Our first summer visitors

We love having people to stay onboard, even if it means a mad scramble to clear all our junk out of the forepeak to make room for them. We love catching up with news from home and giving people a taste of the idyllic (mostly - see below!) way we live. Over the last week we have been joined by our first visitors of the year, Cathy's sister Marion and her husband John from Cumbria. 

The family arrives on the ferry from Kos to Pothia

Waiting for our visitors on the new yacht quay in Pothia harbour

 With very little wind about, we haven't gone far.  We started in Pothia, Kalymnos. On the first day we found enough wind to sail closehauled up to Telendhos island where we anchored for the night.

A view of Telendhos Island and west coast of Kalymnos

The next day saw us go all of 3 miles to Emborios, where we picked up one of the mooring buoys in the bay.  We ate ashore that night in the loveliest garden we've seen in Greece belonging to Harry's restaurant. A glorious meal in a stunning setting.


The next couple of days were showery - humid with no wind.  We spent one night at the new Leros marina, another anchored off the tiny harbour at Pandeli underneath the old fort and a row of disused windmills on the hill. 

Pandeli on Leros

 John is an accomplished woodworker and brought out with him a sapele 'eyebrow' which he'd made to cover the throttle lever in the cockpit. Countless times people have knocked into it, making the engine rev up or down.  No longer. It is a beautiful piece of work and a generous present.


On the last full day of their visit, we had a fair wind for the first time in the week. Instead of sailing the short hop back to Pothia, we decided to make the most of it and keep going to Kos marina.  As our delightful beam reach brought us closer to Kos island, the horizon ahead darkened.  Just as we were approaching the shallows off Ammoglossa point, the wind changed direction to come at us bang on the nose. We got the sails down just as the storm broke over us. Our progress slowed to half a knot in the 35 knot headwind and it took a long while for us to clear the shallows far enough to bear away towards Kos town.  Then the heavens opened and visibility reduced down to less than a mile.  Poor Leighton and John got soaked in the cockpit.  Marion retired to her bunk and Cathy navigated the way in from down below.

We had phoned ahead for a berth at Kos marina (thanks for the tip, Lindsay!) so the marinero came out to lead us in ahead of two other boats milling about outside the breakwater.  It'll certainly give our visitors something to talk about when they get home!

We'll miss the extra help on the helm!