Kos
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Thu 24 Sep 2009 07:20
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36 53.5N 27 18.2E
Kos Marina Tuesday and Wednesday 22nd - 23rd
September
We left Leros at first light and after hoisting a
reefed main and unfurling the jib to half we set sail for Kos. It was a lovely
day and the wind provided us with one of the best sail's of the season for a
couple of hours! As we made our way through the scattering of small islets to
the south and east of Leros and then east of Kalimnos the sea was on the beam so
we were rolling a bit but once in the lee of the Bodrum peninsula this calmed
down to make for a lovely sail. We saw more sailing boats than we have seen
since leaving the Ionian
and a number of commercial ships mostly Turkish
registered heading north through the straights between kos and Bodrum.
Unfortunately as we closed on Kos the wind died so the engine went on again and
we motor sailed the last few miles. We went straight to the fuel berth to top up
our diesel and then contacted the very helpful staff at the marina who duly met
us in a rib to escort us to our berth for the next week - 'F' pontoon which is
at the far end of the marina. Having been ably assisted into the slot by the rib
driver who pushed the stern round on a 'sixpence' much to our astonishment and
the ropes made fast by another guy we were soon all fast and able to get ashore
to explore. The marina is really quite something! The reception is like walking
into a posh new 'town hall' marble pillars and floors with large sweeps of desks
contoured around the edges. We checked in and found out all about the facilities
on offer one of the staff - Laura is half English so no language problems here.
The showers and toilets are very spacious and modern, the free wifi is security
coded so you get a password etc on arrival and this lasts for the amount of time
you are staying. There is a small supermarket, two eateries/ cafes, two
chandleries, a service laundry (5 Euros per wash, 3 to dry) and a
couple of yacht charter firms. While Rob had a
late siesta went for a swim and then returned to the boat. Rob and I later
cycled to the hotel where his mum will be staying to check it out. It was a bit
further than we had been led to believe but seemed clean, well run and friendly;
we met some of the other guests and had a drink at the bar with the owner
'Manos'.
The following morning after a very quiet night (no
traffic, no noisy bars and no bin men emptying the trash at 0600!) I took the
laundry up to be done, collected some fresh bread and we had a quick breakfast
before washing the boat down. The engineer from Isotherm was due at 0900 but
arrived at 0945; after a thorough inspection he informed us that there had
indeed been a leak of coolant through the pipe -join at the compressor end of
the system. His opinion was the join should have been welded in the first place
so proceeded to effect this and then replaced the coolant, tested the system and
hey presto we have a working fridge again! I left Rob to put the boat back
together and I set off on my bike to explore and rode to the main town which is
much bigger than I expected. The old port with the ancient castle is well
preserved and there were plenty of ancient sites from the Hellenic and Roman
period which we will no doubt explore at some point. I found the tourist
information office and picked up various leaflets and the car hire company
that we had booked and then cycled back. After lunch and a leisurely afternoon
we walked to the car hire centre picked up the car and set off for the
airport to meet Avril, who was due in around 1930. The journey took us
almost the whole length of the island and we were able to spot several of
the roads to places of interest as well as the position of the large Lidl and
Carfore supermarkets. The plane was early so having parked the car almost next
tot he arrivals hall we waited next to the baggage carousel and very soon Avril
arrived -it was so nice to see her after 5 months. While waiting for the luggage
we spotted two friends from the UK Sue and Pat Morrell (Pat is the handicapping
officer for our sailing club CCRC) what a small world indeed!
Having returned to the hotel and settled 'Mum' in
we went to a local Taverna for a quick supper before retiring.
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