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Living In Rhodes
Sea Fever JournalBy Wendy CatlinMandraki HarbourMid June through Mid August, 1999
We had a great sail after leaving Cyprus, heading for Rhodes, Greece. It took us two nights and two days. All was well on the trip as we were sailing along, then the wind eased. Time to start the engine. Well, once again, no engine! Am I tired of writing this??? So we continued to sail towards Rhodes, arriving after dark. We put in a radio call to the Harbour Master, telling him we were under sail and unable to enter the harbour without an engine. He very kindly dispatched a harbour police boat to guide us to a safe anchorage for the night. The next day, Rob rallied some other yatchties with dinghies to help us into the berth. It took a while to settle, but we finally made it. When we departed Rhodes, we left with a brand new engine! The reason we have come to Rhodes is to meet Rob’s daughter and friends arriving from the USA. We decided to take time off from engine problems and completely enjoy our time with our guests!. We welcomed a family of four, David, Sherrie and teenage daughters, Julietta and Amy. And…Rob’s most special treat, the arrival of his 12-year-old daughter, Annalise. So refreshing and fun to have everyone on board! It is soon apparent that it is okay that we will not be sailing off anywhere. There is plenty to see and do here in Rhodes and on surrounding islands. After everyone settles into their cabins, we all slow down and just start to enjoy ourselves. The girls take to Sea Fever life quite nicely, immediately organizing all their stuff and making up new projects. Dave and Sherrie take a deep breath and start to relax after the long journey from America. Annalise had made a great set of Greek God nameplates, which we hung up in the saloon helping us to learn the God’s and Goddess names so important to the mythology of Greece. The girls also produced a play, using the Church of St. John as the stage. Quite impressive! Our berth is on a small floating dock just off a main promenade. Competition for space here can be fierce. Rhodes is approaching peak tourist season so there is always a lot of activity nearby. On one end of the boat, our view is a beautiful fountain and the Church of St. John. Across the harbour is the15th century Fort of St. Nicholas and three windmills dating back to the 16th century. There used to be sixteen windmills here used to grind grain for the departing ships. The harbour entrance is said by some to be location of the Colossus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Colossus was a giant bronze statue 100 feet tall, standing over the harbour entrance with a foot on either side of it. All ships passed under the Colossus. Apparently, the more likely, though less exciting location for the Colossus, was on a hill above the old city. The most special thing, is the old city, a five-minute walk from our berth. The city is dominated by the Palace of the Grand Masters and is one of the finest examples of medieval architecture in existence today. The Old City walls are an amazingly complicated fortification, very strong and well preserved. Inside, there are many streets crawling with tourists, restaurants and shops. But it is easy to get away from in all just by walking a few yards to find charming narrow cobblestone streets. Here you will find the local residents sitting in their courtyards, grape arbors, peace and quiet, and picture postcard scenes. It is a great place to get lost in the maze of narrow alleyways. The girls made up a great "treasure hunt" in the old city, where we adults had to follow the poetic clues hidden in corners of walls and holes in pipes. The fun and prize was worth the effort! One day, we hired a passenger van and drove up into the mountains in the center of the island. The hills are dotted with olive groves and picturesque villages. We followed our natural tendency to explore, and headed up side roads and onto dirt roads higher into the mountains. Taking a closer look at an olive grove, we realized there were more than olives here. We found apricots, plums, cherries, loquats and lemons. We tried in vain to track down a cicada from the characteristic noise they make! At the highest point of our off road adventure, we came across a large herd of goats, tended by an elderly goat herder. We had an interesting interaction with him since neither party spoke any of the other’s language! Stopping at a pool further down the track, we were surprised to find fish, prawns, frogs and CRABS. This good day was completed by a swim in the sea, a climb to the top of the Acropolis of Lindos (the old capitol) and a fine meal out before heading back to Sea Fever. We rented a day boat for a trip down the coast. After packing a picnic lunch we had an early morning start aboard Anaspasia with Captain Gregoris and his first mate Anna. They took us to some lovely swimming and snorkeling spots anchoring close to sculpted coastal rock formations. We also took an overnight trip to the island of Simi via a two-hour ferry ride. The ferry stopped at Panormitis to visit a monastery before going into Simi Harbour. The town of Simi is situated on steep hillsides coming right down to the sea, very quaint and picturesque. We all had a lovely time here exploring the town, playing at the beach and of course…shopping! Our friends had to return to the USA, but Annalise got to stay with us for another three weeks. She and Rob had a great time together doing various projects. Annalise became an accomplished dinghy driver with her dad as teacher. They also spent three days in Turkey. I took a short trip to England to visit my daughter and granddaughter. What a treat to be with them! When it was near time for Annalise to return to Athens for her flight home, she and Rob island hopped by ferry. Rob continues the story: Our first stop was Thira, Santorini, a spectacular island that I first visited thirty-two years ago as crew on a timber vessel without radio or lift raft! Annalise and I spent two days at an old house perched right on the edge of the cliff, a very picturesque spot. Annalise painted a watercolor of the view looking up from our balcony. We explored the town and walked down the steep inside wall of the volcano to the dock at the water’s edge. After exploring here, we rode back up the path on donkeys.
