----- Original Message -----

From: SY Perception <Phyl & Fred Denton

Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2002 6:14 AM

Subject: Crews Letter #2002 22 Crete to Rhodes

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen:

In May of this year, in Greece on the island of Crete, Dave and Carol, Mike and Bonnie came to sail with us for 10 days. The plan was to meet them at Agios Nikolaous and sail to Rhodes. Santorini is just 60 miles north of Crete and it was one of the places that we planned to visit. Local Knowledge is a wonderful thing and plans are made to be altered. Perception’s Rule #1 “Sail by Weather, not Schedule” kept us in the marina one day.

Dave has sent their trip log and I forward it in tact.

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Greece With Phyllis and Fred Denton

May 23 - June 1, 2002

On a beautiful morning in mid-May we (Carol and Dave Rowley) and our friends from Atlanta, the Gillioms, pulled up in a taxi at the marina in Agios Nikolaos on the island of Crete looking for "Perception". Fred waved from the quay and we boarded. Phyllis and Fred, true to their reputation as the world class hosts, had breakfast waiting on the stove. This was an act of faith as I, a telecommunications professional, had not been able to decipher the dialing codes to call and confirm our arrival. As we had traveled all night for 3 nights to reach the port, we guests were happy to take a leisurely land tour to ancient Minoan ruins (very interesting!) on Crete in the late morning.

In the afternoon back at the boat, the "adventurous 6" decided to get up at 5:45 AM on Day 2 to drive to Heraklion to catch a ferry to Santorini. Its silted up harbor (1.9 meters) was shallower than Perception (2.1 meters) and Fred had already calculated that it wouldn't fit. Santorini is a beautiful island which is the remainder of the rim of the caldron of an ancient volcano. Its cliffs rise dramatically out of the sea; local entrepreneurs provide the "donkey express" to get tourists up them. One end of the island has the ruins of a big city being excavated and restored; it was covered by volcanic ash in 1500 BC. Supposition is that the inhabitants had warning of impending disaster as the ruins are buildings and streets with no remains of people.

Day 3

We had planned to sail away today but winds to 30 knots discouraged us and we opted to explore Agios Nikolaos, a beautiful city built around a lake (actually a caldera filled with water). While all our meals in Greece were outstanding, the seafood in Agios Nikolaos was the best we had.

Day 4

We wanted to make up for lost sailing time but the port police won't be rushed. As an alien you have to check in and out of each port and pay whatever they deem appropriate. They liked Fred, so we had no charges, just a lot of protocol and paperwork. At 10 a.m. we leave and nice winds and weather for 60 miles take us to the island of Kasos at sunset. I got to polish up on my navigation skills and surprisingly we arrived where we intended. We were the only touring boat among a few fishing boats. The only taverna visible didn't have menus; the owner asked us to walk through the kitchen and point at what we wanted on the stove, probably the most efficient method of ordering we encountered.

Day 5

After breakfast we walked around the small town, not exactly a tourist mecca and therefore more intriguing to us. The people were friendly and one offered a tour of the local bakery. We leave it with many different breads, much more than we need. We leave the dock at noon. Since there wasn't anything around to hit, Fred let me take the boat away from the pier, my first experience with a bow thruster....Wow....does that solve a lot of problems. We sailed 35 miles in 5 hours to Tristoma on Karpathos Island. The harbor entrance was narrow, rough and shallow, but Fred maneuvered us in without a bump. The town was abandoned except for 3 people and many sheep. The taverna shown on the chart might have been open 50 years ago, but not tonight. Dinner was on the boat; Fred's coq au vin was fantastic!

Day 6

We pulled up anchor early to head for the island of Rhodes, 55 miles away. We navigated the same narrow channel out, but despite stronger wind right on our nose we leave without problems. As we rounded Karpathos Island, we entered another narrow channel that the chart indicated could be tricky and rough in strong winds. Everyone has their assigned duty to tend with due caution. Fred once again navigated safely to clear water. We arrived at Lindos on Rhodes at sundown. It is a beautiful harbor with an ancient castle guarding the bay; only a few boats are in the harbor. We anchored, swam and took the dinghy to town and another great Greek dinner on a rooftop taverna.

Day 7

We explored the castle and Lindos with its beautiful beaches and many German tourists enjoying them. After lunch, we pulled anchor to sail to Rodos, the capital of Rhodes. The winds weren't favorable and we beat all afternoon, finally giving up and motoring in, arriving in a crowded harbor near dark. Rhodes was a critical port for travelers and armies for centuries, lying on the route between Turkey and the Middle East and Athens and Italy. Its history was extensive and recorded well. A huge castle here was utilized by Greeks, Romans, Crusaders, Turks, and Mussolini. Rhodes was the home of the Colossus, a 138 foot bronze statue that straddled the harbor entrance and was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.

Day 8

Our group agrees to meet at noon at the castle for a guided tour, allowing for laundry junkets, shopping and other touring. The castle is impressive, more for its accommodation of its many "owners". The ancient city within the walls, a popular tourist spot, is a maze of shops, apartments and narrow streets. We find several places to browse, eat and tour. A walk with Fred and Phyl to locate a marine store provides all of us with good exercise. In the commercial port area construction projects abound, part of the reward of joining in the European Economic Community, EEC, according to Fred. The Gillioms leave on a late afternoon ferry for a tour of Turkey.

Day 9

The Dentons, Carol and I rent a very small car to go to the Rhodes "mountains" to see a butterfly valley, which sadly has few of the insects which are scheduled to arrive "tomorrow". On the way back to the dock we are astonished to note a huge commotion on the otherwise sleepy dock. The center of it is Perception, which, along with a restaurant and several other boats, has been hit by a commercial tour boat gone astray. The resulting scene reverberates in my memory with Greeks shouting everywhere, uniformed Greeks looking puzzled, some cool headed Greeks who moved the fenders to better positions, a Greek lawyer visiting Fred, tourists jumping off the tour boat onto docked boats to escape (what?), and Phyllis holding off the tour boat, about 25 times the size of Perception with all her might. After the excitement, we walk to the city for some wine and our last dinner with the Dentons. We toast each other for a great trip and adventure and say some prayers that the next day will bring speedy repairs to Perception.

Some things to remember:

Greek people's exuberance and excited manner of speaking to each other; how beautiful the islands are from the sea; the joy of walking where you need to go; delicious Greek salads; how lucky we are to have friends like Phyl and Fred who want to share their time and lives with fellow boaters.

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Dave is a past commander of the Dallas Power Squadron. It has recently updated its name to Dallas Power and Sail. Either way it is the local unit of the United States Power Squadron. Twice in my family’s history, when we had the opportunity to expand our sailing horizon, we started by taking classes at the Dallas unit. My father was a self taught sailor with 20 years of experience on Texas lakes. He had built our first two boats. When we bought Snowdrop, our first auxiliary, planning to sail on the coast, he and I took all of the Power Squadron classes available. When Phyl and I decided to consider a new career in cruising, we took all of the Power Squadron classes that we could get to. In both cases, this organization has served us well.

If you are a boater or are considering becoming one, education is a good place to start.

United States Power Squadron or in the Dallas area Dallas Sail and Power.

This crew was very accomplished as sailors and conversationalists. It was a good cruise.

Keep a Tight Luff,
Fred

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