Camilla Ransom
Wednesday
Before setting off for Rhodes we had a coffee with our friend, got the boat ready and headed off just after 13:00. As predicted by the forecast the westerly wind picked up as we came out of the shadow of Symi island and into the Rhodes channel. The waves too were pretty big so it took quite some concentration to keep the boat steering in the direction that we needed to go, but we were sailing along comfortably with one reef in and Bini was handling well in 15 knots of wind. After about 4 hours we approached the northern tip of Rhodes and found the waves to be at least another half meter bigger so we were really looking forward to rounding the headland into flatter waters. Flatter water we got, but boy oh boy did the wind increase! We now had a consistent 25 knots and with one reef in we were overpowered so we furled in the jib and continued along to our anchorage under main alone. We arrived at the anchorage which didn’t look very appealing at all! It was still blowing hard, there was only one other boat there (did everyone else know something we didn’t?) and there was a huge fire on land which was spewing black smoke into the bay. Dodging between the day tripper boats retuning to Rhodes we battled to drop the main, motored into the bay and anchored in 5m of water. We were relieved to find that it wasn’t actually as terrible in here as it looked. The water was beautifully clear, the holding was great, the sea was as flat as it could be given the windy conditions and the firemen had doused the worse of the flames. We’d be fine here. We put Bini to bed, had a large glass of wine, a quick swim on the anchor and an early night.
Thursday
After a ‘Breakfast of Champions’ cooked by Tom (eggs, bacon, beans, mushrooms…the works!) we upped anchor and hopped the short distance around into Rhodes marina, which would be our home for the next few nights as we prepared for the arrival of my Dad, exciting! We were given an alongside pontoon which made it really easy to get on and off, which was a relief given that our secondhand gangplank from Sicily was starting to splinter more and more with each step.
We pottered around for the day and did a few chores before walking into Rhodes for dinner. The “new” marina in Rhodes (which incidentally was started 28 years ago and finished in 2015!) has been built about a 20 minute walk from the Old Town, and to say the walk isn’t pretty is an understatement. Firstly you need to climb over a fence situated near the vent of a large septic tank. The smell is utterly revolting. Next is two kilometres along a busy unpaved and dusty road, through a coach park, past a refugee camp, past a seedy strip club and then finally you’re on the outskirts of the town where it changes instantly and becomes very picturesque.
From my childhood and the time in Rhodes with my parents I have vivid memories of the three windmills on the wall of Mandraki Harbour and much to my delight we found them, and they were just as I remembered. We sat there for a while looking over the anchorage, took a few (hundred!) photos, stroked some kittens then went in search of a restaurant for dinner. We wandered into the Old Town which is surrounded by high medieval walls with seven gates, and where inside you find your typical assortment of souvenir shops, restaurants and masses of people. We found a nice place to eat up a little side street then walked back to the boat.
Friday
With my Dad due to join us in a few days, we wanted to get ourselves a better gangplank. After a great breakfast in the marina we set off, without much of a plan other than to start at the well stocked chandlers across the road. What we wanted was a simple plank of wood, however (as with most chandlers we’ve spoken to so far) what they can offer is a proper Pasaralle made of aluminium; not really what we’re after. He suggested a carpenter closer to town so we went in search of him. The shop was closed but we found another and it seemed our luck was in until he told us the price (over 500 EUR!) and I physically couldn’t lift the thing as it was so heavy. As we were on our way back we passed a boatyard so went to see if they had a spare one lying around. Our question seemed to amuse the two guys greatly as they just laughed. Guess that’s a no then. As we thanked them (for nothing) and turned to leave they gave us the card of a Swedish guy who might be able to help – and they were right! Per and his friends own a workshop where the original idea was that people could go and carpenter their own creations or borrow from their extensive range of power tools. A very useful thing as not many yotties want a massive armour of bulky equipment which is needed once in a blue moon. Handy for us they were also sailors and carpenters themselves so when we explained what we wanted they knew exactly what to make and we could collect it in a few days, perfect!
Back at the marina, feeling pretty accomplished (it’s amazing how big these small achievements become!) and hoping our luck would continue we set about fixing the dinghy – its D-rings had both been pulled off when we were sitting out the meltemi in Kos. Unfortuantely for us though the replacement rings refused to stick, so we had to admit defeat. Oh well, we’d try again another day.
