Greece 2015: Aegean Sea Eastbound

Sailing a Loop in the Magical Greek Islands – Part II, Athens to Rhodos

To read about the first half of our Greek Islands adventure, see the Greece 2015 – part I: Aegean Sea Westbound post.

Day 851 – 858 – 21 – 28 Aug 2015 – Athens to Póros
Away, away from the big city of Athens and south to Póros, our first stop in the Argo-Saronic island group, just south of Athens off the Peloponnese coast. Only 25 miles and we were anchored in a little bay west of Póros town. It wasn’t the best anchorage, as it was weed over whatever and we were afraid the anchor would drag, but we seemed to do okay until the wind switched and we got a little too close to shore. The following morning, we launched Joy (our dinghy) and took a “Joy ride” over to the town, 1.5 miles away. We walked the waterfront and sat at a little cafe. We decided to bring the boat over to the Old Navy anchorage just west of the town, as there was room, holding would be better, and we’d be able to get into town more easily. So we did that and then went back to town for a gyro lunch… Yummy! I meandered around town after lunch for a few hours while Roger went back to the boat to read his new book on Greek Mythology. As I was preparing dinner I heard Roger talking to someone and it turns out our friends Taki and Iro arrived here with their grandson Aristotle. We chatted for a bit and we’ll see them tomorrow hopefully, to celebrate Ellie’s birthday.

We had a great satay stir-fry having re-provisioned with broccoli and cauliflower plus fresh beautiful mushrooms and watched the movie “Mama Mia!” with Meryl Streep. It’s a fun uplifting musical set to tunes by Abba. It was particularly fun since it was filmed on the island of Skopelos, just north of Athens in the Northern Sporades Island group. We were originally going to head up that way but decided to go south to the Saronics instead. While taking an intermission from the movie, we heard some live Greek music and vocals from ashore. We listened for a bit and I joyously danced around the perimeter of the boat, enjoying the gorgeous night view of the harbor front and town. We had a half moon, calm seas, a beautiful cool breeze, and a well-set anchor. Happiness. After we finished the movie I took a back deck shower, serenaded by the ongoing music from ashore. The music continued on for hours and I headed for bed and fell asleep with the traditional melodies dancing in my head. We’re in Greece!!!!…. So delightful and a dream being fulfilled.

Sun 23 Aug
We met up with our cruising friends again… Iro and Taki came by when they arrived in Póros and let us know that Dinos and Ellie were headed this way as well. It was Ellie’s birthday and we all went to dinner together… Our four boats plus two other nice couples. These folks have been friends and have cruised together for 35 – 40 years. How nice to have friends of such duration and closeness. We said our goodbyes after dinner, as everyone else was heading back to Athens to put their boats on the hard for the winter. We hope to meet up with this lovely group somewhere in the Greek Islands next summer again.

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Wed 26 Aug
We’re still in Póros, anchored in front of the ferry landing and harbor front, being serenaded nightly from some taverna with live music. We’re waiting for the Meltemi to calm so we can start back east to the Cyclades and continue our leisurely travels toward Rhodos and eventually Turkey. We must leave Greece no later than Oct 12th and can’t re-enter Turkey before Oct 5th, so we have a 1-week window. There is still lots to see in our remaining time in Greece. I’m definitely not in a rush to leave, but I’m also happy to be going back to Turkey for a while too!

Fri 28 Aug
Friday morning is market day in Póros, so after brekky we headed in to see what local produce delights there were to be found. Unfortunately as it turns out, not much. The market is tiny with only about a dozen local farmers with their trucks/vans and a limited variety of fruits and veggies. Still, I found leaves, tomatoes, a new variety of apples (there haven’t been any good ones lately), and better string beans than we’ve seen in quite a long time. We still had to go back to the supermarket for broccoli and a few other assorted items. We are planning to leave on Tuesday and head back across the open sea to Serifos, then Sifnos, then…. ? But then of course, just as we’ve written our plans in the sand, the tide comes up and changes everything. Iro and Taki pull up and anchor next to us. We thought everyone was headed back for Athens, but they are picking up their grandson again and will cruise for another week with him before the start of school for the season. So we go over to have tea with them in the early afternoon and learn that they are going to an uninhabited island next to Hýdra for a few days. Taki said that the harbor is solid for any wind direction, so having been in Póros long enough, we made a spur-of-the-moment decision to join them and prepared to head off at 4PM for about a 3-hour trip. We had some wind and were able to sail, with the seas behind us… Nice for a change NOT to be slogging into wind and waves!

