Travels with S/Y Thetis


Thetis only

Thetis 2000: Aegean

This is a very personal log of four sailing trips during a period of approximately five months with my boat, Thetis, in the Aegean Sea.

  1. The first trip originated in Glyfada, a suburb of Athens, Greece, where Thetis spent the long winter months, to the Aegean islands of Fleves, Kithnos, Serifos, Paros, Despotiko, Schinousa, Lipsi, Patmos, and Samos. During part of this trip I was accompanied by Dr. Can Ertem, a friend from Washington, D.C. who left Thetis at Paros.

    There follows a period of couple of weeks of staying ashore in our family house in Samos.

  2. The second trip originated from Samos. I sailed with my wife Alice to the islands of Arki, Levitha, Astypalea, Kalymnos, Leros, Lipsi, Agathonisi, and back to Samos where we stayed for about a month.

  3. In the third trip I singlehandled Thetis to the islands of Agathonisi, Marathi, and Patmos where I was joined by Professor Andonis Ephremides. From Patmos we sailed west to the islands of Levitha and Amorgos, where Andonis left. I continued singlehanded to Santorini.

    In Santorini Thetis joined with S/Y New Life belonging to Turgut Ayker, a friend from Turkey. The two boats sailed together to the islands of Folegandros, Sifnos, and Syros. From Syros, Thetis continued north to the islands of Kithnos, Kea, Andros, Sarakino, Skyros, and Skopelos.

    In Skopelos two friends Manos Castrinakis and Nadia Demetropoulou joined me. With this crew Thetis sailed to the island of Skiathos and into the Pagasitikos Gulf via the Trikeri Channel where we visited the island of Paleo Trikeri and sailed around the island of Alatas. We then returned to Skiathos.

    Manos and Nadia left Thetis and I sailed solo back to Skopelos and Sarakino and then Chios and Samos. I left Thetis in Samos for ten days to visit Denmark and Finland.

  4. After I returned to Samos, I singlehandled Thetis to the islands of Arki, Lipsi, and Leros where she was hauled out of the water and where she spent the winter.

MMap of the Greece with route
Map of the Greece with route.

The Highlights of the trips are: