Lipso and Arki

Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Fri 16 Oct 2009 14:51
37 17.7N 26 45.9E
Lipso (Ormos Socoro) Saturday 10th October
Following a pre breakfast swim we motor sailed here late morning and found a lovely deep bay with a town quay at the head sheltering an inner basin. It was quiet on arrival and we were soon tied stern to the quay and wandered off to explore the small village. There were several Tavernas and one or two small shops on the harbour but as we walked inland and up the hill towards the church we discovered a warren of alleyways and delightful houses with the occasional shop and bar. Later in the afternoon we were joined by a plethora of English flagged boats and soon the quay was full. We were able to get electricity here for 5 Euros per night. Water was available too
 
37 22.8N 26 44.2E
Arki (Port Augusta) Sunday 11th October
Another motor sail  north from Lispo on a warm and sunny morning found us in the lovely bay of Port Augusta on Arki. This is a deep inlet on the west side of the island with a 'dog's leg' that turns to the north providing excellent shelter. Again there was room on the quay and we were soon stern to and all fast. We launched the dinghy and Watson took Wiz and I for a row to a nearby sandy beach where we swam - the water was lovely and clear and still felt warm. Later we wandered around the head of the bay and looked at the two tavernas choosing one for drinks and then later back for supper. The whole place had a very lazy laid back feel and the locals were most friendly. This is obviously a popular Sunday day trip destination as several ribs arrived with folk eating lunch at one of the tavernas. It is also on the charter boat route as several of the Samos based boats came in later in the afternoon, however it did not detract from the nature of the place as there is only room fro about 8 boats all together!
Samos Marina Monday 12th October
We left on Monday morning to head back for Samos as we had been alerted by another skipper that the weather was due to deteriorate. The wind did increase en route and we managed some sailing without the engine! On arrival in Samos we anchored in the bay for a swim before heading to the marina where we took fuel before being allocated our berth. This marina is one of the few in the whole area where there are lazy lines, water and electricity on the moles. The showers were pretty poor considering the cost of our berth (30 Euros) but there was a laundry so I was able to get 4 washes done over the course of the next 24 hours.
We had a final meal with Wiz and Watson at the taverna in the marina - good home cooked fare but rather expensive. The following morning our visitors left at 0600 by Taxi for Port Vathi to catch their ferry to Athens.
The wind had really got up in the night and continued to do so during the next day with 35 knots showing around 2100. We later had a text from Wiz to tell us they were still stuck in Vathi as the ferry had not sailed due to the weather!
Wednesday 14th October
After a very bumpy night the wind finally died down and we decided to move to the town quay in Pythagorean.
It was good to be back in familiar territory and we were able to get some fresh bread and other stores. The weather forecast was not good however for heading south and more strong winds were predicted so we decided to stay for a few more days. We had some heavy rain showers and the wind did get up but nothing like the forecast!
We plan to leave on Saturday morning to sail to Leros - Port Lakki.