​One of our lovely guests on ITIKI this year was a dear ‘old’ friend of mine who just happens to be one of Australia’s leading experts on water management, Dr Annette Davison (BSc (hons), M Env Law, PhD, GAICD etc etc). Annette is founder and director of Risk Edge whose mission is to help its clients optimise their businesses through identifying risks and harnessing the opportunities that creates. Annette is a very smart lady, not only has she has chosen me as a friend, as you can see she has lots of letters after her name…

Annette and her husband Steve (a highly regarded steel scheduler – yes it’s a thing!) joined us for a few days in Gocek Bay in southern Turkey and over a glass of water or two (well wine is mostly water isn’t it???) we got to talking about matters of water and waste management on a yacht and decided to take a look at ITIKI’s systems from a water safety and risk management perspective. This is the sort of thing that can happen when a couple of scientists have access to alcohol and too much time on their hands. I have to say though, it has been a very interesting exercise. We had not considered our water management system quite so holistically until now. While it has evolved to its current configuration, rather than being designed that way up front, it seems my own science and public health background, along with Keith’s diligent research and a healthy dose of common sense, have helped us reach a pretty good outcome

Background and description
Regular readers will be familiar with ITIKI, our Fountaine Pajot, Helia 44 evo (that’s a 44’ cruising catamaran) currently cruising the Mediterranean. When we are not on the move we spend our time at anchor in some gorgeous location or other; it’s a rare occasion when we go into a marina or town quay these days, only if we don’t have a choice due to lack of safe or convenient anchorage in impending bad weather.

We are back in Australia for 6 months to enjoy the summer down under. So where did we leave ITIKI? Well we have left our beloved in the very capable hands of the Karpathakis family at Artemis Leros Boatyard on the northern end of the island of Leros. This small island is part of the Dodecanese group in the eastern Aegean. There is no marina here so all of the boat storage is on the hardstand which is what we wanted this year. It is easier on the boat especially as we are not on board to keep an eye on mooring lines etc. We are also in need of an anti-fouling after a season of heavy growth and hard bottom scrubbing.

​Due west of the small island of Symi lies the even smaller island of Nisyros. This gem of an island is not to be missed and as it is on the way to Leros, why not. We have some more northerlies on the way but there is a small weather window and that is enough for a flying visit to this amazing island. Despite its size, it is jam packed with stuff to see! After an early start motoring from Symi we arrive in the middle of the day and have our pick of spots in the near empty Pali harbour. After a spot of lunch we pick up a hire car from Eagles nest, and we are given a laminated card with step by step instructions on what to see and how to get there. We follow this religiously...

​Our first stop is described as a hole in the wall on the side of the road, a tiny alcove which is a natural steam room! As the island has an active volcano, steam vents feed this tiny room and my camera lens and glasses fog up immediately on entry. It’s certainly warm in here.

We wind our way downhill through olive groves, into the Stefano crater which has a couple of other smaller craters within. Both of these are exuding steam and smell a little sulphury, but nothing like Mt Etna. We arrive between busloads of tourists and descend into the larger crater to explore the moonscape. There are a number of steam vents hissing gently, hinting at the heat and pressure below. From there we walk up to the rim of a second crater, which is smaller but equally spectacular. A tour bus arrives so it is time for us to move on.

​From the crater we could see a tiny white speck up on a peak of the rim, and apparently it is a tiny church. We follow the instructions on our laminated card and after slowing down at a couple of goat tracks we finally find the right turn off. There is nothing else here but this tiny, pristine blue and white church, perched on the peak of the hill with an incredible view over the water. 

​More winding roads as we make our way to the mini town of Nikia with the tiniest of town squares. The town clings to the top of the hill, again with a fantastic view over most of the tiny island.

​After leaving Gocek bay we had one more overnight stop just outside the headland, and a little further west from Ragged bay where we stayed on the way in. This was really just to shorten the trip to Ekincek and make it a little easier on our VIP guests, my mum and brother Michael. This bay has the unlikely name of Kukukaga Koyu and is shallow enough to swing anchor which is a real bonus, as I am so over swimming lines ashore. As boats left we repositioned ourselves but sadly the music got louder and louder on one of the gulets (they were there before us). Keith went over to see if they were staying the night and as they were, and expected to be kicking on until the wee hours, we moved around the corner to Buyukaga Koyu. That meant swimming lines ashore at dusk but it is just as nice a bay and very quiet. Such a shame that one boat can completely ruin a beautiful place with noise pollution.

In the morning my brother went ashore and walked up to the top of the ridge. The party boat was gone, probably left early morning when the punters were still sleeping. We left around mid-morning to get to Ekincek Beach anchorage, motoring most of the way with a short-lived gennaker sail towards the end. We settled into our anchorage in the west of the bay, off the black sand beach. Keith and Michael went ashore to organise our tour for the next day, all very easy (Euro120 for a private boat for 6hours). We went for a walk along the beach where the sand gradually turns to gravel the further you walk along and it becomes impossible to continue. Not much to the town, a few tired looking "resorts" line the beach, but the town quay is recently upgraded and looks quite nice. The Dalyan river cruise is the main attraction for coming here. It is very popular with cruisers heading along the coast (and back) between Marmaris and Gocek and makes for an interesting diversion without having to get off the water for too long!

​In the morning we were picked up from ITIKI just after 8am and skirted the coast checking out some caves and rock formations along the way before entering the river mouth. We decline the first stop at Turtle Beach as it just seems like some kind of beach resort, hopefully no one will tell me we missed something amazing. We head directly to Caunos which is an ancient city of Caria and Anatolia, founded in the 9th century BC. The boat drops us off here and we explore on foot. A short walk up hill and we find a well-preserved theatre a bath house as well as other ruins. We are here early enough to have the site to ourselves for a short while before the road trippers start showing up. We spend an hour wandering around the site which also has a great view over the mouth of the river and down to the coast. Back on the boat and we weave our way through channels of rushes, dodging the increasing amount of traffic coming the other way. Having an early start was a really good idea. We start to see glimpses of the ancient Lycean Tombs (The Kings Tombs) in the rock face ahead and we make a stop at the lovely town of Dalyan. Here we have 2 hours and after taking the obligatory selfies in front of the tombs, we wander around the town. Its not possible to visit the tombs and go inside, unfortunately and there is a dearth of information about them in the town. To make up for it there are plenty of lovely shops and cafes so we do a little shopping, and then enjoy a lunch of gozleme (Turkish pancakes) before it is time to head back down the river. Once we leave the protection of the river, the trip around the headland and back to ITIKI is a little bouncy as the afternoon breeze has picked up. We up anchor and move to another small bay just to the south, for a change of scenery for the evening.

Enjoy the trip up the river with us:

When we set about planning season 2019, we still had a few question marks about our route and timing. Our winterising location was also yet to be chosen, however we had decided we wanted ITIKI to spend her winter on dry land, which is much easier on the boat. With friends and family wanting to join us in September we had to take a guess where we would be wintering and on balance thought it would probably be in Turkey at Marmaris. So a trip to Turkey was pencilled in towards the end of the season. As it turned the island of Leros in Greece was finally chosen as the place to go for winter, fortunately not too far from our cruising grounds in Turkey.

