Tighten Your Tunic Tighter Tuesday Surf & Culture Report

 
Lost Boys & Co...

On the Island of Santorini there were a lot of quiet coves that allowed for some fabulous snorking...  Of course the way down to the water is pretty damned steep, from where we were it was 259 steps to be exact!  One afternoon this guy with all these donkeys (#1) came by as we were beginning our trek and the Professor said, "Hey, how much for a ride?"  "6 euros!"  "SOLD!"  The guy knew two words in English, "No problem!"  No matter what anyone said, he responded, "No problem!"

A brilliant fall morning out there and it was predictably chilly at 53.8 and 66.6 in the water, which made it feel pretty nice.  10 miles visibility and the Santa Ana's were blowing at 7.5kts straight offshore.  High tide was at 6:07am +3.8' and low tide is shortly after at 10:03am +3.4'.  We have a SSW swell out of 213º at 2' and it was small but Doc Scales, Bacallao and the Professor did some splashing and crashing in the small surf...

There was some movie that made a big deal about the sunsets in Santorini.  About an hour before sunset the entire tourist population of Santorini would head to the west side of the island.  Being the sheep we are, on the first evening we headed over as well.  You could feel the island tilt from all the people.  #2 was the sunset.  We started wondering what was so special.  Turns out that most of the folks who visit these islands never see the sun set over the ocean, so it was a BFD.  The next night when the sun started to go down we went to this great restaurant, sat down all alone and had a quiet glass of wine...  At 7pm after the sun set, you couldn't find an empty seat...

The island of Mykonos is a popular stopping spot for cruises on the Mediterranean.  The narrow streets of Mykonos City can be plugged with tourists vying for camera angles and souvenirs.  As luck would have it on our second day there, they had what they call a "Medi-cane" which is Mediterranean for hurricane.  It blew 30 to 45kts and all of the cruise lines cancelled their trips to Mykonos!  So for a couple of days we basically had the whole place to ourselves.  Since it's an island, we went over to the leeward side and things were pretty nice... (#3) is Mykonos harbor.  Even in the harbor the visibility was 20'+...

Early wind power!  #4 These windmills on the backbone of Mykonos ground grain and pumped water to the fields on the hillsides.  Today most of them are used for tourist lodging and they're refurbishing a lot of the old ones... 

Okay, so at this point it was time to pack our bags and head for Turkey.  The first question is always, "Is it safe?"  Our answer is always, "What do you plan to do there?"  If you plan to visit a Saudi Consulate and you're a journalist, the answer might be "No."  Otherwise it's a pretty hospitable place and they love Americans (thanks to the Chinese.)  In fact it's a great place for food, entertainment and history.  We stayed a short walk from the Bosporus (where you can stand in Europe and see Asia) and in the shadow of Hagia Sophia(#5).  It's got a great transportation system (rail) and you can Uber on more complicated routes.  The Turkish Lira is also 6 to 1 US dollar.  So one night when dinner, with wine, appetizers, entree, dessert and more wine was a whopping 120 lira, we flinched and then realized it was $20.  We had 50 guys try to sell us rugs.  One of them had a cousin in San Francisco and another had a cousin in Santa Barbara.  The other 48 all had cousins in San Diego.  At one point a guy came up to us and started his spiel and the Professor said, "Wait!  Do you have a cousin in San Diego?"  The guy said "YES!"  The Professor said "I bought a rug from him last week!  He's well and wanted me to say hello..."  If you're afraid to go to Turkey, our advice is to go to San Diego...
✠
"When the surf breaks, we'll fix it"
The Professor!!





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