Another busy couple of months with a move to a flat (the first time we have lived on land since 2001!), putting the boat on land, starting Caryn’s treatment not to mention the social life with BBQs and a big Easter celebration as well as exploring and trying the restaurants that have started to open for the new season. One of our new favourites is a Thai restaurant that is run by two brothers whose Thai wives do the cooking.
Svein has still be busy on the boat and has installed spinlocks to the main mast to tidy it up. It also entailed replacing the genoa hoisting line. This obviously involved lowering the genoa and then hoisting it when the work was done and as luck would have it the wind blew up and led to problems which we managed to solve in the end but was quite scary for a time. He has also reinforced the cockpit table and changed the bathroom plumping to make it simpler. With the boat on land, has started work on the toe rail to give us more cut-outs for mooring ropes.
Cheryl (Caryn’s sister) has also visited the UK to sort out things for the mother. In the few days available she has done a hell of a lot and we are now ready for when the final move to the home takes place.
The weather is steadily improving with plenty of sunshine and lesser winds. 6th April 2012
Easter was celebrated in style with a Swedish style buffet organised by Jespan with contributions of the other boats. It took the form of an outside meal and was complete with music and dancing.
Mid April the call from the health authorities finally came and the treatment  could start. Caryn is now halfway through the treatment and holding up fairly well although some days are better than others.  Fortunately she has not too many side effects although she did have to spend Greek Easter Sunday in the hospital being monitored as there was a slight heart problem.
Boats (Roama, Pacific Pearl, Laerke, Castor en Pollux) are leaving for the sailing season and the charter boats are being prepared so the harbour is busy although there does not seem to be too many client or the moment.
We moved into the flat at the end of April and quite soon afterwards we had a visit from Elly (Sybaris) from Rhodes who stayed at the flat with us and she and Caryn wandered through Kos exploring.  We have bought some garden furniture to make full use of the terrace as well as some other bits to make it more cosy.
Caryn has treated herself to pedicures and fish spas as a relaxation from the treatment.
We have been very busy socially as several boats have called in to Kos so there have been many drinking sessions and meals out in restaurants. It is good to see everyone again and to catch up on all the news.
It will be a strange summer spending it on land but hopefully we will be able to get some sailing done at the end of the treatment but where we will go still remains to be seen.

March was a busy month as far as festivities were concerned with celebrations for both the union of the Dodecanese to Greece and Independence Day. Both events had street parades with participants from the public and the different military forces.

As far as Caryn is concerned she is back in Kos and recovering slowly from the second operation. The next stage is to organise the preventive treatment. It has been confirmed that the treatment can be done in Kos and that proved a marathon getting through Greek red tape and entailed visiting several administrative offices but we got there in the end. Medicines ordered so now just have to wait for them to arrive.

Svein has installed the night light system in the boat and, at long last, the gas alarm. He has also begun work on touching up the Coelan on deck. He also renewed the shore power installation on the boat and installed an additional 220V socket outside. He has also varnished the navigation area and repaired the bathing ladder and its deck sockets. He has had a busy month as he also managed to work on the cupboards in the galley after they had been thoroughly cleaned and sorted and treated against ants.

The weather has been cold and windy with winds from all directions but sometimes strong enough to cancel the ferries from Athens. It has improved towards the end of the month which has meant we can have lunch outside. No excuse now not to start cleaning the salon cushions. Slow process but what an improvement!

Svein managed to dive to recuperate the utensils fallen in the water at Xmas. Managed to retrieve the serving dishes of which one had to be thrown away and a spoon as well as a pair of glasses.

We also attended the concert by the community orchestra to celebrate Independence Day but came home early as someone managed to damage the sound mixing console.

Laerke was leaving for the sailing season so they came to dinner on board and Caryn prepared a dinner of prawn braid and then fresh strawberries.

Still no word about the treatment but hopefully it can start next month.

It has been a strange winter. The liveaboard community has been active with music evenings, weekly drink on a Friday and BBQs when possible. The town has been explored in all its dimensions from food shops, beauty parlours, activities and historical monuments so something for everyone’s taste. Unfortunately we have been very unlucky with weather as it has rained a great deal and there have been almost constant cold Northerly winds. On the rare occasions when it has dropped there has been sunshine and warmth so it has been possible to have a BBQ including one that was laid on by the harbour staff where they cooked sardines.

