Having waved goodbye to Lee and Natacha at Marti Marina in Turkey, Phoenix heads back out into the wild Aegean to meet up with original crew members Pete and Faye. En route the intrepid ship spends a night in a quiet bay to the north of Kalimnos.
We meet up with Pete and Faye at Pete's fathers house high in the mountains of Patmos. The town surrounds the monastery of St John the Theologian founded in 1083 close to the cave in which St. John wrote the Book of Revelations. The town was built at high altitude and with narrow streets to allow the locals to escape the muderous intent of marauding pirates to take refuge in the monastry by jumping from roof to roof without descending to street level.
The views were breath taking and spending a time at the house with Pete and Faye allowed us to take a break from life afloat
The monastery of St John.
We visited the monastery expecting to see yet another Greek Orthodox church. The view from the entrance over the island was breathtaking and gave a glimpse of the unexpected treasure to come.
Once inside the monastery the public are allowed into one of the ten chapels. It was empty when we went in and we were immediately both affected by the spirituality of the chapel. It was a very special few moments that will stay with us for a very long time. Visiting the cave was very similar, being somewhere where an apostle had lived and worked and where God had delivered his word.
After leaving Pete and Faye on Patmos we headed south for several days stopping off at small bays in Turkey until we found ourselves back at Marti Marina. Hey ho! Mikes brother Andy and sister-in-law Cathy arrive in a big yellow taxi. Off down the coast we found the bay of Dirsak with its clear turquoise blue sea and its quaint taverna. On with the sub aqua gear and down to 20m looking for artefacts.
Back on the trail of the Roman Legions and Knidos, Andy gives a short but very British recital.
Playing the English tourists. Cath and Andy inspecting the old city walls.
Nearing the end of this years journey we left Marti for the last time en route for Datca to organise a winter mooring for Phoenix.
