Simi

Leaving Turkey   

Turkey slipped away behind us and ahead was the island of Simi in Greece. We were both quite sad to be leaving Turkey. The people are very helpful and friendly and the scenery and sights are beautiful. We have our agenda for the year but we very much look forward to returning to Turkey. Despite the delights, Turkey seems to be expecting a bad year for tourism. The combination of the terrorist attacks in Ankara and Istanbul and the ongoing tension with Russia (after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter plane which apparently infringed the border) are having a drastic effect. Russia has banned or restricted package holidays to Turkey and so bookings from there are apparently down by 90%. Several sailing and activity holiday companies have also pulled out and some of the larger hotels are potentially staying closed for the season. A lot of the yachtie crowd seem to have got very flustered about the Syrian refugee issue; so far we have seen no refugees or their boats but we’ll shortly see how things are on the Greek Islands.

Greek courtesy ensign and ‘Q’ flag flying   

Moving from Turkey to Greece meant a certain amount of bureaucracy for us which started as we crossed the sea border. The Turkish courtesy ensign was lowered and, in its place we flew a Greek courtesy ensign. We also hoisted our yellow ‘Q’ signal flag. This indicated that ‘our vessel was healthy and that we were requesting free pratique’. In other words we were entering a new customs and immigration area and needed to complete the arrivals paperwork.

Nimos Passage

Ahead, the shortest route to Simi was through the Nimos passage. The shallow water and sandy bottom glowed turquoise in the bright sunlight which brought a smile to our faces.

Simi comes into view   

Once through the narrow passage Simi came into view, as did 2 Greek naval patrol vessels. Between them they were covering the approaches to Simi we assume as a deterrent and to deal with any refugees attempting to cross into the EU though that route.

Simi harbour

Once around the corner the beautiful Simi harbour opened up. The colourful houses stepped up the hillsides always make for a delightful arrival here. As we got closer we were unexpectedly beckoned to moor on the end of the quay by the clocktower. This was a new procedure. The end of the quay has now been caged off and is a secure area for yachts arriving into Greece. Tied up to this quay the Harbourmaster’s staff explained that this was day one of the new arrivals procedure. Our passports were checked and a crew list stamped at the new portacabin Immigration Office there and, it was explained, the aspiration was to also have Customs and Port Police representatives there so that we could complete all the arrivals paperwork at once.

With Immigration dealt with we were clear to move to the main harbour where we moored stern to the quay. We used our anchor but apparently the money has been secured to set up a lazy line system. That will make a huge difference to mooring here and allow you to leave your yacht without worrying that another one will lift your anchor whilst you are away. We’ve had our own dramas here in the past with our anchor being lifted and we’ve seen other yachts damaged by crunching back onto the quay when their anchors have been disturbed. Hopefully all will go to plan and the lazy lines will be put in place this summer.

The ‘Ship’s Chilli Pot’   

Booking in with Customs to get our Transit Log was the next task and then on to Port Police. The Customs Officers, however, were having a siesta and were closed until 1800 and so we took a wander around the town. A top priority was to find a good restaurant for dinner; it was my birthday which seems to be an excellent reason to spoil ourselves as well, of course, celebrating our arrival in Greece.

I also sorted out half of the hot chillies we had bought in Datça and preserved them in olive oil. They are not as fiery as the best ones that we have had but perhaps they will mature.

We also checked the bilge and catch tray under the engine carefully. Both were pretty much dry so it would appear that we have cured our engine leak; hurrah!

At 1800 we reported to Customs, presented our papers and eventually came away with a new Transit Log. Outside were the crews to several other yachts waiting their turn and, in turn, we all trotted around the harbour to check in with the Port Police. We paid our €15 fee to the Port Police for entering the EU and got our Transit Log stamped to show that we had arrived and that completed the arrivals procedure. We had a nice bottle of wine on ice back on BV so sundowners back on board was the next event.

The restaurant we had chosen for dinner is called Pantelis. We’d picked it on the basis that it has always been busy with locals whenever we have been in Simi. We were not disappointed. Typically, I had forgotten to take a camera with me which was shame because the seafood was very colourful. We started with olives, stuffed vine leaves, tzatziki and a house standard of garlic bread which just arrived on our table. Next we tried the delicious Simi shrimps followed by a beautifully presented and cooked seafood risotto. This was a minimum order for 2 but could have fed 3 easily. We both ate far too much but the rice was perfect and it was stuffed with huge prawns, mussels, cockles and crayfish. A complimentary light dessert of Greek yoghurt with sour cherries arrived but we’d eaten enough and so just picked at it. All in all it was a lovely meal.

Moored beside the restaurant was a very bashed about yacht. This had smashed onto a nearby bank of rocks and sunk. In the process the bow had been stove in, the hull at the toe rail split open, the spreaders bent and much of the stainless steel work mangled or ripped off. The mooring staff told us that bill from the diver for recovering the sunken yacht was too large for the Czech owner to pay and so he forfeited the wrecked yacht to the diver to clear the salvage costs. The diver had already rebuilt the bow and seemed to be working his way through trying to bring the yacht back into commission. A brave challenge and not one that I would have liked to take on.

We arranged for wine and beer stocks to be delivered to BV by the very helpful staff at Georgina’s. We heard that they had not seen any refugees since last year and that matched our experience in Simi. There were no refugees waiting by any of the authorities offices, as there had been when we last visited in September, and there were no signs of refugee dinghies or lifejackets.

We stayed 2 nights in Simi loving the easy pace of life and the spectacular surroundings. In the evenings particularly, the orange sunlight makes the place glow and you can easily see why it is such a popular tourist spot. Nice as it is, however, it was time to move on. With no wind forecast for a couple of days we decided to take a look at anchorage on the southwestern side of the island. There we hoped to tick off the last few jobs; recommissioning the watermaker and possibly even the stainless steel polishing!

Simi, Greece