Day 203 : Engine Breakdown

We were planning to leave for San Blas this morning, but due to strong winds in the wrong direction, Thomas suggested that we wait till the afternoon to monitor the weather, as it may get stronger, and may not be advisable to leave as scheduled.

While waiting, Niklaus decided to do an engine check, and it was at this time he found water had entered the engine! Olivier came by the boat to check what had happened, and discovered that the water pump had burst, resulting in water leaking into the engine.

Day 197 - 202 : Puerto Lindo

Puerto Lindo

Niklaus boat is located in a sheltered bay in Puerto Lindo, located about 1.5hour from the city of Colon and 30 minutes from the small town of Portobello. Both Puerto Lindo and Portobello is where most of the sailboats heading to San Blas islands and Cartagena departs from.

Puerto Lindo is where we had spent most of our days at, having a meal or drinks at Han's (an open air restaurant by the sea side), if we were not on the boat. Most of the people residing here are blacks (vs the fairer skin Panamanians residing further inland) and had a more fishing village feel.

Day 49 : Las Arenas Beach and Marina

Headed to the nearby beach (Las Arenas) today, however decided to make a slight detour to visit the America’s Cup Port.  Apparently this is also where the F1 circuit takes place. Looking at the map, the circuit sure looks small!

There were not that many boats at the marina, however, those that were at the marina were extremely big and luxurious! 

I came across a House of America’s Cup near the marina, and since it was also free, decided to take a look inside. 

Wrap Up : Sailing in Greece

In 21 days, I managed to cover many islands, mainly in the North Aegean Sea :

• Sporades Islands (Alonnisos, Skopelos, Skiathos, Kyra Panagia, Psathoura, Skantzoura)
• Sithonia (Halkidiki)
• Mount Athos
• Lemnos (Myrina, Mikro Fanaraki)
• Lesvos (Mithimna, Mytilini, Ormas Mersinia, Tarti)
• Chios (Limnia, Volissos, Avgonymon, Anavatos, Nea Moni, Pyrgi, Mesta, Kourounia, Chios town)
• Samos (Marathokampou, Pythagorio, Vathy)
• Turkey

These were islands which I would never have ventured to if I had travelled on my own as they were less common and not often mentioned. 

Day 26 : Goodbye Gaia

We made our way towards Pythagorio, named after the famous Pythagoras, the father of Mathematics, who came up with the “Pythagoras Theorem” (remember how we studied this in school on finding the length of the side of a triangle? :D). 

Apparently he also discovered many other things and was said to be a remarkable man in his time, with a statue dedicated

Day 25 : Marathoukampou Bay, Samos

As I sit in bed typing this in Marathoukampou Bay in Samos, I can hear the winds howling loudly outside, and the wood in the boat creaking as it rocks with the waves.

The Meltemi has started, and I finally got to experience it today, as we had amazing winds hitting 32 knots at some points and top speed of 9.9 miles per hour during our sail (Beaufort scale 6). 

This is the 1st time

Day 24 : 2nd day of Road Trip, Chios

We had an early start on our road trip to tour around the north-east part of Chios which we have yet to cover, since we had to return the car before 1pm in Chios Town, in order to catch the 1.30pm bus back to Volissos.

The drive around Chios both today and yesterday made me miss New Zealand as I felt I was in a mini New Zealand,

Day 23 : Road Trip in Chios

We were all excited as we hopped into the car and started our road trip at 8.50am, covering mostly the mid to southern part of Chios, and visiting various villages, all with very different architectures and styles.

Day 22 : Car Rental

Yay!  Alberto and Rita has come back with the car for our road trip tomorrow!

We are excited because we had so much difficulty getting a car!  There were only 2 car companies which had car available on the days we wanted them and none of the car companies were willing to deliver the car to us (car rental companies are mainly located in Chios town, which is 50km away).

 

Day 22 : Volissos, Chios

The girls decided to take a morning stroll to Volissos, the nearest town from Limnia port which is about 2km away, to get some groceries, and most importantly bread. 

It is said that there is a really good bakery at Volissos and we only knew why when we arrive! 

Day 21 : Limnia, Chios

After 9 hours at sea, some dolphin spotting as well as sailing through choppy waters simulating roller coaster rides, we finally arrived at Chios (pronounced as Key-Os)! 

We were welcomed by windmills as we sailed around the north-western coast of Chios to the port of Limnia.

Limnia has a quaint little harbour with only a couple bars and a taverna (Greeks call their restaurants tavernas). 