​Visiting Turkey requires a little more preparation than other countries we have visited so far. Indeed it is the first place we have been that requires us to have a visa (we are travelling on our Aussie passports). Fortunately that is quite efficiently obtained online. Checking in to Turkey requires a shipping agent as everything is online and in Turkish! We had contacted Gurkan in advance of our arrival and emailed him all of the necessary information. Of course there is a fee for agent services and a transit log (as well as the visa) and we will need to use an agent to check out of a Turkey as well.

​We left the island of Symi mid-morning on the 28th of August to head across the 13nm to Bozborun in Turkey. From many of the eastern most islands of Greece the Turkish coast is clearly visible. In fact two Turkish peninsulas wrap themselves around the Greek Island of Symi. These countries are certainly very close neighbours and Turkish waters are regularly visited by the Greek navy, much to the chagrin of the Turks! We often heard radio calls from the Turks notifying the Greek navy that their illegal incursions had been noted.

​Anyway after our check in dramas in Corfu when we arrived Greece, I am pleased to say that checking out in Symi was much less painful! When we arrived at Bozborun (Turkey) we popped into our agent’s office and he had everything already prepared for us. After taking us to the port police to have our passports stamped he pointed us to a nearby pub to wait for him to finalise things. We get a transit log and crew list, a blue card (more on that later…) and passport stamps. This process would be impossible without an agent and it is certainly very efficient and painless! Bozborun is an easy place to check in but the downside is that there is nowhere to buy a prepaid SIM card. These are tightly controlled in Turkey, and I had to take the local bus over the hills and far away into Marmaris and back to get that sorted out as we just can’t live without internet. Inexplicably, 3 weeks later my service was cut off by the provider. Fortunately Keith’s wasn't as we would have been completely lost otherwise.

​We plan about 5 weeks in Turkey and with 2 lots of guests arriving in the Marmaris/Gocek area later in the month so we decide to take it slowly and not go too far afield. This is novel for us but we are travel weary towards the end of a long season and taking it easy was just what we needed.

​Trussed up like a Turkey
The southern coastline of Turkey is wild and rugged with high cliffs meeting the waters edge and continuing down under the water meaning the depth drops off very quickly. You can be within 50m off the cliffs and in 50-100m of water. That means finding places that are shallow enough to anchor can be challenging. Beaches are relatively rare here as are spacious, shallow bays which means swing anchoring is not the norm - lines ashore is pretty much standard in places like Gocek bay (although there are also restaurant quays and a few marinas on offer). With a steep sloping ground rising up to a rocky shore we will be dropping our anchor in 25m of water, into the deep unknown, and reversing back to within 20-30m of the shore. We will take lines from the transom cleats at roughly 45o angle to tie to a suitable rock, or bollard in some places, then tighten up on the lines and the anchor until we are locked in place – trussed up like a turkey. As I am the one swimming ashore with the lines while Keith manoeuvres ITIKI, I am grateful that the water is still warm – 26oC! I tell myself the exercise is doing me good, as I scrape my knee on a sharp rock just below the surface. The novelty has well and truly worn off by the end of the season. 

​Heading east
We head along the rugged Turkish coastline stopping at some lovely bays along the way. One of the first and one of our favourites had no name on the map so we called it Goat and Turtle bay. We had this tiny bay to ourselves in the evenings but during the day a few boats came by for an hour or so. There were 2 or 3 turtles living here (they all look the same…) and I managed to follow one of them around for a little. [Check out the video here] They are so graceful underwater. Keith was quite frustrated with the lack of a drone in such a spectacular location so he climbed the mast to take a few photos. The water looks spectacular and conditions were calm so we were able to explore quite far afield on the SUPs. 

​Continuing further east we turned the corner around the peninsula and could put the gennaker up. Shortly after luffing up to crank the halyard a bit more there was a big bang! - the halyard had chafed through completely and snapped at the top of the mast. The sail hit the deck and tried to go for a swim. Our race boat experience kicked in and we both ran to the foredeck and managed to drag it back on board before it got too wet. Luckily it was not blowing too much. We stuffed it down the hatch and out of the way to deal with later and pulled the genoa out instead. BUT we forgot that we had been lazy and left the mooring ball was attached to the starboard sheet so when we tacked it was swinging around madly. It took a while to catch it and untie it, while swinging back and forth with it – the whole thing looked rather comical. Definitely amateur hour! We found a long, wide, south facing bay called Bozuk Buku and picked a spot along the western shore to tie back to. Over the next half hour or so least 15 gulets arrived but still plenty of space. Although it is reasonably well sheltered here the breeze (and swell) is beam-on, which is never great when you are “trussed up” but it settles overnight. In the morning we went ashore to check out the ruins of the old citadel on the headland. It seemed strangely familiar to me and back on the boat I checked my photos of Turkey from 17 years ago (!) and yes, I had been here before! This was one of the few places I remembered from my previous visit. 

​We left mid-morning to go all of 3.4 nm around the point where we anchor in the southern corner of a hammerhead bay called Serce Limani. We were considering swing anchoring but felt a bit guilty about blocking off the whole corner, even though on the chart is says "reserved for yachts"! Meanwhile a large luxury gulet came by and anchored to our right, taking a long line ashore. The crew came straight over in their RIB and offered to help us, and in no time the decision was made for us and lines were attached the shore. Now we had really claimed the space. The people from the gulet swam past and said hi then invited us aboard for a drink, must have read Keith's mind as he had just been saying how he wanted to have a look at one. These guys were a group of friends from Houston and Switzerland celebrating a 60th birthday! It was a very luxurious, owner operated boat with huge kitchen and spa tub on the foredeck. They left after lunch and we had the bay to ourselves so we released our lines to swing into the light winds. Keith takes a trip up the mast to drop a mouse line down to thread replacement halyard for the gennaker. The original lines are not the best quality and our plan is to go to 10mm dyneema before next season. Meanwhile we have an “old” halyard kindly donated by Phil from Just-a-Dash that will see us through the end of this season and keep us in business. Its great to have friends with race yachts. We have been gifted some “old” halyards from some of Sydney’s finest and they serve us perfectly well as spare halyards, mooring lines, sheets and braces… 

​We continue towards Marmaris coming into a bay called Ciftlik Koyu. Here there are a four restaurant quays and we decide its time to give it a try. But which one? As you enter the bay one of the staff from each of the of the restaurants races down to the end of his dock and picks up large coloured flag and starts waving to indicate they have space for you. Eeny, meanie, miney, mo… We choose Deniz Restaurant, give the boat a hose and have a lovely dinner ashore. Meanwhile some swell rolls in to remind us why we don't tie alongside more often. Creaky lines and squeaky fenders, not to mention uncouth, noisy neighbours. Thank goodness for snubber lines and Stilnox. We passed through here on our way back a month later, with mum and bro, and again had a lovely dinner at a Rafet Baba restaurant and the food was even better. Thankfully much calmer and quieter than our previous visit. Some 6 weeks later though we saw a video of this spot with a very strong Sou’easterly coming in. Thankfully no yachts here, but remembering how loose the planks on the dock were, we reckon they are all washed up on the beach by now. Definitely not the place to be in a southerly blow! 

