6/8 Rhodes What a busy port. Our calls to the Port Authority on channel 16 were not answered and
we spent 45 minutes going around the 3 harbors here shouting to other boats and people on shore asking if they knew where Customs
was. We finally gave up and anchored in front of a "No Anchoring" sign and headed for shore to clear
in. We had been up since 5:00 a.m. and were really anxious to get it over with. Trips to three offices, spread
across the city of course, and starting with the one we needed to end with - we finally cleared in to Greece. When we
cleared in to Croatia last year they were very upset because we had tied to the city dock and walked to Customs. We
actually had to move to the proper place on the wall. In Greece, we anchored and dinghied in. The Port Police
told us it was fine where we were anchored as long as we were out of the way of the cruiseships. After clearing in we
went back to the boat for a nap.
6/9 We did our tourist thing today. We went to the Archeological Museum,
the Palace of the Knights (actually re-done by Mussolini in the 1930's), and walked down the Street of Knights.
It appears the Knights of St John were here too. The wall surrounding the city is the largest we have ever seen.
It is 2 1/2 miles long and 40' thick. It is "arguably" (quote from our guidebook. Doesn't sound convincing)
the oldest, continuously inhabited city in Europe. There are 12 gates in the wall. After touring the Old Town we took
a trolley around the city and up to the remains of an Acropolis. This is the busiest city we have been in this year.
There are cruiseships constantly coming and going. They have a beautiful SAND (the norm is rock) beach with pretty,
clear water. This appears to be quite a tourist hotspot. Time to go.
6/10 Today was spent on errands.
I have suddenly discovered that I enjoy crossword puzzles and the one book I have is almost full (besides the fact that I
have hit the difficult section). After directions from 6 people we finally found the bookstore. (And this by people
who managed to cross the Atlantic and hit two different tiny islands). There aren't a lot of street signs in Greece.
The Old Town has 200 streets with no name. In that section you can orient yourself by the names of the different gates.
Anyway, no crossword book. I would have been very surprised to find one but I'm an eternal optimist. We then cleared
out with the Port Police and walked to the other end of town to a hardware store for a bolt. We went back to the
boat and Glenn made a couple of trips back and forth with the dinghy buying fuel and oil. There was no room to bring
the boat in and the fuel is delivered by truck. Don't say our life isn't exciting.
6/11 5:30 a.m. and
we're off. The wind is lighter in the morning and builds up as the day progresses. Since it is generally against
us, we have taken to this morning schedule. It ended up staying so mild today we took advantage and traveled 89 miles
and put the anchor down at 8:15 p.m. in the last bit of light.
6/12 Again no wind so we slept in and left
at 7:00. 55 miles and we anchored at 4:20. We are at the island of Ios and will stay here tomorrow as the winds
are supposed to get very high.
6/14 Up at 5:00 and off to Sifnos. We got in at 1:30, cleared in with
the Port Police (Greece is the only country that requires us to clear in at every port that has Port Police). We walked
the street along the water - the town - and hit another bookstore. No crossword puzzle book but we did get a good hiking
map of the island and the bus schedule.
6/15 Today we are off by bus to the main town of Apollonia.
From there we will hike to Kastro on the coast. A town with an ancient wall! The island is full of hiking trails
laid in 600 B.C. made out of marble and slate and lined with rock walls. They were the original walking routes for getting
around the island. It is amazing what good shape they're in. The island has a beautiful greenish slate that is
used in walkways and walls throughout. We walked around Kastro (castle), sat in the only available shade under
an archway and ate our lunch. We decided to walk back to Apollonia instead of waiting 1 1/2 hours for the bus.
This was a trip of about 2 miles. Well, it hit 95 degrees. It was a miserable walk back. I actually had
to lay down on a wall under one of the 10 trees on the island. We then had a 2 hour wait for the bus back to Kamares
where our boat is. All of the stores were closed. The stores are closed from 2-5 here and they are smart to do
so. It is unseasonably hot here. Even the Greeks are complaining. We sat under a vine in a restaurant and
had iced coffee while we waited. It was good! I was so hot when we got back to the boat I actually went in the
water - and it's only June. Being from Florida I like my water warm. The water is beautiful and clear here in
the southern islands and in the past few days it has really warmed up. These islands, the Cyclades, are much prettier
than the northern ones we were in last year. This is more like what I expected from Greece.
