I have being in Turkey for about 3 weeks now, 1.5 weeks in Istanbul, and 1.5 weeks in Izmir. I have being meaning to go to Greece at some point, because there is a Greek island just off the shore from Turkey, that I can access by ferry. I had just extended my stay in Izmir for 20 days, 3 days ago and planning my events. After I started diving, my interest for the water world grew. I have thought a lot about trading my van for a catamaran or a sailboat for a while now. I also joined this group online for sailing, where captains of vessels can look for crew when they need help moving the boat or simply need another person to assist. I thought it would be a good idea to get some experience before I 100% know what I’m getting myself into.

It was by chance I saw a posting of a captain looking for crew in Finike, Turkey when I was in Izmir. It was perfect timing, and I am in the right place at the right time. To top it off, the captain is trying to sail to Athens. Two birds with one stone, I can get some first hand experience and I can also get to experience Greek, sailing into port. So I started looking up the location. The closest airport is Antalya, and Finike is another 2 hours + away by car. I posted that I was interested and got a response from the owner almost immediately. I spoke to him on the phone for about 15 minutes, did not even catch his name, and I booked a ticket to Antalya the same day. Next day I went to the airport, an hour of flight later I’m in Antalya, took a 2.5 hour transfer by private car and arrive at Finike Marina where I met my host, who’s name is Don, and his 2023 Bali 40 Catamaran, with all the bells and whistles.

“Disclaimer: As with any online group there are tons of scammers. There are people on there posting for you to help as crew, while you have to pay daily contribution of over 50 euro a day to having to pay for “the experience”, thats the same price as my dive safari daily rate. There are also plenty that are using these as dating sites or opportunities, no different than couchsurfing. The unfortunately truth, is that while there are some men looking to only host women, there are a lot more women on these forums that are looking for a free ride. It is just, the former is socially unacceptable and that later is more socially acceptable, but it is two sides of the same coin. In my experience, also in the motorcycling world, ,most people are just there to be moochers and the community of people who are actually contributing to the culture of social exchange without ulterior motives, makes up less than 25% of the users on these platforms. Take my experience here with a grain of salt as I have learn how to figure out who is who, base on years of experience and being a therapist. That and I’m 6’1” (186cm) and 210 lbs (95kg).

Next day, we prep the boat for departure after I ate a hardy breakfast. I needed a boat hat, and some quick slip on boat shoes. Bought the cheapest disposable I can find. It prove to be very useful. When we were done, we are ready to head out for the following day.

Next morning, we set sail only for 2-3 hours. It was pretty windy in some places, I learned to do some rope and knots and read the instrumentation and operate the engine and start using onboard apps as well as wind application to see the course.

Our first stop was still in Turkey in Kaleucagiz, Very small town, and it look like tourism business is not that thriving, maybe ti was off season. I needed sunblock, so I bought one there, and it was a whopping 25 dollar. Did not have another option, and I was not gonna get burn, then it would be very bad for the rest of the trip, since I’ll be out on the boat everyday. The same sunblock I bought again later, cost me 7 dollars. I can see tourist places you charge double the cost, but more than triple, is pretty silly. Again this is something I’m already familiar with Turkey.

The next putt was pretty short was well, we got to Zaika Marina in Kas. Still in Turkey. Don and I went to town, but we were there too early, and everything was closed, but when the neighbor of the resturant saw us waiting, he went and got the owner. The owner showed up no more than 15 minutes later and made us our lunch. Now thats customer service. We returned, I went to beach (20 usd) entrance fee. Wickedly expensive and it isnt even that good. Maybe Dahab was just too good and it spoiled me. But, I’m getting a lot of “Salt Bae” vibe in all these places I’ve visited.

Then, because of the weather that is coming we decided to putt along at night. I’m good enough to pilot the ship now, but just good enough to keep watch and monitor the other boat traffic to speed up and slow down to not hit anything. We were on a 3 hour rotation, 6-9, 9-12, 12-3, 3-6 and we arrive at the destination. 6pm - 9pm - Yun (bumpy and windy), 9pm - 12pm - Don (even rougher see), 12pm - 3am - Yun…. first hour was just terrible rough seas, then at 1 am a massive light was shining in my face. The radio is going off, people are talking on it. I tried to listen to it, it said to go to some channel I cant remember now. I call Don on the talkie, he was surprised and ran up, and here we are bouncing around in 15 knot winds, getting boarded by coast guards. They pulled up parallel to us, ropes are thrown at us, we loop it on our boat, and tossed it back. They yanked our boat next to their, and one of them jumped on board. It was pretty wild. A few moments after they looked around and the paperwork, they left. We were both wide awake after that. But Don was concern for other issues to arise so he stayed up and man the helm until we pull into port. I went down to sleep, in case I’m needed for any emergency I’ll have some energy.

And just like that, we are on Greek islands. The first of many. This is Rhodes, Greece. Tons of ruins and history built right into the old shop. It is the first time I saw a town with all the building repurpose from hundreds of years ago. Every building is a historic building. The quality of the ingredient and the food is much better than what I had in Turkey. Got my passport stamped, and I have now officially traveled to Greece.

Next stop we sail to Symi, where there is a 200+ year old monastery that is build in the dedication to Archangel Michael. There was many sea turtle sightings, but I was never fast enough to snap a photo. Symi is absolutely beautiful, the little bay that we anchor was calm and serene. I took out my 7 year old drone and it still flies. I definitely need an upgrade. Don bought some Sandeman Port in in Rhodes, and we broke out the bottle to celebrate our progress.

We set sail soon after on a very long hike at Ano Koufonisia. The different swimming and snorkeling opportunities here is second to none. There was the Angel Eye, Devil Eye and the best perhaps is the caves. The food continue to impress me. We stayed 2 nights here, and had a feast on our final night farewell. We even saw some dolphins along the way, but because our motor was running it did not stay long. Snapped a few photos, and it disappeared.

The following day was a short put to Paros, not to be confused with Poros. Lol. We got in pretty early, as the winds are picking up, we anchored near some super yachts and swam a little and prepare to head out the following day.

Next day was a night motoring again due to windy conditions during the day time. We decided to do 4 hour rotation instead of 3. I was 7-11, 11-3 was don and then 3-7 was me again. After the first rotation, the winds started picking up, and we started bouncing around a lot. When don took his shift, by the end of his shift he decided to just dock at the closest anchorage we can find. The waves and winds were getting worse and worse. We ended up in Kithnos, some other island. We spent the day there, since the weather was not too great. We left again for a late night motoring due to weather. This whole time we were mostly going upwind, so the sailing was minimal.

Then here we are finally crossed over to Poros, about an hour away by ferry to Athens. This was the final berth. July 1st I take a ferry up to Athens, and say goodbye to my host. I have spent over an week here watching the boat, and making sure that no one hits it, and it does not hit the dock. Good thing our anchor is set very solid.

This has being an adventure. Coming into Greece by sailboat, island hopping all the way here. Never would I have dreamed this was the journey into Greece I would be taking. This felt like when I discovered motorcycling, another sense of freedom, but it is equally addictive and it captivated my soul.

Opportunities present itself in different ways, but we have to be aware of those opportunities, and also be able to receive them. I would have never consider this if I had not conquered my fear of deep sea through diving. I would have not discover this if I had not being in Turkey at the right time. There is only one thing left to do, taking a leap of faith.