Nimrod Oceanlord

With a heavy heart, we have sold our beloved Nimrod. A very nice Italian chap, Michele, who lives in Spain contacted our broker back in November and in mid February we flew out to Lavrion to show him and his surveyor the boat. We spent a couple of days beforehand ensuring everything was working as it should (and checking that Nimmie hadn’t broken any more toys over the winter!). Michele and his surveyor, Toni, arrived on the Tuesday and spent the day pulling her apart and checking every nook and cranny. The next day we had her launched for a sea trial. Nimmie behaved impeccably and even managed a down wind sail in just 8 knots of wind. She really was putting on a masterclass. Back into the yard at the end of the day and that evening we met Michele and Toni for a meal. We then spent the next day winterising her again as we were not sure whether Michele would put in an acceptable offer. We flew back to the U.K. on the Friday and waited to hear. About a week later we received an offer that was not unacceptable but was slightly lower than we had imagined. With a bit of negotiation we achieved a very acceptable offer that pleased both parties. The sale was completed in early March which meant we needed to remove our personal items and anything not listed on the inventory asap.

Consequently, we left the U.K. on Monday 18 March to drive down to Greece in our campervan, Dora. (www.doratheexplorer.blog if you’d like to follow our new adventures) Some 2,000 miles later we arrived in Lavrion and started to clear our stuff out. Two and a half days later, mission accomplished but it felt very sad indeed. It’s one thing making a decision to sell and quite another to realise that she is no longer ours. Luckily, we will have another chance to sail her as Michele has asked us to spend a few days with him in mid May so he can familiarise himself with her idiosyncrasies and also help him sail her towards Italy and her new home. He has also said that he would like to rename her so this may be the last time we can call her Nimmie!

It only seems fitting that the last photo of her as Nimmie is actually the first one we took of her back in 2008 when she came into our lives. It has been an incredible 16 years sailing her with never a dull moment but she has always looked after us and kept us safe. We hope she will have a wonderful time under new ownership with someone who will care and love her as much as we did.

We caught the 9am ferry from Chios on Saturday morning, July 15th, to travel to the island of Samos. We hadn’t realised that Samos is considered to be one of the jewels of the Aegean. It is very close to Turkey and you can easily see the lights on the shore at night. It is famed for its wine, fruit and honey amongst many other produce. The whole island feels lush, verdant and relatively wealthy. The island is some 43km long and 13km wide with a population around 33,000.

I don’t think we would have considered visiting Samos if Sara and Brian from sailing yacht Tutella had not suggested it when we met them in Skopelos last year. They have an annual contract at the marina near Pythagorio (the mathematician Pythagoras was born there, hence the name) on the SE of the island so we wanted to check it out. Consequently, we booked into the Casa Cook hotel nearby at Potokaki beach. The hotel was stunning with swim up rooms, a cool beach bar and even rooms with their own private pool. We treated ourselves to a room with a private pool. The hotel has only been open just over a year and you can tell with so many staff determined to make your stay memorable. Having arrived before check in, we spent time ambling about the place and checking out the beach. We knew we were going to love it there. We decided to eat in the hotel restaurant on the beach. Pretty magical.

As we wanted to get a feel for the island given it was on the short list to move Nimmie to, we hired a car for a couple of days from the airport which was so nearby, you could practically touch the runway. Sunday was spent checking out the east of the island, including cute mountain villages (Vourliotes) and cool beaches.

We found the Eupalinus’ Tunnel, which was built in the mid 6th century BC to supply water to the town and ran for 1.5km from a mountain spring to the then capital of the island, Pythagorio. The hard limestone was hewn out by hand and took 10 years. The work was started simultaneously at the north and south openings and incredibly met in the middle. The tunnel was pretty narrow in places and Liz managed to hit her head several times. Good job we were wearing hard hats!

Back to our private pool at the hotel and then a drive into Pythagorio to have a lovely dinner at Mermizeli on the harbour front. Nice to have a cool breeze after the heat of the day. The town is a hub of activity late into the evening as tourists wander around the bars and shops after dinner. It makes you realise how often we are not in tourist locations like that and certainly not in the height of high season. Back at the hotel, we needed to cool down so had a decadent skinny dip in our pool!

