Leros, Greece Winter 2023/24

Chapter One: WHAT WAS IT LIKE?

Leros is a small island in the Dodecanese in Greece. It has a varied history, and in 1912 was occupied by the Italians. They stayed for 31 years, fortified the island and in 1930 built a harbour in one of the fjord-like inlets which they called Portolago. When the Greeks took over, they re-named the town Lakki.

Lakki still features many Italian Art Deco style buildings in various stages of (dis-)repair and has adopted some of the infrastructure the Italians had left behind.

Ferries and cargo ships dock at the port, a (closed when we were there) cinema is located on the seafront, and there is even a hospital. The Greeks have since added to the requirements and we found four supermarkets, chandleries, a great DIY store (near the Kritikos supermarket), a fantastic greengrocer, bakeries, butcher, fishmongers, hairdressers/barbers, a dentist, doctor, pharmacies, etc. And of course they built our marina there!

We got our cooking gas from either the Express supermarket (closest to the seafront) or the BP petrol station (on the main road out of Lakki to the northern part of Leros). There were (free) water stations, our closest one was outside the marina next to the tennis court, but there was also one along one of the parallel roads to the seafront (turning left behind Mike’s Bakery). Bars and restaurants were plentiful, though many (including “Skippers” at the marina) were closed during the winter.

In terms of transport one could rent a car or scooter or a bike or e-bike (it is hilly!), get a taxi (around €25.00 – €30.00 from Lakki to the furthest part on the island) or take the local bus. The latter, though a lot cheaper, does not run in winter on national holidays or when the schools are closed, a fact we discovered to our detriment. Taxis are abundant in Lakki and wait at the airport when flights arrive, but other than in Plátanos (near the supermarket) we did not find any other taxi stations on the island, which resulted in some longer than anticipated walks. To get off the island, there are regular flights to Athens, Kálymnos and Astípalaia, or the Blue Star and Dodecanese ferries (though it seemed to be weather dependent whether they’d come into Lakki or into Agia Marina on the other side of the island).

In short, Leros had all the facilities we needed to live through the winter, provided we didn’t fancy anything out of the ordinary.

Chapter Two: HOW WAS THE WEATHER?

When we arrived in late October it was sunny and warm, and we could still swim in the sea. The soil was brown and barren except for a few shrubs and the usual olive, lemon and orange trees. We managed to winterise and strip Cordelia, and wash her lines that would dry nicely during the day.

Then, in mid-November, the weather started to change. At first, we had showers during the night which developed into fully-blown thunderstorms with torrential rain and hail. These became more and more frequent as the season progressed and continued throughout the day, and eventually we considered ourselves lucky when we saw one sunny day per week.

One night we were awoken to drops of rain, so we quickly closed the hatches. Just in time, as soon afterwards all hell broke loose around us! The lightning was nearly continuous and brightened up the sky like daylight, and the gusts of wind whipped Cordelia with the rain. It was noisy, in fact so noisy that at times we couldn’t even hear the thunder. Luckily the storm never reached us properly, but what we got of it was plenty enough. It carried on for quite some time, and even when the lightning had moved on the rain still kept coming in buckets.

The temperatures also dropped and we had to dig out jumpers and long trousers. During the day it never went below 10ºC (it stayed more like around 15ºC), but the nights were chilly and we employed our fan heater and a hot water bottle to take off the edge. When the wind came from a northerly direction it felt even colder, but the southerlies brought warmer, albeit wetter, air.

We experienced wind speeds up to around 70 knots, though 40 to 50 knots were more common. We lived through quite a few storms from the South with big waves crashing over the breakwater with their spume coating Cordelia’s cockpit in saltwater. On one occasion we even saw stones being blown over the wall and landing on the road between our pontoon and the sea! Flights and ferries got cancelled, there was some damage to the esplanade, but, all in all, we escaped without any major hitches. Cordelia shook from side to side but stood firm, aided by the multitude of shore lines with which we’d fastened her to the floating pontoon.

