As the outline of mainland Greece became clearer on the horizon, with North Cyprus, Turkiye, the Docadonese and Cyclades islands behind us, we looked at each other and well, some high-fives were exchanged cos we thought we were pretty damn good, and very chuffed with ourselves. So much time and effort had gone into that part of our journey, it seemed surreal to have completed it.
So strange that in fact I/we realised that we hadn't given much thought to the course to take from this point. Mike's goal was "the Ionian", but that was about it, apart from reaching Montenegro towards the end of September. Deciding that some guidance was required, and with sail up, Kirrikie glided across to Point Sounion on the Attica Peninsular, where we anchored under the Temple of Posiedon, one of my sailing bucket list items. It's not the best place to approach via dinghy, but we needed to pay homage to the God of the Sea - it would be rude not to. Maybe even tempting fate! The Temple of Posiedon rivals The Parthenon, (or so they say). It stands very majestically overlooking the Agean Sea, serving as a temple and a fortress with sea views in 3 directions. Again we avoided peak sunset tourist times and had a peaceful and awe-inspiring time wandering around, imagining life in ancient times, and muttering thanks-but-please-don't-sink-us, several times just in case.
A bit of background from the web...
"The Temple of Poseidon was built during the Golden Age of Athens in the 5th century BCE. After the Greeks defeated the Persians in 479 BCE, the Greeks placed captured Persian warships at Sounion as a trophy dedicated to Poseidon. A more permanent temple of Poseidon was constructed at Sounion from 444 to 440 BC.
According to Greek mythology, the placement of the temple also had to do with King Aegeus of Athens. Aegeus was the second (human) father of the great hero Theseus (Poseidon himself being the other).
As the story goes, Theseus embarked on his journey to Crete, promising his father that if he successfully defeated the Minotaur, he would return with white sails on his ship, indicating his victory. Unfortunately, Theseus forgot to change the sails to white upon his return, leading Aegeus to believe his son had perished. In his despair, Aegeus jumped into the Aegean Sea from Cape Sounion, which was subsequently named after him.
The Temple of Poseidon was built on Cape Sounion to honor King Aegeus's memory and pay homage to Poseidon, the God associated with the sea and the protector of sailors. The temple served as a sacred site where seafarers and travelers would make offerings and seek Poseidon's favor before embarking on their voyages."
I'm afraid that a few more photos are required to do the Temple justice:
After spending the night under the lights of the temple, contemplating the fact that we had joined centuries of sailors who had anchored in this spot, it was time to focus on our present day needs - these being the jammed mainsail, the quickly corroding sacrificial anode (ironically stopping us sacrificing our boat to Poseidon), no gas bottles to use in Greece (our Turkish ones went to new-found friends heading in the opposite direction), plus the ususal need to access fuel, water, bins, laundry etc.
Our route took us from Cape Sounion, Alimos Marina (near Pireus), Poros via Aegina, Epidaurus and finally through the Corinth Canal
Hoping to twist the arms of recommended riggers we booked into Alimos Marina, on the outskirts of Athens for 2 nights. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get help there, as we were coming up to the very important date, August 15th, which precipitates an annual 2 week holiday for much of Greece. The Dekapentavgoustos ( I looked it up) is a Greek Orthodox church commemoration, the 'Dormition of Panagia (Virgin Mary) and her ascension into heaven. Some greek guy said think of it like Easter in summer. Many services close down, including riggers. Not to mention pilgrimages back to ancestral villages, and to the seaside tourist sites, and marinas and beaches.. it was getting busier on the water.
At Alimos we unwisely decided it was time to once again present ourselves to the port police to have our sailing log stamped and updated. The instructions sailors receive is very inconsistent, but basically you pay for a log when you enter the country, and must have it stamped at each port you travel through, or at least any port or marina that you tie alongside. If you anchor in a small bay, or don't take the boat in, you don't need to. Which is what a lot of boaties do.
The tricky part is saying where you're heading - you have to name a place, but what happens if you don't end up going there? A while back we had nominated the main port on the island of Paros, near Naxos, as our next destination. However, due to the weather we had not stopped there after all. We had attempted to have our log updated in Finikas, Symos, but the friendly officer waved us away as we were at anchor.
