September 1, 2011. Hello from Rhodes in the Dodecanese island group of Greece. Our last update had us leaving the Cyclades island group for the island of Patmos. We covered a lot of ground during the last two months, including the Eastern Sporades and the Dodecanese island groups. Our route can be seen on the map below. Greece has continued to be a wonderful experience, with each island having something different to offer. We have even managed to free anchor at every island and avoid the challenge of med mooring and the lack of wind and privacy at the quay. We left the small island of Levitha on July 6th for Patmos, the northern-most island of the Dodecanese group, and anchored in the main harbor of Skala in front of many charter boats who were med moored to the quay. From the anchorage we could see the hora (main town) up on the hill with its white cubical houses huddled around the huge grey stone Monastery of St. John the Divine. We rented a quad and toured the entire island. On our way up to the hora we stopped at the Cave of the Apocalypse, where St. John the Divine was allegedly visited by God and was instructed to write the Book of Revelations, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse. The views of the island were stunning from the top of the monastery. When we returned to the boat, the coast guard asked us to move, so we went around the corner to Meloi Bay, one of many beautiful bays and beaches north of Skala. We also anchored in Kambos Bay. Both times we were the only boat in the bay, and the tavernas (restaurants) on the shore served extraordinary Greek food. From Patmos we visited Arki, a tiny island just six miles west of Patmos. We anchored in the small bay and a few hours later were asked to leave to make room for the water tanker that comes once a month (great timing, huh?). We moved to an adjacent bay where we picked up one of three moorings owned by the only taverna in sight, so we had several nice dinners with the family that runs it. If you want peace and quiet, Arki is the place to be. A few days later the wind settled down a bit and we motorsailed to the island of Samos, only a few miles from Kusadasi in Turkey. We anchored on the southeast coast in the town of Pythagorio, home of Pythagoras, the father of geometry. On a walk through town, we watched a small team excavating ruins in the hot sun, using small brushes and tiny hoes. We continued walking up the hill to the Evpalinos Tunnel outside of town. It was built in 524 BC by Polycrates, who ordered his laborers to dig into the mountainside to secure a source of drinking water for the city. It is over 3,000 feet long and consists of two tunnels, the upper one for service and the other one below for water storage. It is quite cold inside. We felt like we had walked into a fridge after the hot hike up the hill. While wide inside, not everyone can enter, as the entrance is low and extremely narrow. We had to wonder if the people running the entrance booth had to size up each visitor before collecting the fee-- anyone over 250 pounds would get stuck for sure! We rented a car and explored the island, stopping at the lively capital of Vathy on the northeast coast, with lots of tavernas and shops lining the large, deep bay. We visited the archeological museum, one of the best in the islands, containing finds from the 6th century BC, the most famous being the 17 ft. tall Kouros (male statue), the largest standing Kouros known. It was quite impressive, along with all the other statues, pottery, weapons, etc. From Vathy, we passed many beaches and resorts on the north coast, and then we drove up into some forested mountain villages, then around to the olive groves and hills of the south coast, stopping to buy Samos honey at one of the many roadside stands. Being so close to Turkey, we decided to make a visa run by ferry to Kusadasi and get some spare parts for the boat. The visa run worked out well, but the chandlers were all closed, even though we had called ahead of time and were assured they would be open. Oh well, at least we had our EU visas renewed for another 90 days. Our goal was to go north while the weather and sea permitted, so we left Samos and motored up to the island of Chios for one night (which we would visit on our way back), and one night on the tiny island of Inousses off Chios. It was the ancestral home to about a third of Greece’s shipping barons, whose descendants return here for summer vacations. We arrived at the island of Lesvos on July 22nd, anchoring off the seaside village of Plomari on the southeast coast. Lesvos is a huge island, the third largest after Crete and Evia, and contains two immense landlocked gulfs. We drove around the island, taking in the vast variety of landscapes—desert-like plains, sandy beaches, thickly forested mountains, and dense olive groves (they claim about eleven million trees). Olive oil, wine, and ouzo (aniseed-flavored liquor) are their main products. We visited the capital, Mytilini, on the east coast and found it to be very lively, a bit noisy, with lots of traffic. We came across a replica of the Statue of Liberty overlooking the harbor. The story goes that a poor Greek sailed to America, saw the Statue of Liberty, and vowed that when he prospered and returned to his hometown he would erect a replica there. The Byzantine fortress overlooking the sea was quite large and interesting. We drove north to Moni Taxiarhon, a 17th century monastery dedicated to the Archangels. The interior is magnificently decorated with icons, chandeliers, and frescoes. It was the first religious site that allowed us to take pictures inside. We had a delicious lunch of lamb and feta in vine leaves at Molyvos on the northwest coast, then we circumnavigated both gulfs, which took hours to do so. When we returned to the boat, some children swam out to our dinghy and asked for a ride. To their delight, Jeff ran them around the bay a few times. After Lesvos, we sailed south again back to the island of Chios. We anchored at Marmaro Bay on the north coast for two days, then sailed down the east coast to Chios Town, anchoring in the middle of the main harbor. We rented a car and explored the island. Here and nowhere else grows the gum- producing mastic trees. Mastic is used in chewing gum, ice cream, candy, body care products, etc. We tried some nougat with mastic, which tasted like candy with tea tree oil. Needless to say, we passed on stocking up the pantry with mastic products. We visited the village of Pyrgi, famous for its buildings decorated in black and white patterns using a technique called” xysta”. We found a beautiful marble phone booth carved into the wall, where Gayle couldn’t resist checking it out. Another stop was the Cave of Sykia, a 150-million-year-old cavern discovered in 1985, filled with stunning and sometimes weirdly-shaped, multicolored stalactites, stalagmites, and rock formations. On our way back to town, we stopped and waited for a flock of goats to make their way across the road, although the Greek drivers seem to just plow right through them. From Chios we motorsailed south to the island of Ikaria, named for Icarus, who escaped from prison on wings of wax, but flew too close to the sun and crashed into the sea, creating Ikaria. We anchored outside the breakwater of Kirykos, a small Greek port with the usual tavernas along the shore. There is also a radioactive hot springs in town, famed for curing everything from arthritis to infertility. Just the idea of it being “radioactive” made us decide to keep any ailments we might have! Our next stop was the tiny island of Fournoi, just ten miles southeast. We anchored at Kampi Beach, just around the corner from the main town. Kampi has two very steep paths of white steps zigzagging up to the top of the hill. It was a great opportunity for some serious cardio and a walk over into the main town, where we feasted on their specialty, astakomadaronadha (lobster with pasta). We also enjoyed strolling down the streets lined with mulberry trees and peeking into the all the little shops, chatting with the friendly locals and asking how business is doing. As with most of the islands, tourism is down and business is slow this year. We spent four days enjoying Fournoi and waiting for the wind to ease up. We then headed south for the tiny island of Lipsi, where we spent another four days waiting for the wind to ease up. We explored most of the island on foot. We discovered a great restaurant owned by Manolis, the chef all dressed in red, who invited us to come into the kitchen and choose from his many specialties right out of the oven, which were heavenly. The island of Leros was next on our track south. Leros has a huge enclosed bay on the west coast and was pummeled in 1943 by the Germans, who wanted Lakki Bay as a large naval base to fight the Turks.