East to West
Where to begin? I think when I last sat down and chatted with you, I spoke about our time going up through the Cannakale Straits and into the Sea of Marmara. Since then, not only have several months passed in a heartbeat, but so too have the nautical miles.
We finish the 2023 sailing season have sailed for over 240 days, carving through approximately 2000 nautical miles and across the borders of Turkey and Greece. Along the way, we have had hosted family, again met some wonderful people, had extraordinary experiences, and created brilliant memories. According to my records, I have somewhere in the vicinity of 4000 photos to share. We have also broken stuff, acquired new bruises and injuries, eaten too much, imbibed a few to many beverages and spent too much money. But we end this year with no regrets, or none worth crying over.
The better part of the year has been spent cruising the Turkish Mediterranean coastline from Finike in the south to Istanbul in the north. The last few months or at least since May, have been spent along the central coast area exploring what I think is a unique and special part of Turkiye and surprisingly, nowhere near as popular to cruise as the Turquoise coast from Didim to Kas in the south. Yet I think the central coastline was wonderful and we loved the villages and cities along the coast but particularly Ayvalik and Cunda, Foca and then Cesme region. Very different to the southern areas in terms of cruising ground but also in respect of the people and culture.
I can’t begin to contemplate my favourite spots! But what I can say is that if you ever have the chance to visit Turkiye, you should leap at the opportunity. It is a fabulous country and the people just wonderful. And of course, if you love history like I do, walking the pathways of Turkiye is continually inspiring.
We left Turkiye behind, along with some beloved family, in Kusadasi and made our way across the very brief span of water between Kusadasi and Samos, Greece. From Samos, we meandered us through the Northern Aegean, into the Dodecanese, through the Cyclades and then on into the Saronic Islands. A quick change of plans had us then successfully passing through the Corinth Canal, into the Gulf of Corinth and the Gulf of Patras and back, almost 12 months later, into the Ionian Islands. The Ionian Islands will now be home for us for this European winter season and we’ll take the downtime as an opportunity to do all the annual boat maintenance jobs, and the ‘us’ maintenance, and then make a cruise plan for 2024. Our home port this year for Christmas will be Preveza.
In summary, the most memorable aspect of 2023 for both of us I think has been the unexpected pleasure of buddy boating. Had you suggested to us previously to buddy boat, we would have been a little hesitant, but we have had the best time this year sharing cruising and lots of laughs with Mark and Tina Emery on Thinking of Dave, Ian and Malia Wilson on Longo Mai II and then Hanan and Lisa Benhayon on Maxtosea. We have also managed to catch up for a few days here and there with many other wonderful sailing friends too. It has been so much fun to share the experiences and to learn from each other different sailing techniques and ideas. We have thoroughly enjoyed the company yet still have been able to do our own thing from time to time. It truly is a great community of friends!
NOTE: as Wix has made some changes to its blog terms and conditions, all photos will be published on our Facebook page "The Chaotic Compass".
