my head and shoulders. I look ridiculous, but it's a very sensible idea and it definately stops me from overheating.

Photo taken from the beach bar

Sunday 30^th July… (written up on Monday 31st)

Linda – Time to say cheerio to our dear friends and move on once more. We finally get a weather window to head south to Halki (AKA Chalki). Dean holidayed there with Claire many years ago and always wanted to go back with his own boat! So this is a big deal for him and his fond memories.

We set off at around 9.30am. After clearing the southernmost point of Symi we were soon crossing the shipping lanes between Symi and Rhodes. Fortunately we have an AIS Transponder (Transmit and Receive signals).This means not only can we see the ships in real life, but we can also see them on our chartplotter, and they can see us too. The chartplotter shows the ship’s heading, course, speed, and also the closest point of approach. In other words, how close we will pass to each other. It's a fantastic piece of kit.

Today as we approached the shipping lanes we could see one ship in each direction approaching our position. So we had to keep an eye on both of them. The first one was approaching our port side. The AIS showed that our CPA (Closest point of approach) was just over half a mile. That’s a bit close for comfort but all went well and the ship passed behind us. It was in fact a ferry. A bit daunting when you see it coming at you.

It always feels good once you're just past its bow

The chartplotter view as the ferry approaches

We're well past by the time it reaches us

Once that one had passed we turned our attention to the ship approaching our starboard side. This one’s CPA was a mile and a half, so plenty of room for this cargo ship to pass in front of us.

It was about a 25 mile trip today, and we are actually anchored tonight in a bay at Nisos Alimnia. This island is just 5 miles north of Halki. We chose to stop there for the night because we are hoping it will be better protected from the swell, then in the morning we’ll head to Halki proper.

We’ve been here since around 2pm. It’s a very remote anchorage, but we still have two neighbours which I’m pleased about because it’s a bit daunting to be all on your own in a dark and remote anchorage. At 6pm we dinghy’d ashore for a small walkabout. There’s nothing here except a tiny church and derelict monastery. Plus a guy who looks after the island and has rooms to let. His little place was very nice, but alas he doesn’t seem to have any business at the moment. Dean commented that maybe it’s because the flights into Rhodes are cancelled. You can only get to the island by ferry from Halki, and you can only get to Halki by ferry from Rhodes.