Leaving Our Mark in Greece 22 July – 26 September 2003

Whether going East in the Mediterranean or returning West, one has to go through Greece. It is strategically placed on the map and has a long history, going back to 6,000 B.C. Many wars have been fought here. You are probably instantly thinking of the Trojan Horse and the battle over Helen. But did you know about the Peloponnese War? There were actually two of them, with Sparta and Athens going at each other during the 400 BC time frame. My guidebook said Sparta won both of them. Ruling parties have changed time and again, including the Macedonians (Alexander the Great), the Romans, and the Turks, more than once. We mustn’t forget those Crusaders who kept marching through on their way to the Holy Land between the 11th and 13th centuries.

Greece is rich in mythology. One of my favorite stories is how Athens got its name. We first heard this from our guide in the Athens Acropolis, and then I found it written up in our Greek Mythology book on board. “Long ago the people who lived in this area had built up a prosperous city and desired a god to protect them. Both Poseidon and Athene wanted the honor and began to fight for it. The people suggested a more peaceful way of settling the dispute: whichever of the two gods gave them the greatest gift would be awarded the city. Poseidon, God of the Sea, went first and thrust his trident into the Acropolis rock to bring forth a salt water pool which threatened to flood the city; the people protested that their rich farmland would be spoiled and asked Athene to produce a more useful gift. She struck the rock with her spear and immediately an olive tree sprouted. They realized this fruit would provide them with oil for cooking, lighting and perfume, so awarded the city to her protection. The marks of the trident and the sacred olive tree remained for centuries.” Athene = Athens! Our guide, Maria, showed us the spot where the rock should have been.

Ruins abound and we tromped through many. I will tell about these as I take you along on our 1,260 nautical mile trip from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Corfu, and on to our last island where we checked out for Turkey.

We had spent about two months exploring Croatia and with an appropriate weather window started south for a 27 hour passage to our first Greek island, Corfu. The only problem with the trip occurred in the middle of the night when we got mixed up in the ferries coming and going between Italy and Greece. Boy was that a circus! They all travel at a speed three times ours and are so big they can’t maneuver easily. And remember, boats don’t have brakes! We kept on our toes for quite a while until things settled down again. Whew!

No problem checking in, although it became tedious going here and there to get the papers done in the proper order and remembering to smile. We had been warned that the Greek authorities could be hard to deal with and sometimes even nasty. This did not happen to be our case. Everyone did their job professionally and willingly. All vessels paid for a transit log and at every port had to take this log to the port police and have the appropriate stamps applied. Note I said “at every port” and that meant if you tied up to the town dock or a marina. If you anchored out and the mother ship never touched a dock, no documents needed to be brought out. We tied up only seven times, and I smiled my way through six stamps before we had to surrender our transit log on the way out of the country. One official told me, “No problem. Check out at next place.” In other words, he didn’t want to be bothered, but he was nice about it. Yet I missed the seventh stamp.

TEKA III had been to Greece in 1982 on her maiden voyage from San Diego to Rhodes. We kept her log handy to refer to her early voyage as we traveled along.

Altogether we left our anchor and chain marks in the sand/mud/weed of 17 islands-five in the Ionian chain on the west coast; three across the Pelopponese; eight in the Cyclades and 1 in the Dodecanese chains of the southern Aegean. We didn’t get to all by any means, saving some for the way back a few years down the road. We visited ancient Olympus, Sparta, Mystras, and Athens Acropolis as our major land explorations, and trekked over ancient pathways on some Aegean islands.

In Corfu, the Venetian Fortress on the point lit up at night provided a spectacular view from our boat anchored below. Otherwise we anchored away from Corfu town at a wide scenic bay near Gouvia while awaiting the arrival of Gary and Diana Whitney for a ten day cruise through the Ionian Islands. We started our Corfu Island adventure by renting a car and taking in the northern section of Corfu Island. Up and up and up we went towards the top of Mt Pantokrator, about 3000 feet above sea level, then meandering west and south to the seaside resort town of Palaeokastritsa, which is home to both a famous 13th century monastery and Byzantine Fortress. Denis and I had toured a bit the day before while stalling for their plane’s arrival, ending up at a 1890’s summer palace of Austria’s Empress Elizabeth. Very dazzling. The Statues of Achilles pulling the arrow out of his heel and a Spartan warrior were dynamically real looking. Both days we spent in the car became known as “Greek 101” while we got used to seeing and puzzling out the arrangements of Greek alphabet letters to make words that resembled the English word written out below. I practiced daily and over the two months got better and better. I would announce to Denis, “I can read that!” when without the English I made sense of the Greek.

