Hull Yeah!

We woke up early on Sunday morning, at 3:30am to be precise. It was our first sail and it was a long one, about 215 miles as the crow flies. We were hoping for wind but, alas, there was none so we motored pretty much the whole day. Only at night we found a windy patch and were able to open both the jib and the main sail and actually sail. We got to about 6.5knots of speed. We forgot to close the props as we sailed, otherwise, I think we could have done 7 knots.

The moon was almost full and bright and followed us almost the entire night until it got tired and went to sleep below horizon. The sky was full of stars and we felt connected to the ancient seafaring voyagers who called this sea home.

About midday on Monday we arrived at this beautiful little island Kostellorizo, the smallest yet the prettiest island of the Dodecanese complex. It takes its name from the fort built by the knights of St John on the reddish rock above the port. Colorful stately houses ring the circular harbor while the mountains in the background serve as solid backdrop to the red-roofed dwellings.

We were really worried about checking into Greece because we were told the process could be long and complicated with extra fees tacked on for missing documents. However, we were in luck. The Greek government implemented a new electronic check-in process but, luckily for us, it is still confusing to the immigration agents and glitchy, so we were able to get away with paper documents and credit card payment in person. Yay! we have made it to Greece.