We are slowly recovering from the storm and are picking up the pieces. We have contacted the insurance company and are collating the information for them.

We decided that in the event of bad weather again we would stay on the South side of the harbour and rely on our anchor. In order to do so we have increased the size and have bought a new anchor (35kg Kobra) in Kos marina. They delivered it to the ferry and we received it on Wednesday evening. That was quick service everything done in one day. It was installed on the chain so quickly that there was no time to take a photograph. We immediately moved over to the South side and installed ourselves again.

There have been some squalls but the worst was last night or should we say early this morning at 3.30am. The anchor was put to good test as a squall came through that lasted 3 hours. “Charisma” was out checking their anchor later in the morning and also checked ours. It is so dug in that you can only see the attachment to the chain!!!! Feel much safer now.

Alpha antenna also arrived by post today so hopefully our internet connection will be more reliable and we shall be able to call from the boat instead of going on land.

Svein in on the last part of the DVD so we are hoping to be able to ship them out on Monday.

Pictures

What a day and night! We woke on Saturday morning to strengthening winds. Svein quickly went off to the baker for bread and then parked the car on the far side of the harbour (away from the spray). Mike (Eagle’s Nest) rang us from Athens and said that he would arrange for the car to be washed as the sea recks havoc with the paintwork. We then sat and waited. Sure enough the wind levels rose and by midday we were in a constant waterfall. The water was pouring over the breakwater and into the harbour.It was impossible to stand on the quay. Svein managed to move the bicycles (that we had left on the quay) to a safer spot but not without great difficulty. We bunkered down in the boat and watched everything from the doghouse and tried to record events through the windows. The catamaran that had arrived Friday evening moved over to the south side alongside. Mid afternoon the gullet still moored on the south side dragged its 3 anchors and moved over to raft to the ferry. Shortly after its arrival the aft moorings on the ferry broke and she swung out into the harbour held only by her front mooring lines. By this time the wind was somewhere round 11 Beaufort (we could not check as it was impossible to get into the cockpit) and against all odds the ferry started its engines and came alongside the quay again. Stronger ropes were put out but on waking up this morning we saw that they had again changed the ropes during the night for even stronger ones. The wind continued at this strength all night and at the moment is still blowing strongly although there is less spray coming over the wall at the moment.

Lamp posts have lost their lights, electricity posts have been ripped out, stones and rocks have come over the wall and the two barges moored at the entrance to the harbour have broken their moorings and gone aground on the beach. As we write they are firing lines from the shore onto the barges to try and free them.

Unfortunately we have also faired badly. We have lost the wind generator, the radar has been severely damaged and the targa system holding the solar panels and dinghy has been badly twisted. Physically we are fine if a little cold as the electricity went off and we woke up this morning to 6 degrees in the boat. We hope the pictures will give you all some idea of what we experienced and must admit hope never to have to go through it again.

Having recovered from the trip to Kos we have been taking it relatively easily on the boat since. Svein is working really hard on the DVD with very long hours to ensure that it is ready. We went with Carmen and Peter (Charisma) into the Port Police but came away none the wiser except that apparently there exists a tax for boats staying longer than 3 months in a harbour “but it would be too expensive for us” so nothing was done other than checking our papers.

We are experiencing winds from all directions at the moment so to be prepared for the very strong North Westerlies forecast for the end of the week we have all moved over to the North side of the harbour. It does mean that we get the sun for a little longer each day.

Caryn went looking for the thermal spring today but did not manage to find it as it meant rock climbing and as she was on her own she did not dare attempt the climb. She will have to wait for another day and have someone with her.

3^rd December 2010

We were up bright and early so as not to miss the ferry over to Kardamena that leaves at 07h30. Carmen (Charisma) had also set her alarm clock. We set off for Mandraki and arrived in such good time that our car was the first on board. The ferry takes few cars and places are at a premium in particular on a Friday it would seem when one of the cars was parked in the access to the saloon (see picture). The ferry trip was short andin no time it seemed we were on our way to shop. Svein needed some special hinges for the new table so we stopped off at every stainless steel store and chandler on the island. We had no luck as we only found 2 and he needed 4. As it is winter the shops are not restocking so we shall order from the internet. Having no success here we continued into Kos town to look for some special shoes for Caryn and to visit the optician. The shoe search was also a failure (will order them from the internet) and to boot Caryn managed to fall over in the street damaging her new glasses. Next stop the optician who very kindly repaired the glasses and also gave her a bottle of cold water to stop the swelling and brusing on her cheek. With the glasses repaired with great efficiency and Carmen having successfully bought the clothes she wanted we headed off for the first of the food shops. We quickly visited Carrefour and bought what we all needed from there and then went to the Chinese shop next door but here found nothing to buy. We then headed off to Lidl and stocked up (as it have been 5 weeks since the last big shop) including some goodies for Xmas. After here we started making our way back to Kardamena with a quick stop at the AB supermarket to get mascarpon cheese for the Tiramisu. On arriving at Kardamena we finished off the shopping by stocking up on tobacco for Svein and then ate a well deserved lunch whilst we waited for the ferry departure. Again safely on board we left for Nisyros but the shopping was too much for Svein so he recovered by sleeping all the way. Carmen and Caryn watched the sun setting over the sea. We reached the boats late evening and unloaded the car. Everything was stored and we found room for all. We finished the evening by enjoying a filet mignon in cream and mushroom sauce which was the perfect ending to an exhausting but enjoyable day bar the fall.

2^nd December 2010

Our new leds arrived last week and Svein has been busy changing the bulbs in all our lamps. It makes a great deal of difference for both reading and the batteries as those already installed are equal to one of the old lamps.

We duly visited the Coast guards on 1^st December but are no wiser as to the reason as the boss was not in the office and will not be there for another week.

We are following with interest the weather forecasts over Europe and are very glad that we are out of it. We have had strong winds but the temperatures are still up in the 20s which is greatly appreciated.

It is a race against time now for Svein to edit the DVD but he is hard at it and we should be able to send them out shortly. As a result the table for the mizzen has taken a bit of a back seat.

Tomorrow we take the ferry to Kardamena on Kos to have an outing and to stock up. Yesterday in Mandraki we had the nasty surprise of not being able to buy meat in either of the butchers. We must remember not to shop on a Wednesday!!!!