On to the next island in the chain, Paxos. The anchorage had the clearest water and the most boats in one place we ever saw. Over 50, maybe 60, one night. An Italian one anchored too close and Denis told him that right off. During the afternoon and early evening his boat kept moving back and forth on his anchor line, coming closer each time. Then at dusk, he came to the bow and asked, “Es possible??” indicating it would be good for him if we cranked up and moved. Denis declined. We were there first. All this even with our flopper stopper arms out to discourage people from coming too close. But you never know.

Lefkas Island had a few of our friends already there and a “mini cruisers’ gathering” had been arranged, so we hurried on down to join in the fun. Made a run over one day to Onassis’ Island and swam at Jackie’s Beach. Some living quarters on shore but well concealed and guarded. A week after we left Lefkas a 6.2 earthquake shook everyone up. The epicenter was 25 miles north of there and our friends reported the event as feeling like they were going aground while being rocked violently up and down and sideways. We lucked out on that one.

On to Cephalonia, where “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” movie was made. Whitneys had brought that video with them, so we took an evening to view it while in the filming location. Spent some time one day via taxi checking out the caves near Sami town—Drogarati, more than 2 million years old, and one which symphonies are held in at times (similar to St George’s in Gibraltar), and Melissani. There rowboats holding maybe a dozen people are rowed around a sunken lake by local men as the sun sends light through the cave openings above, highlighting the waters of the lake.

Gary and Diana left us at Argostoli, Cephalonia. Our last Ionian island, Zakinthos, provided us with a jumping of spot for the Peloponnese mainland of Greece. Cruisers have two choices at this point--the Peloponnese or the Corinth Canal. Summer winds are northwesterly, so going south and east made sense. Besides the whole Peloponnese area looked interesting. Lots of history. We saved the Corinth Canal for the return trip.

After tying TEKA III up at Katakalon, we rented a car for a day to tour ancient Olympia, and drive through the surrounding countryside. The first Olympiad occurred in 776 BC. Runners took the word all across the known Greek world of a truce, a suspension of hostilities lasting up to three months, so all Greeks could proceed without fear to Olympia to participate and view the magnificent games held every 4 years. Today the stadium field is in place and one can sit on the grassy hillside and imagine foot races and javelin throwing. Other wise most of the site is tumbled down rocks, some giving you a sense of what they were. We really needed a tour guide, but managed o.k. with a booklet and some imagination.

Driving through the countryside we followed signs leading us to an archaeological site way on top of the hillside looking our “forever” and down to the villages way below. Many ancient places used mountain tops as they were easily defended. The road stopped where some trucks had parked. We began walking a path and workers, coming down on their lunch break, showed us a scramble up to the ridge where the 6th century BC site existed. What a view! What protection! Ruins of buildings and an outdoor theatre gave us some idea of the scope of the place. After we carefully maneuvered our way back down the rough trail and felt tough for doing so, we found there was a newer, easier, almost paved trail not too far from the car that would have taken us to the top. Oh well.

Then we drove some more and ended up at the Temple of Apollo, where the cult of the day came to worship. It is still being excavated and is covered with a huge tent like awning. Massive, but you can see the work of making large columns out of sections positioned one on top of another. Drove 200 kilometers (x .6 = miles) that day.

Back on the water we cruised 51 miles down to the Bay of Navarino (town of Pylos), which has some interesting history. “On October 20, 1827, the British, French and Russian fleets, under command of Admiral Codrington, fired at point blank range on Ibrahim Pasha’s combined Turkish, Egyptian and Tunisian fleet, sinking 53 ships and killing 6000 men, with negligible losses on the Allies’ side.” The allied bunch brazenly sailed into the mouth of that bay which had been blockaded by the other ships and began firing. For their toughness and courage, the main square in Pylos town is a beautiful treed place with many resting places out of the hot sun, called the “Three Generals’ Park. We stayed anchored there two days and climbed up the fort near the north end of the bay, Paleokastro (old walled fort) dating to the 13th century. A hot climb, but worth it to walk the crumbling walls and imagine life there at the time.

