Simi - second time lucky.

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Fri 18 Sep 2009 18:18
36:36.9N 27:50.2E

Thursday 17th September

Not a great night last night as the wind kept blowing at 30 plus knots and
the bay was very narrow which did not allow us much margin for swinging etc.
so we decided to keep an anchor watch at least until the wind died. Sarah
did the first two hours by the end of which the wind had dropped to around
15 knots, but had swung to the north and we were now sideways across the bay
with our stern very close indeed to the rocks. We pulled in some of the
chain and shortened the scope to about 3 times the depth and I did the next
watch after which the wind dropped totally for a couple of hours before
getting up again around dawn.

Very pretty bay and the usual herd of goats roaming free over the hills and
along the beach. They clearly know when the humans are going be absent and
they stroll along and stand under the beach umbrellas enjoying the good life
briefly!

We left around 9.00 am with a determined view to reaching Simi Town at 10.00
am in the hope of finding a space on the quay. It turned out very well and a
number of boats had gone so we backed into a brilliant spot on the favoured
north quay which has less swell and less noise. We noticed as we arrived
that the boat that we were backing in beside was another Najad yacht and
then when we saw the name we could hardly believe what a small world it all
is! When we bought our first Najad (40ft) in 2005 we needed a mooring and
Najad Yachts put us in touch with another Najad owner with an identical boat
who had a long lease on a berth in Hamble Point Marina, but who was about to
sail off to the Med and then the Caribbean. The deal was done and we sailed
the new boat back from Sweden to the UK and arrived in Hamble on the day he
was leaving so we met briefly (half an hour) and have communicated only by
email occasionally since then. This year he was sailing back from America
and here he was in Simi!

Simi is probably the prettiest town we have seen in our travels so far. The
pastel colours and lack of modern concrete structures means that the overall
appearance is wonderful. It is only if you study the buildings on the hills
carefully that you can see that many are semi derelict, but they just blend
into the background and become almost invisible. So quite apart from
catching up with Andrew and Pippa on 'Severance' (the Najad above) we have
decided to stay a day or two longer to enjoy the place.

Lots of packed trip boats and ferries disgorge clouds of day trippers on the
quay nearby and they all file past us with their tour guides, but they are
all gone by the late afternoon and the whole town settles down again. Quite
a bit of swell in here as the various bigger boats come and go, but the wind
has been very light and so it has been pretty hot.

Invited Severence on board for a drink and then they returned the favour
shortly afterwards when their friends who are staying in a villa in town
turned up also for a drink!