Hiding out from winds in Leipsoi, chaos in Koufonisi to serenity in Schinoussa, we have had it all.
Saturday 24th June - Wednesday 28th June
Kouloura Bay Leipsoi
Our intention on leaving Leros was to explore the small group of islands north including famous Patmos. However, someone didn’t inform the weather gods of our plans and shortly after arriving into the pretty bay of Kouloura at the bottom of Leipsoi we found ourselves sailing on anchor in winds up to 25 knots for several days. There was simply no point moving when you knew your anchor was held fast and every anchorage around the area was suffering from the same wind and sea swell.
Photo: The port of Lipsi
Leipsoi or Lipsi is a small island in the Dodecanse group just north of Leros. It has a total size of just 16 square kilometers (6 sq miles) and a its coastline in total expands only 35km (21m). The current settlement of Lipsi was settled as recently as 1669 by a Cretan by the name of Elias who fled Crete to escape the Ottoman empire occupation of Crete. Then in 1948 it along with other Dodecanese islands was united with Greece. The only way to get to the island is by boat, roads are limited and tourism has remained focused on nature.
Photo: Churches along our route
It was a straight forward walk to the village from our bay to the harbour of Lipsi - up the hill and down the other side following the line of Blue domed churches, vine fields and the odd donkey or two.
The village was quaint small and as always the streets leading off the harbour fed into a maze of white washed buildings that never proceeded in a straight line for very long. A great bakery, grocery store, some excellent restaurants that we sadly didn’t stop to try, but perhaps next time. The island had a very relaxed feel to it. Not a local went by as we walked the path without a wave or nod of acknowledgement. Now that’s a nice community.
Photo: Katherine on anchor Kouloura
Thursday 29th June
When we headed east out of Kouloura back to the small cyclades island of Koufonisi - 62 nautical miles (114km/ 71 m) weather forecasts indicated that we should be sailing until the last few hours, when winds were forecast to die. Well once again we knew we would get what ever the weather decided to deliver. And it was totally in reverse.
We headed out in light winds, managed to fly the Code 0 for a short while then the winds came in and by the last two hours we were hooking along with just the main sail doing a very comfortable 10 knots. Katherine was in her groove.
Its always hard to capture how well Katherine sails but the following clip was before the 30 knots set in and we were still flying our jib. It was windy!
Koufonisi
When we arrived into the anchorage of Koufonisi the anchorage was congested with small and large boats. As sunset descended we thought the anchorage would settle down, but we were certainly wrong, as we suddenly had a very large ferry maneuvering to park on the outer wall. If it felt close for us then we certainly would not have wanted to be the smaller boats that were even closer. Throw in a dingy engine failure and their rescue by another dinghy as they drifted helplessly towards an incoming tanker. This anchorage was certainly not relaxing.
Photo: Race start preparation for Cyclades Regatta
Friday 30th June
On Friday morning we found ourselves surrounded by sailing boats all preparing to cross the start line on the far side of the harbour entrance. The marina emptied of at least 40 sailing boats, which we discovered were taking part in the 2023 Cyclades Regatta. The Regatta had commenced on the 26th of June in Fleves (near Athens) and sailed to Paros, 2nd Leg Paros to Koufonisi, on this day Koufonisi to Sifnos and the final leg Sifnos to Patroklos. As always watching boats cross a start line is entertaining particularly when your sitting relaxed with a cuppa on your own boat and not involved in the start line tactics.
Photo: Sail boats underway
Not long after the boats had sailed off into the distance our morning coffee was disturbed as a Seajet ferry came past the back of the boat as they headed into dock - the captain yelling from up high that we were anchored in the wrong location. Given that we had already been there for over 12 hours and no other ferry captain had a problem with us or the other yachts in the designated anchorage area we chose to put his comments down to having a bad day. Well that was until the Port Police stood on the dock, blew their whistle madly and waved but at no stage bothered to pick up the radio that Andrew had held in his hand for communication. Ambiance of the anchorage destroyed we decided to pull up the anchor, abort the idea of going to shore and find somewhere else to be.
Photo: Think we found the perfect alternative
The familiar bay of Schinoussa was just a few miles south so that is where we headed and what a dramatic difference. Three boats in the harbour, no ferries, the wind had abated and we had the prefect sunset, moon rise. The port police had actually done us a favour.
Photo: Main street of the Chora
Saturday 1st July
Last time we had anchored in the bay of Schinoussa we had not gone to shore so we decided to rectify that given our return. The island is all of 9 square kilometers and has a population of just over 200 people. There are only three “towns” on the tiny island, the Hora or old town, Mersaria in the north, and Mersini which is the port and arrival point for most people to the island.
Photo: Mersini Port Area of Shinoussa
The walk from Livadi beach again involved an up hill and down the other side but our legs were spared on our way there when some local workers pulled up to offer us a ride. Small islands seem to be home to the most welcoming locals.
The Chora is perched on the top of the hillside half way to the port. Reflective of the size and population of the island it didn’t take long for us to find ourselves on the other side of the town and walking down to the port.
Photo: We found ET
Someone in the port area had a good sense of humour as the bollards for the ships had a familiar character painted on them.
Shinoussa is another island we would happily sail back to, particularly when needing a break from the more popular and crowded islands of the Cyclades and certainly the perfect cure for the experience of Koufonisi.