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From May 28,
when we left Marmaris we have anchored in some delightful bays.
The first place we pulled in, Bozukale, was the same place we had
moored before. The small village has put down some good moorings
and the magnetic pull of a natural harbor draws the yachts. The
young man to whom we had given diesel fuel on our last visit came
out to welcome us. He offered to row us in for Turkish tea or coffee
and did not want to take payment for the mooring. On this stop a
local woman, rowed around in a small boat by a man, was selling
handmade items. She scaled the side of Sea Gem like a monkey despite
her rather hefty frame. We figure anyone working that hard to make
a sale deserves a buyer, so we added to our collection. The rest
of the boats there were German charters who I doubt were receptive
to the local wear.
When we left the small
anchorage at Bozukale we intended to continue up the coast of Turkey
to Bodrum where we would go in, visit the castle, and check Sea
Gem out of Turkey. The wind changed our plans for it was blowing
hard enough that Kos became a more viable alternative and we headed
there.
It was still pretty rough but as we approached Kostown there was
a big inflatable bobbing in the waves with two guys in it waving
at us. They pulled along side. We told them we wanted to go to the
marina and one fellow said, "Follow me." He led us in,
called dock help and got us comfortable situated. Stavros communicated
enthusiastically in English, even when he had to settle our Danish
neighbor down because he thought they had put the boats too close.
Stavros seemed to favor Americans over Danes, who he thinks are
sometimes pretty cranky. He waxed eloquently about being a fisherman
and having the sea run in his veins and how the law
of the sea mandates you help everyone, there are no country lines.
Life is short, enjoy and be happy. Not a bad philosophy when you
think about it. Rather like John Lennon's "Imagine" and
the brotherhood of man.
In Kos we checked in to
Greece with Sea Gem. The problem remained that we still had to check
out of Turkey. The solution was to take a ferry to Bodrum with our
ships papers, keep our mouths shut, and check out. We got on the
ferry and when we arrived they wanted to keep our passports on the
ferry, after much negotiation Charlie managed to get his back by
leaving his drivers license, I had no further identification with
me so had to leave mine and he went to check out by himself. It
all worked and now everything was done. We spent the rest of the
day exploring the magnificent Bodrum Castle and Museum.
It was my birthday and we had lunch in the courtyard of the museum,
shar ing
a pizza. We spent the remainder of the day going from one interesting
exhibit to the next. It is a fine castle and fortress. There are
so many forts and castles in Turkey and Greece it is amazing that
they had time to do anything but build forts.
We left Kos the morning
of June 1, spent the night at Amorgos and the next night at Sifnos
in a bay, Omos Vathi. Charlie awoke at 02:30 and we decided to get
underway to make as much time as we could before the wind piped
up. After getting the anchor up and all systems were checked out,
I went back to bed and slept until 06:30. When I got up, he went
to bed. I had to awaken him shortly because I smelled burning rubber.
We were running on the starboard engine, shut it down and started
the port.
He found later two belts needed tightening and that done, the problem
was solved.
Charlie had not been asleep
long when the fog closed in. Visibility was less than a quarter
of a mile and we were running purely on radar. The cruising guide
states that there is never any fog in Greek waters. So much for
that useless information. I don't like anything remotely close to
me, so when I saw a ship closing from the rear I got on the radio
and made sure he saw me. A strong American voice answered and
told me he had my position and my course and he would pass me shortly.
He came by very close but I never saw him, just heard the fog horn
and watched the radar. It was pretty eerie. Another spooky thing
was the radio voice of a Turkish Warship announcing they were towing
a barge attached by a long cable. Now remember we are in Greek waters
and those folks are not always on friendly terms. Also, one of the
things you never want to do is get between a ship and something
they are towing. 
After Charlie got a couple
of hours sleep he came back on deck. The fog continued. We were
without visibility until about 14:00 and when the fog lifted the
wind began. The wind was on our nose and getting higher and higher.
The seas grew and we had up to thirty knots. We were running on
one engine and after our speed dropped below three knots we tried
the starboard engine. It was fine so we ran the rest of the day
on two engines to the little port of Monemvasia where our cruising
guide said they were building a marina. This is the last protected
anchorage before rounding the cape at the southern tip of Peleponisos.
We tried anchoring in the harbor but the holding is very poor. The
marina in Monemvasia is small, unattended and without water or electricity.
We didn't think there was room for us but a man on the dock waved
us over. There are pontoons and there were helping hands to get
us Med moored, stern to. An older fellow told us that there were
large concrete blocks with chains in the harbor and for extra security
maybe we could get someone to dive and fasten a line to one of those.
Charlie, the diver, got on his fins and mask and set out to find
a mooring block. He found one in about ten feet of water and I fed
a long line to him from the chain locker on the bow. He ran it through
the chain and back to the boat so that when we leave he will not
have to dive and release it, we will be able to free it from on
board. He saw a number of concrete mooring blocks, sunken pontoons
and chains in about 10 feet of water, remnents of parts of the marina
destroyed by big winds this area is noted for. We were thankful
to be in, and Charlie set about making sure that we were secure
to the docks. We have lines running all over so that no line takes
too much strain. The wind was howling and when we were finally secured
we went below, showered and had a hamburger dinner on board.
The following day, June
4, we walked in to town to find the post office (which was closed)
and an e-mail place. We watched as a restaurant umbrella was blown
away by a strong gust of wind, and the
heavy metal support bent ninety degrees.
So far we have only found
one computer in town, in a bar called "Baywatch" where
we sent and received e-mail. After that we went for our main meal
of the day, a late lunch or what here in Greece is actually dinner,
for most eat their big meal in the middle of the day. We went to
a sea side restaurant on the sheltered side and had the "sticker
shock" of prices very much like those at home in your pricey
restaurants. Of course we did have a 1.8 kilo lobster, a salad and
a great shrimp appetizer, so I cannot complain but it is a shock
after the very low prices we had been paying in Turkey. The sea
food in Greece and Turkey is the most expensive thing on the menu
and priced by the kilo.
I do feel that when I eat
fish here I am eating an endangered species. I do not think the
Greeks or the Turks would accept frozen fish. They all seem to want
it fresh with eyes looking at you. The answer has to be in farming
fish, for the ocean is being  fished
clean. We did have trout at a fish farm in Turkey so the concept
is here, it just must be developed.
The wind has let up today
and we will see what happens this afternoon. If the wind stays down
we will leave early in the morning to make our way around Cape Akra
Maleas, where the winds are always supposed to be a problem, but
that is the way of capes and since the Corinth Canal was closed
due to the strike we have no choice but to come this way. Right
now it is just nice to enjoy this little town the beautiful view
of the Greek answer to
"the Rock of Gibraltar" and look forward to a good Greek
salad and something a little less expensive than lobster for dinner
today. Until later aboard Sea Gem from Monemvasia, Greece. . .
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