Lost & locked in

As has been the pattern, Mr. Wind continues to annoy and the night on Emborious proved a challenge with bruises to prove cruising life ain't all peace & sunshine so with wind increasing we headed north in the hope of shelter on the quay at Chios town. As in many places, cash for building the marina appears to have gone sideways so unfinished, way out of town and no services hence the public town quay, while noisy, is preferable however nowhere was sheltered from the gale winds that hit in the wee hours, bow anchors dragged (including ours) & organised chaos ensued with all boats at risk & quay looming. Fortunately a long line from us to a huge motor boat alongside linked our bows then onwards so secure until light when we berthed anew & found a massive wooden post caught on our anchor! These moments test but also create new relationships which is wonderful as we now meet up at various quays & have a catchup. Weather meant staying put so with Rod & Pippa from NZ , we hired a car & headed off in the rain on an entertaining road trip around Chios island which I think has the best villages. This island is known for Mastic which is a resin used in gum, icecream etc so quite a wealthy island ( or at least someone from here is!!). We went to the hilltop village of Pyrgi where all buildings are decorated with grey & white geometric patterns, to underground caves, to the quaint town of Mesta when during a wander through an ancient church I was being reverent & quiet (most unusual I know) so was forgotten and got locked in. Thank god it was an ancient old key or would never have heard the lock go clunk and probably still be inside however after much bashing on the door, the local lady who was the holder of the key returned. Another village for lunch and then high in the hills a monastery full of byzantine mosaics but also skulls of massacred monks - Turks & Greeks seem to have had way too many tiffs. From Chios we sailed north to the island of Oinoussa, home to the most wealthy of Greek shipping magnates (Costas Lemos) where no one seemed to be at home although they did have a small museum of all things shipping including models that Dad would have loved made from ivory & bone by POWs in wars long ago. We arrived at Lesvos two days ago & took another road trip. Never seen so many olive trees with villages quite different to those on Chios. Lesvos is the home to lots of philosophers - pity I was lousy at history. My sense of direction continues to be mislaid and our road trip yesterday had us cross country driving on a trekking track (mind you it was wonderful scenery albeit a little bumpy) from Sigri to Erossos beach, home of poet Sapho & a gorgeous spot for a swim, then inexplicably ending up on a track over Mt Olympus in the dark that no philosopher had ever walked let alone a car - not sure where the road went but our short dy trip turned into 12 hrs! Summer has hit with a vengeance and today it is sweltering however forecast winds are tricky for going north so a lazy day here catching up on chores & time to explore.