The next ferry was to Paros, a very different island. We just had one night, so we stayed at a hotel at the quay. We hired an inflatable boat, of which Annalise was the skipper, to explore the bay. We discovered a chapel and ruins, found piles of short sea grass three feet thick on the shore and swam by our anchored dinghy in clear water. The last ferry took us to Athens, where we spent a day exploring the Acropolis and local markets. Of course some last minute shopping had to be done! Annalise returned to the USA and I returned to Sea Fever. Back in Rhodes….. A two-minute walk from our berth very is a popular beach that is totally covered with hundreds of people, chaises and umbrellas from morning to night. I guess this is the Med way. Each person pays 1000 drachmas ($3.00) for a chase and umbrella. People sit there and cook themselves, not using the umbrella at all. I have never seen such a scene! There is a good restaurant right on the beach, which plays great music. So when Rob and I go down for an evening swim, I have the perfect beat for aqua aerobics!
On another occasion, Rob and I drove around the island. Along the northern coast, there are a lot of small vegetable gardens. The main vegetables here are eggplant, tomato, green pepper, red pepper, potato and onion (sometimes zucchini). There are lots of fruits…nectarines, peaches, grapes, melons, oranges, lemons. Lettuce is hard to come by. Of course the cheese and olive oils are fabulous. Some of the local bread is very good, but must be eaten fresh only. Restaurants all offer Greek delights such as gyros/pita, moussaka, slouvaki (skewered meat), meat stew, and of course Greek salad!
Heading back up the other side of the island, it becomes more populated which beaches and large hotels. There is a small peninsula sticking out from the coast, which holds the ruins and acropolis of Lindos. This is an absolutely beautiful site. Below the acropolis there are two perfect bays at the base of the steep, vertical cliffs upon which the fortress and acropolis was built. As we return to Rhodes, everything gets busier, with beach resorts and large hotels. A Greek Ritual........ Every Sunday morning and evening, the Greek army band parades down the street. They stop at the old governor's palace, put up (or take down) the Greek flag and play the national anthem. It is a ritual I have come to love. Apparently, this happens in all Greek towns at exactly the same time every Sunday. Installing the new engine turned out to be a very long process so we found ourselves in Rhodes for a longer period than intended. In order to shorten the process, we decide to wait to hook up refrigeration and hot water. We will do this in another place, probably Turkey. We have also taken out the dive compressor.
We found a scenic isolated anchorage in Turkey, just across the way from Rhodes. We reveled in the peace and quiet after so much time in busy Rhodes. The water was clean and clear, inviting us to swim. On the hill, we see ruins of a fortress which once defended this protected bay.
After a peaceful night, we sailed to the Greek Island of Simi, anchoring in lovely Pethi Bay. The next day, we planned to sail on to other anchorage’s and on to the island of Koz, where Roger and Peter would catch a ferry to Athens for their flight back to the UK. But the Meltemi (strong Mediterranean wind) blew up from the direction we wanted to go, so we decided to return to the protected waters of Pethi Bay and do some windsurfing! It is time for Roger and Peter to catch a ferry back to Rhodes and then on to Athens. The total trip will take them approximately sixteen hours. It was a sad farewell. I finish this part of the journal on 25 August, 1999. Pethi Bay, Simi Island, Greece Sea Fever Gets her new engine!
A SPECIAL EXPERIENCE IN RHODES
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