Wednesday

[Adriana]

is the only day of the week that we don't have the Symi sitting outside our windows in the middle of the day so we can enjoy an uninterrupted view of the harbour.

The bit you can't see is the Italian family on the quayside below. Mother is sitting on the steps guarding towels etc while the two boys and their father are practising their dives off the quayside. One way to pass the time while waiting for the bus to Pedi!

[Kyriako]

Hi Adriana - it's probably safer to dive in on that side than opposite by the lighthouse; you'd have to worry about one of those inter-island ferries docking over your head! . When I was staying in the "Anastasoula" in 2004, a big ship called the "Atalanta" docked there - I heard a rumour it was carrying refugees, but from where and what I never found out. It was certainly a very old boat; you could see all the old steel rivets, some very rusty - I felt sorry for its passengers - I wouldn't've felt safe on there! Apart from us tourists, Yialos wouldn't be the same without its varied marine traffic - I never got bored watching them come and go, especially those wooden ones flying the Turkish flag. Then there was the water boat from Rhodes that docked in the dead of night - I was offered a guided tour of it when it docked once as I was returning from Meltemi worse for wear on Metaxa - fascinating stuff!
Still you've got a nice view, for now; but how long can it last?!
Dom

[Ozzie Geoff]

Hi Kyriako. I remember that water boat very well. You are correct, it came in at the dead of night, but, did you ever see what they took on board? Cases and cases of Scotch . At that time the Dodecanese were "duty" free due to some law after the war.
It was said the booty was sold to Athenian night clubs for a great profit I dare not mention where the scotch came from.
All good fun and treasured memories from the old days!

[Kyriako]

Hi there - well I never! I can't say I noticed them taking on board other liquid refreshments after they'd offloaded their sky juice. I'd always assumed the water boat came from Rhodes . . couldn't they get their whisky from there? Or was it being relayed from Symi to somewhere else? From what you've said they seem to have closed that little loophole . . . someone on Symi will have lost a nice little earner!

[Adriana]

The Princesa Marissa cruise ship from Cyprus is in this morning and all the buses and taxis are tied up with taking people across to Panormitis monastery.

Those weren't refugees on the Atalanta - they were Cypriot tourists/pilgrims doing a tour of the important monasteries in the Dodecanese!

I was always quite fond of the Atalanta as she had very nice lines with an elegant sweep to her bow. The fish farm boat did tug boat duty hauling her in and out as she has no bowthrusters.

[Allan]

I liked the Atlante too!

http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/7753/atlante1024zd4.jpg[img]http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/4009/atlantethumbde1.jpg[/img]

[Adriana]

As shipping companies become increasingly fuel conscious we may see a return to these elegant hulls as they are much more efficient than the 'tower blocks' that followed them - less windage and cleaner lines above and below the water mean it takes less effort to make her move through the water. Anyone who ever stopped to watch her gather speed will have noticed that she leaves hardly any wake whereas the Princesa Marisa which was in this morning is about as hydrodynamic as a double-decker bus!

[Dave]

Proper looking ships, too. No climbng walls or other tosh !

[Kyriako]

That's a fantastic picture, Allan. So I see she's a regular visitor to Symi - carrying Cypriot tourists, no less. I wish I could remember who it was that told me she was carrying refugees?! I did a bit of investigation on the Internet after my return from Symi, but I only found one reference to her - she's been renamed at least once and dates from the mid sixties (same age as moi). . so still not ready for the scrap yard . I did notice that she needed a tow to pull her out whereas the other ferries have the bow propeller that Adiana mentioned - quite scary if you're sitting in a bar near the lighthouse! Thanks for that info - really interesting.
Coincidentally, I've just received a text message from my friend Jane who's in Symi right now staying at The Nireus with her mum - they're Welsh and are regulars to the island - met them when I was there in 2004. They're sitting outside a bar high up in Yialos behind Symi Visitor enjoying the view - grrr, I'm jealous now! !