So let's do the right thing hey? Whoah, wrong! To set the scene, when we arrived at the office, the officer was already yelling down the phone at some poor wretch, and the TV screen on the wall showed that Greece was playing poorly against Germany in the Olympic basketball. Not a good time. We politely presented our documents and the yelling and paperwork throwing commenced. I didn't know you could toss A4 papers so quickly and precisely, I need to practice that. Apparently we unleashed the beast by not checking into Paros, we were like every other foreign incompetent sailor who didn't know what we were doing, couldn't follow rules, no way was he going to stamp our paperwork, go away and go back to Paros!!! Why didn't you go to Paros??! You must go back. That was the brief version. And Paros was 90nms away, and through the meltemi again. We ain't doing that mister.
At this stage I was in 3 minds. Firstly - oohhh we've finally got our grumpy greek guy - about time! Secondly - if Your system doesn't work because none of the greek officials seem to agree, it isn't Our fault. But lastly and mainly - remember Ian Wilson from SV Longo Mai's approach to this situation, be contrite. So I held Mike back, and said very sweetly, in my I'm such a blonde voice, oh dear, what can we do, is there anyway we can fix this? Blink blink blink? Scowling, he snatched back the paperwork to stamp-bang-stamp-thump, continuing to lecture us about what we should have done, but slipped us the little gem that instead of naming a port, you just put down an area, such as the Saronic Gulf. Which is a whole archipelago full of coastline and islands. Bingo! We were already in the Saronic Gulf. We had yet to travel through that, then the Gulf of Corinth, and the Gulf of Patras before coming to the Ionian Sea, our last area in Greece. As far as he was concerned, when we said we were heading to the Ionian, which he duly recorded on our log, we were going straight there..... we kowtowed outta there, and hop-skipped all the way back to the boat. And Germany won the basketball.
After a couple of sweltering days, washing the boat down - a squirt for the boat and a splash for me - runnings errands and picking up parts in the excellent chandleries, we caught up over dinner with Tina and Pete from SV Elisabeth, our boat neighbours and friends from North Cyprus, and Finike, which we really enjoyed. We waved them goodbye the next day, expecting to see them again in a few days, but like so many times before, events take over, and sadly this was not to be. As they had a very terrible ending to their sailing this year, they are permanently putting their sails away, so adieu Pete and Tina, thank you for everything.
Where next? Having no real immediate goals was a new experience for us. I tried to convince Mike that visiting another temple of Athena on the island of Aegina was a must, but strangely I was unsuccessful. He wanted to get to the Corinth Canal ASAP, and I didn't. We 'compromised' by heading to Navy Bay, Poros, looking one way to the town of Galatas, and the other way to Poros. We were now in very popular charter territory, in the middle of peak season, and expected problems with finding a safe anchorage. Luckily we seemed to time it right, and in this case we counted about 40 boats heading out in the opposite direction as we looked for a spot - spoiled for choice. And the reason for this popularity was clear; with no disrespect to islands in the Agean, Poros had to be one of the prettiest villages we had seen (so far). Served well by ferries, it is an easy travel for mainlanders, so the seaside promenade is lined with enticing restaurants, bakeries, and icecream shops, red tile roofs on pale buildings, tolling church bells, and a single bus replacing cars to get around. Lovely.
Secluded bay off the island of Aegina
Poros town square with distinctive fountain
Our favourite, Old Fountain Cafe
With evidence of civilisation back to the Bronze age, Poros has seen the likes of the Egyptians, Romans, Ottomans and Venetians come and go. During the Greek revolution in 1821 the revolutionary leaders would meet in Poros to discuss their plans; the first Greek Navy was established in Poros in 1828, and here the borders of the new Greek state were first decided by Greek leaders and the ambassadors of England, France and Russia. Navy Bay refers to the fact that the Russian navy was granted a naval base in Poros in 1774 as part of an end-of-Russo-Turkish-War treaty, and it was only after Greek independence the Russians were moved around the corner to an another site; eventually Russian influence declined and now beach umbrellas are planted in front of decaying buildings.
Although Navy Bay offered a lovely sanctuary from an approaching weather front, we decided to make a run for it, to move closer the Corinth Canal, aiming to get through the Canal before 'Dekapentavgoustos'.
On the way we stopped briefly to snorkle over the Sunken City of Epidavros The 'city' is really the ruins of an Roman villa, about 50m from the shore, and less than 5m underwater. Epidaurus/ Epidavros/ Epidauros itself was an important commerical centre, with an ancient theatre and sanctuary of Asciepius, the greek god of medicine - neither of which we were able to visit, hopefully 'next time'. The underwater ruins were discovered in the 1970's, and include remnants of an ancient fort, walls and buildings. I have to say while it wasn't a large city, it was fascinating to swim over a rural Roman villa from the 2nd century. I glided and drifted over large round structures with broken tops and imagined I was gazing into the top of minarets, but they were actually large amphorae (jars). Then I turned and swam the route of paved roman roads and walls, submerged stone bricks still intact. I also had to refrain from drowning stupid tourists, who stood on top of the ruins in their flippers to adjust their masks. Grrrrrrr (Rule 1 of diving - never ever put your feet down on top of something. Ok, it maybe about rule 10, but still...).
(PS, no underwater camera, so I pinched these from the interweb)
As there wasn't enough sanctuary in this spot we motored around to the protection of Kalamaki Beach, next to the town of Archaia Epidaurus, where we spent two days smugly enjoying the spectacle of too many (charter) boats trying to find safety at the end of the day, dragging catamarans with absent sailors, and were treated to a concert on the shores for the August holiday makers. (The Europeans are smart - concerts don't start til after 9pm, there's no need to get there early and sit in the hot afternoon sun, lugging chairs and eskies, getting pissed before it starts. The concerts are always much more family friendly and ultimately more enjoyable.)
Finally it was time to move to the start of the Corinth Canal. The canal, which was finally competed in 1882 after over 2500 years of effort, cuts through a small strip of land called the Isthmus of Corinth, separating mainland Greece from Peloponnese, providing access between the Saronic Gulf and the Gulf of Corinth. It is 6.3ks long, 21-25m wide and a maximum of 8 metres deep. Open for only a short time each year, usually between May and October, it is not designed to provide a path for large container ships, but smaller craft like us, super yachts and small cruise ships. Other larger ships, and when it is closed, must go around the Peloponnese peninsular.
Traffic is carefully co-ordinated, particularly as it's a one-way at a time canal. We were required to book our time-slot, provide details about Kirrikie (height, depth, width), pay a fee, report to the entrance at a specific time, and then fall in to a line of boats in the order required, to keep things moving as needed. It takes about half an hour to go through. Which is just not long enough to really appreciate the moment and the achievement - ours, and the creators of the canal. My impressions? The canal was more pretty and impressive than I was expecting, the water in places was a very clear turquoise, vegetation was very varied - including a few Aussie eucalypts - and the ongoing maintenance reassuring. As for Mike - well it was a long-time sailor's bucket list item for him, so he was a happy sailor.
We now were in a new sea, without the Meltemi, and so much of Greece behind us, and yet we still hadn't reached the Ionian. Little did we know that despite the incredible monuments and landscapes we had already passed, the best was yet to come....
We had made our way out of Turkiye and into Greece via the island of Symi. We departed quickly and turned north visiting the islands of Kos (if you count anchoring in a bay at the very far end for one night only), Leros and Patmos.
We could have continued on happily through the Docadonese islands, but we decided this was just far enough north to be able to turn west-ish and start heading towards Athens and the Saronic Gulf, hopefully harnessing the winds across our beam. These winds, the Meltemi, come down from as far as the Ukraine, across the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara which divides Istanbul into east and west, into the Thracian Sea and then rush rush all the way across the Agean Sea, squeezed between Greece and Turkiye.
In reality, the prevailing winds became the element we had to work around, rather than work with. Note - not that I am complaining, despite it sounding like it. I was and am very glad to have any sort of air moving around the boat to cool us off. Without it I would now resemble a sun-dried tomato without the lovely flavour but just as red.
