Caribbean and in the Mediterranean in the 1980s, although
at least two substantial yachts we had chartered, Valdivia and
Algiola, were later lost at sea.
On a month-long cruise of the central Mediterranean on Fair
Lady, one of the last great 1920s motor yachts still afloat, my
niece, Consuelo, and nephew, Cabot, in Druid-like attire,
made offerings of apples and peaches off the stern to Poseidon. The crew startled them with a reply from below. On this
voyage I offered the god a stone from Mary���s Garden, Athos.
She was, after all, the ���Star of the Sea��� to many mariners. The
parish we attended in the 1950s bears the same name.
We encountered many dramatic moments at sea, but were afforded protection. Leaving the Sporades for the Cyclades we
cruised in nine and a half beaufort winds. At Gavrio, on Andros Island, we awakened to forest fires threatening the port.
There, ferocious Meltemi winds reached near ten beaufort in
the harbor overnight, forcing our yacht to seek refuge in the
sea beyond the breakwater. Unable to board, blinded by dirt
stirred by the wind, we slept ashore. On several occasions, the
foam at the top of the waves surrounding the boat danced in
small cyclones.
As I watched these kinetic aquatic sculptures I realized how
symbolic they were of the island chain itself. It is centered in
the vast Greek sea with winds and cultural crosscurrents coming from all directions. With its religious focus on the island
of Delos in the middle of the archipelago���thus the name
Cyclades, circles. Repeated circles carved in stone as well as
near-abstract human figurines are emblematic of the earliest
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