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I think I need to start this story about a year ago. Around Christmas last year a tiny seed of a travel idea germinated in my head.

Dodecanese, Greece

Nickjenkins
2003-11-20 16:38:39

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of that stretch.

In fact we were so absorbed by the sailing and made such good time that we nearly sailed straight past Lakki and off into the sunset. At about 12 o'clock we turned into the entrance to Lakki and headed for the marina. We had chosen Lakki the night before because of its marina and the fact that we had run out of fresh water on board. While the boys were content with salt water ablutions the female crew was suggesting a mutiny if we didn't rectify the situation soon.

Lakki is a slightly odd little place which gives the impression of being much larger than it actually is. The town is the main ferry port for Leros and sports a quite sizable sea front and board walk but doesn't extend more than a couple of streets beyond this. One of the reasons for this is that the island was occupied by the Italians who invested heavily in Lakki and attempted to transform it into a kind of Riviera. As the Greek Pilot suggests Lakki "has the feel of a mock-up for a film about Mussolini or any Second World War movie set in Italy". Leros itself has suffered a bit of a reputation as being a haven for lunatics (which it was at one stage) but is much greener and lusher than the surrounding isles.

Determined not to make a meal of the mooring again Ian and I went over the plan in detail as we motored in to Lakki. It turned out to be not much of a problem because the marina was well laid out and staffed by a large friendly man named Nikos. As we idled in towards the quay he waved us over to a particular spot and then passed us a "lazy line" as we backed in. The lazy line is a much more civilised approach to Mediterranean mooring and consists of laid anchor chains with lines running to the quay. You therefore do not need to drop anchor but simply back down onto the quay, pickup the line and cleat it off on your bow.

Ian and I headed off to the Port Police office to ...