Day 858 – 858 – 28 – 28 Aug 2015 – Póros to Dokos Island
The problem with much of the Med, and definitely with the Greek Islands, is that the water is very deep until very close to shore. It goes from 100 ft to 25 ft in no time at all, making it challenging to anchor where you aren’t too deep or too close to the rocky coastline. We set the anchor in 21 ft and thought the prevailing winds would keep us pointing away from shore. Our Greek friends joined us a half hour later, just as we got into the crystal clear water for a little swim and to check the anchor. We joined Iro and Taki on their boat for an impromptu pot luck of cheeses, cold cuts, veggies, and fresh bakery bread, followed by Greek yogurt and fruit with honey. Yum. It was a full moon and the light dancing on the water was spectacular. The winds were gusting somewhat and the boats were spinning this way and that.

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When we got back to the boat, Roger was a little concerned that the anchor hadn’t dug in quite fully and the wind direction kept us moving in all directions… possibly upsetting the anchor if the gusts were strong enough. We set the anchor alarm and hoped for the best. The alarm woke us in the middle of the night, though it didn’t seem we had dragged, just moved 180 degrees to our original position and closer than we’d like to the shore. Roger decided to stay in the cockpit so he could react quickly if we did drag as we didn’t have any leeway between rocky shore and two boats close to us. He said he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. At about 4AM our anchor came unglued and we dragged dangerously close to our friends’ boat.

We pulled the anchor and motored around the area for a half hour trying to find a suitable place to reset the anchor… We couldn’t. It was gusting more now and from several directions. The water was either too deep or too close to shore and the other boats anchored there. We decided we’d feel safer heading out and across the channel to a more protected anchorage on the coast of the Peloponnese. It was 4 miles across open waters, with whitecaps and winds over 25 knots. We arrived and had the anchor solidly set by 6:30AM and could lay down for a rest. These are the times when cruising is less fun, especially for Roger who is responsible for keeping the boat and us safe. Thanks dear!

Day 859 – 861 – 29 – 31 Aug 2015 – Dokos Island middle-of-the-night to Peloponnese coast
After a few hours of sleep, still tired and groggy, we made brekky and surveyed our new location. Good anchor set and consistent winds rather than gusts from all over… all good. We called our friends so they wouldn’t worry at our leaving in the middle of the night, and they reported that a gust overturned their dinghy and they lost (either literally or operationally, we’re not sure) their dinghy engine.

Mon 31 Aug
The winds are now blowing over 30 knots and we are SO glad to be anchored here rather than south across the channel with our friends. It’s probably awful in the bay where they are at because it’s open to the north. The winds should start to die down tonight and if so, we’ll head out early tomorrow to cross 60 miles of very exposed and open water heading for Serifos… But that could change.

