A Greek Isle Sea Adventure

[Bill]

Not exactly a "sailing" adventure, but we did go cruising in the Eastern Med this Fall. Our Ship was Oceania’s M/S Nautica:

LOA: 594 feet
Beam: 84 feet
Draft: 20 feet
Displacement: 30.3 tons
Passengers: 684
Crew; 400

We "sailed" from Istanbul through the Dardanelles (past Gallipoli) to Kusadasi (ruins of Ephesus), Rhodes, Delos (an archeological island), Mykonos, Santorini, Katakolon (site of Olympia), Corfu, Dubrovnik and ended in Athens.

Here is the Nautica anchored off Delos Island

[Bill]

Our trip was late in the season, so most of the “yachts” we saw were on the hard.

[Bill]

Or just tied up:

[Bill]

Most travel between ports was at night, and some nights we were sailing through stormy seas with the spray reaching our deck a good 30 to 40 feet above the water. On three occasions, the ship could not enter a port in the morning until things had settled down a bit.

The photo of the white caps was taken from the 10th deck above the water as we approached the harbor at Dubrovnik. The second photo is of the rough water in the small boat harbor at Cavtat, Croatia.

[Bill]

The remainder of our 1350 photos are of ruins and quaint Greek villages, obviously not appropriate for a sailing Web site . . .
[With all of these photos I have learned the curse of digital photography – you take too damn many pictures!!]

Library at Ephesus

[c_amos]

Thanks Bill,

I have been to Rhodes and Corfu and thought they would be great destinations to see again someday.

Did not see any masts on that thing you were on, but I bet it goes to weather pretty well....

[ebb]

Bill,
Darn if I don't see an Ariel mast in that first marina shot, right thar in the middle....might be a Commander...yup, yup, it's a Commander alright, recognize one every time!

[CapnK]

Boy they pack 'em in there, up on the hard! They must have a waterborne TravelLift of some sort. Does it get really cold there or something, Bill? It looked like great sailing weather, not much reason for there to be an 'off season'.

Those big liners, they look like they should just tip over. (Good thing for those aboard that they don't!)

Greek people must not read much at all - that library doesn't look very usable, needs a little maintenance...

[Bill]

Does it get really cold there or something, Bill? It looked like great sailing weather, not much reason for there to be an 'off season'.

Yes, it gets really stormy & rough, and it does get cold. [Tourist season ends in October and begins again in May.] Tried to catch the rough seas in the photo of the white caps. It's a lot like the Nor Cal coast in the winter, but with no protected Bay Area in which to sail.