The Christmas festivities went off well with a Scandinavian theme for the main dinner (cooked by the participants) and the results can been seen in the pictures. The harbour did us proud with a lavish spread on Christmas day and another event on New Year’s Day. There was also a visit to a ballet performance by visiting Russian soloists. Svein managed to distinguish himself over the holidays by falling in the water on returning to the boat after some of the festivities. He cut his leg quite badly and had it treated at the hospital. The climax however was when he succeeded in falling in again the next day whilst explaining to some people what he had done the previous night. The outcome was that Caryn lost all her servings trays, spoons and some knives that are now sitting at the bottom of the harbour.

Unfortunately the month of January was not as calm as Caryn spent most of the month travelling to Athens for tests and 2 major operations. Fortunately our friends from Eagle’s Nest on Nisyros (Mike and Marilyn) came up trumps and organised the hospital visits as well as the transport and accommodation. They were truly brilliant. They know a private hospital that dealt with everything on the spot and very rapidly. Now it only remains to get back on form and deal with the preventive treatment that should start soon.

There have been a few visits to beauty parlours and a fish spa that has now opened in town so from the pampering point of view all has been well. We have unfortunately not been able to continue with the latin dancing lessons but the few classes we did in December we enjoyed very much and hopefully have learned something from them.

Svein has managed to shorten the main boom. A task that has been waiting for a long time but had been put off as he was afraid it would be a major job but his fears were unfounded and he did it in a very short time. We now have much more space between the two masts to move around.

We are settling into the marina and finding our feet with regard to local shops and other facilities available. We have found a good butcher (and even one who speaks Swedish), super greengroceries and some good supermarkets.

One of the first tasks was to take the bicycles into to be serviced as they will be a vital element required to get around town (on the cycle tracks) and to explore. We have also found some restaurants where the food is good and the prices right.

The activities in the harbour have also started with a music night, boules, a walking group, BBQ when the weather is right and on Fridays a get together in the club room for a drink.

Svein woke Caryn  up today with a bouquet of flowers and finally saw the present that she had  treated herself to when we were in Rhodes but the best present was the confirmation that at last Svein’s pension had come through. We went out for a meal with some of the others to celebrate in good style. There was also a BBQ which enabled up to meet some of the other liveaboards who we did not know.

Caryn was making a quick trip to the UK so we hired a car to take her to the airport and  also used it to do a trip to the big supermarkets on the outskirts of town to stock up. The outward journey went well with no delays and even an early arrival at Heathrow.

Caryn was lucky with the weather during her stay and enjoyed some good meals out in particular an Indian meal that was another birthday celebration.  She also took advantage of the visit to get her eyes tested and will be replacing her glasses in Kos.

The journey back was more tedious with a 12 hour wait in Athens for the corresponding flight to Kos. However came back to sunshine and a good night’s sleep back on board.

After a 3 week wait we have now moved to our winter berth on pontoon D. The weather is still being clement although we have had some strong winds and some rain.

We have also started our Latin dancing classes although there is some catching up to do as the courses started in October but we are taking it slowly. We go to 2 lessons a week with one dedicated to the technical side of the dances and the other where we pout what we have learnt into practice.

We visited Psalidi (wetlands) that was organised by the harbour. We cycled down and then walked through the grounds. Refreshments were laid on at the end of the tour. We cycled back to the harbour tired but having spent an enjoyable morning.

Svein has been taking advantage of the good weather and has been touching up the deck where the coelan treatment has been damaged through the sailing season.

Caryn has ordered and collected her new glasses. The prices are really unbeatable here.

There has been some more BBQs and coming up to the middle of December the weather is still sunny and warm enough to be in tee shirts.

The dancing school is having a Christmas party in a local nightclub that we have been invited to. We went along with Angie and Keith and had a good evening and even managed to try out some of the steps we have learnt.

We have also celebrated St Lucy day with a musical evening and some snacks.

Caryn and Angie cycled out to find the beauty parlour on the outskirts of town. A long ride on the bike along quite a busy road but the facilities we found were excellent.  We shall go into town tomorrow to try find another one to have a comparison.

We are also busy preparing for the meal on 24th December which will be based on Scandinavian dishes and we will be following that up with a meal laid on by the harbour on 25th.

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.