The multiple choices of islands to visit as we crossed the sea was overwhelming, you could spend months, as many do, moving and staying at islands in each group. So, where shall we go?? Our decisions were based on time and wind. We also did not wish to visit busy tourist islands like Mykanos or Santorini: these do not necessarily have good anchorages, and if they do they are incredibly crowded, just like the islands themselves. We have a boat, let's go where the crowds can't...
Panagia Church, Nikouria Beach
Our first island was Amorgos; I had never heard of it before, but it is shaped like a seahorse, so that seemed like a good reason to head that way (we missed out on Astipalia, referred to as the butterfly island, also due to its shape). In reality, it was about 45nm away, not too far south and offering good protection from 30+knot winds that were on their way. We were happy to be able to sail, even with only one sail, for just over half of the trip, but ultimately we motored the last 13 or so miles. It was really starting to whip up the water as we arrived, but inside the massive almost deserted space of Nickouria Beach, tucked behind a large islet, it was very peaceful. We and most of the handful of boats stayed solidly anchored for 3 days while outside it was white caps on the ocean and howling banshee winds. There was a small rustic beach bar on shore, with a fisherman's ferry bringing customers each hour from the shore of Amorgos. Apart from that there wasn't much else to do - watch the goats appear at dusk and go for a walk up the hill to visit the originally named Pangagia Church. We met Aussie/Pom couple Irene and Brian, which was handy as Irene has Greek heritage - with the help of her translation skills, we caught the bus over to the main town Katapola for a touch of civilisation (coffee and fresh bread), wide-eyed at the narrow hairpin bendy road.
Peace and quiet in Nikouria Beach
A few days later we left this excellent spot thinking of making for one of the Koufonisi Islands - Ano or Kato, eenie meenie mynee mo - but Mike discovered a coolant leak had developed from the heat exchanger hose. Change of plan! We motored carefully around to the town quay of Katapola, one eye (each) on the engine temperature. Greek is obviously new territory for us, and getting parts throughout the islands isn't easy. Nonetheless, we mentioned our problem to the "harbour master" did he know a guy? With a hose? He did, and subsequently the local mechanic (fishing boats are aplenty) called Eric - yes that was his name - arrived the next morning, took some measurements, and returned with help and a hose. For those, like me, who thought it was a simple job, it took two sweaty Greek mechanics and one even sweatier Aussie to manhandle the new hose into place. The verdict was, replace all your hoses. Our new priority was to source the right hoses for our particular engine. Mike found a guy a few islands away, who could order them from the mainland, so that now dictated our passage planning.
Hose intact, and after freeing our fouled anchor (where someone else had laid their anchor on top of ours, and thus they become entwined) we left behind the quaint harbour of Katapola, we turned toward Ano Koufounisi and Pori Beach Bay. One night only, as we had our sights set on the next large island, Naxos, and then Paros where we hoped to pick up our new hoses. We had one day of ridiculousness, as the proteced anchorage of Kalantos made us think the predicted strong winds were incorrect, and headed out and UP into the wind, for a bay up the left hand side of Naxos. Stupid is as stupid does. It was a an exhilarating but very bumpy trip, taking hours to reach Moutsouna Bay, where we were of course, the only boat. After a short lunch break, we headed alllll the way back again (this time quickly, with the wind and waves behind us) to the other side of Naxos where we found Paralia Agiassos. And stayed there. For 2 nights, having learnt our lesson.
Naxos is quite a large island, with lots to see, so we hired a car. I screamed at every corner as usual, and fell a little bit in love with the mountain villages and stunnng views. ( An important industry on Naxos were /are the marble, flint and emery mines. The emery mines have been declared to be culturally signficant - a monument to the modern inustrial history of Greece - and are preserved by the Ministry of Culture.)
Naxos is where Ariadne was abandoned by Theseus, after she had helped him escape from the Minotaur (Cur!). Luckily, she was later discovered, asleep, by the god Dionysus, who fell in love with and married her. He also threw her jewelled crown into the sky, creating the Corona Borealis constellation. True story.
