Camilla Ransom
Thursday and Friday
On Thursday we spent the day tidying up the boat in anticipation of my Dad arriving tomorrow. We also collected our new gangplank which was exactly what we had hoped it would be, perfect!
On Friday my Dad arrived late morning, after having left home in Spain some 12 hours previously, what a trek. He was surprisingly fresh so we had brunch together in our now favourite marina restaurant and went back to the boat for a little nap before heading into Rhodes for supper.
Dad, having spent a lot of time in Rhodes in the 70’s and 80’s still remembered the town very well. Tom and I felt like we had our own private tour guide as we meandered through the lanes and along the Streets of the Knights. We’d unwittingly picked the perfect time for our walk as the streets were quiet and the temperature perfect.
Our lucky streak continued and we found ourselves a fantastic place for dinner; a restaurant situated in a big courtyard underneath a huge old tree. The meal was delicious and just as we were finishing the live music started almost right next to our table. A very charismatic Greek guy probably in his early 50’s on his guitar was accompanied by an amazingly talented Greek girl in her late teens whose voices together were mesmerising. They played a number of well known covers adding their own unique twist to each song whilst we listened, chatted, and made our way easily through another bottle of red wine. On the way out we bought their CD which was to become the soundtrack to our time together with Dad 🙂
Saturday
Despite feeling a little dusty we were up and having breakfast by 10:00 and left the marina, destination Symi, late morning. We had a lovely westerly wind and sped along with Dad at the helm. With the wind coming from where it did we couldn’t quite clear the Turkish headland so we went as far as we could then had to turn on the engine and head into the wind to get us around the corner. It was a bumpy few miles but then it was sails up again and we were flying along over a flat sea towards Pedi bay on Symi. We’d loved it there a few weeks ago and knew Dad would like it too.
In the afternoon we swam and relaxed in the dead calm water then went for dinner in the taverna, with Bob the dinghy moored up about a metre from our table. Lovely!
Sunday
Learning from our experience last time, we opted to get the local bus into Symi town this time rather than facing the long, hot walk (and risk being forced to buy more herbs!). The bus drove up the narrow winding roads (which luckily had nothing coming the other way!) and within 15mins were walking around Symi town. Thankfully it wasn’t as packed as it was a few weeks ago and we were able to stroll around and take in the beauty of the multi coloured houses, the green hillsides and the locals mending their fishing nets. We found a nice place for lunch where we shared our bread with the fish then headed back to Pedi bay on the bus.
In the evening we were treated to fireworks as we were having dinner as there was wedding on the beach, which Greek style continued, loudly(!) into the early hours. We were all so tired through we barely noticed.
Monday
On Monday morning we set sail for Chalik, an island on the west coast of Rhodes. We had to motor most of the 30 miles as despite the forecast, what little wind there was was coming right from the direction we needed to go. We did get a few hours of fast sailing in though as we made our way through the islands so that more than made up for the long motor.
As in Symi, we opted to anchor in the bay just around the corner from the town, not only because we’d read it was better than the rickety pontoon but also because we desperately needed to get some exercise! We’d been warned about a shallow rock towards the middle of the bay so once we located it we dropped anchor well clear, and slightly to one side to avoid the small swell which was creeping its way in. We had plenty of space as we were the only ones there, perfect!
Late afternoon we left Bini, took the dinghy ashore and walked the 10 minutes into town. Coming to a new place is always exciting as you’re never sure what you’re going to find! On the beach was a small taverna which only seemed to open for lunch. The road into town had us walk past a friendly donkey, a couple of lovely (and very healthy) dogs, a whole field of scraped, rusting cars (bit of an eyesore), some sheep, goats and a few derelict old buildings. We were starting to wonder what the town would be like?
We were very pleasantly surprised as we walked down a tree-lined lane and into the harbour. It was like a mini-Symi; colourful houses, authentic restaurants and a beautiful bay. I learnt something new about my Dad this holiday, and that’s that he has an excellent nose for a good restaurant. Mind you, he’s had enough practice! He picked out a fantastic place where we had a great meal after which we headed back to Bini in the pitch black with only our phones as torches.
Tuesday
After a very lazy morning we headed back into Chalki town for lunch. As always happens when we’re together, lunch turned into dinner and after a marathon 8 hours we were back on Bini tucked up in bed! We did managed to take a few lovely photos with the drone though.
Wednesday
It was time to hit the road again, this time back to Rhodes. What my Dad didn’t know was this that his best friend, whom he’d met in Lindos 45 years earlier was flying out to surprise him tomorrow. It seemed a bit weird coming back to Rhodes mid way through Dad’s stay so we had to make up some story about Tom having friends coming to visit. This wasn’t entirely untrue, as he did, only they were arriving a few days later. Unfazed, and being his usual “no trouble Ransom” self he gamely went along with our plans.
We had a fantastic sail back to Rhodes, with the wind behind us all the way and it was lovely to be sailing along the coastline taking in the scenery. As we rounded the northern tip we were ready for the wind this time, so furled in the jib nice and early. In advance of meeting Paul (my Dad’s friend) tomorrow we thought we’d try our luck getting into Mandraki Harbour, as it’s closer to the town and where he was staying tonight. As we approached a man with binoculars yelled out to us that the marina was full and that we were to go to the “new” marina. Thinking he was just some defensive charter skipper protecting his spaces we called on the radio, only to be answered by the same guy who repeated the same instructions. We considered anchoring in the bay but it was too windy so we headed back to our original marina where they put us on a different pontoon, and where we got the opportunity to use our new gangplank.
