The last cruise of our two and a bit year adventure has come to an end. We are now back in our home base in Lakki feeling rather deflated, a little sad, and bloody horrified at the amount of work we are going to have to do to ensure that Tiercel is stored away safely and yet will be ready to start heading home in a years time.
 
The leaving of Samos and a Treatise on Nautical Passage Planning
From the comfort of the wonderful Samos marina we planned our next wee trip down the Aegean . Always remembering when at sea one is at the whim of the wind, weather and seas therefore it is essential to have a backup plan for when everything goes tits up. One can plan for the distances, winds, tides but one must always be prepared for the unexpected.
 
Mike from the world girdling 'Sanuk' best described this procedure as "Always have a Plan B".
 
Plan A was to head for the port of Ay Yeoryiou on the island of Agathonisi, about 15 miles South of Samos. If this was full then Plan B was to anchor in one of the 2 bays close to it. Should this prove difficult then Plan B2 was to leg it to an adjacent set of bays and anchor there. Plan B3 was to head for the island of Lipso - a further 12 miles away!
 
It took considerable motivation to stir us to leave the fleshpots of Samos. We needed somewhere special to head for, a nice quiet anchorage. 15 miles South of Samos is the tiny village of Ay Yeoryiou on the equally tiny island of Agathonisi. This is decribed by Rod Heikell in the Greek Waters Pilot as "One of those special places" .
 
Agathonisi
When we finally departed Samos the weather was overcast and calm with very little wind forecast for the next 48 hours - ha, bloody ha!
 
On arrival at Ay Yeoryiou we found the port to be a pretty, sleepy little place with a Taverna, and a few houses - just what we were looking for. The quay was filled with 3 coastguard cutters, one Brit yacht and what looked like a small ferry with a queue of people sat around waiting for it to go. Nonetheless the main anchorage was empty so we anchored and started getting lunch organised. As we took in our surroundings we realised that all was not as idyllic as we had supposed. The ferry was actually a fishing boat, the queue of passengers was a group of about 50 illegal immigrants and they were being dealt with by the crews of the 3 coastguard boats.
 
The group of immigrants looked Turkish. This was the 5th time we had seen the coastguard dealing with smuggled people. Normally it seems to be just groups of young men. However, on this occasion it was mainly families, some with babies and very young kids . The coastguard seemed to be dealing with them sympathetically but it was still an unedifying sight. Kids and parents huddled together nervously in family groups. Parents trying to keep the whole situation as calm and normal as possible while the coastguards tried to get them organised. All in all the attraction of staying in Ay Yeoryiou was starting to disappear as we watched this portrait of human misery.
 
As we were finishing lunch an armada of yachts appeared, about 6 in all, which started to make the anchorage look uncomfortably crowded - we had forgotten that we were back in charter boat territory again. We decided to move on and invoke plan B. However, the bays in the approach to Ay Yeoryiou were also looking busy so Plan B2 came into effect and we legged it a mile or so for the other group of anchorages on the island.
 
Lipsi A.K.A. Lipso
These proved to be either too deep, too narrow or we just plain didn't like the look of them so we invoked plan B3 - to leg it to Lipsi. The 12 mile journey took about 2 hours of motor sailing in cloudy and rainy conditions - we had to don oilskins for the first time in months . On arrival we took a look at a couple of anchorages but either couldn't get the anchor in (too much weed on the sea bed), or just didn't like the look of them for some inexplicable reason. Thus, with the shadows lengthening, we arrived in the main port of Lipsi to find it full but with an empty, enclosed bay next to it - perfect.
 
After 2 attempts we got an anchor into the hard sand here and felt settled for the night. The bay was attractive with a church on the cliff in the entrance to the bay, olive groves descending to the shore and the lights of the village at the head of the bay. The sun appeared again just in time to give us a glorious sunset. The sounds of the goats bells and the braying donkeys actually added to the pleasure. We had found our idyllic anchorage and were wondering why we had stayed in Samos for so long - this was the life.
 
Shortly after going to bed the rain started thumping down very heavily. Then the thunder and lightning hammered in. Finally the wind started getting up to Force 7 and aimed us at a rocky reef in the entrance to the bay . This was not proving to be a good day at all!
 
