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| Near-gale winds in Kos, Greece |
The days pass slowly, yet the weeks have flown by. We are in Kos, the birthplace of Hippocrates, the great physician of the Classical Age. Kos marina is ultra modern and the facilities are posh. The sky is clear blue, but the wind has been blowing a gale for the last three days and we are happy to be tied up bow into the wind protected by the breakwall. The wind is howling through the rigging, and as we walk from the marina to town, waves are breaking over the seawall and late-arriving boats amid tumbling waves are eager to be escorted to sheltered slips by the marina escort boats.
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| Boats waiting to come in out of the gale |
Kos town is interesting, with classical Greek columns and agora, medieval Templar forts, Ottoman mosques, and Venetian-style hotels nestled cozily amid the buildings of the modern town.
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| The western ruins in Kos Town |
We spend a few days leisurely exploring the streets and lanes of Kos own. Shops selling Greek souvenirs such as worry beads, reproductions of classical period sculptures (of varying quality), ice cream stalls and cafes serving tiny cups of rich coffee offer plenty of browsing and places to sit, drink coffee, watch people (and read the Daily Mail!).
After three days of wandering the streets of Kos town, we decided to board the public bus for a tour of the island. Just off the main road lies the Asklepion, a medical center based on the teaching of Hippocrates which emphasized cleanliness and healthy diet as a foundation of treatment, a concept which was largely forgotten until the 19th century. Along the main road to Kefalos, at the western end of the island, the housing and landscape are boringly modern and nondescript, concrete boxes sitting on bare land. Olive groves and some evergreens break up the landscape from time to time. We begin to think there may not be much to see on this trip other than the crazy lady on the bus (there's always one, isn't there?). That is..until we rounded a turn just past Paradise beach... a spectacular vista came into view. It was Kefalo Beach and the bay it embraces, with a small island topped with a stone plateau and a tiny Orthdox chapel with the blue painted roof.
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| Kefalo bay |
Stately mountains overlook the bay from the west. An elegant sailing yacht and spectacularly grand mega yacht lay securely at anchor there, a note we made for future reference. We immediately decided to hop off here. We wandered the town, enjoyed a nice seaside lunch and strolled on the beach, collecting colorful jasper stones smoothed by the sea. It was the first sandy beach we walked on the entire trip!
In the morning after coffee, Celador made for Datca, on the Datca peninsula of Turkey. Since the last visit, Ron noticed that the small town dock has been taken up by local gulets, so we had to anchor out. No problems; the wind was calm and the holding was good. We took the dinghy to town and had a stroll, noticing that Datca was refreshingly workaday and not yet full of shops catering to tourists. The waterfront was colorfully lit but deserted since it was the end of summer. We had mezes at a local restaurant, and were pleased by the quality and variety of the food as well as the hospitality of the owner and his wife.
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| Evening in Datca town |
The next day we motorsailed to Symi, Greece once again, one of my favorite places on this trip. The elegant classical facades of the houses, meticulously painted in ochre, terra cotta and periwinkle blue are so attractive.
We stayed for three days, wandering the shops and galleries, climbing stairs through the neighborhoods and to churches overlooking the harbors. Since autumn has arrived, the temperatures permit walking further afield, so we decided to climb the steps to the top of the ridge and down over the hill to Pedi town, about 6 miles round trip, where we had anchored weeks earlier. We passed through the dense neighborhoods of Symi Town and over into more workaday areas, with grape arbors shading patios and some small industrial facilities like the power plant. One ruined house
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| Beautiful Symi |
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| Vine ripened grapes...delicious |
From Symi we sailed to Serce Limani in Turkey, the site of the shipwreck which carried the beautiful glass on display in Bodrum Castle, and then on to Ciftlik for the last two days of the voyage. On the first day, the marina was overrun by 12 charter boats, hired by the Dutch owner of a sporting goods store chain to reward his best workers.
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| Dutch Captain Bart and the party flotilla |
What a party, all day and night! The next day they departed. Ron and I decided to walk up the valley behind Mehmet Place , our marina/restaurant host. The limestone mountains soared on either side of the road, and the wind was the only sound we heard.
Bee hives were nestled amid the pines, and there were lovely views and woodland trails . On the way back we stopped just outside the village and ate wonderful chewy flatbreak filled with spinach, onions and cheese, and served by a village lady who cooked it all over a wood fire.
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| Yummmmmm |
After our stop in Ciftlik, it was time to return to Marmaris and decommision the boat for the season. My greatful thanks to Captain Ron for his good friendship and humor, intelligent insights and observations, all the laughs, and wonderful company during our voyages!!!
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| Decommissioning Celador. Booohoooo! |
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