From Milos/Kimolos to Kos

We had a pretty uneventful sail across the Aegean once we left the Milos group. There were no strong winds or big waves and we haven't seen any more flooding. Some of the journey needed the iron topsail but a surprisingly large proportion was really nice sails downwind mostly under spinnaker or occasionally beam wind with the main and jib.
The engine cooling problem persisted so that whenever we finished a long sail after some motoring, the cooling water wouldn't come through. I had to pull off a pipe and put it back while Lindsay dawdled around an anchorage or port and that fixed it. One of the times we had loads of searoom in calm conditions and I was able to take the time to look carefully. Now that I can see through the transparent pipes, I could see that water was moving but there was not enough pressure to push it over the top of the siphon break. I'm developing a new theory: When the engine is hot and we start to sail, cooling water slops around in the pipes and pumps and heats the pump up with hot water from the engine. For some reason, when it is really hot it produces less pressure that when it is cold and it doesn't have enough to push teh water ove the top. Taking a pipe off allows cold seawater to run into the pump and it then prduces more pressure which pushes the water over the top. Once water is running through, it keeps the pump cool and efficient so it keeps going.
The theory fits the facts - but why would it not have enough pressure when hot? I'm guessing there are two factors:

• The pump sealing plate is worn and probably so is the impeller. The loose fit allows water to leak back past the impeller compromising its ability to develop pressure but not enough to stop the flow.
• The rubber of the impeller gets soft when hot and this probably decreases the effciency further - which is enough to drop the output pressure to teh point where cooling water won't go over the top.

I've replaced the impeller and on advice from Johnsons, reversed the plate. I have my fingers crossed that this will finally fix it.
Enough of engineering...
Our first call from Kimolos was Ios. We anchored in a lovely sheltered little bay just over the hill from the port. We stayed there for two days just enjoying the peace and sunshine. After Ios, we anchored on the south side of Skhinousa in a bay sheltered by a long islet. Again peaceful, almost wild excellent holding.

Next hop was a lovely sail to Katapola on Amorgos. This was a pretty little harbour with surprisingly good shopping and several nice tavernas - including one next to us that played just my sort of music. There is a famous monastery there but we decided we needed to press on so we didn't go up there.

After Amorgos came Levithia - an island so small it has only one house and one taverna. The wind funnels wickedly through the hills into the bay so the enterprising owner has put out mooring buoys. He turfed the fishing boats off to make space for us and only charged 7 euros - an excellent facility. The only fly in the ointment was some very rowdy Germans a few boats away who sang and shouted into the wee small hours.

We expected Klimnos to be our last stop in Greece. It's a huge harbour with good shelter. There is absolutely no sign of the Marina that was supposed to be built a few years ago, Unfortunately, it turns out not to be a port of exit so (despite having passport control, port police and customs) they couldn't check us out of Greece and sent us to Kos.

We thought Kos would be a land of lager & chips with lobster coloured louts partying all night. How wrong can you be! Apparently the south side of the island is a bit like that, but Kos town, while a bit touristy, is actually a very pleasant place with good shopping, an excellent chandler in the marina, an lots of interesting archaeology. The museum is worth a visit as is the ancient agora. In 1933, the Italians excavated an roman villa and then restored it - so that it has walls, roofs, stairs, etc. It gives a much better feel for what it was like to live there than the bare excavation and its free!

Hippocrates (he of the hippocratic oath) lived and practiced medicine here. It's said that he lectured under this plane tree (although it probaly only 500 years old).

The castle of the Knights of St John broods over the harbor - we were moored right under its walls. It's also well worth a visit - although it would be even better for a bit of explanatory labelling or guiding.

We spent 4 days in Kos fixing the engine, shopping, sightseeing and generally getting ready to leave Greece. Tomorrow is the big day! We've already checked out of the EU and are bound for our first really foreign country tomorrow.