#3 Soledad Sailing Challenge 2025 Caps and Captains

August 19, 2025

Open sea between the Cyclades
 

Instead of the planned 50 miles, because of the expected storm, we only covered about 20 and reached Kalymnos from Kos in a few hours.

The announced storm did not appear, but it opened up an opportunity for us to visit another interesting Greek island right off the Turkish coast. Kalymnos is known for its sea sponges, beautiful hiking trails, and beaches with turquoise waters. We only saw sponges from that.

During those 20 miles of sailing, we tried (unsuccessfully) to get the walkie-talkie working that Arif had paid a lot for, due to its long range of 12 kilometers. So far, however, it has only been verified to work properly at 12 meters.
We will surely separate, but hopefully, we will also find each other again.

It seems appropriate to recall Cook's first expedition with three ships that were lost right at the beginning in England and only met again three years later in South Africa.
But they didn't have Google Maps, Find My iPhone, or these new Garmin gadgets. (reference to the joke owner Vedran Sesar, belowed friend who is frantically following us on all available apps)

On Kalymnos, there is a pleasant atmosphere, greatly enhanced by the cool breeze and the benches in front of the moorings that invite conversation.
It's incredible how close Kalymnos is to Turkey, yet how different it is. The proximity of vast Turkey is indicated by numerous Turkish private boats and other visitors.

Nikša and I are happy because our Croatian Internet is working. Finally, some direct effects of Croatia joining the EU. Feridun continuously tries to connect to Nikša's Internet, and Nikša turns it off as punishment, because for years, while in Turkey, Feridun forbade him from connecting to his mobile to conserve battery life.
But the tables have now turned in Nikša's favor.

We had dinner at Mpakalogatos, a truly authentic Greek tavern slightly tucked away in the narrow streets. Although our instinct told us to sit in the first tavern in front of the ship, Bašak and Omer didn’t let us follow our instinct but instead their previous experience—and it’s good that we listened to them.
The dinner menu was identical to the one in Kos, only everything was better. Price—the same—35 euros per person. It’s worth mentioning that we ordered three-quarters of the menu. Conclusion—we’ll return here. Multiple times.

Kalymnos comes alive at night. Shops are open, roads are full of vehicles, fireworks are booming, there isn’t a single free seat in any restaurant, and locals are frantically selling sponges to tourists from their boats.

The Caps

While we were sailing out of Kalymnos, I put on Basakica's hat instead of my own to protect myself from the burning sunrays. Since I have no experience with hats with strings, of course it flew off, and as I panicked and tried pulling out the mezomarinero, it quietly sank.
I was angry at the hat, the sea, the mezomarinero, and myself. I gave my hat to Basak, but as the Universe always finds a way to restore balance, she only had the hat on her head for an hour before it, like many before it, flew away never to be seen again.

The Captains

Soledad is significantly faster than us because as soon as the wind stops, the crew on Soledad starts the engine, which our captain Bašak does not allow us to do.
On the ship, only one person has executive and legislative power, and that must be accepted.

The Captain on Soledad, Bašak’s husband Omer—whose crew includes Nikša and Arif—allows both the engine and beers.
Bašak banned alcohol during navigation, but then she relented and allowed Feridun and Ozgur to share a beer on the way to Amorgos.

The captain is an enlightened absolutist ruler. Unlike our retired former captain, despot Feridun, whom we suggested leaving on the nearby island Despotiko, where he belongs.

First night voyage

We sailed from Kalymnos along Amorgos towards Paros and Antiparos.
The night passed relatively peacefully. The crew is well-established, and they understand each other without much talking. We constantly wondered how it was on Soledad because we lost all contact for almost 6 hours. Finally, the news arrived that they’d anchored in front of Paros.

Paros appeared to us at dawn in all its beauty, spiced with the scent of coffee.
The Greeks from the island of Paros founded the ancient city of Pharos on Hvar, today’s Stari Grad, at the beginning of the 4th century BC. This was one of the first Greek colonies on the Adriatic.
It’s not a bad place, but Hvar is still better. That’s why the Ancient Greeks stayed.

Between Paros and Antiparos, we briefly met with the anchored Soledad and made a joint decision to go another 30 miles further north to the island of Serifos.