Sailing Calista1 September 2022 – 8 September 2022
Before leaving Agathonisi Island we took down the tatty Greek courtesy flag and replaced it with a fresh bright flag. We had a pleasant four hour passage to Samos Island, some of the passage was motorsailing when we lost the wind. As we were approaching Samos Island I received a text message on my mobile phone from the Greece Authorities advising of a 5.5 earthquake offshore nearby Samos. We hadn’t felt any vibrations so was quite surprised by the text, and it reminded us that Greece and Turkey are prone to earthquakes from time to time. We were heading to the anchorage of Poseidonio, located in the southeast corner of the island separated by the 1.6 kilometre wide Mycale Strait between Turkey and Samos.
When we arrived into the anchorage we had the pick of the bay for anchoring in a sandy spot as there were hardly any boats. The sea temperature was 26.8 degrees. With the forecast for some strong winds coming from the north, it didn’t take long to see a number of yachts arrive over the next few days.
Despite it being abit windy, the anchorage was pretty well protected. Our only concern was the number of boats coming into the anchorage and anchoring close to us allowing very little swing room between the boats. Some people have no idea and we had to politely ask several to move on different occassions. We had to also watch when a boat would drop their anchor near to us, to ensure they weren’t going to drag across our anchor and chain.
Poseidonio Bay is a quiet fishing village with a very protected anchorage from the north.
We dingied ashore where there was a small community of houses and holiday accommodation. We enjoyed a meal at one of the taverna’s located overlooking the anchorage.
Sabine and Uli rented a small car for several days and we took turns while the other couple stayed on board and keeping an eye on each other’s boats.
When it was our turn to use the rental car, we drove up around to the far side to check out the anchorage. The water was very blue due to the blue sky and sandy bottom with some weed patches scattered thoughout the anchorage.
Calista is on the far side, out the back away from the rest of the yachts.
We drove around and into the next bay where several yachts had decided to anchor. It was a also a pretty bay with crystal clear waters and several tavernas.
We headed in the direction of the Samos township passing a large bay on the northern side of the island. It looked very sheltered and protected and would be a lovely anchorage to stop in, with the right conditions.
We found Samos Island very green with lots of trees unlike the other islands in the Cyclades and Dodecanese. It was a pleasure driving around, reminding us so much of the New Zealand countryside.
From the lookout above the main township of Samos we had a lovely view down into the harbour. There were not many boats on the town quay at the time. We continued down into the township and found a spot to park the car.
With the aid of Google Maps we found the Cosmote store where we purchased another data sim card for the router onboard Calista. We wandered around the township and stopped for a coffee down in the town square near the waterfront.
We left the township driving around the waterfront. Passing a boat yard we came across a container painted with artwork of a crab. Next to the container was a changing booth with some artwork as well. After some distance we came to a dead end then had to back track into town again finding the correct road which circummavigated the small island.
At the far end of the island we stopped at the town harbour of Kokkari. On most of the beaches in Greece there is access into the water provided for wheel chair bound people. There were lots of hotels/guest houses and restaurants along the narrow main street and it was rather congested with traffic. We were unable to find a park so continued on our journey around the island.
We called into Samos marina to check it out as we were comtemplating on wintering there after the numerous price hikes in Turkey. The Marina also had a hardstand area and prices seemed very reasonable, but we felt it wasn’t very secure for our liking as we would be away from Calista for six months.
The main harbour of Pythagorio Port is closed to vehicle traffic so we parked the car several blocks away and walked down towards the town quay.
We noticed that one of the cafe’s had made good use of some old containers by painting scenes and planting with herbs and flowers.
The bougainvillea’s were certainly putting on a splendid display.
We checked out the “Blue Street”. It seemed that the residents had got together and painted areas around their houses in shades of blue so make it a tourist attraction. It was rather disappointing and was beginning to look a bit tired and neglected in places.
The beach to the side of the harbour was busy with people sunbathing and swimming. Considering the beach was within the harbour, the water quality was very clear.
We found a lovely restaurant underneath a canopy of vines where it was lovely and shady giving us some respite from the heat. We enjoyed the view out over the harbour where the small fishing boats were, while enjoying lunch with a wine.
The prawns were fresh and very succulent, the best we have come across so far.
After a pleasant day driving about we headed back to the anchorage.
We enjoyed the picturesque and peacefull anchorage very much and stayed a few extra days before continuing on.