The precipitation, however, had a positive side effect: it greened up the fields and hills, and made Leros look rather lush and picturesque with a plethora of different flowers and herbs growing on the meadows.

So when it rained, we just battened down the hatches and hunkered down below. But on the rare sunny days we sat in shorts and T-shirts in Cordelia’s south-facing cockpit and enjoyed the warm rays.

Chapter Three: WHAT WERE WE UP TO?

When we weren’t busy with boat work, hiding below from the elements or soaking up the warmth of the sun in the cockpit we went out. Most of the half decent days were spent shopping for provisions or parts and carrying them back in our rucksacks, which was enough exercise in itself. The precious really nice days, however, were used to explore the island.

We started off with walks nearest to us. We had intended to check out the War Museum and the tunnels but unfortunately we were too late in the season and they were closed. So instead we scaled up to a chapel close-by, also closed, came back down again and picked up a dirt track which, after a while, turned into a concreted road that led back into Lakki.

On another occasion we followed the road to the museum, but instead of turning right we continued along the coast. Then the road headed inland and gained height which afforded wonderful views over the whole of Lakki Bay. We made it to a most charming chapel that was hewn into the rock when the tarmacked road turned into a dirt track.

A right turn took us up another 100m or so to the AeroPhone, a World War II Italian listening wall, complete with derelict barracks, bombed defence stations and dug out passageways.

Peter had brought a torch, so we followed one of the tunnels. It led downwards over rocks and got smaller the further it went inside the mountain. Ingrid even hit her head on the ceiling! A loop and one big step up brought us level with the outside ground once more, and after one final corner we could see light and made it back to sunshine and fresh air. We explored the rest of the site, then retraced our steps down to the turn-off.

Opposite was Cazzuni Mount with more World War II paraphernalia and a big crater, and we diverted to have a glimpse. Then we picked up the dirt track again which contoured nicely along the northern side and eventually descended to Lakki harbour. From there it was only a skip back to the marina.

Then we decided to give it a try on our bikes. Peter had found a more direct way to the Kritikos supermarket which we took. We turned right when we reached the main road, but left it shortly afterwards and cycled through the backstreets. At first this was ascending quite nicely, but once we’d joined a bigger road it got rather steep and we reverted to pushing the bikes uphill. The descent was equally steep, and we weren’t looking forward to coming back this way while we free-wheeled downwards.

We made it to Drymonas, then followed the track along the beach past Gourna Beach to Agios Isodoros, a chapel on a little island connected by a causeway. The weather was humid with a hazy sun and one big dark cloud right above us. We hung around for it to clear to take some pictures in the sunshine, but as there was no wind it never moved and the photos were taken under the cloud.

We agreed to a little round tour before heading back and cycled past Kamára towards Alinda. Just before the road led downhill we turned right to complete the circle. We’d gained about 50m in height and when we saw a signpost to Lakki we took our chance and followed it along the Diakladose Gournas road. This turned out to have been a great decision. Not only did we not have to lose the gained height and push the bikes back up the steep hill, but this road had a gradient that allowed us to pedal all the way up to the crux at 130m before we descended and came out near the BP station. We were back on board soon afterwards and agreed to leave the bikes in their bags and stick to walking the steep hills in the future.

Time to find out more about the southern side of Leros! We took a right turn out of the marina and duplicated a hike we’d done when we’d first visited Lakki. We followed the road and turned when we saw the signpost to Paleokastro.

From the chapel up on the hill we descended into Xirokampos, strolled along the beach, then followed the road back to Lakki. Near the refugee camp we turned off right which avoided the main road and took us back via the outskirts. This was a walk we repeated a couple of times and, come springtime, we collected wild thyme, oregano and mint along the way, which added extra flavour to our culinary delights.

One day saw us going out for a picnic, so Ingrid prepared sandwiches and a drink, packed the rucksacks and we set off. We passed Lakki and the War Museum and carried on through Merikia, then along the road to a memorial plaque.

