Symi to Crete, Greece
Alan's Log:
Joan's Log:
May 1st 2009
Route from Symi to Crete
We decided to skip Santorini, for a number of reasons, but partly because it would have been a long slog into the wind. We will catch it some other time. So our next destination is Crete. It is about 120NM from Symi and we have decided to split the voyage into 4 day sails, stopping along the way each night in a different harbour.
Symi to Tilos
It was hard to tear ourselves away from Symi especially with our friends Pat & Jennie on MUSCAVADO and Martin & Izzy on DE VRIJHEID tied up nearby, but as someone once said "we have a long way to go and a short time to get there".
From Symi to Tilos is 28NM on a southwesterly course. We were able to motor-sail almost all the way there against 25kt headwinds and 6' seas. Not ideal conditions, but Moonstruck's full keel makes small potatoes of these seas and we churn along at a steady 6-7.5 knots.
We don't have much to report about Tilos.
It is a small agricultural island with a secure harbour which provided welcome
refuge from the wind.
Tilos to Karpathos
After a night's sleep it was off again to Pigadhia Harbour, Karpathos. A sail of 59NM on a course due south. A much better course given the prevailing wind
from the northwest. Once clear of the headland we hoisted sail and settled
in for a lovely sail. This is Moonstruck's best point of sail, a beam
reach and we galloped along at between 7-9 knots, hitting over 10 knots
on occasion. Here is a short video clip of Moonstruck sailing fast on a beam reach to Karpathos.
Karpathos is a very scenic island with a central backbone of mountains and remote villages only accessible after travelling miles and miles along dirt roads. We rented a car for the day and visited Olympos and pretty much drove around the whole island.
It is very scenic as a big picture, but there is not much to linger over or photograph. Driving can be challenging due both to the conditions of the roads, many are unmade tracks, and the signage which can take a while to figure out!
The villages in this part of the Greek Islands are quite plain compared with those we have just seen in Symi and Kastellorizo and those of the Cyclades further north. The buildings are mostly those of farmers and workers and are simple structures of poured concrete, but the churches add a pretty dimension and we enjoyed the fresh air, the mountain passes and small ancient farmholdings with stone-walled fields.
After a day it was time to move on again.
Karpathos to KasosKasos
is described as the most remote island in the Dodecanese. We will add it
to our growing list of "most remote islands" (most recently Kastellorizo).
We sailed half the 27NM distance and motored the rest of the way in increasing
headwinds (25-30kts). It is a small sleepy island with a pretty
miniature fishing harbour adjacent to the church and not really much else to see
or do.
We stayed over-night and took a few pictures and helped a charterboat full of Italians moor. We had helped them in Tilos the night before and I seem to have become their unofficial docking master since then! In Kasos however my patience deserted me after an hour of their shenanigans trying to drop anchor in the evening calm and I left them to their own devices.
Kasos to Sitia, Crete
Crete is a very long island and Sitia is the first port, but is not really notable other than as a convenient stopping point on the way to more interesting harbours along the coast. We arrived in Sitia after a 43NM passage of mostly motoring with the
Italian Charterboat hot on
our heels. It was blowing 30kts and had been a
long tedious morning of motoring into the wind and seas. On arrival I
made sure that we allowed the charter boat LOTS of room to park. It
was just as well. They arrived with a crash as their fibreglass
top-rail splintered against the concrete pier. Several girls on board
were trying to fend off the pier with their hands. Fending off a 10 ton
boat in 30 knot winds is never a good idea and I yelled at them to keep
their hands away, and helped them reset their fenders (which had been set
too low to do any good). Another mental note of the many good reasons
never to consider buying a used charter boat!
The Deep Blue Sea
Something odd has happened to the sea since we arrived in Cretean waters. Water around the Greek Islands has always been very blue, but now it's been kicked up a few notches, almost as if ship-loads of cobalt blue dye has been dumped in. I don't know the reason for it, but it's amazing to look at.Sitia to Agios Nikolaos, Crete
Agios Nikolaos is
25NM along the coast and with another strong headwind we motored all the
way. The marina is by far the nicest we have seen anywhere in Greece
and it was nice to be able to tie up and relax, forget about the boat for a
while and go exploring.
Agios Nikolaos and Eastern Crete
The town itself in late April is still a little sleepy, but it is draped around a hill and two harbours and is pleasant on the eyes. We decided to stay a week, helped in our decision by two unexpectedly rainy days.We rented a car and drove high up into the mountains on switchback roads to the Lesithi plateau where a marvelous high-plains valley of fertile soil with ample water beneath the surface is completely hidden by encircling mountains. The area is intensively farmed using ancient methods and is speckled with working windmills, their sails made of cloth are adjustable for windstrength, just like our sails.
