I set off for Chios, an island west of Izmir. It’s funny how a small stretch of sea separates Greece (the EU) from Turkey (Asia) – different languages, different mentality, different culture and politics today; it was different two to three thousand years ago … Things change. Just as the sea is constantly changing here: I set off in calm seas, which freshen slightly, and now, on the way to Samos, after this strait near Chios, they seem impassable. Wind and waves change rapidly and over small geographical distances. This is new to me, tricky. The Aegean is a fundamentally different sea – I want to understand it too. And I’m also beginning to understand Homer’s descriptions of Odysseus’ return home (and the wind released from the bag)!
I can’t yet reinterpret my observations, but the weather services are helping me. However, they can’t be that accurate here between all the islands and straits, as the effects of large-scale air movements are too complex. So caution is advised.
I head for a fishing harbour on the east side of Chios: Agia Ermioni. I talk to fishermen who are knotting nets in the blazing sun and who gesture towards the south: this afternoon it will be calmer again. I find a restaurant near the harbour and stop for a bite to eat. I take my time. I stroll through the harbour area. I lie down for a while. And sure enough, the sea calms down – I say goodbye to the fishermen and continue on to Samos.
I also sail around Samos to the east and reach Pythagoria through a tiny strait (only a few hundred metres from the Turkish mainland). The marina has been rebuilt away from the old harbour; it is very modern and I can refuel. Manos, the fuel attendant, helps me. As always, I ask him what interesting things there are to discover in the area and which islands he recommends I visit on my way to Rhodes… It is these brief, often casual encounters that open doors to new worlds for me!
Pythagoria itself is very touristy; the old harbour on the promenade is a mooring place for the wealthy: yachts are lined up here to be seen. The restaurants are overpriced and packed! I head to the back streets, look for a place where the locals hang out, choose a local dish… and think about Pythagoras, who grew up here and formulated his abstract view of the world. I imagine him sitting on the beach, surrounded by friends or students, drawing triangles in the sand with a stick, solving mysteries and deducing lessons from them.