Sailing to Lindos on Rhodes

Leaving Pethi on Sími   

We left Pethi on Sími at 0935 and initially motored toward Rhodes.

Bozburun peninsula and the entrance to Bozuk Bükü   

The route took us close to the Turkish Bozburun peninsula and right past Bozuk Bükü. It seemed strange to be so close to Turkey but not actually visiting. Fortunately, the wind quickly built as it was forecast to do which set BV bowling along at 7.5 knots as we pressed on towards Rhodes.

Passing Rhodes town   

Aiming for the northern tip of Rhodes the wind got steadily stronger and BV got faster and faster. The GPS said that the fastest we went was 10 knots and we averaged 7 knots for the whole passage. It was great stuff with the only slight disappointment being when the wind dropped off to nothing as we sailed down the east side of Rhodes.

Approaching Lindos

However, the scenery more than made up for the disappointment of not sailing the last bit of the passage. Half way down the east side of Rhodes is the scenic town of Lindos. It has a large natural harbour and is overlooked by an ancient acropolis which was later modified into a castle which was the headquarters of the Knights of St John.

Lindos   

We worked our way into the bay and anchored just off the buoyed-off swimming area, carefully trying to avoid the rocks on the seabed which are renowned for fouling anchors.

‘Oasis’   

Some yachts had tied a long line to the shore but we were happy where we were. A very elegant large motoryacht, ‘Oasis’, moored alongside us and ran a thick line ashore which got us thinking so we double checked that if we swung we wouldn’t hit her [Ed: we wouldn’t but there wouldn’t have been much space to spare!].

Content that all was well we relaxed and enjoyed sundowners in the cockpit. ‘Oasis’ lit up one side of the bay and above us there was the floodlit Knights of St John castle. All round a pretty good view, we thought, to enjoy with a glass of wine.

Rhodes  Lindos, Greece