On Monday we wanted to explore the north of the island but first we went to the Heraion of Samos, which was a sacred site dedicated to the goddess, Hera. There had been statues and altars there since the Early Bronze Age but the current stones date back to 6th Century BC. The Temple of Hera had 155 columns 20m high and it was accessed by The Sacred Way from Pythagorio (then named Samos). Amazing place that would have been huge in its heyday. They even excavated an almost complete mosaic of Dolphins.

Next stop was to scope out Samos Marina and decide whether Nimmie would like it there. The price quoted was very reasonable but the spaces were filling up fast as many boats were coming back from Turkey where it was no longer the cheaper option in the Aegean. We needed to make a decision soon but still wanted to mull it over as the cost was only one of many factors in our decision. It needed to be somewhere we wanted to spend time and also was a good base to explore the local sailing area whilst being relatively easy to get to and from the UK.

We then made our way north to Potami where there are waterfalls – yes, even in July! It involves a hike though the woods alongside the river to the entrance of the waterfall then a wade and a swim to the waterfalls themselves. There are three in total but it would have meant some serious climbing to get to all of them so instead we climbed what must be the most rickety set of wooden stairs in the whole of Greece to have lunch at the Archontissa Adventure Cafe. The house special was grilled goat so we had to try it. Delicious.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a gorgeous chapel near Karlovassi before heading into the mountains to a small village called Platanos, one of the oldest villages on Samos and the centre of the wine making region. There is a stone water fountain, supplying fresh spring water, with a laundry room built around it dating back to 1600AD. A lovely place but with very narrow streets so we were glad we had rented a really small car this time!

Back at the hotel, we had cocktails on the beach followed by a walk to another hotel to eat in an Italian restaurant called Asterias. We weren’t that hungry after lunch, which was just as well given the prices. Of course, after a warm late evening walk, we just had to have a dip in our pool – naked of course!

The next day, Tuesday, was going to be a rest day as it was our last day on the island. So, after we had dropped the car off and walked back from the hotel we then spent the day on the beach being indulged. You didn’t even need to get up to go to the bar, you just pressed a button! After such a lazy day, we walked towards town for dinner to have sushi at Unan. It was absolutely gorgeous and washed down with some lovely Samian wine.

Our brief sojourn to Greece is now over until later in the autumn when we will (almost definitely) be moving Nimmie from Lavrion, near Athens to Samos. We’ve decided we need to branch out and sail in new and exciting waters to create new adventures for us both in Nimrod. Can’t wait!!

Having done as much as we could on Nimmie in Lavrion, we left our AirBnb flat to catch a flight to Lesvos on the Friday morning. As we wouldn’t have time to sail her there this summer, we decided the best thing was to go and have a look and decide whether we wanted to move her to the marina in Mytilene in October. The hour’s flight was uneventful although fun in a dual prop plane.

We were being very decadent and stayed in a hotel in Mytilene (the capital) with its own pool as day time temperatures were in the mid to high 30s and we figured that if we weren’t on Nimmie in a secluded anchorage then we needed a way to cool off at the end of the day!

We decided that, as Lesvos is the third largest island in Greece after Evia and Crete, a rental car was in order. As it happened, we still only managed to see less than a third of the island during our five days. Basically, the south east corner! We arrived at the hotel around 3pm so after checking into our room we made a bee line for the pool. God, did it feel good and very refreshing even with the sea water. We didn’t want to venture too far on our first evening as we were tired so we walked up the road to a local taverna that had good reviews on Trip Advisor. The Balcony was a typical taverna but it did good quality food at reasonable prices. We had realised earlier on the trip that the portions are pretty large in Greece so we generally share a starter and a main. With a bit of local bread and half a litre of local wine, that’s more than enough.

The next morning we needed to change rooms as we had left it late to book the hotel (like two days earlier!) but the hotel moved all our stuff whilst we spent our first day sightseeing. We wanted to see the eastern part of the island for a couple of reasons. Partly because neither Liz nor I had spent any time there when we last came to Lesvos a million years ago with different partners and also wanted to investigate whether the island had enough anchorages and interest to warrant moving Nimmie here. First of all, though, we headed up to a couple of art galleries/museums close by. This is when we first encountered the tiny roads and alleyways through the villages. They were clearly built when a horse and cart was being used or maybe a donkey as so many of them cannot accommodate two cars and Lord help you if you meet a truck!

We then drove to Skala Loutra on the SE shore of the Gulf of Hera, a large inlet on the south of the island. The most direct route was straight across the peninsular but unfortunately, it was along a road/track that had seen better days. I was glad we were in a hire car rather than our own as I suspect the suspension was getting a battering.