6/16
We took 2 buses today to hike along the coast. The scenery was beautiful and we had a SLIGHT breeze since we were along
the water. But it is just too hot to be enjoyable. It was 99 degrees in Athens today and I wouldn't be surprised
if it was that hot here. Even with the heat we have enjoyed this island more than any other Greek island. You
can get here by ferry from Athens and I highly recommend it. (If you can't make it to Turkey, that is).
6/17-18
Off to the island of Serifos. This is not as pretty as Sifnos but we did manage to take a nice 3 mile hike up 500 feet
from the harbor to the top of the main town where there was a -------CHURCH! The town seemed practically deserted.
We only saw about 6 locals the entire time we walked through the town. It is not a tourist town at all. It has
one restaurant and that's it. It's nice to be in a typical Greek town. It's just as hot today but there is a really
nice breeze and that made it a nice hike. We were speaking to one of the Port Authority police about the new austerity
measures in Greece and he told us that his salary was cut from 1300 to 1100 euros per month. He rents a 55 sq meter
house for 350 euros per month. He works 6 days a week and sometimes 7 in the summer. I absolutely can't figure
out why the Greek government is at such a shortage. As I mentioned their government buildings are old, un airconditioned
and they certainly don't overpay. There is a total of 35% tax on restaurant meals by the time the variety of taxes are
added up. Food and meals out are not that cheap here.
6/19-20 Aeigina We were at this island last
year. This is where we based our trip to Athens. We came here basically to fuel as it isn't available at most
islands. Happy Father's Day to everyone. We called all of our children on Skype and it was nice to speak to them.
Our 2 year old grandson, Hugh, still hasn't quite figured out how his grandparents manage to get in that screen.
He keeps looking behind the computer. I was going to take Glenn out to dinner and a movie and send the bill to the kids
but the theater here doesn't open until next month. The anchorage here is so rough that he actually wasn't hungry for
dinner. So we ended up with egg salad sandwhiches and melon. I know how to treat the boy right.
6/21
We moved 12 miles across the water to a different anchorage on the Peloponnese mainland and what a difference.
It was perfectly calm. We took a walk along the beach and found a dirt road with a sign that said Ancient Theatre.
So, of course, we took it. It was small but in good shape. We continued our walk for about a half hour and we
were traveling among orange groves the entire way. This entire town appears to be new. All of the buildings on
the beach and the houses along this road are new and fancier than your average Greek sugar cube from the islands. There
were thousands and thousands of oranges on our walk that looked as if they were ready to be picked and quite a few on
the ground. Well we were thirsty and the next thing I knew Glenn was pulling an orange off a tree. I don't know
what has gotten in to him in his old age, he just flaunts the law. We ended up eating 2 oranges each and split a tangerine.
I felt that I was okay as I didn't pick any of them. I was just nervous that a farmer would come out and want to shake
our hand. Our goose would be cooked. We walked across to another bay, looked at the beach and walked back.
It was really a pleasant walk.
6/22 Up bright and early as we have 25 miles to the Corinth Canal, 1 1/2 hours
through there and then 22 miles to the next anchorage. If the canal was closed because of traffice coming our way we
could be delayed another 1 1/2 hours. So we were on a tight schedule. We arrived at the canal, bustled in to the
office to pay our $200 transit fee to find out that the canal was closed for repairs until 5:00. I was at the helm when
we tied up at the wall (not my favorite thing to do) and had to get one engine up to 1800 rpm's to get our butt over.
