June 2002 - Seascape cruise of the Dodecanese Islands off the coast of Turkey

aboard the 50-foot sailing yacht Angelina

Day 1 - To Vathi on the island of Kalimnos

The outline map of Greece on the left shows where the Dodecanese Islands are just off the coast of Turkey.

_________________________________________

Yesterday flew to Athens via Amsterdam.  Got to the hotel around 4pm, but was too tired to do anything and slept nearly through until I had to get up at 3:15am today to catch the plan to Kos.

Arrived Kos only to discover I didn't have all the information.  Got saved by Vlad, Brant and Adriane also coming for the trip and shared a cab from the airport into the town of Kos.

After breakfast at the Flamingo Bar (touristy and the designated meeting place), Brant and I toured the castle on the point and the cultural museum while Vlad and Adriane slept on a beach.  The boats arrived but needed a couple of hours to clear customs & etc.

Left Kos later than expected but got a nice afternoon sail anyway.  10-20 knots, but shifty NW-ish.  We tried, but couldn't make it North of N. Pserimos and ended up going south of it instead.  Turned north to go between Pserimos and Ns Plati, but the wind got too much on the nose, so we powered the rest of the way to Vathi, a small village on Kalimnos.

The cove at Vathi is amazingly tight, less that 100m wide with vertical walls on either side.  The north side has goats!

Tonight we eat at Popy's where the matriarch sets a special table for her Seascape friends.  We got here to late or we would have had a chance to watch her make dolmades.

A ketch pulled in to late to get a place at the quay and had to anchor out.  It looks like Darwin's bigger brother - very similar shaped hull, but the wheelhouse is split in 2 parts.  Very nicely kept and from Nassau.

The more detailed map below shows the Dodecanese Islands up close.

Fun facts:

Our boats and crews are a truly international lot and Ray, our skipper, flies four flags for our crew:

Angelina -

Vasylis -

Anna Maria -

Day 2 - To Pandeli on the island of Leros

Up at 6:45 this morning.  Gorgeous light quality that got me out of bed, climbing the hills and wondering the streets, camera in hand, for over an hour and a half.  Should have great shots of whitewashed buildings, quaint harbor and local flora.

The trip to Leros started under power and we didn't get wind until half way there.  We got wind curving around the south end of the island, moving us from a beam to a broad reach until we got just outside the harbor.  A fine sail indeed.

Once tied up with the other boat alongside, we rented mopeds to tour the island.  You get them without gas and have to immediately find gas before going on.  Not an easy trick given a not-to-scale map and windy, narrow streets.  A very white-knuckle day negotiating narrow streets and roads, on steep hills, with no rails and hectic traffic, but we managed with only minor mishaps.

First stop was an incredible little church built on a rock, 75 yards from shore, and accessible via a small causeway.  Next we went looking for Gourna and missed it, but found Likka only to discover there wasn't much to it.  We went looking for an ancient fort but got lost due to my poor navigation (and lack of an accurate map) and ended up at the dump instead.  From there we tried our luck at the castle here in Pandeli.  No luck there, as it is closed afternoons except Wednesdays and weekends.  So, we retired to Pserpouta's Taverna on the beach for beers.

A beer and a hot shower later it was time for dinner, at the same taverna.  Afterward, most of the crew went on to the Savana Bar which has some sort of flaming drink as its specialty.

Day 3 - To Island of Marathi

Morning ashore with a noon departure gave time to putter about some more.  Rode back up to the castle and it was open early since then cleaning lady was there.   The church was incredible - icons and stuff all over.  The museum was similarly quite good.  The castle itself seemed to be mostly low buildings and walls on top of a very steep hill and the center was inaccessible because it was a military installation of some sort.

An amazingly greasy ham and cheese omelet at the place with the shower then waiting around for a late 1pm departure.

Motored north along the east side of Leros until we finally got some wind.  Close-hauled on one tack for most of the afternoon until we tried going between Lipsoi and Aspro, a small collection of rocks to the northeast.  We tacked back and forth to make it through and not go around to the east.  Wind from the northwest meant it was exactly where we were trying to go between Arki and Marathi.

Kiwi Sharon at the helm for glorious sailing! (between Leros and Marathi)

Got a call from Anna Maria to indicate Arki was filling up so dumped the sails and cranked up the engine.  Half an hour later they told us to head for Marathi instead as the water tanker was headed for Arki and all the yachts would be put out to make room.  The tanker was still in Marathi when we got there, so was swung on the hook until it left.  They put two fire hoses ashore and across the beach to each of the tavernas and filled their tanks with much shouting and waving of arms.