Don’t think they get much tourists from Asia here, as people were looking curiously at me as I walked around the harbour!

Day 21 : The Morning After in Tarti

“Boom.. Boom.. Boom.. Boom.. Boom..”

I startled out of bed thinking it was gun shots when I saw some lights from the ceiling window of my cabin.  Fireworks!!!  I quickly rushed out on deck and the fireworks that were released from the beach has just ended. 

Headed back down to my cabin and looked at my watch.  It’s 12.03am!  A few minutes later I started hearing an electronic guitar playing and some drums, thinking that perhaps some kids were trying to play the instruments for the very 1st time.

What is happening?  Are there still

Day 20 : Tarti, Lesvos

Our plan was to sail to Chios island, today, however according to weather forecast, the winds will not be in our favour.  As such, we decided to stay one more night in Lesvos, and motored our way to Tarti, a bay located 10 mins away from where we were staying yesterday.

Tarti was highly recommended by Costas, a young man whom we first met in Mithimna and again 2 nights ago at Mytilini harbour, who was travelling on another boat with his parents and sister.  And it was indeed a good recommendation!

We arrived to a nice little beach spot with beach umbrellas and deck chairs laid out across the beach, but yet maintaining a quiet and homely feel about the place. 

Not long after

Day 19 : Ormas Mersinia, Lesvos

We have a new addition to the crew that joined us this morning before we sailed out of Mytilini… a TV personality in fact! Rita from Italy, who is a news journalist on RAI, an Italian broadcasting network. Boat is getting merrier!

We have since settled in a bay at Ormas Mersinia, Lesvos and have been sitting out on the deck with Moa, gazing at the stars over the last half an hour, and we can even see the milky way really clearly!  Very serene actually as we hear the waves lapping against the rocks with no other boats around us.  A total contrast from last night’s hustle and bustle of city traffic, and good way for winding down after an exhausting day.

Today is the 1st time I actually felt really exhausted since I started out on my trip.  We had been out gathering sea urchins for tonight’s dinner, which was cooked with spaghetti, and I played a more active role than the last time, by staying in the water and being the bag keeper of urchins while Alberto went to pick them up. 

Think it is easy?  Well picture this…

Day 18 : Mytilini, Lesvos

We left Turkey and sailed back in extremely good winds to Lesvos, stopping by at Mystegna bay for a swim before heading into a harbour of a town called Mytilini.

This is probably the largest town I have seen on the islands we have visited so far!  And there is another castle here too (castle seems to be a prominent landmark in all the places we have been visiting the last few days)! 

Day 17 : Illegal Immigrants in Turkey

We are officially illegal immigrants in Turkey as we are now in the Aeolian coast of Turkey in a bay off Poyraz Adasi. 

This is where we will be staying the night as we sailed in from Lesvos to explore a bit of Turkey and try our luck to stay here for the night without being caught and thrown into jail!

Day 16 : Movie Under the Stars

After spending a leisurely day sailing around the coast of Lesvos in a channel which separates Greece and Turkey (shortest point between the two countries in this channel is about 20km!), doing some tacks and playing skipper on “Gaia”, we finally settled down in a bay near Skala Sykaminia, Lesvos, and ended the day with a movie. 

It added a new dimension to the term “movie under the stars”

Day 15 : Mithimna, Lesvos

“Maryanne, wake up… It’s time.”

I opened my eyes sleepily and saw Alberto at the doorway of my cabin.  It was 4.30am.  I got out of bed and walked through the connecting toilet and knocked on Moa and Tuula’s cabin door and woke them up as well.

 

Day 14 : Mikro Fanaraki (Lemnos)

We decided to head over to the other side of Lemnos to a bay called Mikro Fanaraki and have a relaxing day.  Though it is still part of the same island, it took us about 3 hours to get there!

We reached just before noon and it was definitely worth it, as the bay had really clear water and nice surroundings with no other boats in sight!  Just a beach with some people about 300m away, with some music from the beach bar playing in the background.

We took a light lunch, got on the dinghy and headed towards the nearby beach to explore the area… Check out the great view!

Day 13 : Lemnos

After about 6 hours sail cum motoring on the Aegean sea from Mount Athos, we finally arrived at Lemnos! 

Lemnos is a pretty little coastal fishing town.  Located in the Northeast part of Greece, it is said to be the 8th largest island with unspoilt beauty as it is little known (many tourists usually travel to the southern island of Greece).