The drive was spectacular and the road among the twistiest and steepest we have driven. As I pushed our tortured rental car squealing around the tight corners I thought this would be a great location for a car rally. Just about then we were stopped by the police who had closed the road ahead for ...a car rally! We got out and while we waited for the road to reopen we had a great view down over the rally cars as they wound up the mountain road beneath us.
Joan was glad when the car racing was finally over...how glad?
We visited the ancient Minoan site of Knossos. The Minoans lived a rather civilized and largely peaceful life here 3,700+ years ago, before the Greek and Roman eras. Their cities featured covered underground sewers and flushing toilets - a good 1,500 years before the Romans came along and took credit for these inventions. Unfortunately the remains of their cities are difficult to appreciate today. The cities evolved and were destroyed and rebuilt several times over 500 years and what is left today is open to interpretation. Several of these cities have been unearthed in Crete and the one we visited, Knossos, was partially reconstructed by an archeologist about 100 years ago. We thought it would be interesting to see a reconstructed city, but it proved less than compelling.
Suffice to say we were unsatisfied after visiting the site and so continued on to Iraklion which has the world's best Minoan artefacts in its museum. The museum is currently closed, undergoing an extensive restoration of its own, however a few hundred of the most notable exhibits are on display in a temporary setting. It was well worth the visit.
Spinalonga Island
After we left Agios Nikolaos, we spent one night in a superb anchorage near Spinalonga Island, in a massive turquoise-colored lagoon. The boat was so still all night, I could swear we were still in a marina.
Spinalonga Island is one enormous fortress, with a heavily buttressed wall completely encircling it. It was the last stronghold of Crete, withstanding a thirty year siege by the Turks until they eventually surrendered. It sure seems to me like Turkey bullied, plundered, pillaged and did an incredible amount of damage in the Greek Islands, and in almost every other Mediterranean Island we have been to. Not that I'm taking sides, because the Greeks have certainly heaped their share of deadly revenge on Turkey as well.
Years later the island became a well known leper colony, until the last leper died in 1953. Today it is still known by the locals as The Island of the Walking Dead, now all that remains are the empty shells of the buildings, bleaching white in the sun like hollow bones, the sound of the wind and gulls and the ghosts of the past.
Hamburger Dreamin'
When we
noticed in our DK
Guide Book there was a Hard Rock Cafe in Hersonisou we got all excited, for one
reason...the chance of getting an authentic, old fashioned, real deal American
hamburger! We found one in Lisbon, Portugal and in Barcelona, just when we
were in need of a homesickness cure. The Hard Rock Cafe has a
great American menu, wonderful salads and that iconic hamburger.We planned our whole day around it, by renting a car in Agios Nikolaos, then driving to the Minoan ruins of Knossos. Then continuing on to Heraklion for the Archeological Museum, and ending in Hersonisou for dinner. As the day progressed we even decided to skip lunch, which only heightened our anticipation. We were starving when we arrived in Hersonisou, around 4:30 in the afternoon, a little early for dinner, but at the Hard Rock that's never a problem. We drove through the main street with our eyes peeled, looking for signs of it, but something didn't feel right about this town. We passed about eight fur stores on the out-skirts, not a good sign and the main street was a mass of tacky souvenir shops, cheap hotels, 'English' pubs and horrible looking restaurants; not the sort of place you would find a Hard Rock Cafe. With mounting concern we turned around and did another drive through. Maybe it was on the boardwalk and we missed it! Alan parked the car and I got out to search the waterfront, no sign of it, I asked a woman sitting in the back of a dark souvenir shop. "What? Hard Rock Cafe? Oh no...there was one about six years ago, but it closed." She must have noticed the disapointment on my face and added hopefully "but there IS a Shamrock Cafe" Thanks DK!
So we drove on, thirty minutes later, happy to be out of Hersonisou and way off the beaten path, through lush groves of olive trees we came to Paralia Milatou, a tiny obscure seaside village, which had a few promising-looking tavernas facing the sea serving freshly caught fish. We ended up having a fantastic meal, at a budget price, and I had the best moussakas ever. Afterwards we complemented the waiter, who in turn told his mama, the cook. She was genuinely flattered, and the smile on her face was worth missing ten hamburger meals!
Dog Tales
In Crete, I have noticed a lot of sad-eyed dogs wandering around the streets, sleeping on the sidewalks, looking up hopefully at us as we pass by.