We made our way to the mountain villages of Filoti, Apeiranthos with the Panagia Aperathitissa Church, and then Chalki. The church is a good example of the importance of icons - normally there is a story where a local "found' the icon, left behind by Mary, or a saint, which dictated where that place of worship needed to be built. Anyway, it was indeed a beautful church from the 18th century, with striking marble triple bell tower. The day continued with a religious flavour as we then travelled on to the Temple of Demeter (no relation to Harry Potter and the Dementers, or am I the only one who thought this?). In fact she was a lovely goddess, responsible for the harvest, grain and fertility. This temple was built from local marble in 520-530BC, not quite a full century before the Parthenon. It was quite small, but we gradually discovered that most of the temples were like this. Finally we completed the day by visiting the magnificent Temple of Apollo, situated on the peninsular near the main port of Naxos. It is in fact, only part of an unfinished temple dedicated to the god of healing, poetry, music, archery, medicine and the sun. What I would call an overachiever, others call a God. It is a popular place for sunset photos, but it was equally outstanding when we visited, and with less competition from (other) tourists, and a great finish to our 1 day on Naxos.
Temple of Apollo, Naxos
Sadly we had to keep up the momentum, and decided to meet the man-with-the-hose directly, so it was see-you-another-time Paros and hello Syros. We half motored and half sailed on a starboard tack the 28nms to Achladi Bay on Syros, where we stopped for only one night; despite it being pretty, the wind funnelled and rushed down in the bay, so more protection was required if we wanted to leave the boat at all. Next day we sailed a short distance to Parachia Finikas, a much larger bay that gave us more anchoring options and less in your face blasts of wind. Ahhh, one of my favourite places. Was it the slightly better roads? Was it the excellent tiny chandlery run by Poppy who provided a hire car, and practically everything else we needed? Was it the seaside restaurant where we celebrated Mike's birthday? No, it was the bakery. I love a good bakery, and this was the best in two seasons of sailing. Cakes, ice-creams, sandwiches, patisserie and confectionery delights, mmmm bread and cold drinks and coffee and... ..
Inside the small harbour, Finikas
We spent Mike's birthday doing something he absolutely loves, driving through and getting lost in narrow streets looking for a tourist destination, so we can then climb up in the heat to look at a church on top of a hill. The Cathedral of St George was a little bit of a let-down, but it's main charm is that it is the decoration on top of Anos Syros, the old town of Syros, built by the Venetians about 1200. Anos Syrus was blindingly bright, a maze of seemingly deserted narrow lanes weaving up and down, reminding me of the moving staircases in Hogwarts. Luckily we turned into one 'street' to find actual people, plus small shops and bars; we settled in to the one with the most breeze for a cooling drink, with magnificent views overlooking the hillside and the capital of Syros and the Cyclades, Ermoupoli. Surprisingly Mike declined the opportunity to explore the hot streets of Ermoupoli, and chose instead lunch and a swim at a popular beach, before a birthday nap and dinner.
Anos Syros
Having recieved the all important hose, Mike ordered the anchor be raised, we're off to Kythnos. I'm not happy, Syros was my new home. Mike is raising sails, singing to himself, wind is on the beam, and I'm sulking all the way. We pulled in 33nms later into Apokrisi Bay, and I think it's Apocalyptic Bay. Now, after staying here for a week, waiting for more favourable conditions, Kythnos grew on me, and it was certainly an interesting place. But the initial, strongest impression was, this is what happens when the vegetation is eaten or harvested or dug up or cut down, so nothing holds the top soil in place and it blows away. The whole island is covered by thousands - millions? - of miles of rock walls, and the land is the same colour as the rocks. Apparently the island used to grow and export barley, very hard to imagine now. And it's here that you really really get to see how desperate the islands need water, as indeed does all of Greece, having suffered several years of poor rainfall and scorching summers. (See my rant below).
Looking down on Apokrisi Bay. The road on the left is a main road...
