Nicholas stayed on in the island for a time earning a living from fishing. Later he put into good use the thorough knowledge of the sea around the islands which he acquired whilst fishing and became a sea pilot assisting sailing ships to navigate through the treacherous shoals lying at the entrance of the port of Kydonies. The good money he earned from pilotage enabled him to marry Kiourana and launch his first kaiki. With this kaiki he carried all sorts of cargoes including contraband tobacco, which he picked at prearranged deserted beaches in the vicinity of Kavala and Porto Lagos , later offloading it at equally deserted beaches in Asia Minor thus evading the customs duties, which the bankrupt Ottoman state was forced to cede to their European creditors.

Contraband proved very lucrative. The family prospered and at about 1850 gave up this trade. About that time a much larger kaiki was acquired. My grandfather Constantinos, who had accompanied his father in all his travels since early childhood, had become a very capable skipper in his own right, took over command of the new kaiki, the size of which allowed it to trade a far as Constantinople and the Black Sea. In one of these voyages heading towards the Sea of Marmara in the winter of 1853, due to very rough weather, grandfather Constantis sought refuge for his ship in Tenedos . There he met my grandmother Eleni Paleologou with whom he fell in love.

Grandmother Eleni’s family did not, at first, fancy their daughter marrying a mere karavokyris (ship’s master) because they had “the bee under their bonnet” claiming they where offshoots of the great Byzantine family of Paleologos, which in years past had produced several emperors. In the end however, love prevailed and captain Constantis married his Eleni and settled in “cosmopolitan” Tenedos rather than the secluded Moskhonisia.

Based on Tenedos he started trading the famous Tenedian wine to Constantinople and the Black Sea, which proved a very lucrative business. He built a large house for his growing family that stands to the present day . It now houses the “Umit Otel” . Constantine Emmanuel Nisiotis bought vineyards and launched a much larger boat, the “Agia Trias” (Holy Trinity), which under the captaincy of his brother-in-law Constantine Paleologos, carried Tenedos wine as far as Marseilles.

Constantine Emmanuel Nisiotis was well respected for his sterling character and the charity he extended to anyone needing help. The Tenedians showed their respect by electing him to serve a Dymogeron (elder councilman) for many years. He gave a fair education to his four daughters and an excellent education to his two sons. The elder son, my uncle Nicholakis finished the Zografeion secondary school in Constantinople and my father Gregory, the Grand National Academy , also in Constantinople. Grandfather Constantinos died on 13 September 1893, as inscribed on his grave .