Solo Anchoring Into A Harbour

The reason for hanging out in Kos was to pick up John’s girlfriend, Pat. Kardemena is a useful spot for this since it’s just 5km from the airport. John and Pat went on ahead to check in at Kos town whilst I pootled along to our next destination, Pserimos. Just as well really since the anchorage at Kos was like riding a bronco, making for an unpleasant night’s sleep.

Pserimos is a little island in between Kos and Kalimnos and is clearly a weekend hangout for the young Greeks from the neighbouring islands. The tiny bay in which I anchored was littered with RIBS, jet skis, speedboats and day-trippers. We enjoyed a sundowner at Sunset cafe, where the waiter graciously reduced our beers from €3 to €2.50, stating “I don’t want my restaurant to get a reputation as being expensive”. Even so, €2.50 for a large beer? Clearly I was going to have to do some adjusting, now that I am back in Europe.

The next morning I awoke to a cargo ferry maneuvering its way around Esper to drop off trucks in the tiny bay. I admired the helmsman’s skills, especially as he was doing all this with less than a metre underneath his keel. A deckhand leaned over the bow and politely suggested that perhaps I should anchor in the harbour since the ferry would be returning in an hour. Well now, since I’ve fixed the anchor button in the cockpit this was now a real possibility, and so another task I’d never done before was executed without a hitch, me lowering the anchor from the cockpit as I reversed into a spot next to Odin, with Pat taking my stern line from the shore.

Things were looking up. Since the disaster on Tilos and the frustrations on Yali and Kos I was getting my confidence back and undertaking maneuvers and tasks that I never thought possible.

We were able to get a slightly better night’s sleep and went for a wander round the island next day. Nice little spot this one.

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