Into the Aegean

Traveling Classroom^™

Into the Aegean

We are late getting started again. Hot showers are available in the harbor administration building, and we can't pass up the opportunity. Zoe Zoe has a shower, but water is limited and the shower stall is tiny. Everyone wants a long, hot shower after breakfast, and so the sun is climbing into the sky by the time we cast off and motor out of the harbor.
The wind seems promising as we clear the headland and hoist the sails, but it soon becomes clear that we will probably have a repeat of yesterday's doldrums. We sail while there is wind and motor when the wind dissipates. It is slow going, but the sun is warm and we find ways to pass the time. We work at small projects, watch the rocky coast drift by, and use binoculars to observe the villages tucked into small inlets: Varkiza, Lagonissi, Saronida, Anavissos ….

Finally we come to the tip of Attica and motor through the narrow passage separating the island of Patroklou from the mainland. Without even a hint of breeze, we are beginning to wonder if we shall find any wind at all today. If there is no improvement when we reach Cape Sounion, we will have to consider heading for the nearby port of Lavrio rather than crossing the channel to Kea, our original destination.

After clearing the island and pulling away from the coast, air fills the sails and we are optimistic again. It is not long before we see Cape Sounion, with the fabled Temple of Poseidon shining brightly in the sunlight at the top of the cliffs. This is the site where one of the great myths about Theseus reached its tragic conclusion

Theseus was the son of Aegeus, king of Greece. Although still a young man, he was already known for heroic deeds. One day he heard of the Minotaur, a monster which King Minos of Crete imprisoned in an elaborate maze within the royal city. Every nine years Minos demanded human sacrifices to the monster. Outraged by this, Theseus decided to end the tributes to Minos. He offered to be one of those sacrificed to the Minotaur, but his plan was to kill the monster within the Labyrinth. The ship that carried the victims to Crete had black sails. Theseus told his father that he would hoist a white sail before he returned to Greece, to announce his success.

When Theseus and the other victims arrived on the island of Crete, they were paraded through the capital city on their way to the Labyrinth. Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, saw Theseus among the others and fell in love with him. She spoke to the architect of the Labyrinth and learned how to get out of the maze. Then she offered to help Theseus escape if he would take her to Athens and marry her. Theseus agreed and Ariadne gave him a ball of thread to unwind when he entered the Labyrinth. To get out, he would follow the thread back to the entrance. So it was that Theseus made his way through the Labyrinth, slew the Minotaur, and led the other victims to freedom. They all boarded the ship that brought them to Crete and sailed north towards Athens.

During the journey Ariadne became sick, and so she was taken ashore on the island of Naxos. Theseus was working on board when a great storm swept his ship out to sea. When he was able to sail back to Naxos, Theseus discovered that Ariadne had died. He was very distraught during the remainder of the journey to Attica, and when the ship was in sight of land at Cape Sounion, Theseus forgot to raise the white sail as a signal of his victory in Crete. After many anxious days of waiting at Sounion, King Aegeus saw the black sail and assumed his son had died. Filled with grief, Aegeus threw himself from the rocky cliff into the sea and was killed. From that time forward, the sea was named Aegean in his honor.
Now we sail into the Aegean Sea, beneath the cliff from which a king leapt to his death. The Temple of Poseidon stands at the top, perhaps on the very spot where Aegeus waited for his son to return. The temple was built at the same time as the Parthenon (around 450-440 BCE) on the foundations of an older building destroyed during the Persian invasion of Attica. The site dominates an important sea route in the Aegean and was a sacred place for sailors.

After clearing the southern end of Makronissi, we steer a course towards the island of Kea, about 15 miles off the coast. We watch the depth gauge as Zoe Zoe moves into the deep waters of the Kea Channel. Somewhere out here, almost within view of Poseidon's temple, is the where the mighty Britannic sank beneath the waves.

Britannic was the sister ship of Titanic, made famous on stage and screen for ramming an iceberg and sinking. After the Titanic disaster, ship builders provided many new safety features in the Britannic, including a reinforced hull and watertight compartments. Everyone thought these improvements made her unsinkable, but they said that of the Titanic also. Serving as a hospital ship during World War I, the Britannic was steaming northward through the Kea Channel in the autumn of 1916 when she was rocked by a tremendous explosion. It took just 55 minutes for the huge ship to sink. Fortunately there were plenty of lifeboats and most of the passengers were rescued.

No one knows how the Britannic met her doom, perhaps a torpedo from a U-boat or a floating mine. It is even more puzzling that the "unsinkable" ship went down so quickly, even faster than the Titanic. A diving expedition is trying to answer these questions. To this day the Britannic is the largest ship on the ocean floor. She is lying on her side in 400 feet of water, somewhere beneath our keel. It makes me think how vulnerable we are in this small ketch.