Check out the video below to see the conditions 6 weeks after our visit. The docks in the right of the picture are the ones we were moored at in the picture above.

​We get away early due to the ordinary night's sleep and head into Marmaris. First on the agenda is to go into Netsel marina to refuel and pump out the blackwater tanks. The latter is a requirement in Turkey and is electronically recorded on our "Blue Card"** which our check-in agent organised for us (more on that sticky topic later…). All completed very smoothly and then we go to anchor in Marmaris bay, with a plan for provisioning. I spy a hairdresser from the boat and head straight there. While I am waiting they talk me into some long overdue maintenance (brows and pedicure). The hairdresser reminds me of Edward Scissor - hands and very quickly has my hair as short as it has ever been! Just perfect, this will last me until I get back to Oz! Meanwhile Keith wanders all over town looking for wood for a shelf in our new, outdoor cupboard (nicknamed The "Cote Mar" cupboard) and is very hot and bothered, and as it is very bouncy and busy in the town anchorage we call it a day and head over to the eastern side of the bay at an anchorage called Joya del Mar, away from the swell, the jet-skis and the comings and goings of gulets. Here we are closer to Yacht Marin and the less developed bay to its north. A bit of music from the shore but much calmer anchorage. 

​Marmaris is a sprawling, seaside town with no shortage of restaurants, bars, ice-creameries (Turkish gelato is really good!) and sun-burned British tourists. We head back across the bay and anchor again, take the RIB ashore and try to tick a few more things off the list. We promptly get side-tracked when we find an upholstery place (Aktif). We decide to take the plunge on the cockpit sun-screens we have been considering through the long, hot summer. Halil comes back to the boat with us to measure up. We all get a bit wet in the chop in the RIB going back and forth. I spend the afternoon wandering around Marmaris bazaar, old town and Fort while Keith goes through the templates with Halil, then it’s time to handover a cash deposit... We will be back in a couple of weeks to see how he is going. We eventually do finish our shopping trip and head back to our overnight anchorage again to escape the bounce and noise of Marmaris town. [Post Script: Halil and his team did a great job with our screens and recovering a couple of seat-back cushions. We will be well prepared for the ever-increasing summer temperatures next year.]

​Left just after breakfast we make our way past a huge hammerhead bay which looks like it would have some great spots to anchor, except for the minor problem that it is a prohibited, military area. We saw one warship going out, looking like they were heading towards us at first. We started with the main up, motor sailing, but eventually got the gennaker out until the breeze angle changed. Our next stop was in the southwest corner of Ekincek Bay. We didn’t set ourselves up too well initially and we dragged so, upped anchor and headed to the next bay south called  Kargi Koyu. This is a beautiful tree lined bay with pebble beach, clean water, not too many boats around. We return to this bay on our way back with some guests and try to go for a walk ashore, but it is tough going on the rugged terrain and rocky “beach”. 

​We started the next day around noon as we did not think we had too far to go. Unfortunately though our first choice of anchorage turned out to be not so nice as it looked on the map and poorly protected in the conditions so had no choice but to continue on. This turned out to be further than we would have liked for a day trip and we would have started earlier if we had known. The wind really kicks in along the coast here in the afternoon and despite a fairly benign forecast we saw 32kts at the top of the mast giving us an exciting if uncomfortable ride reaching 11+kts of boatspeed. We were grateful that we had already opted for 2 reefs in the main which was initially overkill, but our first reef was just about to blow out (those crappy FP polyester lines again…). While we had started out with the gennaker (on the newly installed JAD halyard), then swapped to the genoa with then newly minted barber hauler system gives us a much better sail shape and sheeting angle. Not the most pleasant of swells either, a bit confused with joggle from the nearby coast and mostly on the beam. It was a relief to find the lovely and well protected "Ragged Bay" on the headland that marks the entrance to Gocek bay, our next destination. It is aptly named as we are feeling pretty ragged after that sail! In the late afternoon light we take lines ashore in the eastern end of this bay. There are not too many boats here and half of them leave before nightfall anyway. The wind backs off at night and we sleep peacefully.

​Gocek Bay
Gocek Bay is an amazing place. I could try and liken it to Pittwater in Sydney but it is bigger, busier, clearer water, more goats and (probably) less sharks! In some ways it is like the Balearics in that there are dozens nooks and crannies to anchor (and take lines ashore), plenty of restaurant docks, some places with (free) mooring buoys as well as a few marinas. The popular and sheltered anchorages are mostly along the western shore of this large bay but it is a short hop across to the eastern side of the bay to the lively town of Fethiye and nearby resorts. We spent just on 3 weeks in this area but you could really spend months here and some do. As we did in the Balearics we find ourselves staying a couple of days in some anchorages and then moving a couple of nautical miles to the next one. We used the opportunity to do some reconnaissance as we have two sets of VIP guests joining us in this area. Everyone has their favourite bays around here, ours were 22-Fathom bay and Yassica Aldari (mooring buoy near one of the islands in the middle of the bay). As you can see from our track we criss-crossed the bay a couple of times also enjoying Wall Bay, Ruin Bay, Tomb Bay and Ortism Bay to name a few.

​Gocek itself is an odd little town. The usual collection of gulets and tourist boats and restaurants line the town quay and one street back a recently developed and almost artificial looking commercial street. Excellent kebabs can be had at the bizarrely named “Kebab Hospital” restaurant. Pleased to report we did not need a trip to the hospital after eating there!

​The town of Fethiye has a lot to offer too in terms of civilisation, provisioning with the most amazing bi-weekly market, fish market, supermarkets and souvenir bazaar. There are hundreds of barber shops too! There is a large marina in the bay (with pump out facilities…) and the infamous Hotel California of Marinas – Yacht Classic Hotel. The latter is actually a hotel/holiday resort with pool, health spa and restaurant, as well as space for quite a few yachts. Despite a recent price increase it is still quite reasonable with a discount on offer if you eat at the (very good) restaurant. And yes ladies the spa package is excellent value too. You really won’t want to leave this place, and many cruisers just keep coming back!

​With a little extra time before our guests arrive we spent a few days just outside Gocek bay and further east. First we spent the night at Gemiler Island, an anchorage on the northern side of the island in a channel facing the mainland. This was a night that was best forgotten. At sunset we had several crazy disco pirate ships reversing through the channel, then a tideline of muck came floating past so no swimming. Overnight we had 20kts beam on gusts funnelling through that dislodged our anchor in the night leaving us a little closer to the rocks than we were comfortable with and not enough scope to tighten up. I swam ashore at first light to release us and we left to go to Cold Water bay. This is beautiful, clean and sheltered bay and we had a very relaxing couple of days here, just swimming and paddling. The surrounding terrain was too rugged to go ashore though. The crazy disco pirate ships spend the afternoon on the opposite side of the bay, doing a quick hot lap along the far shore before leaving to annoy the folk at Gemilar island anchorage. 

