Crew: Joe & Pat La Susa and Neill & Linda Reilly
August 27. Despite the fact that Neill & Linda arrived at Rhodes exhausted all the way from New York, they rallied for drinks and then dinner in Old Town. We discovered a small Taverna on a narrow, marble medieval street. We enjoyed the most delicious home-cooked calamari, baked feta, grilled vegetables, cuttle fish and Simi shrimp.
August 28. We went with guide Sheila and toured the Street of the Knights and explored the "auberges" of the different "tunges" of the Spanish, French, etc., Knights of St John. The road up a hill leads to the highest point where the Castle of the Grand Masters of the Knights of St John held court. The massive medieval castle was built after the Knights of St John retreated having lost the battle of Acre in Jerusalem in 1300. They fortified the walled city using wealth accumulated from the Templars. The walls protected the city until 1522 when Saladin the Magnificent breached the walls and conquered it. Turkey held it until 1912 when the Italians ruled Rhodes. Finally in 1947, Greece and Rhodes became free. After the explosion of 1828 the Italians rebuilt the Castle with beautiful mosaic floors, but excluding the Islamic aspects. Hence it looks like a Frankish Castle. After a delicious Greek salad prepard by Sheila and a nap, Joe & Pat La Susa arrived. Neil responded to the heat of the day by walking around the corner to the beautiful but very touristy beach. After cocktails we went to Mike & Sheila's favorite Xatzikelis (Hadzikeli) Taverna. We had their famous stuffed eggplant, horta, other vegetables and a fabulous house red wine.
August 29. Neill & Linda took a side trip to Lindos, Rhodes. It was hot. They walked all through town and up the hill to the Acropolis of Athena Lindia. Imagine a goddess named Linda! They walked through Greek, Roman medieval sacred sites. The most impressive was the "stoa" with the massive steps and columns that lead to the temple. They lunched on delicious made to order crepes. After returning they discovered everyone on Migration was cleaning up the mess of Captain Mike having inadvertantly filling up the water tank with diesel fuel!
Eventually we sailed out into the "wine dark Aegean" to Sirce, Turkey. We were greeted by Mike & Sheila's old friend Hasan in his wooden dinghy with hugs and kisses. We took one of his moorings and he took our stern line ashore to secure. We had a refreshing swim in this idyllic fjord, showered and dinghied in to Captain Nemo's Taverna. The food was almost all local. Calamari, goat, vegetables, salad and wine. Fabulous grapes. No one had touble sleeping that night.
August 30. We arose to a beautiful blue sky, tranquil clear water and the occasional "baaa" of the sheep. Hasan has several hundred head of sheep and goats, and a few cows. A local woman came by in her small boat selling freshly baked bread. After breakfast we sailed to Marmaris. When we arrived we found the Turks were celebrating their independence. Several naval ships were in full dress. We dined at Mike & Sheila's favorite Caria Restaurant. The owner Ali recognized Mike & Sheila and came over and gave a very warm greeting. He had just flown in from holiday in Russia with his Russian girlfriend. Our dinghy continued to leak air. We placed the women on that side, not because they would get wet, but because they were lighter. The men weighted the other side down. Sheila explained rug buying while we sipped hot apple tea.
August 31. Captain Mike took care of the Turkish customs, immigration, port police...Sheila searched for and found the perfect gift for a friend. We sailed to Bozuk-Kale where there was a small family-run beachfront restaurant with moorings and a dock. The food was fabulous, but we really over-ordered. Pleanty for lunch the next day. Sheila said we are out of eggs for the next morning's breakfast. Mike asked the chef, who happily contributed a half dozen eggs to the cause.
September 1. We hauled the limp dinghy to the foredeck for the careful attention of repair person Sheila and sailed to Datca. Upon arrival and after much discussion we decided to let the dinghy glue cure and dine on board. Chef Sheila's prepared spaghetti topped with her wonderful home made baked eggplant and tomato sauce was marvelous.
September 2. Our final sail was fast to Bodrum on a 30 knot beam reach.