Leros: The Beauty of… Kid Boats
The Greek Islands! Exciting in so many ways. We looked forward to Greek food: there is nothing like a fresh Greek salad with a huge slice of feta cheese, and authentic gyros stuffed with fresh shaved pork, tzatziki and fries. We ate at least one a day for the first week.
On our way to Leros in the Dodecanese, we utilized No Foreign Land, a website and app where you can track and connect with fellow liveaboard sailors (our friends liken it to a dating app). It is a great way to stalk kid boats, something I am very good at. Our first target :) was S/V Curious, also headed to Leros with a boy Jordan’s age and a girl Rosie’s age (#winning). We were so thrilled to meet them one might have mistaken us for being stranded on a desert island for months, and in fact, going so long without friends certainly felt that way to the kids. Well, SV Curious and their buddy boat, S/V Parallel, did not disappoint. We were met at the anchorage by a boisterous group waving to us from their bow. Within minutes of dropping our anchor, they were visiting in their dinghy and we made plans to move to the free town quay so we could be neighbors.
Leros is a sleepy island off the coast of Turkey, with beautiful pebbly inlets, farms along the water dotted with small harbors. Its proximity to Turkey makes it a popular destination for migrants trying to get into the EU. Greek and German coast guards have a large presence, and one end of the harbor is punctuated by a floodlit refugee “camp”. It has the high walls and flourescent lights of a prison and is built next to a scandalous former mental institution. It is heartbreaking to envision the long plight of a refugee, surviving a treacherous boat ride across angry seas only to end up stuck indefinitely at a place like that.
In sharp contrast, our first full day in Leros began with a bakery delivery along the quay after I took a long walk with my new best friend, Kirke (Estonian via Britain) from SV Curious. It was the first of many, but one of the best, immediate connections I’ve made with a fellow sailing mom. We shared openly about our lives Before Sailing (was there really BS? haha) and since. Then we spent the day with our new BESTEST friends on a little beach. Rosie and Emily were inseparable and Jordan and Freddie connected in the perfect way of two pre-teen boys on boats. Unlike land but like most on the water, sailing friendships are fast and furious relationships where everyday ends with the girls wanting to have a sleepover tonight. Rosie was the happiest she’s been since we moved aboard.
The next day we explored a former Italian naval base with a cool museum in the tunnels constructed during WWII, then spent the afternoon across the island at a cafe on a beach. Early the following morning we did a big grocery trip and stocked our freezers from a local butcher.
Leros was everything we hoped for in a Greek Island and a wonderful first stop because the islands only got better and more beautiful as we sailed on. But, the best part was making new friends, who we would meet up with again at our next stop, Patmos.