Day 861 – 863 – 1 – 3 Sep 2015 – Peloponnese coast to Serifos Island

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Tuesday morning 5:30AM, It’s September already, and we left for our 60+ mile journey across open waters to Serifos. The forecast indicated calming winds and almost no wind by the time we neared the island. Wrong. We were in 25+ knots of winds and hard into it (it should have been behind the beam). We got salty and the winds didn’t start backing off until we reached Serifos. We went into the main little harbor and after a number of tries, finally got the anchor set. The location is beautiful with the Chora (main town) perched high above us and whitewashed buildings with cobalt blue trim clinging to the cliffs… postcard picture perfect! The boat anchored next to us had a German flag, but they called over to us, saying they were Kiwis (Rosemary is, married to Paolo an Italian) and invited us over for a beer. We swam over and enjoyed some conversation. They were out of fresh water and needed to go to the quay the next day. Paolo dinghied back over to where we were anchored the following day to say he was having trouble with his water system and ask Roger’s help. Based on that and the possibility of winds coming into the bay, we decided to move and tie up on the quay as well. Yuck… We are so not into the crowds, the boats tied up with only a fender width apart, the noise throughout the night… One night of that was enough and we were off the following day. At least we had a chance to take the bus up to the Chora, which was a nice little excursion with incredible views looking back to the bay. We climbed all the way up to the church on the top then had a bite of lunch at the “main square”, if you could call it that. No gyros, as we would have liked, but excellent tasty omelettes. Once back down, Roger tried to help sort out Paolo’s water problem (think he needs a new pump). Since we were at the dock anyway, we decided to go out to find a gyro for dinner. We had spotted a place on our walk back to the boat earlier in the afternoon and were able to sit at a table on the beach to enjoy our dinner. How romantic it was so sit at the harbor front in the evening… light breeze, cool and comfy, beautiful views of the bay and up the hill to the Chora. It’s one of those moments you remember because this is really what dreams are made of. How lucky we are to be able to realize our dreams here and now. And, on a smaller scale, I just love those gyros… Best sort of “fast food” to be found. After a noisy night, with next-door neighbors singing and yelling until the wee hours, we left and headed south for Sifnos. Two people were sleeping in the cockpit, and we didn’t feel bad at all to be waking them up with our departure. 🙂

Day 863 – 864 – 3 – 4 Sep 2015 – Serifos Island to Sifnos Island

Day 864 – 865 – 4 – 5 Sep 2015 – Sifnos Island to Kímolos Island
The boat was rocking like crazy this morning, but the winds were calm and we motored out of the harbor at about 9:30AM and headed 10 miles to Kímolos. The winds were light and from the WNW, so we picked a beautiful little spot on the east coast just north of Psáthi harbor. There are some rocks offshore protecting the anchorage and we explored them later in the day with snorkels and fins. We swam through arches in the rocks and then headed close to shore where the little houses were dug out of the rocks. Roger has a great eye for interesting things swimming in the water, and he found us a baby octopus as well as heaps of little fish, including pet flounders under the boat enjoying what our anchor chain was stirring up in the sand for them to eat. The wind died and it was hot below, especially with the oven on for 30 minutes for pizza… maybe not the best idea, but Friday night is date night (pizza and a movie)! We decided to eat out in the cafe (aka cockpit) and took the computer outside to watch our movie. It was sort of like being at a drive-in theater with better scenery and stars! 🙂

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Day 865 – 867 – 5 – 7 Sep 2015 – Kímolos Island to Mílos Island and Mílos bay
Saturday morning we headed out to check on two possible anchoring places for during the Meltemi, and then headed in to Mílos bay to anchor in a well-protected area. The rock formations along the way were unique and interesting, this island group was formed by a volcano. We picked up a mooring close to the queue and then thought better of it and moved down along the waterfront a ways and picked up another mooring there… Several open mooring balls so we had options. This isn’t the prettiest town we’ve seen, as apparently most of it was built in the 1800’s when refugees arrived from Crete after a failed rebellion. We had hoped to do some provisioning the next day, but none of the supermarkets were open on Sunday. We’ll head in tomorrow for our groceries and then we’ll sail back to the northeast side of the island where it was quieter and quainter.

Day 867 – 870 – 7 – 10 Sep 2015 – Mílos to Kímolos
Monday morning and we headed off to provision before leaving for either Pollónia, Polyíagos or the bottom of Kímolos Island. We checked out the options and heading back to Kímolos seemed the best choice, especially since the Meltemi winds were going to kick in again today. We anchored in 14 ft off the south coast of the island, protected from the winds and waves by an islet and reefs to our east. Although the Meltemis didn’t really kick in the way we thought they would (or perhaps we were simply that well protected from them), we stayed at this anchorage for three nights. No one was beside/behind us in case we dragged, we had a good anchor set and the seas were pretty calm.

