Spellbinder's Web Diary - Spellbinder Cruise Iassus 8 June

Spellbinder Cruise Iassus 8 June - Didim Marina 20 June 2010

Spellbinder

Fri 25 Jun 2010 16:00

Spellbinder slipped her mooring at Iassus on 8 June with Henry and Eric onboard and nosed out into the Gulluk Korfezi with the destination a bay at the head of the Kazikli Limani at the village of Kazikli Iskelesi. Beating our way to the northwest in a rising F5 through a maze of fish farms we took in a reef and enjoyed an exhilarating sail. It was a pretty anchorage in mud with good holding in a bay with much fishing activity and boats servicing the many fish farms. Exploring ashore a smart taverna was found with a refurbished jetty and 11 fore and aft berths, 3 with electricity. We dallied here and walked inland to Kazikli village to a friendly welcome from the locals whose way of life seemed littlle changed by the march of time. On 10 June we motored for a while and after rounding the point at Kapali were once again beating reefed down into the Akbuk Limani further to the northwest. The anchorage was off a beautiful sandy island but holiday homes developments and hotels scarred the mainland shore. But this was very much a Turkish resort and on going ashore in the dinghy we were soon in conversation with young Turks, phrase books in hand, eager to improve their English. On 11 June we enjoyed a gentle beat to the Ormos Talianaki and another good anchorage. From here we visited ancient Didyma, a religious sanctuary to Apollo famed for its oracle long before that at Delphi became prominent and is the largest Ionic temple in the world. At Talianaki Eric cleaned off the weed from the waterline in a marathon exercise to leave Spellbinder looking clean and sleek once more. On 13 June we entered the brand new, smart Didim marina finding the entrance by watching craft coming out as it was not shown on the chart and the GPS co-ordinates given in the book were slightly out. John Ramage joined us on 14 June and on the 15 June Spellbinder slipped her berth to explore some islands of the northern Dodecanese. Winds were generally light as we headed west but by mid afternoon Spellbinder was beating at speed as the Ormos Kouloura on the island of Nisos Lipsoi was entered. Lowering the sails as the anchorage was reached, Spellbinder soon found a spot to anchor near occupied mooring buoys laid by the taverna ashore. It was here that we observed an example of mooring buoy "rage" as a catamaran raced up to a dinghy attached to it, bagging it for another yacht not far behind! This was a lovely spot but one could only wonder how hellishly busy it could be at the height of the season. On 16 June we sailed for the lovely island of Patmos anchoring in the Ormos Kouloura in good holding, at the northwest of the bay, with the imposing monastery on the hill above. It was in a cave nearby that St John the Divine received the New Testament's Book of Revelation. The cave is now in the monastery of Apokalypsis overlooking the main town of Skala. The fitness of the crew was improved by climbing up to the monasteries and then on to Skala. A bus was taken for the return journey! On the 18 June we had a brisk sail on a flat sea to the truly lovely islet of Nisis Marathos just off the island of Arkoi. Here there is a pretty taverna with accommodation where people come to get away from it all. There is a ferry from Samos to Arkoi four days a week from where the proprietor picks up his guests in a launch. This was a place to come back to. On the 19 June Spellbinder enjoyed a glorious sail on a broad reach for the 36 miles to the anchorage at Talianaki before dropping down the next day to Didim marina to say farewell to John. How the time flies, but we had enjoyed our brief sojourn in the Dodecanese. In the next few days before Eric returned home and Tim and Simon joined Spellbinder we did some serious site-seeing visiting Ephesus early before the crowds, Miletus and Heracleia ad Latmos on lovely Lake Bafa.