Sailing Calista28 August 2022 – 1 September 2022
From Nisyros we set sail shortly after the breakfast once the dishes were washed and put away, and sailed all the way to Paralia Atki Bay on Kalymnos Island. Kalymnos Island belongs to the Dodecanese Island group and is close to the Turkish mainland.
We weren’t long in the secluded anchorage when another older Amel Maramu anchored way too close to us. The skipper was an elderly gentleman and we politely advised him that we thought he was too close. He did not want to move and said no worries it will be ok. We had left our passerelle out from when we had left Nisyros, so we weren’t too concerned if the boats kissed each other in the night. Sure enough, in the early hours his yacht swang around onto our passerelle and we woke to a bump sound. No damage done but was annoying to be woken up.
The next morning we lifted our passerelle and stowed it away.
We left the anchorage shortly after breakfast, with Tipheret advising their new found friend not to follow as we didn’t want a repeat of his anchoring skills.
We arrived at the southern end of the Island and anchored in Xerokampos Bay, a small sea side village with very little tourism in the south of Leros.
Paul and I went ashore for dinner at “Aloni” situated on the water’s edge looking over the anchorage and enjoyed a traditional Greek meal.
The following morning we went ashore and walked around the road to the little rock Church on the side of the bay.
We entered through the gate and descended down the steps through a grove of pine trees to the Church of Panagia Kavouradena.
We could see the anchorage from the steps.
The Church was tiny.
Apart from the Priest, not many others can fit into this tiny rock Church.
Outside there was some extra seating.
When we returned to Calista we lifted the anchor and motored around to Agia Marina, a natural wide bay in Leros. After several failed attempts for the anchor to hold in the weed we decided to go over to the far side and anchor in Alinda which was a beautiful sandy bay. The beach of Alinda is the longest beach of Leros.
We dingied over to the main port area, leaving our dingy on the town quay and walked to the Post Office where we made application to pay Tepai for the month of September. We didn’t have the necessary paperwork so we were told to come back the following morning with the boat papers.
The waters are so cystal clear.
We then walked around to Mylos Fish restaurant with the iconic windmill on the waters edge that had been recommended to us. Unfortunately it was fully booked for lunch so we had to set off and find somewhere else for lunch.
We wandered around the township and eventually found another restaurant on the waterfront to have some lunch.
The following morning with our paperwork in hand, we paid our Tepai for the month of September. Short on time as we wanted to leave the anchorage in the early afternoon, we decided against walking up the 500 steps to the Medieval Castle and hailed a taxi instead to take us up to the top to save some time.
The Castle of Leros, also known as Pandeli Castle was built around the 11th century AD and is 600 meters above sea on the Apityki Hill with outstanding views.
Pastor Paul
From the Castle we could see another busy anchorage on the southern side.
From the Castle, panoramic views towards Agia Marina and Alinda.
We decended from the Castle on foot following the steps back down into town where we retrieved our dingy from the town quay and returned to Calista.
We lifted anchor and sailed around to Archangelos, an isolated island in Leros to catch up with our friends. Just as we were arriving, they were lifting anchor to leave.
We dropped our anchor anyway and had some lunch followed by a swim, then set off again a few hours later, this time to Ormos Poros West, on the Island of Agathonisi where our friends had headed to.
There was no internet reception, just as well we were only staying for one night. The water in the anchorage was amazingly clear and blue.
In the morning, we went ashore with the both of us balancing on the one paddleboard. I was sitting and all my faith was in Paul getting us safely to shore without getting wet. It was a relief when we made it to shore with dry clothes.
Parts of the path were still under construction. The path is laid of broken rock with concrete plinths in readiness for lamps to be installed.
We followed the newly laid path for quite some distance, all the way up to the main road.
After lunch we set sail to Samos Island.
