We left the super yacht quay and moved back to the anchorage as we did not want any problems whilst we were at the rugby semi final.  We went into town and watched the match and then  returned to the boat. Svein also took the washing into town so everything is now clean again.

Keith (Castor en Pollux) has arrived from Turkey and he came to the boat and then we all went ashore to watch the second semi final in the Aussi pub. It was a long walk from the harbour but the match was enjoyable. After lunch in the new market we went back to the boat. As it is not too windy we decided not to move but stay where we are for the present.

We woke up to horrible weather with rain and strong winds so we stayed on the boat all day. We also ran the engine and heating to warm up the boat and charge. It was a bumpy and restless night with plenty of swell so the next day we moved to the anchorage behind the new marina. It was still windy but at least there was no swell. We swapped films with Keith and stayed on the boat.

A new day and we took dinghy into shore. Svein met with Per at the boatyard whilst Caryn met with Elly and went shopping. It was a long and tiring day as the walk from the anchorage to the harbour took 45 minutes and then the girls walked round town shopping avoiding the demonstrations. Everyone met up for lunch and then went back to the house. In the afternoon the girls walked to the supermarket to buy dinner. In the evening Caryn and Svein had hoped to take a taxi back to the anchorage but discovered that the taxis were on strike for 48 hours so had to walk back to the boat. All in all an enjoyable but very tiring day.

We are still anchored in Efyros Bay. The warm weather has returned and we went over to Castor en Pollux to see Angie who had come back from the UK. We all went into town to have lunch with Sybaris and then walked back to the bay. We are certainly getting plenty of exercise whilst we are here. We then moved the boat round to anchor outside the harbour so that the walk to the Aussi bar is not too long tomorrow. The wind has finally dropped.

We went to see the rugby match Wales/Australia and then went back to the boat and relaxed. We met Sybaris for a drink and meal in town in the evening. This has been another rare day in Rhodes with no wind.

It is time to do a bit of food shopping so Caryn and Elly met up and went to the Saturday market in Rhodes by bus whilst Svein went to the house to help Per put up shelves. We spent the afternoon at Per and Elly’s  and then returned to the boat in the evening and spent another night at anchorage outside Rhodes harbour.

We watched rugby final and after having lunch with everyone and saying our goodbyes we returned to the boat to get it ready for the departure the next morning.

We made an early start, left the anchorage and motored to Pedi bay. There was little swell and nearly no wind.  We anchored first and then moved to the quay. We found good internet so put out a blog update (Alex’s visit) and spent a quiet night at the quay. There are a few boats at anchor but there is definitely the feeling that the town is winding down for the winter.  Caryn swam from the boat (Photo to prove it). The water is still good and sun still hot

We decided to stay another day and took the bus into Symi town (Yialos) where we bought fishing gear (gaffe hook and net) in case we catch something again. We also stocked up on necklaces for UK and meat for the freezer. Tolis restaurant is still open so had lunch there.  Castor en Pollux arrived. Caryn swam again from the boat and there is no wind.

Another quiet day but as the wind has picked up we put out an extra mooring rope.

Time to move North so before leaving we charged the batteries as they were very low and then left Pedi under engine. We motored all the way and tried to use the genoa although not very successfully. We put out the fishing lines but as there were no bites we reeled them in and speeded up thereby gaining an hour on the journey. We reached Pali in the early afternoon and moored outside Aphrodite. It was sunny all the way across and the sea was calm until we passed the head of Datcha peninsula. We shall stay here until we go to Kos marina.

We saw everyone and Caryn swam from the beach. It is quiet here also although there are boats coming in every day.

Caryn swam again today and Svein worked on the PC. Strong winds blew up in the evening.

Again strong winds today so it was uncomfortable to swim. We stayed on the boat and have been in contact with Laerke (in Kardamena) as Niels is not well.

The wind is starting to drop at last so hopefully it will be a good crossing to Kos tomorrow.

After saying our goodbyes we left the harbour and headed for Kardamena to meet up with Laerke as agreed. Outside Kardamena discovered that they had not waited for us and were nearly in Kos so we altered course and headed to Kos marina. We arrived after 4 hours motoring and moored with help from marina. We checked in and, in the afternoon, walked into town exploring the area and getting our bearings. We found different shops. We went to Jespan to say hello and also Castor en Pollux have also arrived for the winter. We know at least 3 of the boats staying for the winter and time will enable us to meet the others.

We will be getting plenty of exercise here as the marina is a little way out of town and the nearest shops are a 10 minute walk at least. Our sailing shoes have been hung up for the time being and we shall now be getting through our work list.