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I think I need to start this story about a year ago. Around Christmas last year a tiny seed of a travel idea germinated in my head.

Dodecanese, Greece

Nickjenkins
2003-11-20 16:38:39

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on our journey. We picked up the yacht from a marina on Kos on a Friday afternoon and planned to head north into the Dodecanese. The rough itinerary was to go north from Kos to Kalymnos and then up past Leros to Patmos, Lipsi and Arki. As fate would have it we didn't quite make it that far but we did make it as far as the north of Leros.

Checkout for the yacht was relatively easy and after a few corrections (a missing fire extinguisher and some faulty instrumentation) our trusty steed, Isis, an Oceanis 381, was ready to go. In theory we might have made Kalymnos that evening but we decided to stay in Kos so we could have a more leisurely start to the holiday the next morning.

Now much had been said by my compatriots already about the beauty of the Greek isles, the friendliness of the Greek people and the blandness of Greek food. It was with some trepidation therefore that we selected the restaurant for the evening.

After a twenty minute walk along the seafront we found a very nice little restaurant with tables actually on the water's edge and we sat down to dinner. Erring on the side of caution I selected a fairly neutral chicken souvlaki and was extremely pleased when it turned out to be not only adequate but very good. In fact as the murmurs of appreciation around the table showed the food was excellent. This proved to be a good omen and in fact throughout our trip the food was so good that I think we put to bed the myth of bland Greek cuisine.

Arising relatively early the next morning we put to sea in a very uncharacteristic rain storm and loitered off Kos waiting for it to pass. The departure from Kos is worth noting. From the Kos marina you exit to the east, directly towards the imposing Turkish coastline and the port of Bodrum. As you turn northward towards Kalymnos you have to round the shoals at Ak Amaglossa and keep a watchful eye open for the regular hydrofoils ...