From Paros to Bodrum, Turkey with Sharon & Doug.

Di, Sharon & Doug in front of traditional Greek boat which an elderly couple live on and sell marine "treasures" - sponges, shells etc

With editor of Turkish cruising guide at Amorgos - see text below

The Monastieri of the Panayia - see text below

We have arrived in Turkey and once again had communication problems until we bought a new Turkish SIM card for our computer
We finally cleared our delightful bay in Paros when the gale warning was cancelled on Tuesday 17th. There was still about 25 knots of wind and 2 m breaking seas but no problem, particularly as most of our passage was to be SE with the N wind behind us.
We wondered if we should have left earlier but when an “official” gale warning is in place a safe anchorage is the place to be.
Our next anchorage was Ormos Mirsini on Nisos Skinhousa. This is a delightful small harbour where we put out a bow anchor and tied stern to the shore. Typically at these spots we walk into the village (usually at the top of a steep hill and called the “Chora”, pronounced “Hora”) to buy some milk, bread etc, check out a couple of tavernas and then sometimes eat out or sometimes eat on the boat. Nearly all of our cooking is on the BBQ on the rear deck as its too hot to cook in the galley. Next stop was Katupola on Amorgos where we stayed a couple of nights.

A highlight of this stay and of the whole trip was visiting the Monastieri of the Panayia (see photo). This dates from 1088 and is set high into a cliff face and only accessible by a steep 350 step path from below. There are still a few monks there and visits are allowed provided that men must wear long trousers and shirts to the elbow and women must wear skirts at least to the knee and have their shoulders covered. One lady climbed all those steps in jeans and was denied entrance. In the monastery you can see icons, religious artifacts and handwritten manuscripts and books dating back to the 11th C. It is said this site was chosen because an ancient wooden icon of the Virgin Mary which had been missing for hundreds of years was found washed up on the beach below where the Monastieri was subsequently built. Many of these ports have shops & tavernas on the quayside and Katupola was no exception. I was in a shop looking at a Cruising Guide of the Amorgos and Small Cyclades when a guy approached me and we got talking about boats etc. It turned out he was the Editor of the book I was holding and he gave me a free autographed copy, a real character! (see photo). We moved on to Skala on Nisos Astipalaia. This island is said to have the “best anchorages of the Greek islands” and there were some great bays and coves, some with buildings ashore and some totally unspoilt.

At Skala there is the almost obligatory castle on the hilltop and we took the bus up to explore. This one was built in the 13th C and survived virtually intact until the 1950s when the interior buildings were mostly destroyed by an earthquake. Nevertheless you still get quite a feeling for the castle and its dominant position. Next stop was Maltezana a short hop up the coast where we had one of our most delicious meals ashore yet. Doug discussed our menu with the taverna owner and we were given the most enormous platter of delicious prawns with pasta.

The prawns are caught locally and were much bigger than Australian prawns. Needless to say we ate the lot and washed it down with a bottle or two of some rather nice Greek wine.
On Monday 23rd we did a 6 hour trip to Southern Kos and stopped at Maltegara before heading the next day to Kos to sign out of Greek waters (see Bureaucracy) heading below. Also here we were able to collect Sharon & Doug’s air tickets which had been couriered from NZ.

Kos is dominated by a huge castle and would be a nice enough place but it ashore it was crowded with visitors and very hot so our stop was only to sort out paperwork which took about 4 hours before we headed the short distance across to Turkish waters and an anchorage West of Bodrum called Baglar Koyu. On arriving in Turkish waters we immediately noticed how green the land is compared with the Greek Islands which are largely brown and desolate looking.
We visited Bodrum and completed our entry formalities – again see under Bureaucracy and then set off East to spend a couple of nights at Cokertme. It was so nice here that we anchored for a couple of nights and had a great Turkish meal ashore at the Cokertme Restorant.

