Got here (Mytilene on Lesbos) yesterday on another very light air day. The Meltimi left us a few days ago and now we got light and variable from the South and West. But we’re patient and limit motoring largely to getting in and out of harbors/anchorages.

On our last evening in Fournoi we had what can only be described as a terrible fish dinner at the only open taverna. Luckily, a nice French couple from the only other boat at the anchorage, shared a table and the misery with us. When we got back to the boat at around 2200 we found Kincsem floating dangerously close to the rocks with an onshore breeze. So we took in the two lines ashore, hauled in the anchor and motored to the next bay where the Meltimi was blowing 20 knots offshore and re-anchored. In those conditions, Kincsem sits at anchor like a rock - no worries. Next morning we were off early to Khios, a 45 mile sail, straight upwind. With some good tactics making the best of the shifty winds, we got there in the late afternoon after sailing all day except for one hour.

Emporios Bay on Khios is an attractive place where we found a slightly better taverna ….. Next was Khios, a large, noisy, bustling city. Rod Heikel calls it a typical place for the Levant, not the Greek islands. Right he is. We stayed just long enough to get some much needed shopping in and off we were next day to the island of Oinousses, some 10 miles away.

Oinousses is the place where the richest shipping family of Greece is from. NotApparently, they have a reunion of sorts here every year in August. When we were there, the place was deserted except for half a dozen visiting yachts moored in different parts of the big harbor. You can see that some of the houses are much bigger than typical for the islands and some have recent paint. But there are also decrepit houses in between. The family has its own island on the other side of the harbor, which is not accessible from the main island except by boat. When you enter the harbor, there is a beautiful bronze mermaid on your left….. But this is a strange place - 90% of the houses are boarded up and there are no public establishments other than one miniature store where you can buy beach balls, the harbor police office (where I spent 1/2 hour explaining the absence of some stamps …..), a place to buy ferry ticket to Khios and one restaurant. In that restaurant the culinary lows we have had in recent days were reversed, with a solid performance from the cook (relatively speaking).

Next was another long sail, to Lesbos, but at least the wind was largely behind us, not against us. That has its own challenges of course when the wind is light. But we got to our little bay in Lesbos with time to spare to our customary 1830 gin and tonic hour. Lesbos is called the “jewel” of the Sporades because it is much greener than the other islands. At first blush, this is definitely borne out. Yesterdays’ sail to Mytilene was again a bit challenging because of the lightness of the breeze but Kincsem sails quite well in the light stuff and the autopilot is much more patient than I would ever be! We’re now moored in the Mytilene Marina in the town of Mytilene, which is some 10 km from Turkey. The New York times had an article about this place some six weeks ago, warning people of the refugee camps. If they exist, we don’t see them nor do we see any refugees in town. But we see a lot of war ships and coast guard boats patrolling the waters around Lesbos and in the commercial harbor.

I got to explore the town a bit yesterday after arrival to get our stamp at the harbor police office. It was a long bike ride in 32 C temperatures but when I found the office at last in the far away corner of the commercial harbor, that was not the end of the story: the office door was locked! There were a couple of buttons outside which looked like bells which I rang but no reaction. I knocked, no reaction. So I rang the bell at the navy office downstairs where a nice man (playing cards in hand - i disrupted something obviously) explained that the police had a new office up the hill at the upper part of town and provided some rudimentary directions. So far, i’m zero percent on following directions from Greeks. It’s always 100 meters away but i can never find anything. Many Greeks also can’t read my iPhone maps and point out where i should be going ….. Well, after 45 minutes of exploring the upper parts of town on my bike where I talked to 2 more people about the new new office of the port police, they tried to call the port police (wrong number), etc, I was ready to skip the stamp but ended up again at the office where i started. Luck would have it that a nice young woman was just walking upstairs and when I explained my predicament, she rang the bell for me, forcefully, and sure enough, the door opened! The office contained five young Greeks in their blue police uniform watching soaps on TV! They were friendly as always despite the interruption but since Papi is leaving tomorrow and Nicki is coming next week, they didn’t give me my stamp yet - I have to go back with Nicki’s passport so they can update the crew list ……

I have to say that the officialdom in Greece, while it surely keeps a lot of mostly young people employed - albeit in permanent boredom, is a pain in the neck and puts Greece at a competitive disadvantage. No other European country requires these trips to the port police in every port. But it’s still better than Croatia where you have to pay (bribe) the officials apparently. In Greece, there are no fees other than the very low harbor dues (where they are collected at all).

BTW, I uploaded a lot of pictures and some videos to https://joergesdorn.smugmug.com/Kincsem/2018. Password Seahorse. Enjoy!