Things That Go Bump in the Day

We have a favorite port just as you round the tip about half way down the coast of Turkey. It is the old Roman harbor of Kindos. We have stayed there several times before. The afternoon winds were so strong, we once again took shelter. While we were hunkering down against the strong winds, other sailboats eased in as well. One sailboat was not so lucky. With the strong winds, their anchor did not hold and they found themselves shoved up against the rocks, pinned down by the gusty winds. We jumped in our dingy to help them out. Another dingy from one of the other sailboats joined us. The husband was standing on one of the rocks desperately trying to push the boat away from the damaging rocks. I could tell that his wife was pretty clueless about what to do. We tied our two dinghies to the boat and tried to pull it off the rocks. But the wind was no match for the two small outboard motors. It was going to take something bigger. I jumped aboard to help the bewildered woman. One of the other sailboats came over and I tied a long line to the boat and told the woman to feed the line through the bracket designed to hold the rope while I went up front to use the anchor to pull the bow of the boat away. I guess the woman did not understand the significants of how important it was for the line to stay in the bracket, because when the sailboat started pulling on the line that by now had slipped out of the bracket, it pulled off ever single stanyon on that side of the boat. We did manage to get the boat off the rocks and in a safe place for the night.

The next morning we motored out of the harbor under much more favorable winds. When we were a safe distance from the harbor and shore we raised our mainsail. Just as we were turning into the wind, the boat came to a jarring stop. We hit a rock in what was suppose to be 60 feet of water. Yikes. One of the hulls was cracked all the way through and a small amount of water was coming into the bulge. The automatic pump kicked in and managed to keep the water pumped out of the boat. But with that damage, we were forced to head to Marmaris Turkey, which was about 7 hours away, and have the boat hauled out for repairs. Fortunately this is one of the best-equipped marinas in the Mediterranean. Over the next couple of weeks we got estimates, talked to the insurance company and arranged for repair work to be done. Our navigation system electronically tracks exactly where the boat goes. When the insurance appraiser came on to the boat, we showed him the navigation records along with the pilot book that normally has those kinds of obstacles carefully plotted. Evidently we were privileged to be the first ones to discover a previously uncharted rock just below the waterline. Great huh. I wonder if they will let us name the rock?

Looking for Warmer Weather

As August bleeds into September, the weather in the Ionians cools dramatically. We originally planned to sail north to Croatia. With the cooling weather, we decided instead to head south to Southern Turkey. We figured that we could sail for a couple of months more in that area where summer lingers longer into fall. So off to Turkey we head, through the Corinthian Channel and back to the Aegean Sea.

Lovely Levkas

I have been to Levkas 3 times before. We started on the east side and then spent a couple of nights on the southwestern tip of the island in the deep bay of Vasiliki. This bay is one of the top 10 windsurf spots in Europe. And no wonder; at around 2 in the afternoon, the winds go from mild to torrent in a matter of minutes. You could watch the water turn from still to whitecaps as the wind progressed across the bay. As the wind picked up, so did the windsurfers until there were literally over 100 colorful sails cutting through the water at speeds that would make a powerboat jealous. It looked from a distance like a pack of sharks with colorful painted fins frantically zipping back and forth, looking for prey. Just as quickly as the wind had come up, a couple hours later it dissolved into the sea and the windsurfers dissolved onto shore for a night of bragging and vibratos.

My favorite part of the island is the west coast. The beaches are some of the most spectacular in all of Europe. The terrain is steep and plunges just as deep into the blue sea. The cliffs look like they were sliced off with a knife covered in orange marmalade. Many of the beaches are only accessible by boat. So even during August, there are a lot of deserted beaches. We anchored out for a night in one such beach. There was no protection from the wind and sea, but the weather was calm and the holding good. We hung out most of the day until the early afternoons picked up. When they were strong enough, we raise our sails and pointed the boat to Pervezia, a nice sized town tucked safely in a deep bay, on the mainland of Greece.

