Time to come home

Mystic of Holyhead (successor to Lynn Rival)
Rachel and Paul Chandler
Mon 17 Jul 2006 17:53
We're packing up and almost ready to come home for a month.  Over the last week we've visited two more islands in the Northern Dodecanese, Lipsi and Leros.  We will be leaving Lynn Rival in a boatyard at Partheni, on the north coast of Leros.


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We've really enjoyed exploring these islands south of Samos.  They have lots of lovely anchorages and the local people are very welcoming.  We've been lucky with the weather as the temperature has not been much over 30 degrees, unusual for this time of year.  The winds have been strong, but not too strong.  We've generally been able to sail with the wind and make good progress.  Only today did we have to sail 'uphill' into the wind and the seas were not bad.

Leros has a magnificent natural harbour at Lakki but it has an off-putting reputation as it used to be home to some dire mental institutions.  In fact it's a fascinating place which was built in the 1930s by the Italians in Art Deco style.  Some of the buildings have been neglected but there are signs of them being renovated and the wide tree-lined streets are lovely.  Lakki is the main terminal for ferries to the island but is otherwise quite quiet.  Around the island there are a number of attractive harbours and coves but little mass tourism to spoil them!


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Since leaving Turkey in early May we've travelled 972 nautical miles, 504 of those sailing and 468 motoring.  We've visited 21 islands and stayed overnight at 35 different island ports/anchorages and 12 on the mainland.   

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