​Peel me a grape
Meanwhile back in Gocek bay with our guests we are starting to see some of the same boats hopping from inlet to inlet. The good news is you really don’t need to go anywhere near civilisation as everything you could possibly need comes to you. You could just sit on your boat and wave at a passing vessel to fulfil your every desire for the day, day after day. Firstly there is the ubiquitous “ice-cream man”, who will sometimes help you with your lines ashore in the expectation that you and your crew will invest in a cherry Magnum or 3; then there is a couple in a slick looking powerboat offering massages in the comfort of your own cockpit; next comes a guy in tinny selling the world’s most amazing “village bread” – kind of a cross between damper and a scone – as well homemade preserves and some seasonal local produce; next a slightly larger boat which has great selection of fresh, organic F&V and a few basics such as eggs, juice and milk; finally the piece de resistance – The Migros Supermarket boat! This is a super-duper, 40m long, 2,000sqm , air-conditioned, floating supermarket – complete with shopping trolleys! It does the rounds every day from Fethiye, motoring slowly into each of the most popular and larger bays, and in no time half a dozen RIBs dropped into the water and are racing out to it. There is a dude on the transom to take your line and take care of your RIB while you shop. Meanwhile the boat continues to motor slowly around the bay trailing a heap of RIBs trailing behind it. You need to be reasonably quick though, otherwise you could be in the next bay by the time you finish!

​Well all this eating and drinking is making us (and our holding tanks) quite full. We can’t release them in this beautiful bay where everyone is swimming, that would be highly illegal, and pretty icky too. But fear not, there is no need waste valuable relaxation time to up-anchor and go into “town” to pump out your tanks! If you wait long enough, or put out a call, the “sh1t ship” will come to you and relieve you off your waste water, along with 50 Turkish Lira, and dutifully record the event on your “blue card”. Which brings me to…

​I wonder why they chose blue…
Ah yes, the blue card. The powers that be have decided that pleasure craft over a certain size are not permitted to sail in Turkish waters unless they have holding tanks. Not really clear whether these are supposed to be both black water and grey water tanks but most yachts would only have blackwater tanks, with the greywater going over the side. In addition, it is not permitted to empty the holding tanks into Turkish waters - they must be pumped out at authorised pumping stations and this is electronically recorded on the “blue card”, along with the volume extracted. Officially the expectation is 50L per person per day! That’s a lot of 1s and 2s, and probably all your grey water as well. Unofficially we are told that pumping out once per week is a reasonable expectation, so we aim to comply with that. We didn’t have our blue card checked by the authorities during our stay so we can’t say, however fellow sailors report that “I went into Greek waters to empty my tanks, officer …” seems to be an acceptable “excuse” for insufficient pump out events or low volumes.  Those with composting toilets must have to do a bit of “smoke and mirrors” when it comes time to pump out…

​So our final night in Turkey we spent at Albatross Marina at Marmaris. It was a pleasure to meet the highly-regarded Atila Alada of Offshore Sailing who has a highly regarded and very extensive workshop here. Although we did not think we needed any work done our forward saloon hatch just so happened to fall off the day we arrived and Atila and his team were able to do an emergency repair overnight which was fantastic! We said farewell to our final guest for the season in the morning, and decided to head straight for Symi in Greece, so a big thanks to our agent Uğur who facilitated a rapid check out with the skipper remaining on the boat due to the bouncy and gusty conditions. We had an exhilarating, reaching sail along the Turkish coast before goose-winging up the channel into the now familiar Symi Town. We had a great time in Turkey, the people were wonderful and the scenery was stunning. We will be back next year for sure! Oh but wait! I haven’t told you about our amazing trip up the Dalyan river! Stay tuned for that one, coming soon…

Meanwhile check out some more highlights of Turkey:

​Having reached Artemis Boatyard on the island of Leros, eastern Cyclades, and survived our dance with the Meltemi, we can relax a little. The wind has backed off for the moment and it seems to be less intense closer to the Turkish coast (although it hasn’t finished with us yet…) We have covered a few of the 6000+ Greek islands but we don’t feel like we have seen much ashore, as the priority has been ducking for cover and getting to Leros. We barely had time to read about what we were missing in the guide book! Now we have a good week ahead to catch our breath and slow down and run south with the prevailing wind.

The island is best known for the “Battle of Leros” during November 1943 when the German troops displaced a Commonwealth division that had occupied Leros following the Italian capitulation. On our return in October we had more time to drive around the island and noticed some bomb nose cones and shell casings that had been decorated and used as garden ornaments or gateposts! From our anchorage at Archangelos, we unfurl the gennaker to take a short hop south, down the west coast of Leros into the main harbour town of Lakki for a couple of days. The dominant feature of the town is the not-quite-art-deco Italian buildings along the foreshore, one of which now houses the cinema. Lakki is a very sheltered anchorage and a great place to chill out, check out cafes and restaurants and provision. There is a fabulous Australian butcher here that sells great Aussie style meat and the best mutton and rosemary sausages in Greece! We also do a reconnaissance on the Port Authority, Customs house and ferry wharf that we will be visiting when we leave for Athens at the end of October. 

Some strong winds are looming on the forecast so after consulting with Team Reflexion we decide to head further south to the island of Kalymnos to wait it out at Emporios. Here we find some well-maintained restaurant buoys laid by “Captain Kostas”. We are helped onto our mooring buoy by Tony from Kostas in a dinghy. We need to attach our lines directly to the metal loop at the top of the buoy, rather than picking up a floating line, so its great to have someone to pass our mooring lines down to. We run a line from each of our bow cleats to the buoy to hold it in the centre under out bowsprit so it doesn’t bang on the hulls in the middle of the night! If there is no one around to help, picking up these type of buoys can be challenging in a cat as you can’t reach it from the foredeck to pass the lines directly through the loop and there is no way you can lift the buoy with the boathook to do this. We normally motor starboard side to the buoy and get the transom close enough for me to lean over the side to loop a line through. I then walk the line and buoy forward while Keith reverses the boat until the buoy comes around the starboard bow and I can cleat off both ends of our first line. Getting a second one on either involves hanging over the front and poking it through with a boat hook or launching the dinghy. Sometimes a fellow sailor will come over and help - please note that we have paid it forward on that score…

Our first day here is relatively calm but it kicks in the next day with strong catabatic gusts. It is hard to explain what this feels like but I would so much rather be in an anchorage or on a mooring buoy than attached to a concrete town quay or even a floating dock in these conditions. Even with two mooring lines attached to the buoy we will surf from side to side. The lines creak on the cleats and unfortunately our massive buoy decided to rotate, twisting our mooring lines back onto themselves 6-7 times! It was challenging to unravel that between 30+kts gusts after returning from dinner ashore! Looking around the moorings I was so glad to be on a catamaran as the monohulls were swinging around even more and regularly being pushed onto their sides as the gusts catch them broadside to. I put the GoPro on the side to try to capture the action. The noise of the wind across the deck, through the rigging and down the mast, combined with the cabin fever of having to stay on your boat, really does get to you after a while. We were comfortable enough on the buoy to leave ITIKI for the day and enjoy our first Greek island bus ride into the main town of Pothia on the south of the island. Kalymnos is quite mountainous and there are three high limestone ridges which are very popular with climbers and its easy to see why. The top section of the hills are sheer rock faces that would test the breaking strain of your fingernails. Its also a popular diving island with caves and wrecks to explore. The bus ride along the narrow winding road around the large bay to the east of our anchorage is an adventure in itself. The bay is reminiscent of Kotor in Montenegro, the bus ride itself is more like a theme park experience, but the view is spectacular. We have a short stop at a beach and then cross a saddle and head down into the town. The lively but noisy town sits on a large bay ringed by cafes & restaurants, and boats of all shapes and sizes fill the harbour. The island of Kos can be seen in the distance. We spend some time wandering around, enjoy lunch here and then head back on the bus with our chain-smoking driver to our anchorage. Tonight is the last night we say farewell to Team Reflexion who are heading north to meet some guests. 