Soon after, we picked up a near overgrown track that led to a farm with lots of goats around it, one of them on a car roof.

We found a path behind the building that led up to the lighthouse and Italian bombed-out ruins.

We ate our lunch in one of the Greek rest areas, then descended to some more ruins closer to the beach. We had fantastic views over Portolago Bay, out to sea and of the countryside.

In the distance we could see the island of Kálymnos sticking out. We retraced our steps back to the farm and carried on up a path which took us to the road and from thereon to the marina.

We’d discovered a route around the backstreets to Vromolithos from where we picked up the steep descent towards the beach. A side road near Tony’s Beach took us to the seafront and we walked on the pebbles on a narrow strip of land until we could get no further. We had to turn back to ascend the steps that would take us back up to the road. We followed it for a while and headed for Panteli.

The tourists had abandoned the place and there were only the locals left in the few tavernas that were still opened.

We ambled along the harbour with its fishing boats and sat on a bench on the quay to eat our sandwiches. A ginger cat came along and got friendly, so we petted it until it had enough and left us.

We moved on up through the town and all the way to the windmills and the castle, then descended the “thousand” steps into Plátanos, bought PG Tips tea at the supermarket and carried it home to Cordelia.

We also used the bus at 10.18am from the Teménia bus stop (near our water station) to Alinda (€3.00 each) where we arrived at 10.37am. From there we walked along the beach road, past the (closed) Bellinis Tower and further on all the way to Duo Liskaria and the Holy Cross. We had a look around, turned back, stopped briefly at the War Cemetery, saw the Windmill on the Water and made it to the harbour at Agia Marina. We picked up the road, bought lunch in Plátanos, consumed it on a bench overlooking Vromolithos Bay, then carried on to Lakki and our marina.

Peter had found a couple of walks starting from Kamára. During the Christmas holidays the bus did not turn up, so we ended up taking a taxi (€10.00) instead. From there we picked up the road to Agios Isodoros, the little chapel on a rock in the water.

Peter took a few pictures, but with more people turning up we didn’t go out to it on the causeway but walked along a track that led upwards towards the wind generators. We circled around them only to be taken down to the beach again where we had a little break.

We emptied our lunch pack consisting of bananas, then carried on to St Nicholas chapel and past a farm with goats and a ferociously barking dog. The track continued steeply upwards till we reached the col and from there down into Kamára.

It had taken us two hours and we headed for Alinda to find a taxi. However, before we descended we agreed on walking back instead and hiked along the road we previously cycled on. 4 hours, 9.5 miles (15km) and 358m of ascent later we arrived back on Cordelia in need of a rest.

Another taxi ride took us to the other side of Kamára where we turned off right onto a dirt track, then right again and walked up the road to the telecommunication tower.

Not only did they have a nice resting area up there but also the most amazing views. The visibility for once was good and we could see the neighbouring islands and as far as Turkey and Samos.

We came back down about 100m to a house and followed the path to St Kyrkos chapel. From there we headed downhill and returned along the familiar way back home.

For our last walk in that area we were once again on the 10.18am bus. Somehow we made the driver understand where we wanted to get off at Kamára. He stopped for us at the other end of the village near the car repair place and the vineyard, then turned around. We’d been the only passengers and he’d probable taken a detour just for us.

We headed for the dirt track behind “Auto Leros”. After some walking up on an easy gradient we came to a rest area and used it to stop for a drink and a sweet. Shortly after we’d carried on the track forked and we chose the lower branch.

We could see our goal from some distance away but inadvertently prolonged the hike by picking up the wrong turn-off after we’d wandered off to take a closer look at some tanks.

We eventually made it to the top with the mast, gun emplacements and a great view. After a bit of looking around and another rest we retraced our steps back to the junction and followed the higher branch.

The next sight wasn’t too far away and we soon found a barrack with wall paintings of aeroplanes and a building, and with signs above the entrances to various rooms describing what they were supposed to have been used for (kitchen, mess hall etc).

