WHERE ARE WE ANNE?: JENNY AND JEANNIE JOIN IN. PIP POPS UP PRESENTLY.

12^th August.

Leros, Kalymnos and Nysiros.

JENNY THE WHISTLING CAT WHISPERER, JEANNIE AND ANNE. MANDRAKI, NYSIROS

From Levitha, Anne and I sailed back again to Xerocampos on Leros only this time in company with Aussie boat Macnoon. We said goodbye to Macnoon the next day, they headed west while we headed one island south, down to Emborios, Kalymnos where we met our next guests intake, Jenny and Jeannie from England. Jenny and Jeannie are old friends of Anne and rock climbing fanatics, so Emborios was chosen to scope out a future climbing trip.

Turns out Jeannie is a very graceful diver off the boat with minimal splash. The water temp was a very nice 26 point something so I was inspired to put in some time improving my rather untidy diving style while Anne accompanied Jenny and Jeannie on a very hot, rather mad idea, to walk then climb possible climbing routes in the searing midday sun. Mad dogs and English women. We moored on an Artistico Taverna buoy so that's where we had dinner with George the host getting out his guitar after dinner to lead a sing along. I can't sing but George is 100% sincere and a very warm host.

Jenny is an avid cat fancier. With Jenny in town, no Greek cat was safe from a kind word, some strange noises, a pat or a cuddle or a tasty morsel of left over sashimi. With the pressing numbers of cats on hand Jenny was well occupied.

From Emborios we dropped in to Pothia, the main port of Kalymnos. With Syrian refugee numbers swelling by the day the reality was very apparent where we moored at the southern end of the bay with hundreds of them sleeping and waiting for processing. A German TV crew arrived that morning to cover the issue.

From Kalymnos we sailed 30 miles south around Kos to Nysiros. Calm at first then a decent breeze to fly Big Purple. We even caught a small tuna on the way.

Eschewing scoooters and quad bikes, gravel rash in mind, we hired a car at inflated tourist prices and headed for the volcano caldera. We got there with the caldera in afternoon shadow and thus the perfect time for exploration out of the hot sun.

Jenny and Jeanie left us on Nysiros swapping places with Pippa who came on board a day before they left, swelling our numbers to five, the most we've had on board. Pippa is Garry's daughter, a Brisbane sailing friend and neighbour. She was travelling Europe before taking up study at Manchester uni in the U.K.