​Before leaving we drop into one of the local homes offering some produce for sale. I have become addicted to the fresh figs which are plentiful and oh so sweet at this time of year. While English is widely and well spoken in Greece it still comes as a surprise to hear a broad Aussie accent, but here we meet a Greek guy whose parents had moved to Australia where he had grown up (in Melbourne of course). He had now moved back to Kalymnos with his wife and family. We stock up on freshly laid eggs and freshly picked figs and say our farewells to Kalymnos for now. We did drop in again on our way back from Turkey, heading north to say hi again. Sadly the figs were done for the season but we got some beautiful Corinth Pomegranates, more eggs and the last of the seasons sweetest cherry tomatoes ever! Nothing like home grown produce, picked fresh.

Just be-Kos
The remainder of our journey through Greece was much quieter weather wise and we were able to relax and enjoy the sights. Our next stop was the island of Kos where we anchored off the beach at Kamares on the south west coast of the island, and we stayed for a couple of days. A sandy bottom and clear calm water ensured good holding and we were comfortable enough to leave ITIKI and hire a car to explore the island.  We visited Kos Town which was very lively and touristy but still with a lot of character. There are some Greek and Roman ruins here including a Roman barrio. The harbour is well protected and there is mooring off the beach outside the harbour - important to check these things out in case we come back on our way north again (we didn’t).

​Tour de Tilos
Pushing further south we head to the small island of Tilos. We pass the Nysiros, which is wild, and rocky with an active volcano crater in the middle (don’t worry we visit on our way back north). On the way we “rescue” several inflatable beach toys, probably lost from the same boat - we will find new owners for these along the way. Our first night we anchor off a beach in the bay of Eritos. It’s a nice enough anchorage and the bay is popular with hippies and free campers, oh and clothing seems to be “optional” ashore. Sadly a very unpleasant swell coming in overnight so not the best night’s sleep. We move on to the main town of Livadia early the next day and tie up at the town quay as Keith is keen to pressure wash ITIKI with his latest toy, the Bosch pressure washer, using the “unlimited” dock water supply. The small quay is pretty empty when we arrive but soon fills up. We have a rather large Turkish gulet tie up next to us and they soon get sick of the noise so we have to finish the cleaning with the hose. We have worn ourselves out so freshen up with a shower, followed by a beer at the nearby restaurant. The island is small and we were keen to hire a scooter to get around it. No luck at the rental place but the waiter at the bar we had been chatting to during the afternoon kindly offered us his! We took him up on that and the next afternoon, after finally figuring out how to start the scooter, pretty much covered the whole of the island in a couple of hours. It was a great fun way to get around, with very little traffic, no roundabouts or traffic lights to worry about - just need to make sure you give way to the goats! The have a tendency to step out onto the road without looking both ways… The island is very hilly and rugged and we visit a couple of bays, including the one we anchored at the day before. Livadia is a lovely town with a nice vibe, some good restaurants, shops and clean and quiet (well it was once we finished guernying…). We decide to move off the town quay and spend the night at anchor off the beach so we can swim and paddle, as the weather is lovely and calm. The water is crystal clear too.

​Simply Stunning Symi
From Tilos we head down to the small island of Symi and have a great kite run until about 2nm out when the breeze dies. We stop for the night at a small bay on the south west coast called Panormitis – sounds contagious to me! The narrow entrance to the shallow bay is difficult to spot until you are quite close. It is overlooked by an unusual old windmill and we walk up to the headland for the sunset. The bay is dominated by the spectacular monastery of Michael the Archangel and the next morning we head ashore to take a look. There is an orthodox service in progress and the chanting which is broadcast from the steeple echoes hauntingly throughout the bay. We motor up the east coast of Symi and pass some spectacular looking anchorages but choose Pedi “town” another sheltered and picturesque bay with a small fishing and holiday village. We dine ashore and meet a lovely Kiwi couple who are cruising in their 56’ mono that they had shipped over form NZ. They are keen to see our cat so join us for a digestive. From Pedi we can access Symi town by bus, a spectacular ride over the headland and winding down into the steep valley and harbour. We could come into the harbour in ITIKI but the town quay area is notoriously tricky. It’s quite narrow and with boats mooring on both sides of the bay anchors regularly become tangled in the middle. On top of that the surge from ferries passing offshore and funnelling into the bay can cause quite some grief (as we find to our transom’s detriment when we do visit the quay on our way back north). Symi town is a really pretty town, cafes and restaurants line the shore and there are numerous clothing and homeware shops offering local items for sale. Times like these I wish I had a home to fit out or a bigger boat! There are a lot of places selling locally caught natural sponges and loofas too, seems that the waters around here are quite famous for those. As we enjoy our morning tea a large cruise ship docks outside the port police, might be time to head back to our anchorage as it is about to get a little crowded. If you don’t mind a climb the walk from Symi town back to Pedi is really worthwhile. A steep path climbs up to the Kali Strada (high town) and wanders through its narrow streets and through a few back yards down to the town of Pedi with spectacular views on both sides of the hill. Well worth the sore calves you will have the next day.

​Stranded in Symi
The town of Symi is where we have our first close encounter with the “migrant crisis” that has swept across Europe. Symi is very close to the Turkish coast and has become a staging point for people wanting to get into Europe. The Port Police building and as well as the Port Authority building on the other side of the bay (and the adjacent street areas) are serving as makeshift camps for dozens of migrants waiting for documents and to be resettled somewhere in Greece. UNHCR tarps, tents and blankets are evident here of course, and everyday life - washing, cooking, eating, kids playing – is taking place in the streets while normal Symi life goes on. For us it was very confronting, as we had to walk through the makeshift “camps” to visit the authorities to check out of Greece. It was also very humbling to see first-hand the empathy with which the Greeks are handling the “refugee situation”. They are incredibly tolerant and even welcoming to these people in need. It is a stark contrast to how Australia treats our asylum seekers, demonising them and incarcerating them in terrible conditions. Here in this small village, on a tiny island the people arriving by boat are supported by the local community, who are by no means rich themselves, with food, water, clothing and essentials. We asked an officer at the Port Authority what we can do to help the “refugees”? She replied “You mean the people?” That distinction of terminology was really telling. She went on to explain that we could make a donation at any of the local supermarkets in the town and they would use the money towards required supplies which they delivered daily to the authorities for distribution. Restaurants are also donating food. The chap in the supermarket was keeping a list of donations with donors names and amounts and told us how he calls the authorities each morning to find out what the priority needs are, and makes a delivery before opening his store for the day. He lamented the human tragedy and the fact that it could take as long as 2-3 weeks for the people to get their documentation and to be resettled – Hmmm  - sounds pretty efficient to me compared to Australia!

