Skyros 'Battered by wind and sea' Perfect place for Team Stella
 
Shipmates it gives me great great pleasure to announce to you that we are now in a marina (bliss bliss and double bliss) in Kusadasi (Turkey). The Greek island of Samos is about 20 miles away and we are due to meet Rich and Paula there in a few day. Unfortunately they have been victims of the XLair, goings on and have had a nightmare trying to get rebooked. But they’ve pulled it off and we and more importantly Stella can’t wait to see them. But as usual I digress let me fill you in on what’s been going on with Team Stella since we last spoke. We left Loutraki on Skopelos and headed over to an island called Alonnisos. The plan was to anchor in a small bay, unfortunately the sea was quite roly and as we approached the bay the swell was pointing towards sleepless nights, airing on the side of caution (so unlike us) we decided to head straight into the harbour of Patitiri. It was here that we met a lovely Brit couple from Plymouth (it’s a teeny weeny small world mateys) After a couple of days in the harbour a Port policeman came over to us and the 10 or so other yachts that were moored and told us to move to the other side of the harbour, as there was a big cargo ship coming in. What followed next can only be described as ‘Wacky races for spaces’. Engines on, lines slipped and there off!!! We played it cool and waited at least 10 minutes before joining in the fun and games! We spent another couple of nights in Patitiri as it was soooo nice and there was lots of rubbernecking to be done as yachts came and went. Eventually the time came for us to move on next stop Skyros. Rod the God describes the island as ‘battered by both wind and seas, adopted by those of an alternative bent’. Our guide book mentions ‘an annual carnival where the locals dress up in grotesque animal costumes and tell bawdy jokes’. All sounds a bit ‘Wicker man’ to me, just our sort of place. After motoring for a couple of hours we actually managed to have quite a pleasant sail over to an anchorage close to the port of Linaria. We spent the night there then the next morning headed into the harbour. We were able to go alongside the harbour wall which meant we could leave Stella, hire a moped and go off and explore. We saw the marina (very loose term) that has been built on ‘da East side’ offering no protection from the prevailing wind!, visited the local museum/ gallery and found Rupert Brookes (we didn’t know who he was either) grave. A rather large ferry came into the harbour each night and as it reversed up to the quay it would push in a large swell towards the moored yachts, which was darn scary the first time it happened and just scary each time after! Some Israelis moored along side us, they were on their way back to Israel and on quite a tight schedule. They left early the next morning to cross the Aegean, only to arrive back that evening because the wind and sea had been so bad!! Not really what I wanted to hear. A couple of days later they left again and we presume they made it across to the other side! A Turkish lady on a lovely yacht arrived and moored behind us (we’d moved along the quay to try and escape some of the ferry wash). Some Brits came along side her and then it all got a bit windier. No one really came or went for a couple of days. Then the Italians arrived! But more about that later, I’m parched you look like you could do with a cuppa as well, go on off you go. Love & gusts Wicker man and Wicker woman XX
Monday, 15 September 2008