We re-anchored and ran a line ashore (me and Vlad) then Ray set up a pulley system for the dingy and Diane rafted Vasylis to starboard.

Amazingly the island has only seasonal population and two tavernas.  It is a tourist destination for day boats from the bigger islands and for yachties.

Sunset through the ruins and a little chapel then settled in for the standard 4-hour dinner and drinks.  The goats on the island run for cover as 7 or 8 of us order goat for dinner.  Quite delicious.

Day 4 - To Grikos on the Island of Patmos

No wind.  Motored to Grikos on Patmos.  We all rented scooters and headed off to Skala for shopping.  T-shirts and small stuff for gifts and a necklace for Jewels.  Much later a chart of the Dodecanese for myself.

Linda has huge difficulty with the rented scooter and asks for me to give her a ride up to Chora to see the road conditions for a later trip to a restaurant with dancing.  She never showed up (apparently she'd been accused of shoplifting at a jewelry store) and so Angie came instead  All of this was moot as the restaurant was closed, so we had Italian right next to the boat instead.

Day 5  - To Island of Arki

The day begins with a caravan of scooters back to Chora for breakfast and a tour of the monastery.  Hapless Linda got separated from the group and lost.  Incredible museum in the monastery with great icons and a 6th century text.  Camera conked out and may need a new battery, so went to Skala in search.  No luck.

Back to the boat by noon to move from Grikos to Skala for water, then on at 2pm to motor to Arki.  I drove the boat all day except the moorings.

We all sat in the cockpit while Vlad made 1 batch after another of sangria - 4 in all.  Dinner at the taverna from 8:30 to 11 (a short one), then called Jewels and left a message.

Day 6 - Island of Lipsi

Started the day by calling Jewels for as long as the card lasted - maybe 8 or 10 minutes.  Grabbed the camera and headed for the top of the hill through goat pastures.  Could see Agathonis in the distance from the top of the hill (about 11 miles away).  After a quick breakfast we were set to go at 10.

Raising the anchor turned into quite an adventure.  Every boat that arrived after us yesterday had crossed our anchor chain with theirs.  When we hauled up ours we got another anchor and chain with it.  Lots of hollering and shouting, drag the dingy around to the bow, wrestling with the various bits of metal and chain, trying to lose a finger, then finally sorted it all out and under way.  Ray lost his watch in the process and I tried to convince him it was an offering o the gods in trade for not losing any fingers.

Motored southwest past Fefoulia then the wind picked up to 10+ knots from the south-southeast.  Of course, the only southerly wind would be on a day we wanted to go south.  Sailed for about an hour and a half until the wind ran out then motored the last mile to Khalavra.  Maybe 1/2 mile long, it sports a lovely place to snorkel.

Swam through a cave in the rock, then climbed up to jump the 30-35 feet into similar depth water.  Only Deanne joined me and Vlad chickened out after climbing up.  A small cut on my hand (from climbing on sharp rocks) proves I did the deed.

After, lunch aboard Vasyllis with all but those that went with Anna Maria to Levitha (Kiwi and Yoga Sharon and Brad).  Dessert of bananas flambe by Vlad.

Finished the afternoon with 30 minute motor to Lipsi to moor for the night.  The island of a hundred churches (plus Hagen Das and Internet).

Sitting at a taverna at Lipsi:

Day 7 - To Island of Leros.

First stop was a small island just to the north of Leros for a quiet place to swim.  There isn't all that much too see when you snorkel as there is virtually no life in the water.  After that an uneventful afternoon of motor-sailing, down the west coast of Leros and through the impressive mouth of the bay into Leros.  Ray tells us that the story of the movie The Guns of Navarone was about WWII events here as this was the best deep natural harbor in the islands.

Big dinner out as a group at a restaurant with live Greek music and dancing (both traditional Greek dancing by one of the waiters, and drunken group dancing by a bunch of rowdy sailors.  Actually Diane is quite good.)  The Seascape gang really knows how to party!

Day 8 - To Athens

The whole group except Angie traveled on the 10:30 flight from Leros to Athens.  Vlad and Brant went on to Rome. 

I went to the permanent flea market in the Plaka neighborhood to find an icon and visited a cathedral that was being restored.  After a day of rest and sight-seeing we all met at Dionysus Restaurant in the shadow of the Acropolis (shown in bondage on the right) for our final dinner together.

Copyright © 2000-2006 Chris Powell. All rights reserved.