This has been a most unusual cruise, mainly due to the unusual weather pattern we have experienced this spring and early summer. Last year, for example (and we left kemer at a similar time) we had the end of the (winter) southerly winds to carry us northwards, with little or no rain and very warm temperatures. Then in early June the prevailing summer northerlies set in to carry us southwards again. Perfect!
This year, we started with gales in Kekover Roads and head winds to Marmaris (see last report). This has not changed. We have been as far north as Khalkidhiki on the north coast of the Aegean during which time we have had a mixture of cool showery weather with some strong wind – or no wind – but always “on the nose”. Consequently, at the time of writing this, we have travelled almost 1200 nautical miles since leaving Kemer, and have sailed very little but used the engine for 178 hours!
Our objective for the early summer cruise was to stay on the (Greek) islands as much as possible, visiting some of the anchorages we missed during last years cruise, and to get further – to the Greek mainland of Thessaloniki and Khalkidhiki.
In Marmaris, Claudia did the needed amendment to our sun awning, and we spent an enjoyable few days with our friends Tony and Jan from Red Marlin. The weather was hot. We decide to leave on 11th May and so on the previous day set about paying outstanding bills to the marina. The office was a shambles with only one staff member to deal with everything, and so just to pay for a few days electric and water usage it took 3 hours in the office!
Anyway, we got away as planned and headed for Symi, 35 miles away, to check-in to Greece. The sea was flat and the winds either calm or light north westerly. We motored all the way and arrived early enough to go through the painless check-in. With our Transit Log stamped we are free to cruise anywhere in Greek waters. As EU citizens and EU (British) registered boat all of this is unnecessary and contrary to EU law, but you just smile and go through the process!
The next day we decided to make for the island of Leros, and motored on more flat seas. By now our fuel was getting low and so a minor course change to Kos Marina on they way enabled us to take on 195 litres to refill the tank. After only 20 minutes we were off again directly into the slight headwind, to make the anchorage on the south of Leros, Xerokambos. This was a place we visited with Tony and Jan last year when we took a taxi from Lakki to this bay to have a wonderful traditional Greek lunch at the taverna on the shore. To be recommended.
Our next plan was to go to Kusadasi to meet our Swedish friends, Lars and Maud who wintered their boat Divina Remi there. We spent an enjoyable couple of days with them, but sadly they are giving up sailing and have put the boat up for sale. We will miss them on the sailing circuit but will see them soon when we visit them in Sweden in July; something we are now looking forward to very much.
Oh dear, more bad weather in the offing for a couple of days later meant a quick dash to Ayvalik (Turkey) calling to the anchorage at Egri for an overnight stop on the way. The second leg to Ayvalik was on a sea as smooth as we have ever seen. The calm before the storm perhaps?
The storm came 2 days later and lasted for 4 days during which time we recorded wind speeds of 52, yes 52 knots. At that time the mean wind was a severe gale Force 9 at about 45 knots. Were we glad we were tied up in a marina even though we suffered some slight superficial damage rubbing against the adjacent motorboat.
Ayvalik is a pleasant town; traditionally Turkish and we enjoyed a lovely meal in one of the waterside restaurants. Our enforced time there enabled us to hire a car and do some sightseeing, taking in Pergamum and Troy.
The big change in Turkey vis-à-vis their monument sites is the level of charging to get in. Rather than being free or a nominal charge, the Turks have learned that there is money to be made and so charges are at par with other countries now. Not unreasonable given the importance and quality of many of the sites.
Pergamum is perched on the hilltop above the town of Bergama and was originally settled by the Aeolian Greeks in the 8th century BC. The site is quite dramatic and the Temple of Trajan and the Theatre from the 3rd century are impressive. For us though it was the walkway on the terrace which we found most spectacular being so well preserved. There is much more that could be excavated here as much is evident below the surface that can be seen but not open. Down in Bergama itself we stopped at a town café for lunch (simple but nice) and a walk around the ruined fort, which later became a church and is mentioned in the Book of Revelations. The construction is massive but ruined nonetheless.
The next day it was off to Troy, a long drive to the north over some of the worst roads we have travelled in Turkey. From Troy you can see the Dardanelles in the distance but we didn’t drive that far as by the time we had visited Troy it was time to head back as we wanted to call in to Assos on the way back.