Day 870 – 872 – 10 – 12 Sep 2015 – Kímolos to Folégandros
Only about 20 miles SW from our anchorage is Folégandros Island. We motored past Polyíagos Island, with beautifully colored rock formations. This is supposedly where the severely endangered Med monk seals hang out in rock caves. We didn’t see any, but with only about 93 in residence there, that wasn’t a surprise. The cliffs on Folégandros Island rise 300+ feet straight up. Since the winds were predicted to clock around to the southwest then southeast, we decided to head into the “main” harbor and tied up to the quay. There were two other boats there and it looked peaceful enough until two big cats muscled their way in and another monohull filled the last spot on the small pier. Eventually everyone got sorted and the pier was full.

We debated whether we would go to the Chora that evening or wait until the next day. My experience/intuition told me that it was better to go that evening because one never knows what the following day would bring and I didn’t want to miss seeing this tiny town perched high on the cliffs. I’m glad we did, as we wound up leaving the quay and anchoring the following afternoon… But I get ahead of myself here. We took the bus 3km up, up, up the hill and were dropped off at the edge of the Chora, since vehicles are not allowed in the center. We followed a windy path even higher up to a church with an amazing view of the Aegean looking west over the Chora and the terraced barren landscape of Felegrandros. The town is cute and compact, but with all the important things… Bakery, homemade ice cream shop, small supermarkets with fresh produce and plenty of restaurants. We weren’t exceptionally hungry, so we sought out the “Souvlaki Club” restaurant for a gyro and Greek salad. Roger was happy that there were table kitties to feed and pat.

Thurs 11 Aug – THE MOUSE
That night, we had an intruder board our boat… ACK!!! A mouse! Or maybe more than one. We had seen plenty of cats on the pier and I was sure there wouldn’t be any rodents. I woke up to Roger turning on lights and throwing covers this way and that. I then heard him go up the companionway. Roger saw the stowaway-want-to-be in the cockpit then he jumped (the mouse did) up and through the open windscreen towards the dinghy. I didn’t know what was going on at that point and got up bleary-eyed to investigate. Once informed, I joined Roger in trying to scare the tiny beast out from under the dinghy where we suspected he was hiding. I love mice, but having one or more on board is NOT a good thing. Not only would they make a mess of things, but they love to chew on wires, which would REALLY be a bad thing for our electronics, navigation, and other critical systems. Roger thought he might have caught a glimpse of the critter heading aft as we moved the dinghy, but couldn’t be sure. Our hope was that perhaps he kept running towards the stern and back down the lines tied ashore. The next morning we found mouse-droppings on the stove top and I was appointed to go ashore and find/buy a mousetrap. On the small and little-populated island of Folegandros, there is only one hardware store and they only had poison or a large rat trap. I had to get the trap. That afternoon there was a cross wind at the quay and a German boat came in pushing us to the side (such idiots on the water!) We decided that we’d rather take our chances at anchor in the harbor rather than deal with that and so we cast off the lines (hoping the mouse had made it off the boat) and anchored. That evening we armed the trap with peanut butter, put it under the companionway stairs, and I steeled myself for hearing a loud “snap!” during the night. None came and we didn’t see any mouse-droppings anywhere on board. That’s a good sign but not definitive evidence that our unauthorized passenger had departed. Off to Ios island today to find a good spot out of the Meltemis for a few days.

Day 872 – 882 – 12 – 22 Sep 2015 – Folégandros to Ios
We had identified several possible anchorages on Ios to sit out the strong Meltemi winds, but didn’t like the first bay due to swell, were not allowed to anchor in the main harbor (didn’t want to tie up to the quay as this is a young backpacker, disco-music playing, nudist frequented place), and the third bay seemed less protected. So we headed down to the south and final choice for anchoring. I had a good feel about that location and it panned out nicely.  The winds started picking up in the late afternoon and during the night there were gusts of up to 32 knots. We had left the rat trap in place, still hoping the little beast had departed in Folegandros, but not counting on it. Roger was up most of the night with the winds and to make sure no late arrivals anchored in front of us or too close next to us. Boats in the Med seem to be like pack animals… They want to go where everyone else is and they anchor very close by.