As a consequence we were awake most of the night watching the anchor, taking soundings and bearings to ensure that it wasn't dragging us onto the rocks. Despite the boat being swung and thrashed around by the wind, the anchor didn't budge. Eventually the wind died down and we managed to doze for a while.
 
Lying in the Lap of Luxury in Lakki on Leros
That morning we upped and left for our "home" port of Lakki on Leros and its welcoming marinas. This is where Tiercel will be for the next 12 months. We didn't go into our normal marina but used its competitor which has even better showers than Samos - real hard-arsed sailors us!
 
It was good to be back in Lakki. We were surprised to see quite a lot of development going on here, most of it for the better. Nonetheless the wonderful fruit markets were still there and more popular than ever and, on entering our favourite taverna, we were welcomed back by the owners who we had got to know quite well last year and had a massive plate of Gyros on pitta bread with all the accompaniments - scrumptious .
 
Later in the week we hired a small motorbike and did a grand tour of the island, visited many of our favourite spots and had a lovely meal on the beach at Alinda . Well, the pleasure was mildly compromised by the German couple who, on seeing an empty beach restaurant with just us at a remote table decided to avoid the other 19 empty tables and sit on the one that was tight against ours. Of course, being British, we politely shuffled up and adjusted our chairs and table to make room for them instead of just beating them to a pulp with cricket bats.
 
Kos, Wonderful Kos
After about a week on Lakki we decided to re-visit the island of Kos so booked a berth for a few days.
 
Kos has got the best Marina in Greece, indeed probably the best and friendliest in the Med, even better than Samos. The island is also a peculiar mix of hedonistic tourist resort with traditional ancient Greek historic sites dotted around the place. Its visitors are mainly Northern European visitors a lot of whom are Brits of all shapes, sizes and ages .
 
We had a wonderful sail most of the way there. The sun shone, the wind was on the beam and Tiercel fair sparkled along in the gentle breezes. However, at the top end of Kos the breezes suddenly became quite strong and we had quite a struggle for the last hour or so with the confused, lumpy seas at the head of the Island. This, allied to the considerable volume of boats around, made it a bit like the Solent on a windy Saturday morning.
 
On arrival at the marina we were once more greeted like old friends by the mariniero in the marina pilot boat. The marina manager, despite having two phones and a VHF on the go, as well as an ageing Greek 'Victor Meldrew' whinging at him, took time to welcome Rob, shake him by the hand and tell him that it is always good to see old customers again.
 
Kos marina is a major charter base and changeover day is Friday/Saturday thus it is impossible to get a berth on these days. On our last day, Thursday, the pilot boat handler knocked on the boat and asked if we wanted to stay a little longer . He then moved us onto a residential berth. Amazing service and we had got a berth for the weekend - unheard of!
 
Sadly the weather looked like it was going to be a bit nasty on Sunday so we had to leave on Saturday morning to get back to Lakki and start the work programme on Tiercel.
 
Journeys End
We arrived back at the very sheltered Evros marina/boatyard in Lakki at lunchtime, just as the wind was starting to pipe up. That night and the following day it howled in like a banshee training for the ghost Olympics. Even in the shelter of the marina boats were straining at their warps, most of us ended up doubling the ropes up just to ensure that we didn't break away from the quay.
 

Everything has now calmed down and the realisation that our adventure is over has hit us full and square. Since leaving Tarbert in May 2006 we have sailed over 5000 miles, visited 5 different countries, 26 islands, 107 different ports and anchorages, 78 separate inland towns, cities and historic sites .
 
Our yacht, Tiercel, has been amazing. With the exception of a bug in the diesel caused by buying infected fuel in Sardinia and Sicily, she has given us no problems at all. Living aboard her has mostly been a pleasure. She has been comfortable and spacious in port and cosy and secure at sea. She has been very forgiving whilst we have been re-learning our seamanship skills as we progressed across Europe. She has sailed safely through gales, motored long distances in windless seas, been battered against quay walls and pontoons, held us securely at anchor in, sometimes, appalling conditions and only complained when we fed her tainted fuel. All in all, for us, she has proven herself to be the ideal boat.
 
All we will have left now are amazing memories of the places we have visited, the people we have met and the friends that we have made - Oh yes - and over 9000 photographs!!.