Again, we had a rest with the last of our lunch whilst admiring the vista of and beyond Leros. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the air was one of the clearest we’d had on our excursions of the island, affording magnificent views.

The way back down was the same as it had been up, then we continued on the familiar road back to Lakki. Ingrid had tried to hail a passing taxi in Kamára but it didn’t stop, only the driver gave a friendly wave back. Consequently this amounted to a walked distance of 14 miles (22km) with over 400m of going up and more than 500m coming down. It was 5.00pm when we got back aboard and we were absolutely knackered!

Spring finally arrived and we planned an outing to Agia Marina. We waited for the 10.18am bus to take us to Plátanos from where we’d intended to commence our walk. Only the bus didn’t turn up! Again! We later found out this was because of “Smokey Thursday”, a national holiday which takes place two weeks before lent and seemed to involve BBQing copious amounts of meat and stuffing yourself with it.

We resulted to hiking up to Plátanos starting from behind the bus station in Teménia and were accompanied by the smell of burning meat wherever we went. On the way we took a detour to Tourkopigado from where we descended to the beach and walked along it to Vromolithos.

We found the steps that took us up to Plátanos and followed the main street from the centre plaza down to Agia Marina.

Once we’d reached the harbour we turned right and ate our lunch of bananas and oranges at the lighthouse mole. Afterwards, we ascended the little path next to the “Faros Bar” to the ruins of Bourtsi of Agia Marina Castle.

The view, as ever, was spectacular and we could even make out the Turkish coastline. On the way back to Lakki we took the road through Plátanos but stayed up instead of going down into Vromolithos. We were back onboard by 1.45pm and spent the rest of the afternoon in the cockpit recovering.

One warm spring day we set out just after 10.00am along the road towards the War Museum. We, however, carried on along the beach through Merikia and up around the lighthouse peninsula. It was a sunny albeit blustery day with a plethora of flowers out in full spring, and the scent of pine trees in the air.

Due to “Clean Monday”, first day of lent, the locals were out in droves, BBQing fish and eating special, full of calories lent sweets. The children were flying kites, and cars were parked on the normally empty dirt tracks. We did a nice loop, then took the track to the museum and picked up the road above the bay back to Lakki. We got back onboard at 2.00pm and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.

When there were only a few clouds in the sky and there was hardly any wind, we decided to use the favourable conditions to go out for a hike. We took the road into Lakki, but before we reached the harbour we turned right and marched past some very old, probably beyond repair, cars through the outskirts of the town where the road soon steepened.

We stopped at a chapel and ate our lunch before we carried on to the Peter and Paul Monastery.

We weren’t dressed for a visit and it was closed anyway, so instead of having a closer look we followed a dirt track down into Drymonas.

We found St. George’s chapel with a medieval fresco on the outside wall, then walked along the beach to the road out of town.

At the bus stop we had a little rest, but with no bus forthcoming we continued walking. We picked up the old cycling road, and when we reached the crest we turned left up to a church and military zone where we saw old tunnels and guns.

On the way down we picked wild oregano, thyme and rosemary, then continued on the familiar road back to the marina.

And so the winter had progressed. We had subscribed to Paramount+ and later on to Netflix, and spent our evenings working our way through various series, watching films, and following other “boaties” on their adventures on YouTube. We listened to the last of Spike Milligan’s escapades via audiobook, and read books we’d borrowed from the marina’s “library” (situated in the ladies’ wash room).

Eventually the weather improved and we could prepare Cordelia for the new sailing season. We had planned to haul her out to clean the hull and propeller, change the anodes and give her a check-over, but the wind had other ideas. On the day it blew around 35 knots and pushed Cordelia onto the pontoon, thus making it nigh-on impossible to return safely to her mooring. We cancelled and resolved to send Ingrid down when we’d be anchored somewhere nice and the water temperature was more amenable. In the meantime we gave Cordelia a good wash, put the canvas back on and got her sea worthy. All we needed now was a weather window that would blow us either South or North.