September 27 – October 1, 2015 —
Our original plan was to go to Santorini with Lauren and Mark, but we lost days when held up in Naxos and Iriklia with the meltimi. The meltimi winds do adjust the schedule. With the winds now shifting to the south, Santorini did not offer us any shelter for anchoring, and anchoring in Santorini is a challenge in the best of weather. Good locations are few and the water is very deep right up to shore. Santorini will now be on next year’s calendar. It is time to go east.
We motor-sailed in light winds to Anafi, a very small and mostly undiscovered island. It is located just 15 miles east of Santorini. We could see the lights of Santorini from Anafi. 
It was really a stopover point. We anchored there for the night, swam off the boat, and never went to shore. The island has a very small port for ferry service with a steep road of hairpin turns to the village on the top of the hill along with some beautiful homes scattered about the terrain. These island villages on the tops of hills are remnants of the days of marauding pirates and other invaders. Now they are an exercise program for tourists. 
As we departed the next morning we passed the eastern end of the island where a small church was constructed at the top of the hill. Not a location that you would expect to help attendance for Sunday service!
With another meltimi in the forecast we went on to Astipalaia, a butterfly shaped island, and the western most island in the Dodecanese island group. This group of islands has had the most impact by the flow of refugees from Syria. It is only a short boat ride from Turkey to many of these islands that gives the refugees a door to the European Union. Astipalaia is just far enough west of Turkey that it does not have refugees flowing in. Lonely Planet states that 90% of visitors here are Greek so it has a very traditional Greek feel.
The town quay holds about twenty boats, most of which seem to be charter boats. Evidently there is a large charter base in Rhodes, only about 80 miles away. Most boats stay only one night, dinner out, and gone in the morning. When you only have a week, and want to both sail and see many places, weather can get in the way. Most boats push on. We tend to stay put until the winds and seas are more in our favor. For us our attitude is why be uncomfortable or unsafe. We will lose much more time if we have boat damage.
The meltimi brought extensive cross winds into the harbor, always a challenge for med moor. The first thing that generally happens, as we have mentioned previously, is anchor chains get crossed. We try to be very careful, working together to line ourselves up with the berth we are backing into. While we usually do quite well, this time we were over the chain of the German boat to our port side. There were eight guys looking like they were having a boy’s week out. They were concerned as they were leaving before us. Bob took the high and rarely travelled road and offered that we would go out of our berth when they were ready to leave and then go back in. They were shocked. In the morning when they were ready to go, we released our lines and moved Quintessa out of our berth into the center of the harbor and waited for them. They came out of their berth and found their anchor to be tangled in chain from the next boat over. The problem with bringing up another boat’s chain with your anchor is that you often then bring up their anchor and they are no longer secure in their berth. The last boat, that wasn’t planning to leave as of yet, now has to either pull out of their berth then re-anchor back into the berth, or leave. We watched as the German boat managed to clear the other boat’s anchor chain from theirs. As they then passed by us leaving the harbor, all were on deck waving and yelling thank you for being so helpful. We now have eight new best friends!
We spent four nights in Astipalaia waiting for the meltimi winds to calm. One highlight of our stay was meeting two sets of Brits on their boats. The first crew of four Brits were the seniors on the quay. The youngest is 78 and the others all over 80 years old. They were constantly challenged with crossed anchors. After moving to another spot and a boat arriving next to them at 3 am in a berth too small for the boat, they threw in the towel and left the island.
The other Brits we met were Dale and John from Cambridge, England, and their friend Charles who was sailing with them. Bob and Charles share a passion for woodworking and boats. 
On our last evening we took an hour and hiked to the top of the hill and around the abandoned castle. It was a workout. The image of the white homes scattered down the hillside like a waterfall to the waterfront was impressive. The homes were all very nice and well maintained with the traditional whitewash walls and random exposed stones. There was a wonderful pastry shop at the top to reward anyone for making the hike all the way up. The temptation was too great to resist. From the top we could see the entire harbor and islands beyond. 
Near the top we met Dale, John and Charles for an enjoyable dinner at a very good local restaurant called Barborosa. The restaurant experience made the hike worthwhile. After dinner we walked the dark, alley streets back down to the boat.
With the meltimi abating, we left in the company of our new British friends for Nisiros, the next island to the east. John and Dale visit Nisiros frequently so we figured they would make great tour guides. They appreciated the compliment.