Samothraki & NE Aegean

Samothraki is a unique island. It's tucked right in the North East corner of the Aegean, washed by the waters of the Black Sea coming through the Dardanelles and battered by the summer Meltemi. The island is one huge extinct volcano - steep all the way round with heavily forested slopes and a high rocky peak.

Unfortunately, it isn't the friendliest place for  a yacht. There are only two harbours and no anchorages. he main harbour is a nightmare - choked with fishing boats leaving the only viable mooring being side to on the outer mole. This is high rough concrete and a nasty swell comes in with norherlies and westerlies. We decided it was too dangerous for us and went to Therma. The small port there is almost completely empty and very safe. It has absolutely no facilities. The entrance is badly silted up but the silted area is buoyed and there is a reasonable channel left with 2.5M minimum depth. There are a few supplies and tavernas in the village about 2K inland and also a hot mineral baths - which unfortunately were closed when we were there.
The buses only do the school run and there are no taxis or hire cars so we felt a little trapped. We tried going round to the port in Rosa to hire a car but it was extortionate so we passed & went back to Therma.

We walked round the village one day. The next, we took our bikes to the Fonias river - about 5 Km east. Unfortunately, Lindsay's got a puncture after 1K so she had to walk.

The river itself was well worth the trouble. After a lovely 30 minute hike, you reach the first swimming hole and waterfall. Thee are many more further up but its a bit of a climb and with the long walk back in prospect, we gave it a miss. Pity!
There is a taverna by the road bridge where we had a beer but they were distinctly surly. Not recommended.
We don't feel we really did justice to Samothraki.

Fanarion
Next port was Fanarion on the mainland. It's quite an attractive little town with an excellent harbour, friendly locals & port police (who only charged us €4.00 for 2 days),  A garage in one corner for fuel and free water and electricity. There is a butcher, baker, fish shop, a couple of very small supermarkets and not much else. The town has a slight air of a place that is on the downward slope.
We swam on the town beach straight behind the quay. In the evening we ate out ( a treat once every few weeks and went to what looked like a nice fish taverna - a big blue building by the harbour with views to die for. Sadly the food didn't live up. Everything seemed to be heavily battered and very greasy. Not recommended. After 2 days we moved on to Porto Lagos.










Port Lagos.
If Fanarion is on the downward slope, Lagos has hit rock bottom. The huge dusty commercial quay stretches miles with no visible activity. Most of the shops are boarded up. There small taverna and a mini-market.
The  harbour is excellent - very safe. We went stern too between trawlers and were the only visiting yacht there.
By contrast to the town, the port police have a brand new high-tech office manned by at least 10 policemen headed by an officer with 4 stripes (regimental sergeant major?) Goodness knows what they all find to do.

There is an amazing monastery in the middle of Lake Vistonidas on artificial islands jined by causeways. It is entirely Greek - no tourist infrastructure and obviously very holy. We did the half hour walk (assisted by a start in the dinghy up to the first bridge). Well worth the trip.

On the way back, we dropped into the bird sanctuary that occupies the south side of the harbour. There was a very active colony of Egrets and Herons nesting in the trees with a gang of crows trying to pick of eggs and young. The ground was covered with empty (presumably hatched) egg shells. There were also quite a lot of dead young and sadly this poor little chap. We put him in the shade but there wasn't anything else we could do so we had to leave him to his fate.




We were intending to leave on Sunday Morning, after a lie in, for Thasos. At 0600 we were woken by engines, banging, clattering and shouting outside. A huge market was taking shape on the quay above us. The whole town came alive! The market was excellent so we stocked up  with provisions. Even the local fishermen were flogging their catch off the boats. Delicious sea bass for supper.

Disaster!
Well that should have been that - and we should have gone to Thasos about 20 miles away. We had a light but pleasant breeze which pushed us along at 3 Knots on a calm sea for a couple of hours - all very relaxed and pleasant. Suddenly I realised that we weren't towing the dinghy. Panic! We don't normally tow it but I had just fixed one of the attachment points and the glue still had to finish curing.
Unfortunately neither of us could remember when we last saw it. Lindsay had thought she saw something odd floating in the distance an hour earlier but I had foolishly poo-pooed it as just a fishing buoy.
We retraced our track with two binoculars scanning the horizon but saw nothing. We flew into Port Lagos to see if it was on the beach but no sign.
We left the harbour and were just about to retrace the track again when I heard Rosa di Venti being hailed on the VHF. It was the Port Police at Fanarion - a fisherman had retrieved it and handed it in.
When we got there, I went round to the police (kindly driven in the heat by Linda - who we met fishing on the quayside) and there was Tinker. I was so pleased to see her.

It turned out that the smart policeman on duty had spotted the label "TT Rosa di Vent", checked up in his file and found our papers from 3 days earlier. We had registered our destination as Port Lagos so he phoned them and found that we had checked out heading for Thasos. He phoned them but we had not arrived. Just then he got a call from Port Lagos - they had seen us come into the harbour and go out again. Apparently they whistled at us but we didn't hear. Knowing we were close, he tried calling on the VHF and the rest is history!

