Yasas,
Today was a great day. Randal and I rented a motorbike for the day and toured the island, Mandraki,Nikia, and the volcano caldera where you can feel heat and see steam from open holes. My souvenir from here are black volcanic stones collected on the beach. We tried to find a Greek sim card for our internet dongle but no luck anywhere so we’re at the mercy of restaurant wifi. Our emergency sailmail does seem to be working so that’s a good thing. And Randal figured out why our AIS wasn’t working so everything is really shipshape. Our friends Sue and Ed Kelly on Angle Louise are several stops ahead of us sending us reports. We’ll both be at St. Cats dock together in London.
I took about a zillion photos today on Nisyros; 146 so far to be exact. When we leave here we’ll anchor out and then go to Ios where we’ll leave DoraMac at a dock and we’ll take the ferry to Santorini. So not sure when my next email to all of you will be. So check www.mydoramac.com periodically as I might have sent some emails off to Audrey.
Ru
Leaving Marmaris and One Night in Symi
I was thinking about why it was hard to leave Marmaris. Marmaris was a really good place to spend the winter. The tourism business goes dormant. You can walk through the bazaar where most of the shops are closed and no one is calling to you, “come, just look.” Life without the hordes of tourist is actually pretty quiet but not boring thanks to the group of cruisers who were there. All in all it was really a good place to be. With all of that, I was ready to leave Marmaris, though maybe not ready to leave Turkey. Too much more to see, especially in the east. And all the pals we made in Marmaris; I wish they were coming along too. Because there are lots of people I am really going to miss. Of course half of them are out here cruising around somewhere so maybe we’ll bump into them before it’s all over. If not; we’ll always have Marmaris.
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Leaving Netsel Marina |
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Randal at the helm and our Turkey flag still flying. |
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Last glimpse of Marmaris Town |
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Customs and Immigration where we checked out. We are tied alongside a pier (out of the photo to the right) that made getting in and out and on and off very easy. |
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A cruise ship, a ferry and one of the tugs that guided the ferry. |
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When we left Marmaris the water was calm as you can see. Out of the bay and into the sea, and the water was not so smooth. It was quite rolly and then the wind picked up. And it was from our side so we were rolling right and left and right and left and, not fun. But it was only annoying and not so annoying that we had to use our stabilizers. It was, however, surprisingly chilly. I had to put on my sweatshirt and a nylon jacket. The passage took about 6 hours. Arrival in Symi We spent the first hour walking from Symi Police to Customs to Harbor Master. Our passports were stamped and we paid fees to the Customs Official and Fees to the Harbormaster. By then it was after 6 pm so we went off to dinner. After dinner Randal went back to the boat to compute with his newly gotten restaurant wifi code and I went for a walk. Here are some photos from around Symi. |
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Friends having a glass of wine |
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Churches replace the mosques of Turkey |
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Walking on these decorative stones was like walking on an optical illusion. |
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Building on the bridge was the customs house and the duty free shop. |
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The only women in this photo are the ones in the right corner; everyone else is male |
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See…all men. |
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Another shot looking down from the steps. Our pals Sue and Ed Kelly are several islands ahead of us and they say that Symi was quite the prettiest. Today on Nisyros (or second island) we visited the small village of Milia and I think it might be my favorite so far. It was so tiny and cute and blue and white and pink. |
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Another harbor shot |
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I want one of these tricycles; so very useful for shopping. |
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Or for carrying small children if you had one. |
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Life lived on the harbor front. I love that.
A universal Mediterranean scene; a woman doing some kind of needlework. |
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The dock where we were tied. You drop your anchor in the middle of the harbor and then back up to the dock. Someone catches your lines and then you have to tighten up the lines enough so you can put down the passerelle and walk off the boat onto the shore. In the morning you untie yourself, pull up anchor and leave. This is all new to us but Randal is doing a really good job of it. |
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Our neighbors were very pleasant French speaking folks. Everyone has to be pleasant because you’re so close to each other. You give each other privacy even when you’re just a few feet apart. |
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Leaving Symi at 7 am to get to Nisyros by mid-day |
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We passed the monastery but sadly didn’t make time to see it. My friend Patricia says it’s quite lovely if you ever get to Symi, take the ferry to visit. |