At the bottom of the first finger of the Peloponnese is Methoni. We anchored right off the ole Venetian Fort which has a Turkish eight sided tower at the end of an isthmus. This fort was a stop over point for the Crusaders on their way east. Today the fort is in ruins without any signs in English, so you have to walk and let it talk to you.

Starting up the inside of that “finger” we anchored at Koroni, but didn’t explore the town. Weather started to change and we headed on north to the town of Kalamata and tied up at the town dock.

We rented a car again, this time to drive the 36 mile squiggly road up and over to Sparta. The ravines are deep and the story goes that the ancient Spartans would, at one special place, throw over the side their babies they believed too weak or deformed to become good soldiers. At places the road narrowed and even went through some unusual tunnels carved out of the rock. An interesting ride to say the least. Sparta town left us no special feeling of ancient-ness. It is a modern town, with the old place just next to it, mostly ruins, with no signs again.

What did become an intriguing exploration came next. We drove a bit out of Sparta, following the signs for Mystras. The original castle, built on the summit of Mt Taygetus in 1249 still stands there today. We drove as far as we could, then climbed, again in the heat, to the top for the views and connecting with the past. A town grew up inside the walls and outside the walls. Many buildings in the town are open for visiting. Frescos are pale, but seeable on the monastery walls. The buildings’ red tile roofs just sparkle in the sun. The guidebook says Mystras gives a good impression of what a Byzantine city must have been like. Mystras made up for the disappointment in Sparta.

Back to Kalamata and alas, did not see one Kalamata olive, on a tree on in a store. But DeLaurentis in Pike Place Market (Seattle) certainly has them.

Untied the boat and headed to bottom of second finger, around, up the inside to Yithion (Gethion) for an overnight stop. The next morning we drifted south to the bottom of the Peloponnese’s third finger, the lovely, but windy island of Elephonisos. Stayed two nights there before making Cape Malea and starting our trek north to Athens via six more stops.

First stop: Monemvasia, a 6th century town built on a steep rock protruding into the sea, connected to land by a small land strip. It became an important sea faring power and also one of the Byzantine Empire trading centers. Only the superb church remains in the Upper Town amid the walls and ruins; while people live, work, and take care of tourists in the Lower Town, inhabited without interruption since the 6th century. Venetians and Turks occupied Monemvasia back and forth between 1400 and 1800. We recommend this stop for anyone traveling the Peloponnese by land or by sea.

Of the other five stops, Navplio, held our interest. We tied to the town quay, positioning ourselves so the sewer drains missed our boat. At times we got a pretty good whiff though. With a long and varied history, Navplio is also known as the first capital of Free Greece (1823), holding that title until Athens took that role in 1834. Looking down over the port is the Venetian Castle, Palamidi, reached by climbing 997 steps carved into the hillside, or in our case, by taxi. Several wall sections remain and we climbed all around to explore and absorb the scenery from there. Today there is no threat, but we could imagine the soldiers with bows and arrows positioned at the slits in the walls ready to fire on anyone attempting to climb the treacherous hillside and storm the fort. At one section we were highly surprised and pleased to enter a living area. Spaces for living quarters with huge round cut outs windows faced open courtyards, giving you a feeling that people lived, cooked, and had children who laughed and played there.

Athens called us for several reasons. We wanted to see the Acropolis. Our next guests were meeting us for spending some time on TEKA, and boat batteries were ready to be delivered. The main marina for Athens did not respond to our email regarding a reservation and when we phoned on two occasions, they told us, “no space.” Plan B went into action. We studied our cruising guide and decided on one; set the coordinates in the GPS; told the auto pilot to take us there; only to find out it did not exist at this time. Lots of construction, but no marina. So we went on. Tried the next one by just going inside the breakwater and calling the office on the radio. We could see many empty slots along the dock, but the “director” came on the radio and said, “No space.” So we went on. At the next place we repeated our drill. Go in and hang around until someone pays attention to you. They did and even though this marina handled mostly mega yachts, they put us up for four days, tucked back in the corner, like some orphan child. Hey, we had a spot!