The next morning there were no droppings and nothing in the trap. We’re starting to get hopeful that the mouse is no longer on board. If we don’t see any indication of him and don’t hear the trap go off, we’ll consider ourselves very lucky… Lucky not to have to harm the tiny creature and lucky not to have to deal with having damage on board because of him. The weather forecast is for the winds to increase tonight and then lighten a bit, but still strong for the better part of a week, so we might be here a while. We have plenty on board so we (and the mouse, if he’s still here) won’t starve. We wound up staying on the south of Ios Island at Mangani Bay for 5 nights and then decided to head north to the harbor to tie up to the quay so we could make a trip to Santorini by ferry. There’s no decent place to anchor the boat or quay that’s really safe to tie up to in Santorini, so we thought this would be the best option. I had always wanted to visit Santorini, so I was ultra-excited that I wasn’t going to miss it… especially since we were so close. Each night while we were anchored we saw the sparkling lights of Santorini on top of the dark cliffs.

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Fri – Sun 18-20^th Sept – SANTORINI!
We took the high-speed ferry on Friday at noon, which took 35 minutes to get to the new port in Santorini. We caught a bus to Fira, the main town and began to search for our hotel. My tablet wouldn’t switch on and of course I didn’t write down the info before we left. I promised that I will ALWAYS write the info down on paper from now on. We eventually found the Markakis Villas on a quiet alley, dropped our stuff and then headed out for a walk. I wanted to see the view into the Caldera (to the volcano), and we wound up walking and walking and then continued on the path to Oia where everyone goes for the magnificent sunsets. We walked over 10 miles!

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We returned to Ios on Sunday afternoon and spent two more days on the quay. This is really a party town with music, laughter and drinking going on past 3AM. We were glad to be leaving.

Day 883 – 885 – 23 – 25 Sep 2015 – Ios to Astypalaia

After lunch we walked up to explore the little bits of castle ruins and enjoyed the panoramic views before catching the bus back in the late afternoon. Next stop, Tilos!

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Day 886 – 887 – 26 – 27 Sep 2015 – Astypalaia to Tilos
We arrived in Tilos in time to take what is likely our last swim and back-deck shower in Greece this season. Our next stops, in Syros and Rhodos, will likely be parked at the quay/dock. Tilos is a rough ragged mountainous island and we had the southern bay all to ourselves!!!

Day 887 – 895 – 26 Sep – 4 Oct 2015 – Tilos to Symi
Only 37 miles to Symi, which is tucked in along the Turkish coast. We passed Datca on the north as we came around the east side of Symi and into Symi Town harbor. What a beautiful little town with pastel houses all along the steep cliff sides. After 3 months of white and blue trim, this was something different! The harbor is a little tight with med mooring on both north and south quays. This means a high possibility of anchors crossing and pulling across each other, upsetting the anchor hold… The only thing keeping us pulled away from the concrete quay wall. It’s much better when there are laid mooring lines in the slips.

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I walked all around town, of course, exploring and “dinking around”… No goal, just enjoying the brightly colored little town. The following morning we took a walk all the way to the village on top of the hill with spectacular views down to the harbor below. A woman passed us on the top and invited us to come to her house to take pictures from her patio. They are Austrian and come to Symi a few months each year in the spring and in the fall. Their friends were just arriving, so we didn’t want to impose, but it was so nice that she gave us a glass of iced tea and invited us to stay. We worked up quite an appetite and enjoyed gyros and a Greek salad.

Although we like it here, we’re constantly worried about the boat and people not knowing how to set their anchors properly. Tomorrow we’re headed out and around to the south of the island to anchor for a few days before we cross over to Rhodos.