Troy was better than we had expected although without the excellent information boards at each location it would have been impossible to understand as there are 9 levels to consider where the site has been overlaid by new construction from 4000 BC through to AD 300. The reconstructed horse is a bit “tacky” but of course is an essential part of the story. One wonders how anyone could be deceived by it?
On the 23rd May we finally got out of Ayvalik and found ourselves motoring again in a flat calm! That’s the Med for you – either no wind or too much wind! A long leg at 80 miles we were glad to get into the chosen anchorage, Ormos Kondia on the south coast of the Greek island of Limnos. Being alone it was perfect peace and we had a good night at anchor after our first BBQ on board. We had been listening to the exchanges on the VHF during our passage to Limnos between Artemis, Alchemy and (a boat we didn’t know) Cosmos Marina, even though we couldn’t get them to hear us. The pilot book understates Limnos, which we found to be delightful. Green, rolling countryside and plenty of safe anchorages, and although Marini is presently having lots of work done to the streets causing a lot of dust, it is a great place to just sit in a taverna drinking Oozo and watching the goings on in the harbour.
From Limnos another longish passage (53 miles) took us to on the S.W. side of (the middle of the “3 Fingers” of Greece). From here we travelled up the eastern seaboard of to one of the most delightful anchorages we have visited this year – an inlet by the name of Ormos Kriftos is totally enclosed from the open sea and has nothing other than a couple of very nice private houses. Without tavernas or other facilities you can always rely on the place being deserted, and so it was. Wonderful!
From Limnos another longish passage (53 miles) took us to on the S.W. side of (the middle of the “3 Fingers” of Greece). From here we travelled up the eastern seaboard of to one of the most delightful anchorages we have visited this year – an inlet by the name of Ormos Kriftos is totally enclosed from the open sea and has nothing other than a couple of very nice private houses. Without tavernas or other facilities you can always rely on the place being deserted, and so it was. Wonderful!
The next day we set off early to cruise down the eastern finger which contains Mount Athos, to view the monasteries from seaward. Access to the peninsular is forbidden to women and is also very restricted for visiting men, with only a handful of permits issued at any one time. Even cruising down the coast is restricted if the vessel has a woman on board, requiring the course to be at least 1 mile off shore. Ridiculous in modern times, but there you are! We ignored the 1 mile restriction and managed about 75% of the passage before a patrol boat came out to us and ushered us further offshore and even instructed me (Ray) to put a shirt on!! Can you believe it? The conclusion of the passage was to return to the anchorage at Porto Koufos where we needed to get fuel. Our intention of hiring a car to do some touring was aborted by forecasts of further thunderstorms and high winds and so we decided to get back over to the Turkish side before the weather deteriorated. An attempt by the gremlins to prevent us leaving Porto Koufos came to light when we came to lift the anchor which we found to be fouled by a ground chain used for local moorings. It took 2 hours of me in the water and Sandra on deck struggling to free our anchor from the chain, and just when we were prepared to get help, we managed to get ourselves free and get underway to Limnos which by now required an entry in the dark. We arrived about 2300 hours without incident and were glad to get our head down and some sleep. No rest for the wicked, we did our morning chores ashore and then left for an 80 mile leg to the shelter of Ayvalik again on the Turkish coast, again arriving in the dark.
We met with Gus and Carol in Bademli Limani which has natural hot springs, and spent a great evening with them, including a BBQ dinner on board their beautiful boat “Indigo”, and later in the week (in Samos) met with Tony who was sailing Red Marlin single handed whilst Jan is visiting her sister in Canada. We got stuck in Samos with high winds which just went on and on – and at 33 Euro a night proved to be an expensive stop over! So, after 8 days in the marina we finally left and made our way southwards to Marmaris.
Some fast downwind sailing in winds from the north, varying in strength from 15 to 30 knots, had us reaching 9.2 knots as we passed the north end of Kos. As soon as we rounded the Datca peninsular at Knidos both the wind and the sea swell disappeared and a quiet calm which we had not experienced for a while ensued. On arrival in the anchorage at Keci Buku we found a whole host of boats we knew from Marmaris and Kemer all enjoying the quiet conditions rather than fighting the strong winds further west and north. I think they were right!
After some deserved rest we continued on to Marmaris to lay-up Stratagem for a couple of months while we returned home to the UK to see family. We have completed over 1200 miles this cruise and are left wondering if it was all worth it. For sure we have seen some lovely places but the weather has intervened too much, making the schedule rather hectic. We are voting for a more relaxed autumn cruise; we shall see.
