It is still overcast and hazy

The storm finally blew itself out on Monday morning, much to everyone's relief. The sudden silence was startling but was quickly replaced by the sounds of feverish industry as all outdoor jobs resumed with gusto. The crew of the Symi are busy chipping rust, a sound which I cannot with any honesty say is preferable to the sound of the wind howling through the shutters, but at least it is a productive sort of noise! If we could just persuade them to bang in unison... The municipal 'cherry picker' is working its way back up the Vigla, repairing the Christmas lights they rigged only 10 days or so ago. Fortunately they are not actually connected up yet, just fastened to each lamppost round which they swung with the wind like insane weathervanes.

It is still overcast and hazy but gaps are starting to appear in the cloud cover and the sea is calm. Old plastic bags float like basking jelly fish and the gulls use bits of wood and polystyrene as rafts. It is uncertain for how long this lull will last as Italy is in the grips of another storm system and the weather is already deteriorating in the Ionian and Western Greece. As the breeze is from the south west it is not particularly cold and we could reach 20 degrees tomorrow with warm and humid conditions forecast for the whole country. All I know is that we have a great deal of work to do to get our ploughing finished and the winter crops in the ground before the days become too short and the temperatures too low for growth.

Have a good week. I am going home to plant onion sets!

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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The incessant howl of the wind and roar of the sea

We have been gale bound for several days now as a winter weather system slowly grinds its way across the Eastern Mediterranean. The ports are closed, some of the airports around the country have had to close due to snow/flooding/wind, a yacht was dismasted, turned turtle and sank off the Peloponnese and two Korean tankers are in trouble in the Eastern Aegean, one of them already aground. Here on Symi three water boats have been rafted up by the clock tower since Wednesday and the Symi hasn't moved for days (apart from graunching up and down in the swell below our window). Apart from a brief lull on Tuesday the weather has been bad for over a week.

Tempers are becoming frayed as outdoor work is impossible, the ground is too water-logged for the winter ploughing and the incessant howl of the wind and roar of the sea is getting on everyone's nerves. The lack of shipping also means no post or newspapers and rapidly depleting supplies in the shops. There may be a lull long enough for the Symi to do a quick there-and-back tomorrow before it closes in again but there is no prospect of a general improvement before the middle of next week at the earliest.

And on that cheerful thought I shall leave you all and paddle back up the Kali Strata to see if my house still has a roof.

Have a warm dry weekend.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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It is a cold clear day with superb visibility

The rain clouds have turned to snow clouds over much of Greece with a country wide drop in temperatures and the thermometer is struggling into double-digits on Symi today. There is a brisk northerly wind blowing and the meteorological service has posted a list of warnings to mariners. The ferry left this morning but it will be interesting to see if it comes back!

It is a cold clear day with superb visibility. The local gull population really does seem to be on the increase and there are dozens of them, wheeling overhead and bobbing among the white horses that are whisking across the bay. The harbour is empty apart from a big shiny white yacht and the navy patrol boat. The sunlight after several days of heavy cloud cover is quite blinding. Those Symiots who have not gone to Rhodes for the day are largely occupied with airing out their houses, pumping out flooded basements and drying sodden carpets.

The Christmas lights have made it down to the harbour. The angel wings that usually swing on the streetlights on the road up from the harbour have been put on the fancy little cast iron lamp standards down here in the harbour, where their chances of survival are smaller than usual as they are not only at traffic height but are also in danger of amputation by the Symi's vehicle ramp, cargo ships and the like. We await developments with interest!

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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The aggrieved tinkle of sheepbells

The rain has swept past and the next blast is only expected to reach us sometime tomorrow. Athens was paralysed by floods yesterday morning with a decidedly dampening effect on the annual November 17 commemorative rally and demonstrations. The police reported very few incidents and the resident cartoonist of the Kathimerini newspaper produced a smug cartoon of three would-be anarchists trying to light Molotov cocktails in a downpour.

Here on Symi we had about 37 mm of rain, a fair amount of which found its way into my house, but we were spared the 'floating of the shoes' phenomenon this time round. The heaviest downpour was at about 1 am, accompanied by a brief blast of hail. After that it eased enough for us to hear the aggrieved tinkle of sheepbells as the neighbour's flock shook itself dry in the shelter of our back wall.

The weather will remain unsettled for the next few days with more rain, thunderstorms and squally conditions throughout Greece. Temperatures will continue to fall and snow is expected on most high ground. There was a brief country wide shipping ban yesterday afternoon which closed Rhodes port as well as Pireaus and it is still Force 8 out in the central Aegean with a heavy swell.