The bay that’s locally known as “Monastery Bay” on the south side of the island is almost entirely enclosed, so calm waters even with the wind blowing. I couldn’t believe our luck… We arrived at about noon and there was a mooring there – just one that was large enough for our boat – and we took it. So for the next four days we just hung out on that mooring and watched the world go by. By the third day we decided to venture out and put the dinghy in the water. We paddled to shore early enough that we would beat the large ferries that arrive with the hoards late morning through mid-afternoon, and enjoyed a leisurely stroll around to the monastery, church and museums. There were two little cafe/tavernas and we went in to one to get a bugata (sp? – cream pie) for Roger. It was EXCELLENT! This was as good as the fresh-from-the-oven bugatas in Ermoupolis, Syros and that’s saying a lot. So munching on the flakey pastry, we walked all the way around to the other side of the bay and up to the old windmill. There, we encountered one of the goats we’d been watching and hearing on shore. Roger fed him a few bites of the bugata (it was too big to eat the entire thing by ourselves anyway, so why not share?) and made a new friend.

Day 895 – 8xx –  4 – 9 Oct  2015 – Symi to Rhodes

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to Rhodos we go… and arrived at the Rhodos Marina just before noon. Roger did an amazing job backing into the corner slip with winds gusting to 25 knots. The bow thruster helped, but still. The marina is still under construction, but we’ve got a good secure side-tie spot, the bathrooms are new and clean, and we’ve got shore power, which means I’m updating this from the “Orange Beast”. The beast only comes out to play when we’re on shore power as he draws so much power, but then again, Roger is on his computer ALL THE TIME and although it draws less than mine, he makes up for it with the amount of time. This trip back to the US I’ll be updating the beast, so that won’t be a problem for much longer.

On Monday, we walked into town, found the port police to get our transit log stamped, meandered through the medieval city, and had a gyro and Greek salad for lunch. Although the season is almost at an end, there were tons of people. There was a cruise ship in town, which might explain the crowds. We’ll see whether it stays this busy during the course of the week. Roger wanted to head back to the boat and I meandered around during the afternoon, exploring little alleys and eventually finding the supermarket to top up our supplies. We’re going to rent a car one day while we’re here and explore the island.

Wed 7 Oct – Rhodes Island driving tour
We rented a car and mid-morning headed south to Lindos to see the acropolis and ancient ruins. Too many tourists, of course, but a nice walk up and around the temple of Athena Lindia. They’re attempting to restore some of it and the cranes detracted a bit from the view, but it was still lovely, especially the view overlooking the little harbor with turquoise waters and a few gullets anchored there.

After a nice mixed gyros, pita, and Greek salad for lunch (what else?) we headed south and then crossed the island to visit Monolithos Castle. Perched atop a rocky peak, it wasn’t all that impressive in and of itself, but still worth the visit and the view. Interesting that there were tons of little rock piles that people made, balancing one atop the other. We contributed one standing stone on top of a wall as well. J

Then on towards the castle at Kritinia, a bare shell also sitting prettily atop a steep cliff with 360° views. On the way there we stopped in the little town of Siana where we visited an olive oil factory/museum which was mostly a store for their products. We sampled several of their oils and bought the best – first press extra virgin. The MomCat said she thought Greek olive oil was better than Italian, so we’re glad we got some for future salads!

After Kritinia, we drove up the west coast to the ancient ruins of Kameros. This is the smallest of the ancient cities on Rhodes Island, but it was interesting to see despite only the ground stones and steps being intact.

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We made our way back to the marina in time to have our laundry delivered, have a bite to eat and shower, then snuggle down for the night. Tomorrow we check out of Greece and Friday, zoom, we’re off and headed back to Turkey!

We returned to the Finike Marina with plans to winter there then continue west the following year. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out the way we had envisioned and for a number of reasons, we parted ways and and ended our sailing adventures together early in 2016.

Roger, much appreciation and gratitude to you for the years we spent together, for all the sailing (and other) life adventures we shared, and for the personal growth that our relationship inspired.