During our 'enforced incarceration', we watched the wind whipping up the sand aka dirt along the shore and onto the August holiday makers, who were determined to enjoy themselves. So gradually I began to appreciate this unusal place, particularly as it had a very smart restaurant in the corner of the bay, where we'd sit and enjoy an Americano (hot for him) and Freddo Cappuccino (cold for me), We hired a car, the most expensive in Greece with the worst clutch, so we could run some errands and explore. I have to say I don't think I'll ever recover from the terror of the roads on Kythnos. It was the only island we actually saw a donkey being used for transport, and it made total sense, but I did enjoy exploring this amazing landscape, including the Chora - main town - in the centre of the island.
Finally we got a break, and although we could have made it easily to the mainland, we deviated to Kea, only 10nms away, weighing anchor at Paralia Polo. This was such a pretty bay, with crystal clear water, and few other boats, so even Mike elected to stop and relax for an extra day, something we hadn't yet done. Ooohh, we're on 'oliday now!
To break up the monotony of swimming, reading, swimming etc we dinghied around the corner to visit the site of the Temples of Athena and Apollo. Once upon a time this was the site of the ancient town of Karthea, our bay is called Polo after Polis, or town. Little remains except the last surving structures of the temple of the goddess Athena from the 8th century BC and the Temple of Apollo, 530BC. Situated on a small hill overlooking the sea, it's a stunning location - it's easy to see why they were built there. In the small valley below lie some evidence of previous civilisations, and an ancient theatre from the 1st century BC, where Mike tested out the acoustics with a personal performance for an audience of one.
Temple of Athena
Remnants of the Temple of Apollo
Someone with a God complex... (this is where a statue of Apollo once stood)
Ancient theatre in the shadow of the temples
Then it was time to conclude our Cycladic journey and point our bow towards the tip of mainland Greece, a mere 18nms away, waved goodbye to the islands of the Agean.
PS.
This brings me to what I kept thinking about on this part of our journey : water, us and tourists in the Greek Islands. They/we are absolutely necessary for the continued survival of many of the islands, as there are limited fishing, agricultural or other industries to keep them 'afloat'. But ..... nearly everything is brought over from the mainland on the ferries you see criss-crossing the ocean in every direction. We were advised at one island that few of them, with the exception of Naxos, had sustainable supplies of water. Bottled water for drinking comes by ferry, as do most things to sustain the communities. We certainly witnessed the unloading and trucking of masses of crates of bottled water - in single use plastic - plus food, building materials, car parts, clothing ... you name it. If the ferries stop, we were told, the islands would last 12 days.
Then add to that the tourists. Tourism pushes up land values, making it hard for locals to purchase property, while agricultural land is sold and lost to the tourism industry. Recently we read an report that 17,000 cruise ship visitors visit Santorini EVERY day. Local authorities are pushing for this to be limited this to 8,000 per day.
Greece sustained the hottest temperatures on record in 2024, with temperatures an average of 2.3 degrees Celsius higher than normal. And very little rain. So we cursed ourselves for not installing a watermaker, and unfortunately are relying heavily on bottled water to supplement our tanks, rather than trying to get water from the islands themselves.
.... yes that's a corny title, but it had to be done.
Finally it looked like we could start on the next stage of our odyssey and head for Greece. We headed out of Marmaris towards one of our favourite places, Bozburun, so we could make that our last but happy ending (sorry again, can't be helped) in Turkiye, stopping one night at the picturesque but scorchingly hot bay of Ciftlik.
Pretty but hot Ciftlik Bay
In Bozburun we met Canadian/ Venezuelan/Russian/Portugese couple Jorge and Marianna from SV Taima, anchored near us. As they were checking out the same time, we ended up having breakie together, mulling over the weather and what this meant for our journeys to Greece. In addition they shared this great story: as they were coming into the bay near us they noticed something floundering in the water; kind hearted, they slowed to check it out - it was a baby-slash-teen hawk, drowning. They managed to rescue it, wrapped it up in a towel and proceded to secure their boat. The birdling (well, older than a chick) was at first so exhausted that it could hardly accept water, but they persevered, and it became strong enough to start moving. Off came the towel. Through trial and error they discovered that Hawkey Pokey, as he became known, didn't like tuna, but loved raw steak. Just to emphasise, Jorge and Marianna now had a mini bird of prey, hopping about their small 35 foot sailboat. And as Jorge would say, pooping, don't forget the pooping. To solve this problem at night, they simply left him in the bathroom/head, placed Jorge's last straw hat over him and Hawkey Pokey went straight to sleep. They kept him and nursed him to health as long as they could, but not wishing to have a dscussion with Greek authorities about tranporting wild creatures across international borders, took him to a quiet place on shore and released him. He didn't' want to go.... and he probably could have done with a bit more help. They wanted to stay longer but had to leave.
