So the mid-March “Blahs” are upon me. And I am thinking of sun, sea, and sail. On a whim I sent an email to the charter company we booked through last time – Sailing in Blue – and enquired as to whether or not they chartered in Turkey.
Not specifically, but they do charter boats out of the Greek Islands on the Turkish coast, and they said they could charter to us from Samos and ending in Rhodes. A one way charter! Perfect!
AND. They said that the boat could be taken into Turkey!
I know that there are some serious regulations that surround doing this, and I’ve looked into some of the procedures. After that first night on our first trip to Greece – the one where we were accosted by crazed Coast Guard with guns pointed at us at 1am – we take the issue of conflict and human smuggling between Turkey and Greece very seriously. But from what I’m reading, the charter companies can help you with the paperwork and if you cross your t’s and dot your i’s and don’t sneeze at the wrong moment – it isn’t too difficult to go back and forth.
Which for us, of course, means a whole new set of misadventures!
It’s just still too far away. I want to go now. But at least this time we won’t be trying to book a boat three weeks before we fly out. Maybe.
The problem with starting at Samos is that it’s sort of in the middle. We’d probably want to go North, and I have to admit, I’d love to visit Istanbul. But maybe we can work that in with the flights. It’s a bit of a haul by boat.
On the flip side, I’m just starting to look through the charts and figure out where Rod Heikell says the good cruising spots are. So perhaps there are enough wonderful spots to explore during 6 weeks of sailing between Samos and Rhodes and both Greek and Turkish environs.
This time, for a change, we have a lot of time to plan and look for recommendations from people who have been there.
Lots of time to dream of that Mediterranean water again…
1 comment
Go for it! 6 weeks is a wonderful window to explore the land of the Illiad.