We had to clear customs in Bodrum,Turkey.We cruise 1hour to check into Greece at the island of Rhodes. Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese Greek islands. Its strong history having many nations in control started with the Minoans, then Mycenaeans, followed by Greeks,Romans and it was a stronghold for the Knights of St John during the Crusades. In the middle ages it was held by the Muslims and now the Greeks. As you approach the island you are confronted wit...

The Greek Island of Symi is only five nautical miles from Turkey, but we get dropped off from BP in the tender, only a couple of hundred meters from the shore. This is a small island only a couple of kilometers long, it is quiet mountainous rugged and dry. The main waterfront town is Gialos it is very attractive with a colourful neoclassical Harbour punctuated by a basilica and clock towers. It was once a great ship building island and renowned for sponge diving...

The previous afternoon we left Cesme with strong winds and a rough following sea. Our destination is 'Samos', another Greek Island which we are not technically able to anchor at. We try to find an anchorage opposite the island in Turkey but as the wind is so strong we are forced to go to Samos and anchor in a beautiful bay called 'Klima'. It is fairly late when we anchor so before dinner we have a deck coits competition with the crew, won by the captain in a pl...

The wind is still strong and the sea fairly rough. We head off from Turkey to the Greek island of Chios in the tender with captain Paul. It is only about 8 nautical miles but because of the rough sea it takes about half an hour. As we have not legally checked into Greece we find a small Harbour outside the town, then get a taxi into Chios. Our first impression is that this is a bit of a ghost town. The shops are shut and a lot are vacant. We are told that they o...

Early start from Skyros for a bumpy 7 hour trip to the last of our Greek islands before entering Turkey.We arrive about 3 in the afternoon and as we have now decided to leave earlier than expected,because of deteriorating weather,our time on shore is limited. Limnos is a very large fertile island.We anchor in the Harbour of the capital town Myrina .This is overlooked by the ruins of a large Venetian fort which we climbed to and enjoyed the view of the Harbour an...