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16-03-2011, 13:33
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#16
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Moderator

Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Home at Warsaw, Poland, boat in Eastern Med
Boat: Ocean Star 56.1 LR
Posts: 1,840
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Re: Tips for Greece
Quote:
Originally Posted by Palarran
I do have a question that you may be able to answer. If I want to get a berth in Rhodes that is in the old harbor, how do I go about reserving it and how long in advance do you think I will have to book it? I understand they are very difficult to get.
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Mail for marina administration is: info@roditisyachting.gr
Phone number:
(+30) 22410 37101 Fax number:
(+30) 22410 37401
The Mandraki so called "Marina" is heavily overloaded, so better to contact them as soon as possible and ask how and when to make proper arrangements.
Best regards
Tomasz
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17-03-2011, 08:15
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#17
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Moderator

Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Home at Warsaw, Poland, boat in Eastern Med
Boat: Ocean Star 56.1 LR
Posts: 1,840
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Re: Tips for Greece
Looks that this thread is almost my personal "one man stand" 
Pity a little - I'm sure there are members here with a deep knowledge to be shared...
But for the moment O.K.
In southern part of Dodecanese You will find an intersting island:
Nisiros
It is really worth a visit. The main village - Mandraki - is a beautiful place with old castle, monasteries, winding streets, bouganvilleas...
But the harbour at Mandraki is pain in the ass really. Small and open to prevailing winds and waves. A lot of ferry wash also.
Much better place to be there is Paloi (Palon) in the middle of the northern shore. The Google Maps show all ferry routes coming here - it is untrue. The are going to Mandraki actually.
Please note: most charts (paper and electornic) and also most pilot books show the entrance to the Paloi harbour in the north east corner of the harbour, and the approach from north. It is not true any longer!
Some time ago the harbour was rebuilt and upgraded. The old entrance was closed, the outer breakwater lenghtened much to east, and new entrance was built from east, under the cover of prolonged outer breakwater. The approach is now as follows: go from north towards the group of conspicious huge stone buildings just at the beach, east from harbour (it is never finished Hydropatic Institute). Being in line with outer breakwater, turn hardly to west and You are in front of the entrance. It is not very good visible, but entrance is not tricky. When approaching Paloi from west, remember - do not go closer then some hundred meters to the north (outer) side of main breakwater. There are remnants of old eastern breakwater covered by sea now.
The best sheltered berths (Med mooring only!) are in the southeastern corner of the harbour. Depths are O.K. for the 3 meters draft. Multis should moor rather as far as possible to the west, where the depths are depleting.
Paloi harbour offers good fresh water and electricity for 10 Euros a day (2010). You can hire a car or scooters there (go to the western corner of harbour) and visit Mandraki, but the main attraction is the big volcano. In the matter of fact the whole island is a volcano with a caldera in the middle. The volcano is still working a little (hot sulphur and hot water coming from under), but it is stable and You can go down to caldera. Take a small hammer and robust screwdriver with You - taking some crystal volcanic sulphur with You is allowed 
Two small villages on the verge of caldera - Emporeios and Nikia offer fantastic views. Nikia itself is a gem, and in Emporeios You can find decent meal. Island is really nice - little off the beaten tourist tracks, retains much of old charm
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17-03-2011, 08:28
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#18
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Moderator

Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Home at Warsaw, Poland, boat in Eastern Med
Boat: Ocean Star 56.1 LR
Posts: 1,840
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Re: Tips for Greece
Quote:
Originally Posted by Palarran
I need to provision Palarran for about a month for 10 people. I think it will be cheapest to go to the markets to do this.
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My Admiral invented the following scheme for provisioning in Greece: - Look for LIDL supermarket. Check the offer. Generally they are the cheapest, but the offer is very limited. Buy here what really suit Your needs.
- For eggs, vegetables and fruits check a local open air market.
- Look for AB (ask for AlphaVita), Dia, or Atlantic supermarket. They are slightly more expensive, but the choice is generally better. Supplement Your shopping there.
- Look for Bazaar supermarket. It is normally still little more expensive, but with best choice. Top Your shopping there.
Remember - this is only very general advice. In some places Dia or Atlantic can have better choice than a Bazaar, for example - you can check it in the beginning of the shopping
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17-03-2011, 08:50
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#19
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Moderator

Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Home at Warsaw, Poland, boat in Eastern Med
Boat: Ocean Star 56.1 LR
Posts: 1,840
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A Greek tip for Hoppy
Quote:
Originally Posted by hoppy
No tips as I am new to the area, but for that reason I will keep an eye on this thread
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Please, remember one thing - never ever fill Your water tanks from a tanker cars. On Patmos (beautiul and very interesting island) the water is only car delivered - there are no taps at the quay at all. In Lakki (Leros) tap water is salty and rather unpotable, but there is car delivery.
Problem with car delivered water - the supplies of the water come from mountain creeks. It is good water, but You will pump to Your tanks lots of very fine creek sand. Enough to clog up Your filters, pumps, taps and toilets (if You do have freshwater toilets on the boat).
Only solutions are to fit a watermaker or to plan Your water usage accordingly to not fill Your tanks from tanker cars.
I made this mistake once and spend some days cleaning the whole blocked water system - vacuum toilets included (all seals in vacuums were damaged and I needed to replace them).
Best regards
Tomasz
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17-03-2011, 15:13
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#20
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Nearly an old salt
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
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Do what many do rig a pump and a filter and pump it through that.
Dave
__________________
Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
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17-03-2011, 15:30
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#21
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 2,844
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Quote:
Originally Posted by goboatingnow
Do what many do rig a pump and a filter and pump it through that.
Dave
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How do you mean? Fill up a temporary container with water from the truck and then pump the water into the tanks via a filter?
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17-03-2011, 15:37
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#22
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Nearly an old salt
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hoppy
How do you mean? Fill up a temporary container with water from the truck and then pump the water into the tanks via a filter?
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Yes exactly that use a cheap jabsco pump and a standard 10" filter set. Also useful plumbed in the pressure feeds in marinas
Dave
__________________
Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
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17-03-2011, 15:38
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#23
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 2,844
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Quote:
Originally Posted by goboatingnow
Yes exactly that use a cheap jabsco pump and a standard 10" set of water filters
Dave
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Sounds a lot easier and more doable than a water maker for this year.
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18-03-2011, 07:18
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#24
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Moderator

Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Home at Warsaw, Poland, boat in Eastern Med
Boat: Ocean Star 56.1 LR
Posts: 1,840
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Re: Tips for Greece
Hello 
Dave - You are right of course, but with tanker delivered water on the islands there are some problems.
For using in marinas I have an added section of water hose with water filters installed in it. I can use it any place I have doubts regarding tap water - just opening the tap partly and waiting for the water coming into tanks slowly.
But with tanker delivered water it is another story. They use high capacity petrol engine pumps and the heavy hoses with pistol fitting similar to one used for fuel. You can not connect the hose to this and make a water going slowly - the pressuree is high really, and pumps don't have adjusements. So You need to fill water into temporary tank and then pump it to the proper water tanks. My daily usage is about 200 - 250 liters. By average I'm taking some 600 liters for once. Let say I will use two 50 liters jeerycans as temporary tanks. The tankers pump will fill them in minutes, and transferring the water into proper tanks by small pumps with filters will take substantially more time. To do this five or six times will take a lot more time, than any car tanker will allot to You. They are almost always in a hurry more or less. So the technique is O.K. for taking 100 or maybe 200 liters at one time, probably not more 
Another thing is, the creek sand is partly powderlike (something as damned reddish Sahara sand... You know it...). It partly pass through the pumps and filters - not nice at all.
The technique described by You would work beautifully if You have a taemporary tank or tanks big enough to accept Your average one time supply. Then You can take enough water from car tanker, wait for residue setting down and pump it slowly - through fine filters - to the proper tanks. I must think about some kind of folding temporary tanks - use them, fold and stow neatly 
As I agree that water maker for island hopping is just an overkill, for te moment I just plan my passages accordingly. For example - I always try to get to Patmos with tanks newly filled, remembering that just two hours away - at charming island of Lipsi - is the tap water of quite acceptable quality
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18-03-2011, 11:26
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#25
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 2,844
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Re: Tips for Greece
The hose filter sound's like a good idea.
Even if the tanker water was clean, it sound's like my boat would struggle to take the water. My tank filler pipes are very fussy about the water flow, too much and they back up.
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20-03-2011, 04:18
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#26
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Nearly an old salt
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
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That rate would be completely impossible in my boat , I have used my idea with a 40 litre can as the intermediate tank , worked ok .
Dave
__________________
Interested in smart boat technology, networking and all things tech
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20-03-2011, 04:53
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#27
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Moderator

Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Home at Warsaw, Poland, boat in Eastern Med
Boat: Ocean Star 56.1 LR
Posts: 1,840
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Re: Tips for Greece
The idea of intermediate tank is very nice however 
I must have a closer look at VETUS flexible tanks. I'm not sure if it is possible to fold them and stow away when empty... If so - the spring water is the best available in Greece. Only this sand is a problem...
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21-03-2011, 09:54
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#28
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Moderator

Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Home at Warsaw, Poland, boat in Eastern Med
Boat: Ocean Star 56.1 LR
Posts: 1,840
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Next tip - Lipsi Island
Between Samos, Patmos and Leros there is a group of interesting small islands.
My favourite one is Lipsi.
The harbour itself is quite small and crowded, also sometime quite windy, but there are some nice anchorages also. The best one is probably Katsadia Bay in the south part of island. You will find some mooring buoys laid by local tavern, but if they are all taken, You can anchor out - the holding is good.
Best eating You will find in small taverns uphill in main village, behind the big church. Nothing special - just good home-made local meal.
At the main square, behind the small "garden", is good bakery/patisserie located. A lot of nice places around for day anchoring and sunbathing/swimming/snorkeling.
One of the really nice, low profile, off the beaten track places
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21-03-2011, 15:34
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#29
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 2,844
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Re: Tips for Greece
Tomasz,
Do you go into Pithagorion to get your traffic document stamped at the start and end of each sailing holiday from the marina?
I assume that at small places like Lipsi you don't need to present your traffic document or is there a man with a stamp everywhere over summer?
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22-03-2011, 06:14
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#30
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Moderator

Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Home at Warsaw, Poland, boat in Eastern Med
Boat: Ocean Star 56.1 LR
Posts: 1,840
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Re: Tips for Greece
Hi Hoppy 
I'm normally taking my documents to Port Police only once, when I'm starting the season. If I'm leaving Greece for some time, I'm stamping the documents again. I have always with me some forms of "Crew List". If somebody is coming - I'm stamping the new crew list, for duration of the visit, at the nearest Port Police.
They really want You to have on board: - proper registration document
- proper insurance document
- documents for communication and safety equipment checking
- actual crew list
I'm always keeping the crew list up to date, because there is a lot of people smuggling through Dodecanese, so the police have a good reason to keep an eye on this. Normally we are just two of us on board (+ dogs), but sometime friends are coming for some days, and You should have them on the crew list. I have also some copies of the main crew list made and stamped as "conforming to the original" or something like this - just for a peace of mind. I met not very enlightened policemen trying to keep an original with them. Now - in the case - I'm feeding them with "authorized" copy  Better than discuss half a day waiting for somebody more reasonable to come to the station.
And in small places nobody bothers You. May be except Patmos, but this, being a small island is not a "small place" anyway.
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