Travels with S/Y Thetis
2003 E. Aegean, Cyclades, Dodechanese

S/Y Thetis under sail
Photo by Turgut Ayker

This is a very personal account of approximately six months, May to October 2003. During this time I went on four sailing trips with my boat, Thetis.

The first trip originated in Leros, an island in the eastern Aegean, where Thetis spent the long winter months. From Leros I singlehandled to the East Aegean islands of Lipsi, Marathi, Samos, Fourni, Arki, Archangelos, and back to Leros.

There followed an interruption of two weeks when I flew back to the US to see my newly born first grandson Alexander Riginos Shomer. During this time Thetis was waiting for me in the Lakki Marina operated by Agmar Marine.

The second trip originated from Lakki, Leros. First, I singlehandled to Archangelos and Patmos where I picked up some friends with whom we spent a night in Marathi before returning to Patmos. From Patmos, I singlehandled to the Cyclades stopping in Donousa, Rhinia, Syros, Kithnos, and Tzia (Kea). From Tzia I returned to Syros via Kithnos. In Syros my wife Dr. Alice Riginos met me and we sailed together to Paros, Iraklia, Nikouria, Amorgos, Levitha, and Leros. In Leros we were joined by our friends the Aykers with their S/Y New Life. The two boats sailed together to Archangelos, Lipsi, Patmos, and Marathi where we separated. From Marathi Thetis sailed to Fourni and Samos where we stayed for a week, after which we returned to the Agmar shipyard in Partheni, Leros via Arki, and Lipsi.

At the Agmar shipyard, Thetis was hauled-out and stayed on land for the next five weeks.

The third trip started after Thetis was re-launched. I singlehandled from Partheni, Leros, to the island of Telos in the Dodecanese via Lakki and Xerocambos, also in Leros, and Kos. From Telos I visited the islands of Yiali, Kalymnos, Leros again, Lipsi, Marathi, Agathonisi, and ended in the Pythagorio marina in Samos.

The fourth trip started after a stay of a few weeks in Samos. I singlehandled Thetis from Samos to the islands of Arki, Marathi, Lipsi, Astypalea, Kalymnos, Leros, and back to Lipsi and Marathi. Finally I went to the Agmar shipyard in Partheni, Leros, where Thetis was hauled out of the water and where she will spend the winter.