Hawkey Pokey and Jorge
And so did we. We checked out of Turkiye for the last time, up anchored and headed off to the far away land of gyros, moussaka and mastika. And Meltemi Winds, mustn't forget that.
Our first goal for this year was to reach the Saronic Gulf, where we are now, and then transit the Corinth Canal. But before that we had to sail across through islands in the Agean. There are numerous goups of islands in Greece - the Docadonese, Cyclades, Saronic, Northern Agean, Eastern Aegean, Sporades, and the Ionian. This year we will travel through the first three areas, and the Ionian islands. But only when the winds let us. So far we have discovered that pottering around islands is but a dream, that in reality we look at the wind and waves for the next week or so and dash on, or stay put as required, sorrowfully shelving some plans and enjoying places we hadn't heard of.
Our journey took us north to 4 of the 12 islands in the Docadonese; from Symi the end of Kos for an overnight anchorage, then onto Leros, and finally Patmos. This got us as high as we had time to go (without the use of hallucinogen assistance) so we could use the winds to cross the Agean. Going into wind isn't relaxed sailing, if the waves are against you too it can be dangerous to your boat and definitely uncomfortable. Good sailing is when the wind is across your side - on the beam - or to the side behind you. The islands are not lined up conveniently like little vegemite toasts for you, so it will always be a little up/down/across, hide from the Meltemi. And the locals everywhere we went commented that they hadn't seen a year like this, with constant winds coming from the north/north west.
It was a looonggg way, at least 13nm to Symi. It was more the symbolism than the distance. Greece requires different paperwork and payments, so it was a learning experience. You can pay an agent if you want (it's mandatory in Turkiye) or DIY. How hard can it be? Just do it in the right order, and remember that a lot of offices close for lunch, reopening of course at the reasonable hour of 5pm.
Firstly, visit the immigration office in a demountable under the clocktower on one side of the port; we were a little stressed due to the North Cyprus stamps in our passport, but the officer couldn't have been more welcoming and friendly. Here we also filled in our crewlist, which was stamped stamped stamped. If you need old fashioned librarians get them from Greece or Turkey, very efficient.
After 5pm we had our turn in the customs office in middle of the port where we presented our crewlist, our passports, proof we had paid the Tepai, the Greek monthly cruising tax, boat registration etc etc, full history family tree and the souls of our children and grandchildren, paid another fee and were finally presented with our transit log. More stamping of course.
Then it was on to the further side of the port, to the Port Police. Up the steps at the side of a building, ring the doorbell and whisper the secret password, and a window will open up for you while you're balancing on one foot on the stairs so you can pass in your newly minted transit log, pay another fee, so it can be stamped. We could tell where this office was from the sweat drips on the path from previous boaties ...
Yellow customs building in Symi port
Port Police - Ring the bell on the left, wait, talk thru the window and you'd better have the exact change, or start again...
(I have since been told that the reason we don't get to go inside either the official immigration building or the port police office, doors firmly kept shut, is due to the number of refugees inside... a bit of a reality check. The islands of the Docadonese are close to, and run along side, the coast of Turkiye).