From there a taxi took us to the Marriott where we met Jean and Gary Coard, friends who own and cruise in the States on “Daisy.” Together we toured the Acropolis and had a great lunch before returning to the boat for the battery delivery, which did not come until the next day. The Coards arrived at the same time as the batteries, and then we waited for the weather to cooperate before shoving off towards the Cyclades Island chain in the Aegean. At one anchorage en route to our first island, we explored the Temple of Poseidon on the cliff overlooking the sea. Built about 444 C, there are still quite a few columns standing and you can get a good idea of the temple’s size.

Our first Cycladic island, Kithnos, the main attraction is the 1 ½ hour walk from Drypodia, the island’s capital in the Middle Ages, to Hora over the ancient path connecting the two. From the port we took the bus to the picturesque red-tiled roofed Drypodia, found the trail, and headed north, looking at churches and windmills along the way. From Hora we returned to the port by another bus. Rock walls built by many hands long ago lined the path. Donkeys eyed you carefully, from their enclosed area, or tied up at a fence post waiting their master to return. A delightful way to experience the island.

At Siros we chose a small port with protection from the winds and by evening were joined by two sailboats. On shore we met a local man, Georges, who told us which restaurant to have dinner and view sunset. We met so many people in Greece who did not hesitate to start conversations with us and spoke good English. He is only one example.

On the way to Delos, birthplace of Apollo and a very sacred place, we went into a special anchorage in Rinia. Denis says this is his favorite. It gave us an opportunity to go ashore and poke around some ruins and imagine the port it used to be. I picked up a special rock and seashell here.

Delos, a 2500 BC settlement, offers for the tourist a mumble jumble of rocks. With a map you follow the paths and occasionally find something in English to let you know where you are in your small guide pamphlet. We definitely needed a guide there. People coming in by day boat from Mikonos had guides, speaking several different languages, but were probably arranged back in port before coming to Delos. The museum had some attractive displays, from pottery to large statues to jewelry. Of great interest were nine (of original 16) large marble guard lions on pedestals lining the walkway near the lake. They all had their mouths wide open in a menacing growl. They belong to the end of 7th century BC. Also some of the homes had mosaic floors in good condition. It looked as if they were still excavating the site.

Mikonos is a short distance from Delos. We anchored in a small harbor by ourselves and dinghied in to walk around, visit the famous windmills on the waterfront, take pictures of the huge pelicans that live alongside the harbor, watch the many people coming and going and checking each other out. Mikonos is a renown party place, especially popular for the gay population.

At Paros we did another ancient walk, from Lefkes to Marpissa. This time we took snacks from the bakery in town and I even sat down in the middle of the old stone walkway to eat my spinach pie and groove. More rock walls, distant views, churches, and of course windmills. If only those rocks could talk, the ones lining the walk, or those making up the walk. Were the people wearing footwear, or barefoot? Riding or walking?

A weather change sent us scrambling to the next island, Naxos, for protection from the upcoming “meltemi” winds. We actually stayed there eight full days, finally leaving ready or not on day nine. Anchored at first, then went into the marina so the boat would be safe and we could rent a car and do some land stuff here too. Met a young lady from the States, Kate, doing graduate fellowship work in Art History. She went with Denis and me to the Cathedral in the Paleokastro, old walled part of town. It proved interesting to have her along to point things out as medieval art is her forte.

Renting a car once again, we drove part of the interior of Naxos. The church at our lunch stop, Apiranthos, had the most unusual silver coverings over their painting, with cut outs for faces. This place had the most we had seen in Greece. Very striking. We enjoyed the ruins of Temple of Demeter, with its valuable information posted all along the ruins in English explaining what you were seeing. From there Denis decided to take a back road, and was it ever a back road, but we made it.

We stopped at Vallindras Distillery to learn about the liqueur they make from citron leaves and grape skins. We tasted some and purchased a bottle of that and a bottle of marmalade for the boat. After that we visited the Panagia Drosiani in Moni, one of the oldest (going back to records in 1555) and most important churches in the Balkans. Panagia means “our Lady.” Many frescoes survived, but are very light in color now. If you stand very still and stare at them, they do tend to come into focus after a few minutes. An eerie feeling.