​The Meltemi is a catabatic wind that blows from May to November, peaking in strength in July and August. On average you can expect 17 – 33 knots during the day, it will persist overnight and can continue for 3-10 days… Gusts may be 40% stronger of course and over open water it will whip up a pretty nasty sea of 2-3m or more. Needless to say we are checking the forecast regularly and carefully evaluating the “stay or go” status as well as the “Meltemi rating” of each prospective anchorage. Even the sheltered ones can be are subject to catabatic gusts that will test the nerves and the anchor!

​So from our anchorage in Monemvasia, on the east coast of the Peloponnese Peninsula we head off early afternoon expect the westerly that has been pounding us all morning to take us quite quickly northwards. Sydney friends and fellow med sailors, Soni and Martin on SY Reflexion (FP Lucia 40) are not too far away and we are heading in a similar direction so decide to sail together for a bit. Sadly the westerly loses its puff as soon as we hoist a sail so the Volvos do most of the work. As the sun is getting low we decide to anchor off the south west of Idra (Hydra) island. It’s a deep bay so lines ashore with a few other charter boats lining the shore. We catch up with Soni and Martin the next morning and head to the island of Dokos to a small anchorage which we have to ourselves. 

Cruising in Company
We first met Soni and Martin on Reflexion (a Mahe 36) at a MutliHull Solutions (MHS) Pittwater Rendezvous in Sydney. We were “in the process” of conceiving Too Up (our FP Lipari 41) and we sailed with some of the other catamarans that had joined the fun for the weekend. We were re-acquainted with them at a MHS Whitsunday Rendezvous a couple of years later with Too Up and have been following their adventures as they purchased a new Lucia 40 and picked it up in La Rochelle a few years ago. They have been so helpful to us as we planned and picked up ITIKI and followed in their footsteps. It was great to hear from them suggesting we meet up. Cruising in company is not something we had done before. Although we had met numerous other cruisers along the way, some going the same direction, others not, we had not deliberately sailed with another boat to the same place so this was a whole new experience for us. Team Reflexion are in their 4th season in the Med and have spent a lot of that in Greece. They seem to know every island, bay and anchorage and have a good understanding of the weather patterns so we are very happy to tag along and learn. The other great thing is the chance to “compare” our boat’s performance with theirs. Of course when there are two boats it is always a race… While ITIKI is 4’ longer than Reflexion she is an older design. Reflexion is a lot lighter boat with less “stuff” on board. Martin is a very good sailor and after 4 seasons these guys know how to get the best from their boat. Travelling with Reflexion made us really push ourselves to perform. Our percentage time sailing increased (some thanks to the Meltemi!) as we were conscious of not being lazy – with a race on we only found ourselves trimming the sails 3-4 times per minute… And the skippers and crew can debrief at the end of the day’s sailing. We definitely saw a lot more of Reflexion’s transom thank we expected, and had to keep checking if they had tied a bucket to ours! 

​Also it was a great opportunity to compare the set-up of each of our boats, which have a lot of similarities, and get some ideas and tips on stuff we might want to add or change (will it ever be finished?!) Socially it was a lot of fun too with drinks and dinners ashore and on each-others’ boats, while still retreating to our own space at the end of the day. So a big thanks to Soni and Martin, it was a great experience and a lot of fun and hope we can do it again next season.

​We started out early from the Island of Dokos with a long schlep of 55nm to Serifos. We sailed most of the way with the gennaker but as we got closer to the island it died out so we furled. It kicked in again as we got even closer so we unfurled again but it built rapidly and we were soon over-canvassed. Seems to be a compression zone close to the islands, many of which are quite high. Of course the strongest breeze of the day is always just as you are ready to drop your anchor… It was a long day so we don’t go ashore but we do get our first glimpse at a distance of a white church with a blue painted roof, which means we really must be in Aegean Greece now!

​Next morning we left around 8am, kite up initially and then engines on for a while before unfurling the gennaker as we try to keep up with Reflexion. Another cool thing about cruising in company is that you get some cool photos of yourselves under sail! The breeze picked up to 20s as we approached the island of Sifnos and we have anchored off the beach at Ormos Vathi with a dozen other yachts. Dinner ashore tonight, and as it is 1st of August I can have my first glass of Greek wine! Sadly it does not really cut it so I will have to wait a bit longer to break-out after dry July. The wind remains strong overnight from the north of course, winds but anchor holds us well.

​From Sifnos we head to the island of Paros. Great sail with building breezes, reefed main and genoa. Hit 10.2 max speed, yee haa! Bypassed a couple of possible anchorages before selecting Aliki Beach on the southern end of Paros. South of where we are there are some smaller islands, very popular with  kite surfers, so you can be sure some strong winds come through this area. Our anchorage is protected from the swell but still quite strong winds and gusty. We had a reasonably relaxing afternoon despite the crazy wind, then drinks ashore with Reflexion crew to compare notes after sailing with them today. We have some strong northerly winds coming (yes the dreaded Meltemi) in a couple of days’ time so it’s all about finding protected anchorages over the next few days.

​We opt for a bay on the northern end of Paros (Naoussa), which might sound a bit counter-intuitive, but it has a narrow entrance and opens up into a wider bay with a well-protected anchorage on the western side, which is where we choose to dig in. Once it kicks in we could be here for a few days.

​Reflexion arrive with some guests they picked up in Paroikia, the main port of Paros. We all go ashore to Naoussa town in our respective RIBs and while the girls wander around the shops, the boys solve the problems of the world in a nearby coffee shop. Now when I see all those Greek men sitting around drinking coffee, I know where the women are! Well actually they are probably not shopping... The town has some lovely clothing and homeware shops though ladies! I could have gone crazy here but would need a bigger boat! We head back into Naoussa for dinner, it’s a fairly quick trip over with a following sea. Lovely meal and really nice wine (at last!) The trip back in the RIBs was quite memorable... Of course it was dark, the breeze had gotten up and we were heading into the swell to get back to the boats. With Reflexion’s guests evenly distributed we were three up in each RIB. We could not see the waves in the dark, probably a good thing, but we could hear each-others squeals and laughter as we got hit with yet another wave! Even taking it easy and sticking close together, we were all completely soaked by the time we got back to the boat. Lucky no-one was wearing their best, new outfit! The Meltemi is here for a few days now so best to stay put until it backs off. There are worse places to be stuck I guess!

​We go ashore near our anchorage and explore the nearby beach and the headland. Facing north we can see how well protected we are in our anchorage, despite some catabatic gusts hitting ITIKI regularly. It is really blowing out there. We watch another catamaran go out through the heads, looking like a bucking bronco! No thanks! Reflexion decide to go over to another anchorage on the east side of the bay to give their guests a change of scenery – apparently they were quite convinced they have gone to another island! Our anchor is dug in well here so we stay and put up with it.