It is a clear day, but there is a mist on the horizon and we do not sight the mountains of Kea island until we are about four miles from shore. From this distance the island seems barren, but in reality there are oak forests in the highlands. In old times acorn shells from these trees were used for tanning leather, which was a great source of income for the residents of Kea. The basic occupation of the islanders was and still is cattle raising. Apart from dairy products (milk, cheese, butter, etc.), Kea also produces vegetables, fruits and nuts of high quality. Bee-raising is another island occupation, and Kean thyme honey is famous.

It is interesting that mythology explains many things about the character of Kea. According to legend, Aristeus arrived in Kea during the 16th century BCE. He was the son of Apollo and the nymph Kyrene. After saving the island from a draught, Aristeus organized cattle raising and taught the islanders about apiculture (bee keeping), olive processing and various agricultural methods. For all that he was honored as a god and received the name Aristeus Apollo. About 400 years later the hero Keos came from Nafpaktos with a small army, occupied the island and gave it his name (Kea). Apparently, Keos was also Apollo's son by another nymph (Phodoessa). What we can infer from these myths (other than Apollo's interest in nymphs) is questionable. However, history does confirm the development of a strong agricultural economy here, as well as close connections and friendly relations between Nafpaktos and Kea.

As we approach the island, we see several other boats on the same course in front of us and behind. The best port on the island is Korissia, which is deep within a protected bay. From the look of it, that harbor may be crowded. Earlier, we agreed to make for the fishing village of Vourkari, north of here. Still, it would be nice to see Korissia, which in ancient times was one of the island's four independent city-states.

The sun is low above the hills as we motor into the Vourkari harbor, and we are disappointed to see the quay jammed with boats. We will have to anchor on the bay, along with a number of other boats that didn't get here in time to claim docking space. Now we must find enough open water so that Zoe Zoe can swing on her anchor without colliding with other anchored boats. This is not easy, because the bay is quite small and several other boats are cruising for anchorage.

After several attempts to find suitable bottom (most of it is muddy), we anchor on the far side of the bay and begin to take in our surroundings. Vourkari is a small village built mainly on the waterfront, but the hills around the harbor give an impression of something much larger. Everywhere we look are long walls and foundations of buildings from ancient times. Some of the homes are built within the ruins of ancient buildings. Perhaps it is a statement on how these people are tied to their history.

Across the bay from the village, alone on a peninsula nearer to our boat, stands a large stone mansion. Its Venetian style is not all that unique, because Venice ruled this region for many years. What is interesting to me are the foundations and walls of some ancient fortress, which sprawl across the landscape all around the building. You can see these ruins in the photo to the right. I read that excavations in this area show Kean history started in 3000 BCE, at the end of the Neolithic Period. Where the village of Vourkari now stands, about 4,000 years ago there was a thriving city which was a commercial center, with buildings, temples, aqueduct, streets and large protective walls. This was long before the rise of Athens and the Classical Period of Greece.

Later on, Kea was colonized by Ionians, who came from Attica about 1130 BCE. They built the powerful city-states of Karthaea, Ioulis, Korissia and Poiessa, and their culture produced a number of great artists, thinkers, scientists and poets. In the centuries after the Classical Age, this island was ruled by Romans, Venetians and Turks. Kea won its freedom along with the rest of Greece, having fought for it in the War of Independence. Now I see only the bones of the great culture that once flourished here. It brings to mind an epigram written by the poet Simonides for the Spartans fallen at Thermopylae: "Oh stranger, go tell the Lacedemonians that we lie here obedient to their commands."

As night descends upon us, music rises from the tavernas along the waterfront and from some of the boats anchored in the harbor. Jeanette and Paul want to lower the dinghy and row to the village for dinner and dancing. Duane and I decide to stay on board, so we help them lower the dinghy and then go about preparing our meal in the galley. We have some nice sauce in the refrigerator, so Duane prepares to cook pasta. As we go about our work, we notice that the wind and swell has increased in the harbor, and the boat is rocking about.

Just as Duane goes to adjust the gas burner, the boat rocks suddenly, the gimbled stove shifts, and the cooking pot slides off. Duane cries out in pain as the boiling water spills on his hand. The burn is quite bad. We look for burn ointment in the medicine cabinet and in every other cabinet. The only thing we can find is mosquito cream. It helps to deaden the pain, but Duane's hand is very red and swollen. I mop up the galley and prepare supper while Duane cradles his hand. After eating we relax for a while on the deck, listening to German opera drifting over from one of the other boats. Duane decides that he won't feel the throbbing pain if he is asleep, and so he goes below. Perhaps tomorrow we can find some burn ointment at our next port.

I go below and input the new coordinates on the GPS computer. The new setting is 37° 26'·6N 24° 26' E. Can you determine where we will be tomorrow?