Pythagoras was born on Samos and the second largest town on Samos is named Pythagorio in his honour. One of the greatest mathematicians and astronomers of the time he formulated the theorem for calculating the area of a triangle and proposed the concept of the earth revolving around the sun almost 2000 years before it was proved by Galileo and Copernicus. He had such influence that people formed a cult, worshiping him as an incarnation of the god Apollo. This upset many Greeks and he was eventually burnt to death by an angry mob. “Tall poppy syndrome” even way back then!
Monument to Pythagoras 
Church of Panagia Sarandaskaliotissa above Pythagoras’ cave 
Cave below Monastery – where Pythagoras sought refuge
We left Ikaria with our new crew, David, on board. We intended spending a couple of nights anchored in Fourni half way between Ikaria and Samos. Disappointingly we found the anchorages either fully occupied or extremely uninspiring. Onwards to Samos and the bay of Marathokampos. There was space on the town dock here and we were able to tie side to on the windward side of the concrete dock. The pilot guide for this area warns that NW winds sweep down into this bay off the nearby 1433m high Mt Kerkis. All was calm for the initial few days but when the wind returned we found out that the consistent 30+ knots off the mountain can be challenging. We were in good company with friends on AUS catamaran Licence to Chill ( Andrew, MJ and Ali on board ) plus another catamaran from NZ called Soul sailed by Mike and Sarah. We had a very nice group pot luck dinner. Both boats left on their journeys the following day as the weather calmed down.
No sooner had the dock cleared when in came more friends – Dave and Alison on White Sands, and new friends Cheryl and Richard on Serenity Now. We all sat out the bad weather here and spent many pleasant evenings having sun downers and eating at the local tavernas. David was here with us too and we hired a car to go around the Island. While sitting in a cafe in Pythagoria harbour we experienced an earthquake. At first it felt like we were on a floating dock with just a gentle wave but then realised it was an earthquake! It happened in Turkey and did not cause any damage but was a little unnerving as the day before this we had ventured underground to explore an ancient aquaduct in the tunnel of Eupalinos at Pythagoria.