Journeys

2013

May was relatively cool with misty  mornings for our trip back westwards towards Istanbul. Most memorable was the families of dolphins who trip eastwards in spring. We logged a daily dolpin count though at one stage we lost count at over a hundred dolphins, mostly travelling in groups of 10-20. We enjoyed walks in lush green hillsides, central to Turkey's tea and hazelnut production (yes, it's 75% of the world's production) and large harbours almost entirely to ourselves. In a month of sailing we saw only one other cruising yacht. Local markets provided the best strawberries EVER and, painfully, tethered donkeys for sale. We also enjoyed the cows lazing around sheltered corners of the harbours or idling along the beaches, though a sea snake worried us. Alcohol was also a problem: you had to train your eyes to look upward to unmarked bars theoretically offering no temptation to the locals. Amasra is a classic beauty: it's two-sided harbours with a central defendable headland makes it perfect for ancients (including us!). Daughter Kate joined us for a glorious fourth transit of the Bosphorus but our return to the Greek Mediterranean at Limnos made us jump for joy with the pure blue seas, no jellyfish, and simple joy.

Southwards for a week with Cocky's mate Hester at our Lesbos, shocking the locals at Inousses, burning my finger in the volcano crater of Nisiros, the playful twin gas engineers on Tilos, touching windy Rhodes then an upwind struggle to Crete.

2014

Spring was still windy for the overnight sail to Santorini. The volcanic island has just one small difficult harbour and we were the last boat in: the next had to anchor out for 4 days waiting for winds to drop, he told us later it was awful - they ran out of booze after the 2nd day. Up the Cyclades, through the Corinth Canal to my beloved Ionian. Two weeks in Albania were an adventure - and so different from the beautiful Kotor fiord in Montenegro. On northward to the Croatian islands were we found delightful anchorages despite it being peak season. An increasing frequency of thunderstorms made us run for Italy and Scube's winter mooring at Monfalcone.

2015

Antifouling was menaced by huge piles of fluf from surrounding trees but we eventually motored proudly down the river at Monfalcone to the sea. Clouds of smoke from the saloon and a dead engine took the smiles away: back to the boatyard for a new engine! N Italy was a tad disappointing, expensive, unfriendly and riven with fishing nets. Highlights were sailing the Venice lagoon (of course), Ravenna, Rimini and Ancona. Med life started from the Vieste peninsular to the toe of Italy at Ortranto where we crossed to Corfu and a week with Rob sailing round Zante. A quick sprint to Olympia then round the bottom of the Peloponese: its famous wind moving us at over 10 knots, twice normal speed, to Porto Heli to overwinter Scube.

2016

Round to Poros, the always busy sailing island in the Saronic and a favourite call from my early sailing days in the 1970's, to pick up Cocky. Across the upper Cyclades to Lesbos (of course). Up to the wonderfully quiet islands of Limnos (dawn visits by deer) and Samothraki (long walk from the hill town) were we waited a week hoping the F6 would stop blowing from Alexandropolos. It did't - so off to Thassos which we loved so much we circumnavigated it twice, second time with Kate and Joshua. A visit to the vast Roman city ruins of Phillippi on the mainland, across to Stavros to pick up Jeff and round Mount Athos and the three fingers of Khalkidhiki to Thessaloniki.

2017

Solo sailing again. Down to the Mama Mia Sporades, inside Evia - picking up Jeff and Tanya 2 at the weird tidal flows of Khalkis, overnight to the bottom of Evia after the midnight opening, then storm-bound on Andros for weeks! (Including a trip to Bristol for Annie's graduation). Down the Cyclades to Kithnos. Serifos, Paros, Naxos and the minor islands below  and west of Naxos. Levitha has just two families, making a fair living from laid moorings and a hill-top meals in their house. The Dodecanese provided many beautiful bays and harbours (Paneli on Leros), down to Kos to pick up Rob and Sarah them off to Astipalaia visiting the mum of Rob's first girlfriend. We were first boat out after windy days and off to Nisiros for R&S to visit the volcano. Back up to Leros and relaxing Lipso before leaving Scube at Leros.

2018

Happy to be back with Cocky again! A gentle summer's sailing with two flights back to London which made the idea of finding a yearly marina contract much more sensible. I settled on the Samos Marina which despite being a bit on the decline (no supermarket, no chandlery, few repair staff) is a ten minute walk from Pythagoria which I found (again) to be a near-perfect Greek town. Not too big or small, happy year-round population, picturesque and three claims to fame. Probably the first constructed harbour in the Med (C6 BC), a kilometer-long tunnel through a mountain constructed at the same time and extensive ruins from this time onwards. The large excavated area in the middle of town includes a small swimming pool which doubtless Antony and Cleopatra and several  Roman Emperors would have visited, Just by the pool is tiny little stone house - which I bought! Needs new ro0f et al but should be all done by next summer.

Mostly we sailed gently in Sporades: Lipsi, Patmos, Arki, Agathonisi and circumnavigate Samos. A trip to the Cyclades, Ikaria, Naxos, Amorgos and tiny 2-house Levitha  met just-right winds. A later trip (August) to Mykinos was more troublesome, winds and extremely bossy speed-boat staff. Jeff  and Tanya came again, this time with her grandchild (9) who proved to be a fearless dancing and singing sailor.