They are far in the south, for many crews who start from Athens and have to return to the Meltemi, they remain out of reach. But if you start tactically in the heart of the Dodecanese from Kos, you can embark on a trip that is conveniently located to the predominant Meltemi from the north and offers an enormous variety: These are diverse Dodecanese islands such as Kalymnos with its many beautiful bays and the sponge diving Pothia stronghold. Then lonely, remote islands like Astipalaya, on the southwestern edge of the Cyclades. Few crews and tourists come here. There you can experience Greece from its original, decelerated side; the capital of the island on a mountain ridge is beautiful. Visitors get an idea of what life was like on the islands for centuries: in harmony with oneself and nature, an existence that revolved around a little trade, agriculture, fishing, family and the village community.
A welcome contrast to this is the pulsating Santorini: Here you can see a completely different facet of Greece: a city visited by the masses of tourists, but still spectacular, which seems to stick to the old volcanic crater and is simply so fascinating that even the large crowd doesn’t can take away from its charm.
If you embark on the 270 nautical mile trip, there are many other worthwhile destinations waiting for you on the way back a little further north. For example the island of Ios, the so-called Little Cyclades south of Naxos and the monastery island of Amorgos. The perfect mix of Greece for crews who are in the mood for longer strokes. The detailed trip history is now in the new YACHT No. 21/2017.
© A. Fritsch / YACHT