An opportunity to see Santorini (Thira) without taking TEKA boat in the rough weather came about when we purchased tickets for the Blue Star Ferry right out of Naxos harbor. Every day at 12:45 this super ferry pulled out for a two hour run to Santorini. We decided to go one day and spend two nights, then return on the late afternoon ferry. Getting off the ferry we met a man who drove us to one of his guesthouses north of Fira town and we were not disappointed. The apartment, along with many others, looked down the 1,000 feet to the water below. It felt like “living on the edge.” I could hardly move myself from the window setting to climb up to the open veranda on top of his place to have an even better view.

The next day we spent in a rental car, first driving to the southwest end to the ruins of ancient Akrotiri which they are still working on. No English explanation around, and I felt disconnected between what was being dug up and all the steel scaffolding in place holding up the overhead protection. Then we drove to the marina on the south side and were disappointed. Away from everything and mostly filled with fishing boats and a possibility there would not be room for our boat should we have brought her. Before our day of touring ended we visited one winery, a beach and then parked to stroll through Fira town.

Our last morning there I talked everyone into walking part way to Oia at the other end of the island. We had about three hours until we had to leave the room, so took cameras and hit the trail. Very windy up on the ridge that morning. Walked first to the lookout place where people come to take sunset pictures, then started down along the back side of the ridge to the main road where we caught a bus for the last part of the trip. Not enough time and energy to make the last hour of walking, and still see Oia, and then get back before check out time. After 30 minutes in town, looked for a taxi for quick return to room, but ended up taking the bus. That made us about 20 minutes late, but we were forgiven. Lunch on the upper deck where we had drinks both nights and watched things happen below us at other bungalow balconies, or down the road, or on the water way below. The owner showed up to chauffeur us back to the ferry.

The ride back showed us the wind and waves were still “up,” especially when we had to turn to Naxos harbor and have the waves broadside. Even the ferry felt it. The channel between Naxos and Paros had a funneling effect on the 25-30 knot wind. Waves building up to the breakwater at Naxos were 6 feet and over. At this rate we would have our work cut out for us and those flopper stoppers.

Sunday morning we walked the Coards over to the Blue Star Ferry for the Athens bound ferry. There they would make a new plan for their last week. We hoped to leave the next day for points south and east as needed to be in Marmaris Friday, September 26.j

Monday morning we left the dock at 0800; put the poles into position and foppper stoppers in the water and headed past the breakwater. Even though we could quarter the waves at first, it was uncomfortable to see them just coming and coming right at you. We had to go into them for a good thirty minutes before we could turn and go downwind. A reef with sloshing waves all around and over it needed to be avoided at all costs. So we did what we had to do. Once downwind the waves rode on the stern and helped push us along. At the bottom of Naxos we turned and got into the lee and out of most of the wind. But once we sprung out on the other side and headed to Amorgos, we got more wind and waves. Nothing like Naxos harbor though.

We chose to go on to Astipalaia Island, and a protected cove—Vathi. Once anchored in there one wouldn’t know the wind was blowing anywhere. A false feeling as we knew we had to go back out in the morning. Had a 10 hour day and needed a quiet place to rest.

Next day up early and out before things got too windy. This passage would be our last open one until Turkey. Passed without stopping at Niseros, with destination the southwest side of Simi. A nice cove there with a nice looking monastery provided shelter for 15 boats. Another 10 hour day. We stayed there until time to go to Simi town at the other end of the island and find the authorities to check out of Greece. Same as checking in, go here and there and in proper order and smile a lot. They took our transit log, with all the stamps I so carefully collected. Denis asked them for a photocopy for our records. They obliged, after some coaxing and more smiling.

Back to the monastery for a last night. Up early and pointed the bow to Turkey, a 35 mile journey to Marmaris, final destination for Cruising Season 2003 and winter home for TEKA III.

We followed TEKA III’s other journey and stopped at nine of her previous places. However, we managed not to go aground as she did, three times, in her visit to Greece in summer of l982.

The End