All's well that ends well.

Limnos

On the way over to Limnos, we noticed that the sea changed colour from the usual Mediterranean deep blue to green. A west-going current of about a knot also appeared. We think all this must be due to the outfall of the Back Sea.
We made landfall after a longish passage at an anchorage in Ormos Moudrou. This is a huge, completely sheltered gulf that was used in the Gallipoli campaign to house the huge allied fleet. These days it is deserted and forgotten - almost entirely agricultural.  The countryside is rolling green hills often with tor-like rocks on the top - very reminiscent of mid Devon. We just chilled out there for a couple of days and then moved on in two hops to the capital - Myrina.

The first destination was a tiny bay called Ormos Thanos. There were no facilities but it has good holding, good swimming and lots of peace and quiet. Rosa was colonised by a tiny fish that resembled a Gobi. It quite happily walked up the transom out of the water and then walked back in several times.

The capital, Myrina, is a lovely little town. Full of winding pedestrian streets with both useful shops and seriously up-market establishments all packed in together. There is no tourist hassle, it's very Greek.
The harbour is free at the moment - although work continues rapidly to complete the paving and provide water and electricity. We are told that they will charge when it is complete but only modest public quay fees. We were completely protected on our first night there but next evening a truly enormous motor boat (really a small ship) came right next to us. We thought we would be kept up all night with partying and generator noise so we decamped and anchored in the harbour. Big mistake - we were rolled around all night by a ground swell that can penetrate that far in.

During the previous day we took a walk up to the Genoese castle which is free, spectacular and has wonderful views. Well worth a visit!

So early next morning it was up anchor and on to Samothraki.

Lesvos

Lesvos is a really special place. We will be back another time to explore it further.

We made landfall at Apotheke which is a tiny village near the mouth of the Gulf of Killini. There is nothing much there except peace quiet and one vey low-key taverna catering to a few locals. The anchorage is excellent and we just lazed there for a day.







Our next stop was Plomari. This is a pretty little town with a Turkish flavor. The only mooring option is stern to on the town quay. This seemed well sheltered and the anchor held well. I wouldn't like to trust the boat on her own there though. L went shopping and amazingly heard a screetch and there was a Little Owl on a telegraph pole. We had an excellent meal in the Taverna right on the quay and then wandered round town to find an ice cream. The port police were the most officious I have seen in Greece - although nice enough with it. They checked my passport - presumably looking for an unclosed Turkish Visa and demanded a receipt from my previous port of call.












After Plomarion, we went round to Mitilini, the capital. This is a bustling little town with excellent shopping - mostly in the bazaar-like backstreets at the end of the harbor. We stayed in the Marina which is now fully functional - if more than a little empty. We could have stayed side-to in the inner harbor but since the marina was only €19 for our 10.6M boat, and is quiet and has lazy lines, we thought it was safer to stay there as we intended to hire a car the next day to be proper tourists.

We spent the whole day seeing the Eastern half of the island. First stop was Agiasos - a lovely mountain village full of winding streets, friendly people and very few tourists. We were even given bread, wine and Tahini by three lovely women in honor of 30 days of risen Christ! The monastery and especially it's church is impressive but unfortunately, the museum was shut.





Next stop was the hot springs at Polychnitos where we wallowed in toasty warm healing water in an ancient bathhouse.Very relaxing! The springs themselves come out at over 80 degrees C. You can wander around to you hearts content - no fences, no Nany State - if you want to boil your head, you can!

After lunch of fresh sardines (local specialty) at Scala Killini we started to wend our way back. Suddenly we came upon a stork nest - complete with mum and baby - on a chimney. And then blow be down, in quick succession came upon a flock of Flamingos and then a family of Avocets. Twitcher Heaven! Finally after a stop at Liddle (yuk) we fueled-up from the local garage and finished off a perfect day with a quick hand of Bridge.


After Mitilini, we headed for Mythimna. The harbor was chokka so we anchored off and had a rather rolley night serenaded by disco music until dawn. The place actually looks really nice and the disco would be easy to avoid so it will repay a visit another time. Unfortunately, Tony and Anne were on a bit of a mission to get to Sigri where we are to part the ways - they going back south to Crete and we going on North to Limnos - so we didn't have the chance to go ashore.

Had a lovely gentle sail along the North coast to Sigri. Its a very small place and looks distinctly out in the wilds. The huge beach is empty but buoyed off for swimmers and the quay is just a concrete lump. We opted to anchor but only with considerable difficulty. There is a lot of weed and a lot of the patches that look like sand are actually flat rocks. The Anchor bit at the fourth attempt. After an excellent final meal and another good game, we said our goodbyes and after a good calm night, slipped away at first light on the 11 hour passage to Limnos.