ARRIVING IN LESVOS, GREECE

From Ayvalik in Turkey it’s only about 20NM to Mitilini on the Greek island of Lesvos, and here we cleared-in using our friends from A1 Yachting as agents. A Greek Transit Log costs Euro 100, and we also had to pay Euro 30 to the Port Police, Euro 30 to Immigration and Euro 165 to A1. We moored stern-to the town quay which is both atmospheric and supposedly cheap at about Euro 7 per night. A1 charged us Euro 48 for three days, and when I queried this they said the extra Euro 27 was paid as a tip to ensure we obtained a berth. This was strange as there were plenty of berths. We were also charged a hefty Euro 50 for “mooring assistance” for ten minutes assistance on arrival, and none on departure.
One of Mitilini’s main roads passes along the quay so we had lots of noisy motor scooters and considerable pedestrian traffic close-by. Several Australians of Greek descent living in Lesvos noticed our NZ flag, and stopped to say hi to us, and give us tips about things to see.
Lesvos is a beautiful, largely unspoiled island, and of course is famous for being where lesbianism was originated by the poet Sappho in about 600BC. We had read that lesbians from around the world converge on Lesvos, like Muslims to Mecca, and this was very apparent.
In Mitilini we bought our first diesel of the year paying Euro 1.48 (about NZ$2.69) per litre for 750 litres. There is no fuel dock, so the diesel gets delivered by tanker.
We anchored off a small village called Tsonia, and all was peaceful until about midnight when the taverna ashore started playing really high volume music, which lasted until 4am. The Greeks sure know how to party, and we now know a few more Greek songs.
We moved to Sigri, anchoring in a bay overlooked by the picturesque remains of an 18th century Ottoman castle. Sigri is famous for its Natural History Museum, and displays of ancient petrified tree trunks. We found that in prehistoric times, Greece, the Greek islands, and Turkey were all joined to Africa, and even after they separated African mammals roamed the islands. About 20 million years ago intense volcanic activity took place on Lesvos, decimating the forests and eternally preserving many of the tree trunks.
In Sigri there was a very slight swell in our anchorage, so we were able to demonstrate our “flopper-stoppers” to Morris & Gail – it is remarkable how they cushion the rolling motion.
At this stage Diane & I had cruised nearly 500NM, and the sea conditions had so far been so calm that we’d not needed to deploy our paravane stabilisers. This changed when we cruised from Sigri to Mithimna in a 20 knot wind and approximately 1.5m choppy sea. Envoy was going well heading into the seas at an angle of about 30 degrees, but when we needed to change our course and Envoy became parallel with the waves we rolled quite severely, and certainly needed the stabilisers. While Morris held Envoy’s bow to the waves Diane and I winched the “birds” over. They took effect immediately and made for a comfortable trip.
Mithimna is an absolute gem of a harbour, with loads of character, interesting cafes and shops, and of course the inevitable hill-top castle. Most of these castles are on strategic hills that have been fortified for thousands of years, with new civilizations adding to them over time. The fortress of Mithimna is known to have been restored by the Genoese in the 1370s, and taken over by the Ottomans in the late 15th century.
There was no safe anchorage nearby so we berthed in the harbour for a cost of Euro 6.50 per day – with no “mooring assistance charges”. A local stray cat befriended us, and was probably the luckiest cat in Mithimna after Diane had fed it a few times.
Morris & Gil were departing from Mitilini, about 90 minutes drive from Mithimna, so Morris hired a rental car for the last day, and we toured the island and left Morris & Gail to catch the ferry. There are many beautiful mountain villages in Lesvos’s interior, and this made a perfect end to Morris and Gail’s stay.
The next day we made an early start for the 35NM cruise NW to Limnos –the island of the Amazon warriors - to meet Ian & Patsy. The forecast was for 20 knot NE winds so we started off with our stabilisers deployed, and this proved to be a good decision as we had 1.5-2m breaking seas on our beam most of the way handled comfortably. We had to pass across the track used by ships coming from or going to the Dardanelles – to Istanbul and the Black Sea. We monitored them closely on radar, and in one case had to alter course to avoid a tanker approaching us from starboard, requiring us to give way.
TECHNICAL
Our fresh water system has a problem – the water flow suddenly reduced by about half. We’re working through this, and suspect there’s a partial blockage between the water tanks and the 12V pump. We don’t think it’s a pump problem as we can select either of two identical pumps, and the problem is the same with both of them.
LOG (to 15/6/11): 43 days aboard since leaving Marmaris, 554NM cruised for 117 engine hours.