Pirate raid (Patmos)



        25th Aug 2019 (Patmos)

It be time for a pirate tale ... Arrrrr!

Woke earlyish - sun was up, maybe 7:30, but don’t know. We’ve been tucked away on anchor for the last week in a gorgeous quiet little spot at Livardi on Patmos. 

We had a bit of excitement here yesterday when the wind got up - having to rescue and ferry back to the beach a few swimmers and a lady with a little kid on a SUP. They all got caught in the wind and current and couldn’t make it back under their own steam. - good deeds done :)

Today we’re going on a pirate style raiding mission to Skala - attempting to get provisioned, top up our water containers, download some Survivor in free cafe wifi and leave again before the Port authority can charge us for mooring. Planning to do this around lunchtime to match up with their siesta...

Headed out of the anchorage at Livardi without incident, we’re swapping roles a bit this season for both of us to get an idea of what the other one does - so today, Chez on anchor, me on helm.

Made it to Skala easily enough, Chez re-taking the helm for the Med moor - which she (once again) conducted perfectly. No one there to take our lines, so my lanky legs did the quay jump - not our preferred method, but glad I’m able to.

We must have arrived a little early as the port authority hut was still manned.. stealthily headed around the back of them, then a quick trip to AB Supermarket, getting everything on the list, and back to the boat. We unloaded the shopping and then filled/stole all our water containers from our neighbours tap. Then back into town again - once more creeping behind the hut to avoid the Port authority ( fairly certain they don't care - but hey, 8 to 10 local currency is 8 to 10 local currency! ) Went to our now regular Gyros place (scrumping ripe figs on the way)- Chez did the downloading as Lachy and I text chatted about the current test match underway - which England look to have lost: time will tell.

Back to boat once again - Pirating done for the day, we left quay without issue - which in itself is something of a win, as over the last two weeks we’ve spent a fair bit of time here at Skala watching boat after boat get tangled in their neighbours anchor.

We were originally going to head over to Arki this afternoon, but both tired, and decided that back to Livardi for the night would be a better option. Motor sailed over there with the jenoa out. 

The bay had got a little busier than when we’d left this morning, but still managed to drop and find a peaceful spot where we could dive off the back. Checked anchor - all good.

Kept half an eye on the cricket, Lachie tells me there’s still hope for England. I had a little doss below, by the time my interest is piqued enough to actually put the radio on England need another 50, and are 9 men down - if they reach the target: 359, it would be a record breaking second innings score, especially impressive after they’d collapsed for a different record breaking score of 67 in the first innings. Well, ball after ball the tension built, with Lachy and I chatting all the way. Hero of the day Ben Stokes played a masterful innings and swashbuckled his way to secure the victory - an absolutely amazing win - Aggers had both Chez and I enthralled for the last 1/2 hour of the game. Great win for England!

It’s a hot day, so immediately following the win we dived off the back of the boat to cool off. Rest of the day spent lazy - me sanding a die for the sundowners game I made and Chez reading. 

Altogether a pretty successful day all round.

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