The staff were really friendly and we were all soon on first name terms. We promised Hassan that we’ll go back and we will.
Yesterday, Friday 27th Sharon & Doug departed after spending a great month together during which we cruised 300 miles from Piraeus to Bodrum. During this time they never saw rain and I think saw a cloud once.
Diane & I are now heading South to explore the Southern side of the Dorian Promontory.

So far we have yet to experience the much talked of hordes of boats and crowded anchorages, in fact we’ve frequently had bays to ourselves and so far its been much less crowded than for example Kawau or the Barrier at Xmas. Most boats prefer to go into marinas or harbours, or they tie stern to the shore with an anchor from their bow. We mostly anchor out in 10-25m depth and always have plenty of room and privacy. Envoy’s hull makes no noise and rolls quite gently so we don’t have to anchor in perfectly calm seas.

Weather: There is no doubt the weather in this area is fantastic. Di & I have not seen anything except cloudless blue skies since 8 June. When I say “cloudless” I mean that literally – not a single cloud in the sky all day. We have not had any rain since 24 May. Everyday the temperature is mostly around 28-35 d but sometimes up to 40d – but there is no humidity so you don’t feel too bad, also the u/v level in the sun is not intense so you can stay in the sun OK. When you want to cool off the water temp now is 25 to 27d and that’s even in deep water.

Of course we have experienced some strong winds and mostly in Paros where we had to wait for 5 nights for it to drop below “gale”, but it was a great place to be stuck in. During that time the wind blew nonstop during days and nights but mostly the wind reduces to under 5 knots overnight. In the open sea we have experienced winds up to 45 knots and frequently winds in the 20-30 knot range but have not had waves over about 2.5m so far. With the stabilizers working as they are, Envoy really doesn’t notice seas of this size unless you are heading directly into them in which case there is pitching. Of course the best cruising is with the seas behind in which case Envoy surfs down the waves and we pick up extra speed. So far we have mostly towed our dinghy (instead of lifting it up onto the top deck) , in fact it has been in the water since we left Piraeus. It has been no problem in any winds or seas we have so far encountered.

Miles covered 2040 in 143 days on board with 400 engine hours.

Bureacracy: To sign out of Greece in Kos we had to go with our Transit Log first to the Passport Control then to Port Police and finally to Customs, all separated by about 1 km. There was nobody at Passport Control so we waited around until someone came. The process took about 3 hours and we got a bit of a scare when the Customs Officer said that since we had been in the EU over 3 months, we had violated the Schengen Treaty (under which non EU residents are allowed to stay in EU only 3 months) and would have to pay a fine of Euro 1200 each. I pointed out that Diane & I had not in fact slept ashore at all and were living on a boat which means we can stay indefinitely. After some muttering the Officer agreed and we were on our way.
In Bodrum things were slightly more organized and we had to go to the Marina Office to buy a Transit Log, then to Health Office, then to Passport Control and then to the Harbourmaster. Only the Skipper has to go with all the vessel documentation and Di, Sharon & Doug did the shopping for supplies . No real problems in Turkey except that every time someone leaves or joins the boat you are supposed to report to the Harbourmaster and get approval (this is the same in Greece too). After every three changes you have to get a new Transit log which requires the whole nine yards of visits again. In this area there are various Greek Islands very close(ie within 5-10 miles) of Turkey and we had assumed we would be able to visit both Greek Islands and mainland Turkey up and down the Coast. It turns out this is not so easy as everytime you leave Turkish waters you are supposed to sign out and the same applies for Greek waters – has anyone reading this done this and can offer advice ?

Technical: all OK currently and nothing of significance to report (which is great !). Except one – our Toshiba laptop used for navigation with C-map has a built in fingerpad to control the cursor instead of a mouse. I guess there’s a name for this “fingerpad” but I’m not sure what it is. Anyway sometimes when we switch the computer on the cursor jumps all over the screen and does not respond to commands via the fingerpad. After I reboot the computer a few times it comes right. Any ideas please? We have been dealing with various issues as they arose but have now completed a maintenance schedule based on both hours run and time which we will base our ongoing maintenance on.