Magnificent Meganisi

This Rorschach blot shaped island has more inlets and jagged coast line than any other of the Ionians. The top is especially well suited for deep anchorages. But the bays are deep and you need a lot of anchor chain to stay in the middle. So the boats are mostly anchored near the shore with a tie line to shore to keep them from swinging. We however did find a shallow enough spot right in the middle to spend the night. It is a big bay and when the night covered the bay, the stars blossomed in the sky. And all around us was a circle of mooring lights on the top of the masts of the other sailboats encircling us like a lite up lasso with us in the center. The water was like glass and little breeze all night. You could not help but jump into the inviting waters of this majestic bay.

Nothing Icky about Ithaca

This small island is almost attached to Cephalonia, separated only by a narrow channel. We stayed in the main port of Vathi, which has a deep bay with good protection from the winds and sea. It is a popular port for yachters and certainly caters to them. We refilled our water tanks with water delivered to the quay by an enterprising guy in a water truck You can get 100 liters for 6 euros. It sounds cheap but took about 24 euros to fill up our tanks. Most places provide water at no charge, but in Greece it is much more hit and miss. We are never sure when we will come across water again, so it was worth it.

Captain Corelli’s Cephalonia

Like many of the islands, Cephalonia has close ties to Italy. During WWII the Italians invaded and occupied these islands. When Italy surrendered to the allies, Germany sent troops to control the islands. But instead of turning them over peacefully the Italians turned on the Germans and fought them for seven days. Of the 9000 Italian troops, only 3000 survived. By personal order of Hitler, the remaining 3000 were lined up and brutally shot. Very few survived. I have been told that the old Greek women still wear black to honor the Italians that defended their island from the Germans. I am not sure that is actually true since old Greek women tend to always wear black, but it is a nice sediment. There was a nice movie made a couple of years ago about this incident called Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

After spending a couple of days on the south part of the island in some wonderful bays, we sailed from the port town of Argostoli to the top of the island under strong winds and big waves. At the top of the island is Fiskardho, one of the few cities in the Ionians that did not fall down during the big 1953 earthquake. As a result, it has a much more authentic feel to it. A charming little town that is now mostly restaurants and tourist shops that has been converted from old homes near the waterfront. We stayed just south of the town in a quiet bay.

Zanny Zakynthos

Our first stop is the most southern of the 7 islands, Zakynthos. We anchored out in some of the southern bays, hung out at some of the beaches and spent a few days in the main town of Zakynthos where we tie up to the town quay that encircles the huge harbor. There is plenty of room for both ferries and yachters. However it is now August and everything has gotten more crowded as Europe takes its month of August off to explore Europe. The bay is so large, I was surprised when most of the quay got filled up with bumper-to-bumper boats.

After a couple of days we head north to Nickolaos, a very small town on the northeastern corner of the islands. This town’s claim to fame are the beautiful blue caves. Trying to out do Capri’s blue grotto, the caves are indeed a beautiful deep blue but just doesn’t have the pizzazz of the famous Capri grotto. It is a very small town with a couple of restaurants, a few hotels and boat tours all owned by the same family. I guess it pays to have land past down for a dozen generations. We still enjoyed a little touristic boat ride to the caves and a stop at some high cliffs for jumping and swimming. It is so hot here in August that you just have to be in and out of the water a couple of times a day.

On the western part of the island is the famous Shipwreck Beach. Perhaps the most photographed beach in all of Greece. Beautiful white sand meets turquoise blue water with dramatic cliffs crashing down to the bay. And right in the center is a sizable ship buried half in sand. We arrived fairly early in the morning and were the first ones in the bay. The wreck looked more like a Hollywood set with the ship smack dab in the center of the beach tilting, rusting and decaying perfectly. By the time we got our anchor set, the first of the tourist boats showed up. And then the invasion began. It made D-day look like a small operation. We took a few photos, but left when the crowds got just way out of hand. I am glad we got that first glimpse of the beach without anyone but the shipwreck, and us in the morning light.