Sailing the Greek islands was a leap from navigating, as a youth,
amongst the cluster of islands off Marblehead. At that time
I lived on Marblehead Neck, a rocky presque island, attached
only by a long, thin causeway to the mainland. Marblehead is
appropriately named as the town is a huge rock outcropping.
Rocky Greek islands seemed familiar.
Clusters of islands form captivating perspectives. I loved sailing through them as a child. However, unlike Baker���s and
Children���s Islands, the Greek Islands I encountered had castles, monasteries, temples, sea caves and mountains. Yet to be
fair, none of those islands had, or ever had, anything comparable to Marblehead Neck Lighthouse. It would always be the
ultimate beacon and it would always signal the way home.
W
e were now far from home as the Stella Solaris approached the Dardanelles near Istanbul early in the morning.
No single lighthouse but rather a plethora of lights guided
us as the sun rose over this extreme western end of Asia. The
mass of Samothraki was shielded by a neighboring island that
loomed to the northwest. With guidebook in hand I learned
that Samothraki was home not only to Zeus and his family,
but to the ancient gods who preceded them; I determined
to return and visit their lair. That seemed as far back as one
could reach.
HYLAND
7