​The next day we decide to get Keith to a doctor as his right ear has been blocked for a few days and causing him grief. As it is too rough to cross the bay in the RIB we decide to head down the western shore and look for a bus or taxi around the southern end of the bay and into town which is on the east side of the bay. We stop at a water-sports joint and the lovely, and not very busy, guys there are really helpful. They offer to mind the RIB, call an ENT specialist that they know and then managed to book one of the few taxis on the Island of Paros to get us there! Amazingly helpful. Keith is seen straight-away, his ear unblocked and has his hearing back (and relieved of quite a few Euros...) in no time! We still have time to grab a coffee and do a provisioning run before catching the bus back, which is packed to the rafters as no ferries are running. Lucky the guys were keeping an eye on the RIB as the anchor had come out! They had kindly tied it to their dock! We gave them a 6-pack for their troubles. The kindness of strangers! Hopefully the wind backs off enough tomorrow for us to get out of here! As lovely as it is, the howling and gusting wind is really starting to do our heads in. A change of scenery would be nice too! Plus the holding tanks are getting full...

Reflexion have headed down the west coast of Paros island back to Paroikia to drop of their guests. They had been hoping to drop them at Mykonos but as that is north of Paros, forget it! Fortunately they can take a ferry there instead. We decide to head down the east coast of Paros and across to the island of Naxos. Its pretty bouncy coming out of the harbour heading into the wind, which has kindly backed off to low 20s! It’s a relief to round the point and start heading south, albeit through a narrow and shallow gap (sonar on for a bit…), and we speed across to Naxos Town. The breeze is down to a very manageable 15kts. We can see a huge yacht in the distance with 3 masts, and check it out on the binoculars. Could it be? Yes! AIS confirms it is The Maltese Falcon looking really amazing under full sail! She gybes down the channel between the islands and as we are trying to drop an anchor in Naxos harbour she passes us by. Meanwhile a ferry comes in, drops an anchor and spins around way too close to ITIKI. We decide to hot foot it out of here, this anchorage is not for us. Will have to visit Naxos town another time! We opt instead for a lovely beach anchorage a few nm to the south. Definitely worth putting on the favourites list. Lovely sleepy resort town with a nice long coarse sand beach and crystal-clear water. Meanwhile Reflexion are making their way south down the west coast of Paros but have to cut their trip short as the winds build to 34kts! That area really has some local wind effect and the crazy kite-surfers seem to enjoy exploiting it.

​Still heading south now we pop the kite as soon as we leave the anchorage and have a great run down to Kalandhon at the southern end of Naxos island. Here we catch up with Reflexion again who also had a quick trip across from Aleki on Paros. Not much to do here though so we move on the next day. Only 7nm to a lovely spot on the SW of Schinoussa. We bypass the busy town quay in favour of a beach anchorage. There is a small restaurant ashore and we opt for a lovely dinner there. The next day the bay starts to fill up very early with the weekend crowd and there are anchors going everywhere so we decide to head off as its 20nm to the next anchorage. The forecast was for high teens gusting high 20s but the first half of the trip we had at least 10kts more than that, with the highest gust spotted of 41kts! At that point we decided to drop our sails as the jammer for the 2nd reef downhaul has broken under the strain. At least the swell is not too big, but it was a bit hairy. We had been making water and doing a load of washing too so that had to be cut short! It was a relief when the wind backed off to 20s and we could pull out a headsail again. A few lessons learned and ITIKI did handle the conditions well. Our anchorage is really lovely and well protected, tucked between a small island and the main island of Amorgos. There is a small beach resort ashore and a herd of goats comes down to the beach foraging once the tourists have left. Feeling a bit shell-shocked so a recovery day is in order. It is lovely to be able to hide from the Meltemi madness going on outside, it really does get your nerves on edge. We took the SUPs to go exploring and ended up doing a walk up to a small church on the headland and then a big beach clean on the way back. So many of the places we go ashore we see so much plastic. Much of it washed up but quite a bit of escaped terrestrial garbage, water bottles and coolite boxes feature heavily!

​Headed off around 8am as we have a long trip today, 31 nm, through the narrow channel between the main island of Amorgos and the small one to the west protecting our anchorage. Very lumpy seas with swell coming in from the NW and bouncing back off the rocks. Reflexion got airborne a few times! Breeze a lot lighter than forecast, one reef in the main and genoa. Spectacular coastline and swell a little more settled once we got past the end of the island, but not as much as expected. Had a couple of dolphins playing on the bow for a while, quite big ones. One of them jumped right out of the water in front of us, always a treat. Breeze shifting around behind us, so climbed up and then goose-winged to head down before climbing again. Our anchorage is in the eastern end of a hammer-head bay on the southern end of the island of Levithia. Here we are on a Taverna mooring buoy and there is no phone coverage whatsoever! It’s a short walk up the hill along a fairly rough track to get to the Taverna which is run by the one family that lives on the island. Surprisingly busy, seems like all the yachts anchored in the bay have come in for the night. A very simple but good meal and great value. We also buy some fresh eggs from them. Fortunately it is not a big night for us, it is not too dark (and we are not too drunk) to find the track back to the dinghy wharf or it could have been ugly!

​An early start again and a great sail today with the gennaker. So good to pace ourselves against Reflexion again, we have done a lot more sailing with them pushing us. One of our aims as we crossed the Cyclades was to drop in on ITIKI's winter home, to meet the family that runs Artemis boatyard, get the lay of the land, book our lift-out date and most importantly pick up a number of items that we have had sent to the boatyard. Online shopping is really challenging when you are on the move the whole time so it was great to have a base to send some important stuff to. Keith is so excited that we now have a pressure washer! This may sound indulgent when we have to make our own water, however we can now give the boat a really good clean and it is more efficient than using a hose or a bucket and sponge! We take a tour of Artemis Boatyard, where ITIKI will be lifted for the first time and rest on her keels over the northern winter. We will stay on board for a few days as we do final preparations and winterising will be a little different this year on dry land. There are of course showers, laundry and a BBQ area for boaties to use and a chandlery as well. There is no marina here however so we anchor in the bay for our visit. Later in the afternoon we move across to anchor off a small island to the north of Partheni to have a swim and enjoy the evening without dead fish floating around us. Did I mention there are numerous fish farms in the area? Also a couple of sunken boats in the bay.

​Well we have made it from the western side to the eastern side of the Cyclades during Meltemi season in one piece and with only minor damage to a rope jammer. A big thanks to our guides Team Reflexion who know all the good anchorages and best protected places, not to mention the best tarvernas! I think we got off fairly lightly - but I dont think the Meltemi is finished with us yet!

​For those of you who know Keith and I through our racing experience, you may have been surprised that we bought a catamaran (well two catamarans actually, as ITIKI is our second). For me personally, having always raced monohulls, and chartered them a few times as well, I really didn’t know any different. Keith as you know has dabbled in cats from the early days of racing Hobies, to his more recent dalliance with Adrenalin Rush Sailing (a Nacra 36 based on Hamilton Island) but as far as racing big boats goes, he is still a “mono-man”. The modern cruiser racers and cruising monos are of course very well laid out, spacious and wide and we had been considering the Hanse 40 amongst other options. All of that changed though when Keith did a delivery on a FP Levezzi (precursor to the Lipari) from Adelaide to Sydney. He came back a changed man extolling the virtues of a catamaran for living aboard. We then charted a cat in the Whitsundays for a few days to get a taste of it and I was instantly on the same page. So what’s the big deal? Here are the top 5 reasons why we chose a catamaran for our cruising adventures

1. Space – Yes I know modern monos are wide and spacious however unless you are looking at a Deck Saloon model all that space is inside or “down below”. Our Helia has a huge amount of space indoors and outdoors on the same level with panoramic views all around. The U-shaped kitchen has plenty of bench space, large fridge and freezer and is reasonably secure for cooking underway should the need arise.

