Arrival in the Dodecanese islands: (May -Sept 2022) 

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Once the winds had died down, we moved towards the island of Kalymnos. We entered the  Dodecanese, which comprises 12 islands along the Turkish coast. We next moved on to Levitha.  This island is the first island in the Dodecanese. It is located in the middle of nowhere as the  closest island is 20 miles away. Only one family of 5 people lives on the island and they make a  living by raising goats and sheep as well as growing vegetables. During the tourist season, yachts  stop for the night at the island. In the evening, the sailors meet up in the only restaurant. The  menu is pretty good even if the choice is limited. You can have either goat or mutton! At least you  know here it was raised and it is fresh. After one night in Levithra, we moved on to Kalymnos  Island. The town is built around the large harbor where many boats can find a place to dock.  Kalymnos is a big island and you can find nearly everything you need such as a ship’s chandler, gas  canisters, supermarkets etc. A lot of Turkish boats go to Kalymnos to process the paperwork  they need to enter Greece. As soon as they dock   they are welcomed by agents who process their papers in just a few hours. The harbor itself is  not really typical, but elsewhere on the island there are several beautiful places. On the East side  there is a fjord called Vathy. I would not recommend that you spend the night with your boat in  the fjord as it does not have enough room to set your anchor safely. Around the island on the  east and west sides there are some nice bays where buoys are placed for boats to spend some  time. Those buoys are provided free of charge as a courtesy by the nearby restaurants who hope  to see you for dinner. Kalymnos is also well-known to climbers. It is considered as one of the best  places in Europa for climbing. If you go into the interior of the island, in many places, you will see  a lot of cars and motorbikes parked along the cliffs during the day. On weekends it is not rare in  the port to hear big explosions  in the surrounding mountains. These explosions have nothing to do with military exercises, as some people may think, but in fact announce very loudly major events  such as weddings and funerals, for example. Along the harbor there are several shops selling  natural sponges.  Throughout history, Kalymnos has been an important place for harvesting and  trading sponges. A statue of a sponge diver stands in the harbor to remind  everyone of their role  in the development of the city. West of the main harbor there is Vlichadia bay that has a little  private museum were a sponge diver has troughout his careeer collected a lot of items he found  underwater that are now exposed. You find in this museum a lot of animals, corals, diving  equipment, plane engines etc...    Inside the town you have a little archeological museum that contains some interesting statues and  objects found on the island. One statue called “The Lady of Kalymnos” has an interesting story as  she was discovered by a fisherman who received a big reward for his discovery. The Greek  authorities have today a budget to reward people who find archeological objects of value. This is  very succesfull in limiting the theft of archeological objects. If you have time do not hesitate to  visit this museum. If you want to visit Kalymnos, the best option is to take a plane toward the   island of Kos and from there, take a 30 minute  ferry ride to Kalymnos.