Logbook and Photos

With the strong northerly winds finally easing enough, we manage our escape from the island of Tinos and do an overnight sail to the island of Samos, very near the Turkish coast.   Samos is an island of great beauty and was a major maritime power in the 7th century BC. 

Pythagoreio's harbour, the one we are anchored in, is protected by a mole (breakwater wall) with certain sections more than 2500 years old.   This is also the place where, in 585 BC, Pythagoras, the ancient mathematician and philosopher, was born.   Remember Pythagora's theorem: the square of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equal to the squares of the other two sides.

A truly amazing engineering feat to contemplate, this 1 km tunnel was hewn in 529-524 BC(!) through a mountain to bring water to the city of Samos.  The surveying was so good that when the work-crews met mid-mountain, coming from opposite directions, the vertical error of the tunnel was essentially nil.  The water supply and the access tunnel helped Samos prosper, especially in times of siege.

Today, we rent another car and go for a tour around the island.  Our guide book says to check out this monastery, so we do.  Founded in 1586, it is the second oldest on Samos and contains the island's best surviving frescoes from that period.  If you double-click the photo, you'll see the 400+ year old fresco above the entrance way.

We have a great lunch followed by some time spent splashing around at the Potami waterfalls, which some locals told us about.   The kids would rather see something like this than more ruins!  You can't get to the falls without getting wet.

We continue our drive into the countryside.  Deep gullies score the mountainsides and peaks and bluffs assume fantastic shapes.  Thick pine forest covers most of the lower slopes and villages perch precariously on small plateaus.  The grandeur and grace of Samos, is the best we have seen so far...

One thing land folk take for granted is the easy access to well-stocked grocery stores with decent enough prices.  For sea folk without a car, most grocery stores within easy reach of the water typically have higher prices and basic selection.  Since we still have our rental car today, we make a major stop at our favorite European discount grocery store, Lidl.   The car is so full when we are done that Gerrit and Joel have to squeeze into the very back so that we can get everything back to the boat.  And by then, it has been a long day...

The island of Samos is very close to Turkey so we decide to sail over and to make a day trip to see the ancient city of Ephesus, apparently one of the greatest ruined cities in the western world, and to also visit the nearby House of the Virgin Mary.

What you can see in this photo set gives us a view into life in Ephesus during Roman times, when it was the capital of proconsular Asia, which covered the western part of Asia Minor. The city bore the title of "the first and greatest metropolis of Asia." It was distinguished for the Temple of Artemis (Diana), who had her chief shrine there, for its library, and for its theatre, which would have been capable of holding 25,000 spectators. It was, like all ancient theatres, open to the sky; it was used initially for drama, but during later Roman times gladiatorial combats were also held on its stage. The population of Ephesus has been estimated to be in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 inhabitants in the year 100 AD, making it one of the largest cities of the day.   Ephesus also had several major bath complexes, built at various points while the city was under Roman rule. 

Ephesus was also an important center for early Christianity. St. Paul used it as a base. He became embroiled in a dispute with artisans, whose livelihood depended on the Temple of Artemis there (Acts 19:23–41), and wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus. Later Paul wrote his Epistle to the Ephesians to the Christian community here at Ephesus.

In the 6th century AD, some 1700 years after its original founding by the Ionian Greeks, the city of Ephesus was finally abandoned when the harbor completely filled in with river silt (despite repeated dredges during the city's history), removing its access to the Aegean Sea.

Eight kilometers from Ephesus, the Virgin Mary is said to have spent her last years in the care of St. John the Evangelist, who brought her here probably in 37 AD.  Jesus had asked John to take care of His mother from the cross.  This modest stone house is now a shrine to Mary, rebuilt on the original foundations of her home.

Back into Greece, we sail over to the island of Patmos, where St. John is said to have come after Ephesus in 95 AD.   In a cave where he lived, John saw the vision of fire and brimstone and dictated the book of Revelation. In the 11th century, this Monastery was built in his honour.  The wall paintings (frescoes) you can see are almost a 1000 years old! 

We always seem to do something involving motor sports for Sheila's birthday, and this time it's scooters on the island of Leros.  Leros is a pretty, green island with an indented coastline and 4 great gulfs or bays and is no more than 10 km from end to end, making it easy to explore.

Sheila, at our nav centre, dials in a frequency on our HAM radio to connect to LZIPKS in Bulgaria, the  nearest Winlink PMBO (mail-box operator) station for our onboard e-mail system.   On a recent position report, I had posted that her birthday was upcoming, so she has a good number of birthday wishes waiting for her, in addition to our regular emails and weather reports. 

Kos, the second largest island in the Greek Dodecanese island group, has a pleasant climate and fertile land, famous for producing the kos lettuce.  However, on Kos and in most of this area we have been cruising in, tourism is the major industry.  Tonight, we catch a festival of traditional music and dance honouring the tourist and the workers in the industry.  And there is even free food and drink!   Good timing!

Well, we are back in Turkey hauling TIOGA out for new bottom (anti-fouling) paint and for other under-the-waterline maintenance.  While she remains on the hard drying out for the next two weeks, we'll also make a bus/coach trip to visit Istanbul.  Check that out in our next log.