Dodecanese Islands | Sailing Greece or My Big Fat Greek Honeymoon

We got to Kos from Athens on the overnight ferry. Early in the morning with the rising sun we have arrived in the marina where we were gonna rent our boat. Since it was very early we even had to wait to have breakfast. But it was totally worth waiting. I love to eat in those marinas' restaurants. And on top of it Greek yogurt with honey and good, strong Greek coffee is a perfect way to begin the sailing expedition of Greek Islands. After that we did some grocery shopping to bring some food on board. I remember that we had to wait quite a few hours before our 36 feet Bavaria Yacht named Dokos was finally ready for us. We were more than ready to start our sailing trip.

Since we had almost no experience and very poor sailing skills it took us a while to get out of the marina. (Only my husband had one weekend of training on the Hudson River which gave him a sailing license- how simple was that!).

By the time we were on the open sea it was afternoon. However for the first day it was enough. We sailed for about 5 hours and we took our first stop which was still on Kos. We managed docking no problem not knowing that it was not going to be that easy for couple of next times.

I do not remember the actual name of the town where we stopped but it was referred to as Greek Ibiza. It was definitely a party town full of restaurants, bars, and a good night life and of course young people. We took our first swim, than we had a nice dinner, and after that we decided to blend into a partying crowd. Maybe we needed to have couple of drinks to dare to spend the first night on the boat:). But everything went well, and we had a great night of sleep ( I just loved the rocking of the boat!). We were simply ready for another day of our exploration of Greek Islands.

The day started off very calm. The sea seemed to be lazy and still asleep. We actually had to use the motor to change our location. But it was not all that bad. We got to admire beautiful Turkish coast that was very nearby and enjoy relaxing slow day on Dodecanese Islands. Thanks to that calm sea we were able to anchor our Dokos 200 feet from the shore and first swam around it and then we decided to get to the lonely white sand beach on the dinghy ( A little pontoon attached to the boat). It is hard to describe how big was our astonishment when we discovered that suntanning straight on the sand was simply impossible (or at least very painful). The sand was burning hot! No wonder no one was there ;-) We had to run very fast not to burn our feet. After that little exercise we got back on Dokos and took off slowly.

We sailed for couple of hours and we arrived to the island of Nisyros. That was when we have learned that to park 36 feet boat between two boats is not enough to know how to park a car between two cars. Even though before there was no wind, in the afternoon situation has changed significantly. Considering our skills the gusty winds were not very helpful. That was a day when we learned that sailing Greek Islands is nor exactly a piece of cake and it requires some serious skills. The wind almost smashed us against the rocks in the harbor. I was terrified! Like it was not bad enough one of us has dropper the rope which got tangled with the motor underneath the boat. When my husband jumped into the water to fix it I started to cry. Did I mention it was our honey moon? I remember very clearly how convinced I was at that moment that our marriage would not last for too long, if at all! However my super hero husband has won the underwater battle and with help of some other sailors we docked our boat. That was our first major adventure on the Meditereanen Sea.

As a result of all that we got very hungry so we went to a local restaurant ( that looked more like someone's kitchen with a deck) and had delicious Greek salad, fish and withe wine. In Greece I learned that Greek salad in Greece does not contain any lettuce, unlike Greek salad in the US. On each island they serve it differently but it always contains chopped tomatoes, onions (sometimes cucumbers), lots of olives, and on top of it a gigantic block of feta cheese. All that was generously topped with delicious, aromatic Greek olive oil. Sensational!. After that snack we decide to do food shopping cause we wanted to cook dinner on the boat. That was the first and the last time we did that. Even though the meal came out great it was not worth the effort with all that rocking and shaking. I literally had problems putting my chopped ingredients into the pan. After the dinner we took a ride around the island in a rented car. The ride was very scenic. We took plenty of pictures ot typical Greek houses and landscapes that were getting even more picturesque right before the sunset.Since this Greek island was pretty mountainous, we were climbing up and thanks to the high elevation everything looked even more spectacular. We even got to the volcano (of course inactive), but we only took couple of pictures and we had to run because of the terrible odor that was there. What we especially loved about Nisyros was how peaceful and quite it was. There were about 5 boats in the marina and that was pretty much it as far as tourists.

Due to the strong wind we had to stay there for another day. Since not even experienced sailors have left the island in those weather conditions, we figured it might be better if we don't try. However after 2 relaxing days we decided to move on with our Greek Islands quest.

As we found out on the open sea the wind was still pretty strong. ( 10 knots for us was strong). While my husband was managing the sails I was in charge of the helm. As the weather situation was getting more dramatic we started to be seriously afraid (however only I was showing that). I was coursing our honey moon from hell and praying to all Gods (including the Greek ones) to survive that craziness. And that was when the worst happened. The wind just ripped our one sail. At that moment I was absolutely sure we were gonna die in the middle of the Aegan Sea and no one will even know ( until our parents would start looking for us). I was crying trying to listen to my husband's directions. And as much as he was trying to look like he knew what he was doing, I knew he was scared. Somehow standing on the stern he managed to wrap the damaged sail around the mast and miraculously we approached some island (that was not the island we were heading for).

We got to the harbor of the island of Tilos but our adrenalin levels stayed pretty high for a little longer. We both were exhausted physically, but emotionally even more. Nonetheless we still had to park the Dokos. In the marina there were no other sailors at the moment, which meant no help for us. We were struggling for a while with our damaged boat and still significant wind. Suddenly we have noticed some young guy taking his shirt off and jumping into the water. He ( at that moment a great hero, the savior in my eyes) pulled himself up onto our boat and helped us put an end to that nightmare. As we found out few moments later, Antonio owned the marina's restaurant to which he invited us for a well deserved meal. Next I went to the beach and my husband took care of the boat. Later we have rented a bike and took a wonderful trip around the entire island of Tilos. When we got back to the marina it was already dark so we changed and we went back to Antonios, this time for a big Italian feast (since Antonio came from Italy).

Next Greek Island that we have visited was called Simi. Simi was totally different from the previous islands. We have noticed that already when we were approaching its harbor. It looked just amazing with its white and pastel colored buildings on the hills right above the marina. We liked that island for many reasons but one of them was certainly the fact that we faced no problems docking. Finally!!! We felt like we accomplished something. It had a much bigger harbor than other islands, with lots of yachts, but we managed just fine with no help. That felt awesome!
From the very beginning we sow that Simi was more touristi. (Even cruises were stopping there). I must say that after several days of non-touristy places we liked that little change. There were lots of restaurants, caffees, shops, and galeries.
The first thing that we did after parking our yacht was trying Greek salad on Simi. We had it in one of the restaurants right by the marina, and we loved that! ( I really miss this experience, and whenever I have Greek salad that brings me back to all those wonderfull places that we have visited during this sailing trip). Our next stop was a bar where we had some refreshing coctails. Afret that we walk around different stores and bought some souvenires. In the evening we got dressed nicely and had a wonderful dinner in a resturant that was fancy comparing to restaurants on previously visited islands. The next morning after the breakfast and ice coffee we took a ride to an extraoridinary and picturesque spot. We were planning to go to the beach, but when we got there we found something different that we expected. The beach was not the kind where you can lie down comfortably and suntan for hours. It was totally rocky, yet absolutely gorgeous!!! We enjoyd a wonderful swim and shoot lots of pictures.