There was a 3 knot current that kept trying to swing it out. I felt good about that accomplishment. Each tie up
is a different experience. So we sat for hours and then on through the canal. Now we planned to just anchor off
the beach as we didn't have time to make it to the anchorage we had planned on. We came out of the quiet canal to be
hit with 30 KT winds and waves to 10 feet coming from a different direction than had been predicted. Scratch the beach
anchorage. We had to zigzag (OK, tack) as the waves were coming at our side if we went straight. We went over
to a small city harbor. It took 45 minutes to go one mile and it was tense. I was at the helm again! Into
the tiny entrance, wind blowing away, trying to just sit there as Glenn ran around getting out fenders and lines. We
didn't see anywhere to tie up. Then we saw two men waving their arms for us to come over and raft, 3rd boat out, to
another boat. I really loved that one. I hate running into other people's boats and I'm usually centered on going
away from them. It took 15 minutes to get tied up with the help of 2 men the wind was still blowing so hard. I
must say, I was perfect. What a day - up early to rush, sit for hours to drag at 3 KTS for 1 1/2 hrs., 45 minutes of
a wild ride and then an exciting tie up. Nothing went as orignally planned. None of this wind was in the forecast.
Welcome to cruising.
6/23 The wind is still up so here we sit.
6/24-25 Well, I
started to prepare our salad for supper and as I pulled the lettuce leaves off I found a caterpillar. We had already
eaten 1/2 of the head. Fortunately, I give the leaves a good rinsing. The amazing part is that the lettuce has
been in the refigerator for 3 days and the caterpillar is still alive! We gave him the rest of the head for a house
and put him in the cockpit to warm up. We are currently just sailing each day. Anchor up around 6:15 and
down around 4:00 when the winds pick up.
6/26 Nidri We went into town to get groceries and had
major deja vu as we walked along the back street. We were here last year. It's a beautiful harbor. The Onassis
private island is right nearby. We found a nices little spot for our caterpillar in a garden box under an azalea bush.
I'm going to miss him but I don't really think he was a seafaring caterpillar. "Eat and be fruitful little caterpillar."
We spent the rest of the afternoon readjusting our rigging as it had loosened some as everything settled in from sailing.
We were actually rather late on this project. Then I had to repair the jib. It tore along the outer edge
from rubbing on the spreaders. I ended up sitting on the tramp with the sewing machine on the center walkway and my
butt on a fender.
6/27 A short sail to Preveza where we walked 3 miles and back to a really nice
museum. There were 6 employees there and us. We were followed so closely Glenn said he turned and almost ran in to the
guard. I was so glad that I had shaved my legs. I was pointing to something neat and two different guards said,
"Don't touch." It was a really nice museum. Some of the most wonderful preserved sarcophagi I've ever
see.
6/28 Off at 5:45 a.m. to get to a port of entry so we can clear out of Greece and head for Italy.
We arrived at 3:00, checked the weather and found it to be perfect for our overnight crossing. So we rushed to the customs
office. We got there just as he was locking the door. No problem there's a new port area a mile down the road.
He verified with us that we had to go to customs first, than the Port Police. So off at a trot to the new customs area.
We found the huge new ferry terminal and after asking 3 people were told that customs was another short walk away. We
went to the nearest exit to find it ziplocked closed. After looking at 3 doors we asked where the nearest exit was and
found we had to go back out at the front door. A brand new building with probably 10 doors and they were all locked.
We got to the next building and asked where customs was and were pointed to the other end of the building. Two men there
sent us to the next building down the road. CUSTOMS! We went in and there was no one at the desk. This wasn't
unusual so we started calling out hello. We finally went down the hall looking in all the rooms calling hello.
Glenn finally spotted someone on a couch asleep. We backed down the hall and called hello 3 more time and he finally
woke up. He led us to his office where a TV was blasting. The TV has been on in almost every Greek government
building we've been in. He looked at our transit log as if he'd never seen one before. 45 minutes later after
flipping back and forth through the log and 6 phone calls with no answer he finally spoke to someone who claimed we had to
go the the Port Police first. Throughout all of this the TV kept blasting even though Glenn had to ask him to repeat
everything he said. Back to the big building and up 3 flights of stairs to find that the Port Police closed at 3:00.
The Port Police are supposed to be open all of the time. We walked back to Customs and told him we were leaving and
going to Corfu to clear out. I'm sure he was happy to see us go. I don't think he would have known what to do
with us after we came back from the Port Police.