Thanks to Hawkey Pokey's eagled-eyed weather-wise bird rescuers we were aware that our very first Meltemi would arrive in 2 days. Being a month short of time, we had to move on the next morning. Symi is a very very pretty, if slightly frantically busy place, with a rich history of sponge diving, some outstanding bays and we could have spent many days exploring the island. The sponge divers were tough, like Antonis Kampourakis, who free-dived until he was 72, and reached depths of 30 metres.. but to me more importantly, in 1863, a woman, Eugenia Mastoridis, was the first person to use a diving helmet to dive in Greece. Her husband Fotis had been working with divers in Europe as a diving engineer and tried to introduce the new equipment to Symi sponge divers. They were not convinced. So he turned to his wife and she put on his diving suit with helmet and plunged into the port of Symi. Not a diver, and pregnant. Outstanding. By 1863 the use of helmets was spreading throughout the Docadonese, and numbers of divers using the equipment had reached 440 feet by 1864.
Symi snapshots including statues of Antonis and Eugenia
Leros, the island of Artemis apparently - the first place we stayed for a while, anchoring in deep protective Xirocampos Bay then moving to Pantelli Bay when the weather improved. It was also the first time we hired a car, and discovered just how bad a passenger I can really be - it's a tough gig for Mike. Even tougher when the gps insists what we are driving on is a road, not a dirt track through a quarry. In Pantelli Bay we gazed upwards at the walls and Pantelios Castle (Kastro) and stunning white windmills nearby. The windmills are are common feature in the islands, but these have been restored particularly well. Doesn't hurt to have a cool breeze, a sunset and bar overlooking the sea... Next day we visited the Castle, a Byzantine Fortress from the 11th century, built on the ruins of an ancient acropolis. There are 2 small chapels inside the castle, one of which is the Church of Panayia, the Virgin Mary, originally built in 1669, and incredibly important to the citizens of Leros. It is tucked into the side of the castle, and you'd hardly know it was there. We also toured the War Museum created inside the war tunnels near Merikia. From 1912 to 1943, Leros was under Italian control. In the 1930's the Italian's fortified the naval base of Leros, and built underground munitions storehouses and workshops. During the Battle of Leros the island underwent heavy bombardment by the Germans, and eventually lost that battle. The people of Leros returned from their hiding places in the island with only one thought - has the Church of Panayia survived? Unbelievably it was intact.
The less lauded history of Leros is that is was used a place of incarceration by the military dictatorship between 1967-1974. In the 1950's a psychiatric hospital was built to accommodate the over-flow of patients from elsewhere in Greece; since 1989 these patients have been reintegrated into the community. If we paid more attention while touring the isand by car, we would have noticed the buildings on the side of the bay in Lakki, which form a refugee camp. So, Leros has and is hosting some pretty desperate groups of people in its time.
Patmos, the Ialand of Revelation - we managed to actually sail on our trip to Patmos - some days it's impossible and we have to motor most of the way - this time though unfortunately ending up with a jammed mainsail, which continues to plague us. One day we'll get it fixed... We anchored near the port town of Skalo, in To Kyma Bay, just around the corner to avoid the the hussle, bussel (is that a word??) and wake of the ferries, lifelines of the islands. Patmos is such a pretty place. Cognizant of the weather we only stayed 2 days, but we tried as much as possible to get a feel of the island. We wandered through the sun filled meandering streets unsuccessfully ignoring the enticing shops and cafes.
Mike considers his options..
2 key sites are the Holy Monastery of St John the Theologian and Cave of the Apocalypse where John wrote the book of Revelations. The cave was, to be honest, a bit underwhelming, but is an important hsitorical or religious site regardless. Exiled by the Roman Emperor betweeen AD 81and 95, John made himself at home in a hillside cave where he wrote (or dictated) the last book of the bible, and his gospel. 1000 years later, the Byzantine Emperor granted title and land of the island to the monk Khristodoulos, to buld a fortified hilltop monastery - directly above the main temple to Artemis, thus establishing a Christian hold on the island. A few sections of the monastery are open to the publc and are beautifully presented. Of course, it's a bit of an upward hike, but well worth it. Such a pleasure exploring the inside with a cool breeze wafting around corners. There is also a well maintained and guarded musuem inside with intricate artistic and religious relics in glass cases. You know it's an important place when you see artworks and jewels gifted to the monasterty by Catherine II, aka Catherine the Great of Russia.
And so we had finally embarked on our Greek adventure, next we head across the Agean, through the Cyclades.