2. Space – for comfort. We have 3 bedrooms with queen sized beds, and 3 bathrooms as well as room for a full sized 7kg washing machine. We have a good-sized lounge area and outdoor dining area as well as a cocktail deck (now complete with lawn…) Plenty of room for us as well as space and privacy for our guests. My lower north shore Sydney apartment only has 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. 

3. Space – Being 7.5m wide we have room at the back for a reasonable sized RIB with a good sized (15hp) motor. Being on davits it is easier to lift in and out of the water. Monohulls either have to tow their (often smaller) dinghies behind, or lift them on and off the deck at night or when underway. Having a good-sized dinghy and motor increases your range from the mothership, which is handy if you are anchored out. It means you can explore interesting coastline, cross a large bay and go into town for a provisioning run, rather than having to come alongside a town quay or go to a marina to access civilisation or pick up visitors.

4, Space – With 7m between the two Volvo Penta 50HP engines your manoeuvrability increases dramatically.  ITIKI can turn on a dime and is also easy to manoeuvre in reverse, which is important for crowded anchorages, med-mooring and coming into marinas and town quays. It is like having stern thrusters on both sides.

5. Space – or lack thereof – under the keels. ITIKI draws 1.15m which is pretty handy in crowded anchorages as it means you can go in closer to shore and take advantage of those shallow corners that mono-hulls will have to avoid. 

6. Space – there are lockers, lazarettes, cupboards, coffee tables, drawers, wardrobes as well as plenty of storage space under seats and floor boards (note: this could be a downside…) but the bottom line is you never have to throw anything out and you need never run out of wine! Although you might just forget where you stashed it...

​Of course there are some downsides to a catamaran but considering the amount of time you spend at anchor (lots) vs underway (a lot less) we feel these trade-offs are worthwhile, and readily manageable.

​1. Space – yes Catamarans take up more lateral space than mono-hulls so if you are going into a marina you can expect to pay 1.5 or 2 times the going rate compared to a monohull (even though some of the modern monos are 5.5m wide compared to ITIKI’s 7.5m) You still pay this rate even if they put you on the end of a T arm so you are not even taking up 2 spaces, but sticking out into a thoroughfare! With all mod cons on board though, who needs to go into a marina? We certainly avoid it whenever we can, for a number of reasons, not just cost.

​As our second season draws to a close we still feel extremely happy with our choice of boat. ITIKI has been everything we had hoped for. While everyone is entitled to their ridiculous opinions, weighing up the pros and cons of cat vs mono for cruising, we are definitely converts to the “dark side”. Racing of course is another story! Looking forward to getting back to Sydney Harbour to shake out a few cobwebs racing on a mono!

​We head further south to our next stop, Pylos. The entrance to this huge and sheltered bay is quite spectacular. Guarded by a rock formation with caves and a lighthouse at the top. Across the bay we can see a fortress which we visit the next day. Quite an impressive fortification, church and archaeological museums here and the town is lovely too. We anchor in the far north of the bay away from the town. Across the spit there a large lagoon, home to prolific birdlife. Also here we find the most spectacular fan-shaped sandy bay with crystal clear water called Voidokillia. What a hidden gem! We take the RIB around the headland to visit rather than walking across, but it is a bit bouncy! Perhaps the walk over the spit would have been wiser and there are caves and castle ruins to visit on the way, if it is not too hot.

​Closed on a Tuesday
The bay of Methoni is next on the Tour de Peloponnese. The north entrance of the bay is guarded by an Ottoman fort with a Venetian castle right on the end of the point (why not?). We paddle around the bay and check it out from the outside. Can’t quite fit under the bridge though. Here we also catch up with Rex and Cathy from (SY Ole), seasoned Med sailors that we met over the Southern summer at Airlie beach. Great to spend some time with them swapping stories. They are on their way north as they head out of the Med to cross the Atlantic later this year. Unfortunately we left our land-based visit to Methoni castle until Tuesday morning when sadly it is closed! Oh well, I guess there will be other ruined castles to visit along our travels.
Below: External views of Methoni Castle

Definitely Do Diros!
When it comes to limestone caves we have all seen our fair share of them, so we are not usually in a rush to visit these. They have to be pretty good to impress us cynics and fair to say that the caves at Diros were really something special and spectacular indeed. Rather than your usual self-guided walk through up and down stairs and in and out of stalagmites and stalactites, these caves are visited by boat. The underground and underwater caves run for several kms and the trip in a little wooden dinghy takes us through 1.5kms of the system. We regularly find ourselves having to duck and weave under low hanging stalactites as our helmsman pushes us along at quite a quick pace. I can’t imagine what it is like after a heavy rain (and I try not to think about the Thai soccer team…) A very different way to experience limestone caves, including the glamorous orange “Mae Wests”.

The good, the bad and the ugly
After the caves we stopped in a lovely looking bay called Kayio, we fancied a meal ashore but unfortunately picked the worst restaurant ever! The anchorage was also quite a rolly one so despite it being a lovely, quiet place it was not the best experience. But the good news is, if we dont like a place, we just up anchor and move!
Below: A few shots of Kayio

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​Another beautiful beach
Our last stop before we enter the Aegean, is the beautiful island of Elafonisos. This sits just to the west of the last of the 3 fingers of the PP. Here we find two wonderful sandy bays with crystal clear water separated by a small sand-spit and prominent rocky headland. There is a small, simple and isolated beach resort with nothing else around. We drop anchor here for a few days and enjoy swimming, paddling and walking on the beach. The colour of the water is truly amazing

Finally it is time to enter the Aegean, which at this time of year is known for its strong northerly winds aka The Meltemi. More on that in the next post… Our final stop on the PP is a lovely town called Monemvasia. The old town looks like it is carved into the side of a hill on a rocky outcrop separated from the mainland by a short spit. We anchor to the north of the spit and get our first taste of the catabatic winds this area is famous for, with strong westerly gusts coming over the steep hills of the mainland. Dinner ashore at a lovely restaurant called Skorpios which restores our faith in Greek cuisine and hospitality. The next morning we visit the old town, heading along the edge of the hill and straight up to the archaeological site at the clifftops. Here there is a beautiful church perched on the side of the cliff overlooking our northern anchorage. We explore the ruins of this old citadel before heading downhill to wander around the lower town. This lower part is still a thriving village with quaint and well kept houses, hotels, restaurants and small shops.

That westerly wind has tempted us to head north in the afternoon, in anticipation of a fast reach and to catch up with some Sydney friends (Soni and Martin on SY Reflexion) who are also sailing this area. Stay tuned for our journey across the Cyclades as ITIKI’s Greek Odyssey continues!