This web page contains the logs of a day excursion that my family and I took with S/Y Thetis from Samos Marina to the small island of Samiopoula on the S side of Samos. The family had arrived earlier in Samos. Cynthia and her 19 year old son Alexander on June 25 while Corinna with her sons Rohan aged 11 & Leander aged 7 on July 22.
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Friday July 15, 2022
Today my daughters Cynthia and Corinna and my grandchildren Alexander, Rohan, Leander, and I; took a day trip with Thetis. Because of the number of people and supplies such as food, towels, swimming suits, flippers, masks, and snorkels we had to drive to the marina in 2 shifts.
Cynthia drove Rohan and me and all the supply bags to the marina and after leaving us drove back to Kalami for the rest. After loading the bags to Thetis we emptied the bilges, installed the speed log sensor, and prepared the boat for departure by replacing the more permanent bow lines with metal springs (which we left ashore), by temporary double lines (bidemia - μπιντέμια).
When the rest of the crew came and boarded I removed the AC line and after coiling it left it on the quay. Then I removed the front step-ladder.
We departed the marina at 1021. The wind was variable from 15 knots from the E to 22 knots from ENE. We motor-sailed with the headsail partially unrolled. Since Corinna had never been to Samiopoula we headed there. The sea was rough and we could not go to the SE Samiopoula cove so we stopped on its N cove Psalida (Ψαλίδα) [37° 38' N 26° 47.4' E] where we anchored very near the W shore in about 5 m depth, on a patch of sand, and let out about 35 m of chain S/Y Thetis settling in about 17 m depth.
We put up the tent and with Alexander’s help I lowered and uncovered the dinghy. After that, I snorkeled and verified that the anchor was well embedded in the sand.
Cynthia prepared some lunch and we set the table in the cockpit where we had our lunch followed by filtered coffee.
We discovered that the electrical head pump did not work. After some investigation I found that its switch was totally defective and not repairable. After disconnecting one of its leads and touching with it the other lead, thusly closing the circuit, the pump worked. We will need a new switch.
Another problem was that we found all my clothes which were in plastic zipped containers in the main cabin’s right bin, were rather moist.
Cynthia had put on her wet suit and started snorkeling all over the cove for a long time.
In the afternoon I took the 2 younger kids with the dinghy ashore to cut a watermelon. Rohan, as he had done last year, started the outboard all by himself. Alternating driving the outboard between Rohan and Leander we went ashore. But then we realized that we did not have a bag for the skins of the watermelon so we went back to Thetis and got one. Back ashore, I cut the watermelon while the kids walked around.
Since Corinna had never been in Samiopoula, she and her boys took the dinghy back ashore and walked to the SW cove.
At about 5:30 we removed the defective oar from the dinghy and after covering the dinghy we raised it to its davits. Then we removed the tent and prepared for departure. While raising the anchor it got tangled to a larger anchor with much thicker chain. While we were trying to disengage this heavy anchor and chain, a friendly fisherman came and gave as a much needed help.
We departed from Samiopoula at 1805. The wind was 18-25 knots from the ENE. We unrolled part of the headsail and motor-sailed towards the marina. On the way, just as it had done before, the engine dropped its RPM and then recovered it. This happened 2-3 times. Near the marina we rolled-in the headsail and lowered the fenders.
By 1850 we were docked on our C08 berth. An easy docking with both Corinna and Cynthia helping and a marina attendant handing us the mooring line. I then put back the bow step-ladder.
After docking, Alexander stayed with me to help with the boat while Cynthia drove the rest to Ourania’s taverna in Ano Vathy (Άνω Βαθύ). Alexander and I removed all the bags with our belongings and left-over food. I then removed the speed log sensor and pumped out the water that came in the bilge during this operation. We the adjusted the mooring line and the bow lines so that the boat was a safe distance form the quay.
We locked the boat and as we were stepping ashore Corinna came back with the car. She drove us to Ourania’s where we had a nice dinner. It was past 11 PM when we got back to Kalami.