I generally avoid them after my daughter Lauren was nearly attacked by one in Turkey which she thought was friendly, which scared us both to death. But sometimes I just can't help myself. They "speak" to me and I have to stop! One in particular was a mixture of everything, striped like a tiger and had the sweetest eyes. When I stopped she wagged her tail, I spoke to her and she rolled over to show me her tummy. I petted her and her buddy, who I guessed was her brother because he looked about the same age and size, pushed his way in so that he could get attention too. They were both so friendly and as I walked they followed along as if they belonged to us, their eyes full of light and hope. I looked at Alan, he knew what I was thinking, and he had that raised eyebrow look that said "don't even think about it", I tried a pathetic, "aren't they wonderful?" He just shook his head. It was really hard, I had a serious connection going and I still wish I had adoped them. Now I try not to get attached, I just form short-term relationships with my dog friends, they get to be "my" dog for a day. I know it's a total cop-out and someone always ends up getting hurt.
Chania
When we arrived into the harbor of Chania we were struck immediately by how attractive it was. It had the appearance of
an old Italian or French harbor rather than Greek. 
The entrance was flanked by a Venetian fortress on one side and a graceful old lighthouse on the other. The old inner harbor was fringed with lovely old Venetian buildings and a Turkish mosque built in 1645 during Ottoman rule. In the distance were a backdrop of purple-hued, snow-capped mountains.
We Med-moored along the old quay in front of three lively up-market tavernas, giving us a front-row seat to the parade of young locals and early-season tourists enjoying the beautiful May weather.
We love that we can just step off the boat and suddenly be in the hub, the heart of the action, and in being in the thick of things means we become part of the spectacle as well. Tourists love to look at boats and we love to watch them stop to look/stare at our boat, oblivious to the fact that we are in the cockpit. We have become used to being a tourist attraction of sorts. There is a pattern, first they read the name, and then our home port, which reads only Road Harbour (Tortola, British Virgin Islands) and you can see the puzzlement on their faces, as they discuss amoung themselves, Where is Road Harbour? The average European tourist has no idea. Then they look at the flag hoping for an answer. The BVI flag is a false clue since it contains the British Flag, but also has a green placard with a lady holding the scales of justice. Next they start looking all over the boat, our rig and our gear, with much discussion. They look up and notice our American crew flag flying on the halyard, port side of the mast. More discussion. Occasionally they'll ask us questions, "excuse me, excuse me...what is this flag? where is Road Harbour? What is this (brand) boat? An audacious few actually come right out with "tell me...how much does a boat like this cost?" I even had a guy say he was thinking about buying a boat, and would it be alright if he came aboard and have a look around (with his wife and baby!) Some offer advice "we have a boat like this back home in Sweden, a Bavaria, and you should know that you that you haven't tied your dock lines correctly", "Where have you come from? America? Across the Atlantic" How long did it take? Did you stop at night?" Wide-eyed staring now. They take pictures of the boat, they take pictures of themselves, with the boat behind them. It's all part of the fun.
Chania is by far our favorite stop in Crete, since it's still the low season it isn't overly crowded, but there are enough people to create a fun atmosphere. It has character and charm, history, ancient ruins (one dig was being very carefully excavated a block behind our boat), lovely old architecture,and a warren of narrow cobbled streets in the old quarter with tons of atmospheric tavernas.
Many are in the roofless ruins of the old houses creating natural open air courtyards shaded with lemon trees, bouganvillia and grapevines, while the joyous trill of canaries provide the background music. We found the food to be of a higher caliber then anywhere else we have been in Greece. Many of the old Greek standards are on the menus but there are lots of regional Cretan dishes as well such as fried snails (no thank you); chorta (a green leafy vegetable) is found in all the tavernas and markets; lamb braised with artichokes; and sweet cheese pastries filled with a soft, white Cretan cheese called myzihra.
The Greeks love dark green vegetables, which is said to be one of the factors attributing to the robust health and longevity of the Greek people. They also love foraging for wild greens, we noticed quite a few families having a fun day out in the country searching for greens by the side of the road, while we traveled about Crete by car. It's hard to imagine families in America doing this for fun, though I'd love to see it happen. Chorta is a springtime favorite. It is a bitter tasting green, similar to dandelion or mustard greens, it is simply boiled and served piled on plates with a drizzle of olive oil and a wedge of lemon.
Lunch at the budget priced Doloma restaurant in Chania was typical of the local 'peasant' food. Similar dishes are served everywhere in this region. We were invited in to see the food. A choice of about 10 dishes awaited us, all pre-cooked. The owner described each dish and took our order.
We picked Roast Pork, Baby Okra in thick sauce, Broad beans. Each dish prepared early in the morning and cooked slowly and served school-lunch style from a large warming tray. A lovely honey-dripping desert and a sweet wine were complementary.
Chania is our last town in Crete. Tomorrow we will sail to the very end of Crete and anchor off a small deserted island. Then the next morning we head north to the Peleponnese peninsula.
Next.......The Ionian, the Peleponese Peninsula and onward to Italy