Our First Month at Sea

After Levithia we made our way to Leros which will be the subject of a future post.  But first, a month ago today we left the marina at Marmaris.  That deserves a bit of a recap and reflection.

Our first 30 days

In those 30 days we have sailed 223.5 nautical miles – not a great distance but a good start to the season.  We visited two Turkish harbours; Bozburun and Knidos, and have been to eight Greek Islands, seven in the Dodecanese group and one in the eastern Cyclades.

We have done more motoring than we would like as the wind gods have not been that cooperative.  We are learning some of the tricks in sailing in this part of the world.  The notorious meltemi winds build from the north and northwest and must just be waited out.  As we are generally travelling north we need to time our passages when there are more southerly winds.  This is alright as it gives us time to explore islands but at other times we must leave sooner than we want to catch the next weather window.

We are learning more about how Songster handles.  She is a relatively heavy boat so fairly sea kindly and doesn’t bob around too much.  We still are working out the best sail configurations for the various conditions in order to get a well balanced sail from this little ketch.

We have five more weeks of sailing before I must leave Greece for awhile to renew my visa.  Then we will put Songster in the marina at Leros for a six week rest while we do some land travel in slightly cooler climes.