![\"Morning](\"http:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Symi-Greece-morning-walk-059.jpg\")
<\/a>Without the meltemi, the northwest wind of this region, in calm seas we motor sailed for Symi, which is a port of entry for Greece, and much easier to clear into than bustling Rhodes. It\u2019s a arid rocky island devoid of greenery on the south end, with some reforestation evident around Symi town in the north. It\u2019s past was made prosperous by sponge fishing and shipbuilding, up to 500 vessels per year, which could account for the bare sunburned slopes. We rounded a head and motored into the harbor and were met on the quay by the harbor captain who directs and assists with mooring.<\/p>\n
Early in the morning we climbed to the high town, crowned by a church, overlooking neatly painted buildings and picturesque ruins. We were streaming with sweat by 9:30 a.m. and on the way down, a stop under a shady arbor for iced coffee was most welcome. We enjoyed a breakfast of green melon, yogurt and the last of our Turkish stone-oven bread, then sailed to return to Marmaris to finish some boat business.<\/p>\n The southernmost island of the Dodecanese is Kastelorizo, nestled inside a bay near Kas, Turkey. We motored slowly into the small, picturesque harbor of Megisti. As we slowly approached the quay, we noticed only a few visiting yachts; there was a lot of open space at the quay. We were thinking we were lucky. The owner of a nearby taverna waved at us to back up to the quay. I dropped the anchor when Ron gave the word. We backed in, tied on our stern lines and adjusted them, then went ashore for happy hour at a cheerful quayside taverna. It was charming, scenic, and not very crowded. Neighborhood cats quietly circled under the tables looking for morsels. We were walking back to the boat when a local gentleman sitting\u00a0 at a table near the quay told us that the \u2028bureaucracy would be along pretty soon to collect local docking fees adding up to around 75 Euros.\u00a0He explained that these fees were the reason there were so few yachts visiting, and it was not helping the local economy at all.\u00a0 Well, happy hour was over! We decided to move to Kas in Turkey, just a few miles away where, for less money we would have amenities such as water, power and showers.<\/p>\n On the bow, I proceeded to bring the anchor chain up too fast and piled it up, causing the chain to\u2028jump off the gypsy. It ran out freely and alarmingly as we swung wide in the fairway\u2028 (harmlessly, thank goodness). I didn\u2019t know what to do. Ron came forward and used the windlass handle to lever the running chain over to one side to slow and finally stop its run. I hooked on the \u2028snubber, he pulled some chain from the locker up and over the\u2028 gypsy, and the windlass was ready to use again. Off we sailed, and within an hour we were moored again, this time in the cushy marina. We were sorry to miss Kastelorizo. Hopefully the fees will be adjusted to be more cruiser-friendly.<\/p>\n Volcanic Nisyros lies west of Knidos off the Turkish coast. Nisyros is a small and friendly place, accessible only by yacht or ferry. We moored up in the tiny village of Pathoi, and watched the sun set over gyro and moussaka at the \u201cCaptain\u2019s Place\u201d, about 20 paces from Celador<\/em>.<\/p>\n The next day, right after breakfast, we toured the island by motorbike. This island is greener than most we\u2019d seen. Almost every hillside has been terraced extensively with dry stone walls over the generations. Little stone huts are built into the\u2028 hillsides here and there, blending into the landscape. In earlier times grapevines, peppers, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, grain, and olive\u2028trees were cultivated. Today no crops are planted, but fig, olive,\u2028and scrub oaks shade the terraces, their trunks leaning in to the old\u2028stones. The road snaked higher and higher, and the air cooled, scented\u2028 by dry grass and rosemary. Topping a crest, we could now see the\u2028caldera of the volcano which formed the island.<\/p>\n We followed \u2028the winding ribbon of road down and down to the bottom where farm\u2028fields blanket the crater bottom. Ahead lay the volcano national\u2028 park. Entering, we saw cinder cones and cliffs of\u2028 sulfur-streaked rock; it is primal, timeless, unconquerable. Following\u2028 a footpath down to the center of the newest crater, the ground sounded\u2028 hollow underfoot and there were bubbling mud pots. Fumaroles steamed, rimmed \u2028with sulfur crystals. Satisfied (and \u2028slightly unsettled) with our explorations, we regrouped over cool drinks and continued our\u2028 ride. Zig-zagging up out of the valley we came to a scenic little\u2028village perched on the highest edge of the crater, white cubes\u2028 clustered together on the ridge top. We had a light lunch of cheese and \u2028Greek salad topped with pickled caper-vine leaves and crusty bread with olive oil.<\/p>\n In\u2028 the front room of the cafe was a broken mercury glass mirror in an old, ornately carved wooden frame, and next to it hung a faded sepia-toned portrait of a young officer. The host explained that the Athenian soldier was killed in this doorway during WWII, the mirror broken by a German\u2028 bullet. They still honor his memory. Walking through the tiny village, we found the \u201cnatural sauna\u201d, a little room built over a volcanic vent. We rode further, down to the town of Mandraki to visit\u2028 the town and castle. The streets are lovely narrow lanes with whitewashed houses and painted doorways. Many had interesting brass \u2028knockers, door knobs and artistic decorations. Wandering toward the monastery, we enjoyed sweeping views of the white cubist town, with\u2028 the hazy sea and islands in the distance. We climbed uphill to the edge of\u2028 town, past ruins of farm cottages hidden among the hillside\u2028 terraces, up and up to the walls of the fort. Massive black volcanic blocks formed the walls of the Hellenic battlements. We explored the fort, climbing to the top of the walls, beholding sweeping views of the horizon lost in sea mist.