Sailing / At Sea
Toward sundown Sea Cloud was finally unshackled from the bonds that restrained this beautiful lady to the Piraeus pier. Once the tug which unceremoniously towed her by the stern out into the harbor released the lines, Sea Cloud was set free. Immediately she sprang to life, gently rising and falling with the sea’s swells, swirling in the breeze, responding to the helm. To be back aboard for an odyssey across three seas – the Aegean, Ionian, and Adriatic – was exhilarating to veterans, newcomers and crew alike.
True Athens with its acropolis, dynamic museums, Olympic stadium and nearby Cape Sounion’s Poseidon Temple was wonderful, but everyone was eager to set sail around the Peloponnesus peninsula bound for Katakolon and the nearby Olympia site, one of the true wonders of the world.
Around dawn, Sea Cloud rounded the southern tip of Peloponnesus and altered course to the north. Unnoticed by anyone, some 25 miles off to port from our Rhumb line lay the undersea grave of one of Greece’s most remarkable shipwrecks: the “Antikythera ship” as she’s known. Thanks to some sponge divers’ discovery in 1901, Greek archaeologists and later Jacques Cousteau, this second century BC ship bound for Italy yielded incredible treasures. Aside from the magnificent bronze statue of Hermes, 1st century glass bowls, gold earrings, the most extraordinary prize was a puzzling collection of Bronze plates and gears called the “Antikythera Mechanism”. A century passed before scientists could unravel the mystery of those toothed wheels and strange dials, even with apparent instructions inscribed in bronze. When finally deciphered, a unique, compact astronomical calculator emerged. Among its uses: it displayed positions of the sun, moon and perhaps planets. Because it stored an accurate calendar, it predicted the dates of upcoming pan-Hellenistic games, including Olympia where we are now bound.
“How many undiscovered wrecks passed beneath our keel this very day?” we wondered. Probably hundreds. Surely with years to come “electronic eyes” will pierce the darkness of their ocean hideaways and more Antikythera treasures will grace the Athens museum.
Early in the morning Sea Cloud’s crew expertly unfurled, lowered, and in some cases raised square sails and jibs. With precision and grace, lines were slackened or hauled in tight to properly align yards to catch the slight breeze. Again Sea Cloud, now free of its engine, glided through the water gently undulating with each swell. This was her kind of day; what she was designed to do.
In preparation for Olympia, out knowledgeable Greek guide Ellie Charambalous compressed five to six millennia of Greek history into a 45-minute presentation! From the end of the Neolithic period in 3200 BC, the bronze, Geometric, Archaic, Classic, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, etc. Although Ellie was articulate, insightful and entertaining, I was thankful no quiz followed he seminar! We topped off a wonderful first day at sea with a festive Captain’s champagne party and dinner. And tomorrow, Olympia!