Skala Loutra definitely had potential as a safe anchorage, particularly in a blow. We continued on our exploration and came upon Agios Ermogenis beach with its chapel, crystal clear water and an anchorage in the next bay. Perfect.

We had decided to eat in one of the tavernas in the nearby village of Taxiarches. As we approached the village, cars were parked either side of the road but we kept on going hoping to be nearer the tavernas as the village was set on a very steep hill. The roads got narrower and narrower with cars, motorcycles and people all in the now extremely narrow roads. We literally had an inch to spare on several occasions either side. Once we got through the village, we decided that caution was the better part of valour so we chose a small taverna on the road back to the hotel where we could park outside! The taverna, Oi Vagies, had a warm, friendly feeling to it and our server gave us great recommendations. This time we didn’t stick to our plan of shared starter and main. Instead we had anchovies marinated in garlic, a rocket and parmesan salad with a citrus dressing, zucchini flowers stuffed with cheese and onions stuffed with rice and meat. All of it absolutely delicious and a very simple drive back to the hotel in comparison.

On Sunday, we realised that not a lot may be open so we decided to drive towards the other large inlet on the island, the Gulf of Kallonis and do some more research on anchorages. First point of call was Skala near Polichnitos. There weren’t any boats at anchor but it did look a possibility. On the way there, we drove through a mountain track full of pine trees and olive groves. Apparently, there are 11 million olive trees on Lesvos which produce highly regarded olive oil. It was gorgeous if a little treacherous in places – the norm in Lesvos it seems. We stopped at a place called Agiassos that had a wonderful church with, apparently, a wax icon of the Virgin Mary and Jesus made by St Luke. The really endearing feature of the place was the coffee shops all along the tree lined alleyways around the church where it seemed the whole village was congregated having a drink and a chat. All very civilised.

The highlight of the day, however, was finding the Panayia Kryfti Cave Church near Melinda. Again, it involved a dirt track followed by a path a goat would have been proud of. However, the church at the end with its hot springs was worth it. The bay was used by Greek partisans during WW2 to board submarines. You could see how this would evade the Italian or German authorities. The day had involved a lot of difficult driving so we went back to The Balcony taverna for dinner, which was within walking distance.

We were finally able to go to the marina in Mytilene on Monday morning to discuss our plans to move Nimmie here. They very kindly kept their prices for 2022 if we decided to relocate. The marina is very nice and the facilities are good but the boatyard hasn’t got its own travel lift and has to bring in a third party crane. Not so secure as a travel lift but there were boats in there that looked bigger and heavier than Nimmie. We were also concerned about the migrant issue as Mytilene has a large refugee camp nearby as it is only some 10nm from Turkey and we don’t want to be worrying the whole time that Nimmie might be stolen by people smugglers. It should be said though that Mytilene felt relatively safe.

We decided to stay local and went in search of the Roman aqueduct in Moria and hot springs. This involved yet more dirt tracks and, courtesy of the sat nav, a route through the village down impossibly narrow roads! The aqueduct was worth it though.

Most of the hot springs we came across appeared to be derelict or abandoned but we did find a wonderful private beach at Petalidi. It belonged to the hotel there but they were happy for you to use their sun loungers for free. We did have a drink there as felt it only right. The beach and sea were glorious so we indulged in some sun bathing for the afternoon.

We braved the village of Taxiarches again in the evening but this time we took heed and parked below the village and walked up the hill to Antoni’s Ouzeria. The view from the taverna was stunning across to Mytilene and Turkey but the food wasn’t as good as we expected. Still, always good to try somewhere new.

Tuesday was our last day with the car and we wanted to go to an ouzo distillery so we set off back towards Plomari. Apparently, Lesbos is the capital of ouzo with Plomari at its epicentre. The aniseed produced in Lesvos is renowned so there are a lot of distilleries on the island but only a couple dating back to the 19th century. One of them is Ouzo Plomari. For €2 we had a tour and a tasting. Needless to say, we also bought a couple of bottles.

On the way there, we stopped at Mytilene Castle only to find that it shuts one day a week – on a Tuesday! Once we dropped the car back at the airport, we decided to indulge ourselves by the hotel pool for the afternoon. We wandered along the beachfront to a beach bar called Istoriko. Set in a lovely location with great music in the background and good food. A lovely way to spend our last evening on Lesvos.

We couldn’t leave Lesvos without finding the statue of Sappho!