Although we had planned to explore our favourite haunts in the Dodecanese, a constant stream of strong southerly winds interrupted our plans of going north to Kalymnos and Leros and back in a short period of time. A few days in Rhodes (always such an enjoyable town) enabled us to shop for appropriate gear for the EMYR as we had no ‘formal gear’ on Sea Cloud. We also finally made it to Lindos, a place we had been planning to visit for a few years.

 We could see why there is supposedly a colour ‘Lindos blue’ – the water was stunning. The ruins were really worth the visit.

Back in Panormitis, we said said goodbye to our new American friends who were heading for Athens. We had shared many laughs, drinks, dinners and conversations with them and hope to catch up again soon. Such meetings are a great part of the cruising life.

Finally we made it to Khalki – small island off the south western coast of Rhodes. Apparently it gets really crowded in the summer – there was only one other boat on the dock. We were pleased it was a calm evening as the dock had only just been assembled for the summer – they were still screwing cleats into the dock as we arrived.

A few days here would have been lovely, such a pretty island to wander around, with very friendly locals and great food.

Back to Rhodes for a very easy check out of Greece and into Marmaris for a very difficult check in! Rather than checking in via the marina as we had done in the past, the officials now insist that boats moor up on the customs dock to check in (which still needs to be organised through an agent). We were not impressed, moving Sea Cloud onto a high concrete wall covered in black tyres – and they didn’t even come to look at the boat!

Back in Netsel marina, it was lovely to be side by side with Enki to spend some time with Diana and Alex. Their local knowledge and Ottoman Tech Support advice was much appreciated as was their wonderful company. With the boat organised and new spinnaker pole installed, we sadly said goodbye to Alex and Diana as they too are heading west.

I am sure we will cross paths again somewhere. After a night in the increasingly expensive My Marina in Eckincik (they have introduced a mooring charge) we had a great sail into the wind towards Gocek to start the EMYR rally. There must have been big winds south of us as by the time we approached Fethiye bay, the seas were short and steep, reaching about 3 meters. Thank goodness for Sea Cloud’s hard dodger, it would have been a very wet sail otherwise!