<\/p>\n Returning to Pathoi we had dinner and drank red wine in the cockpit, watching the sailors having fun in the cafes along the quay. As the night wore on, the cafes quieted\u2028 down and\u00a0 the tavernas livened up. At Saloniki\u2028 Taverna, traditional Greek music inspired a\u2028young Greek man with a ponytail to start a circle dance, slow and stately. Tipsy \u2028German sailors joined enthusiastically with their own interpretations.<\/p>\n Aboard Celador<\/em>, we laughed and chatted in the cockpit, growing sleepier. One by one everyone but me retired to sleep. I\u2019d been yearning to go over and dance, and thought\u2014the time is now! I tiptoed over the passerelle and hurried over. As I \u2028entered, the young man smiled and beckoned me to join him and the Germans.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not hard\u201d he said, \u201cit is one step left and two right\u201d.\u00a0An old lady sitting nearby smiled when she saw I had learned the step. The song ended too soon, and it was late. The \u2028old lady stood and with a sweeping gesture, announced \u201cKali\u2028 Nichta\u201d…good night, this party\u2019s shutting down. I shook hands all around and returned to my berth, smiling as I went to sleep with a special travel moment to cherish. The bus traveled along the main road to the western end\u2028of the island. The housing and landscape are modern and nondescript, concrete boxes sitting on bare land. Olive groves and evergreens dotted the landscape from time to time. We began to\u2028 think there may not be much to see on this trip. Then we \u2028rounded a bend just past Paradise Beach…a spectacular vista came\u2028into view. It was Kefalos Bay with its golden sand beach and hat-shaped\u2028island adorned with a tiny chapel with a blue vaulted roof. Stately mountains overlook the bay from the west. An elegant sailing yacht and a mega yacht rode\u2028quietly, sheltered from the gale there…a note we made for future reference. We \u2028immediately decided to hop off here. We strolled through the town, enjoyed a\u2028 seaside lunch and beach walk, collecting colorful\u2028 jasper stones smoothed by the sea.<\/p>\n The next day we motorsailed once again to the pretty port of Symi, one of my favorite\u2028 stops on this trip. We stayed for three days, wandering the shops\u2028 and galleries, climbing stairs through the neighborhoods and to\u2028 churches overlooking the harbors. Since autumn had arrived, the cooler\u2028 temperatures permitted more comfortable trekking, so we decided to climb the \u2028steps to the high town and walk down over the crest to Pedi town,\u2028 a six mile round trip. We hiked up through the neighborhoods of Symi town and descended into more workaday areas, with some small industrial facilities and the power plant. We passed a ruined house with a rickety grape arbor and picked sun-ripened black grapes and sweet raisins to snack on. On the return trip we stopped at a cafe and enjoyed Greek coffee with sweet plum and \u2028carrot cake. After this, it was time to return to the boat and clear out for our return to Turkey. The Dodecanese Islands of Greece\u00a0 (published October 2015) We were cruising the Turkish coast for six weeks aboard Celador, a 41-foot Beneteau, and enjoying Turkish culture, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":8558,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[116,156,192,96],"class_list":["post-8557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chartering","category-cruising-news","tag-bluewater-cruising","tag-charter","tag-diane-gorch","tag-greece"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8566,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8557\/revisions\/8566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bwsailing.com\/bw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
\nThe town is extraordinary. Classic facades are meticulously painted in white, ochre and terra cotta, some trimmed in green. Others are shades of periwinkle blue. They line the waterfront and climb up the hillsides, connected by steep winding steps. At the taverna just across from our mooring, we had a light\u2028 dinner of saganaki and sweet red pepper stuffed with feta cheese, and were given access to Wi-Fi we could use on the boat. At night, the town is colorfully lit and alive with people strolling and enjoying the cafe life.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>
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\nThe next day we departed early for Kos. The meltemi was forecast to blow hard, so we opted to ride it out in comfort\u00a0 and safety at modern, posh Kos Marina.\u00a0The sky was clear blue, and the gale lasted for three days. We were happy to be snug and secure. Seas were breaking over the seawall and late-arriving boats were battling tumbling waves and rippling wind, eager to be escorted to sheltered slips.
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\nKos town is interesting, with classical Greek columns and agora, medieval Hospitaller forts, Ottoman mosques, and Venetian-style\u2028hotels nestled cozily and randomly amid the modern buildings of the town. It was the birthplace of Hippocrates, and his modern views of medicine took root and spread throughout the Hellenic world from here.\u2028We spent a few days leisurely exploring the streets and lanes of Kos. Shops selling Greek souvenirs such as worry beads, reproductions \u2028of classical sculptures (of varying quality), ice cream stalls \u2028and cafes serving tiny cups of rich coffee offer plenty of browsing \u2028and places to sit, watch people and catch up on the news of the world.\u2028\u2028After three days of exploring of Kos town, and with the wind still strong, we decided to\u2028 board the public bus for a tour of the countryside. Just off the main road\u2028 lies the Askepion, an ancient medical center based on the teachings of\u2028 Hippocrates which emphasized cleanliness and healthy diet as a\u2028 foundation of treatment.<\/p>\n
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\nAlthough they are near the Turkish coast, the islands of the Dodecanese are delightfully Greek. The Greek people we met were friendly and outgoing. Our voyage through the Dodecanese was limited by time, but we hope to visit again when Celador<\/em> sails in the spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"