Have a good weekend. We'll be spending ours in the office, putting the finishing touches to the 100th issue of the Symi Visitor which goes to press next week.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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The island grows steadily greener

A hazy high is lingering over Symi, polishing the sea for the admiration of wheeling gulls. The harbour is quiet as shipping has dwindled and the excursion boats have retired for the winter.

Up in Chorio, on the other hand, a small procession of tidy Christmas lights is making its way slowly down the Vigla, attached to the nifty new green streetlights which are optimistically believed to be operational by December. In the Kampos square men are hard at work, doing the final touches to the new water mains so we have had sporadic road closures over the last few days. You see, they don't save ALL the roadworks for the tourist season... As the next rains are forecast for Thursday, Friday and Saturday there is some degree of urgency in completing jobs requiring the digging of ditches.

The island grows steadily greener, nurtured by the heavy dews that fall the moment the sun slips behind the mountain. The dusty rocks of summer shine slick at this time of the year and moss and ferns sprout in the crevices. Who would think that this arid island could hold so many secrets?

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana

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The microclimates of Symi

Greetings from a clear but chilly island. It is at this time of the year that the microclimates of Symi start to become more noticeable. The inhabitants of Mavrovouni are basking smugly in T-shirts whereas those of us on the Kali Strata side of the harbour are snuffling in mummy-wrappings and doing jumping jacks to keep warm while waiting for the kettle to boil.

There is a weather system lurking in the wings which may be reaching us early next week but it is not expected to send more than a cloud or two in this direction. Other parts of Greece can expect some wet and windy weather. Temperatures are expected to remain below 20 degrees but there are no strong winds expected to make life colder.

It's not only the humans around here who are snuffling - receiving as we do thousands of emails from all over the world it is not really surprising our main computer went down with a virus even as we were downloading the latest antivirus software. With the Panormitis festival and a flurry of name days it is taking some time to get sorted out as the resources available here are limited at the best of times.

For a full explanation of why there could be a market for amphibious vehicles on Symi you'll have to wait for the December edition of the Symi Visitor, I'm afraid.

Have a good weekend.

Regards
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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Surfing gulls and leaping fish

The possibility of a shower on Thursday turned into about 8 hours of continuous light rain followed promptly by strong northerly winds. Anything not tied down blew over in the harbour and the last of summer's potplants were rolling forlornly round Yialos this morning under the watchful eye of the surviving geese.

The ferry had some difficulty docking in the swell last night and apparently Rhodes harbour was still bad this morning. The Dodecanese Pride wallowed through earlier on its second to last run of the season.

It is a clear crisp day. The bottomless blue sea is speckled with fast white crests, surfing gulls and leaping fish. Closer in, the debris washed into the harbour in yesterday's rain is slopping lazily against the quayside. Our Symi Visitor banner detached itself at some point in the night and is wrapped sadly in a bundle in the vacant lot next door. Definitely time to put it away until the spring. The wind is rattling the shutters and testing every door and window. We are appropriately dressed for a day at the office - sweaters, scarves, shawls.our splendid 19th century premises have splendid 19th century heating i.e. none!

This weekend is a holiday long weekend on Symi as it is the Panormitis Festival. Many businesses will be closed from tomorrow until Wednesday. It is the first opportunity for local people to have a break since the beginning of the season and there is no point in sitting here, all alone and forlorn in the hope of a passing customer, when everyone else is over at Panormitis having a great time. Even those with no religious pretensions go to see what's for sale on the stalls and meet up with friends as people come across from Rhodes and other islands for the festivities.

Have a good weekend.

Regards,
Adriana

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It is a clear chilly winter's day

A strong wind sprang up on Saturday, playing merry havoc with the hydrofoil schedules. Fortunately the organisers of the annual shopping trip to Turkey were able to contact everybody and they set off on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday morning. Those counting on heading northwards on the Dodecanese Express weren't as lucky as the wind was strongest to the north of us and some travellers had to reroute their arrangements via Rhodes.

It is a clear chilly winter's day. The harbour is slipping rapidly into winter mode. Awnings and canopies have been dismantled and packed away. Fancy lights and signs are tightly wrapped in plastic sheeting to protect them from the winter rains and chairs and tables are stacked, ready to be taken away to various storerooms around the island. There were a few fancy yachts in the harbour this morning, passing through en route to their winter haunts, but generally Yialos is now very quiet. Many of the locals have already migrated to the other end of the island in anticipation of the Panormitis festival on 7 November. Most of the hotels are now closed and the few remaining tourist shops still working only open for a few hours a day if there is a boat in.

Rain is forecast of much of Greece for this week but we are unlikely to have more than a passing shower. Temperatures are likely to remain between 15 and 20 degrees centigrade in the sun but colder in the wind. Much of the vegetation that sprang up after the heavy rain on 2 October is starting to die back and we could use the rain.

Have a good week.

Regards,
Adriana
www.symivisitor.com

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