T and J Sail Away

Once again back to Santorini as Jeanne would be flying out from here in a few days time and we had many things to see and do on the island!

As before, there was nowhere actually on the coast of Thira (the main island of Santorini) to safely anchor or moor so we returned to the mooring bouy in the bay of the piece of rock known as Thirasia just opposite Thira and a view of the iconic Oia.

Thirasia has a small community around the bay aimed at day visitors on tourist boats from Thira and it is a quaint and friendly place but without the glamour of its neighbour! We missed swimming in the sea but enjoyed the peace and quiet especially as once again the wind was turning pretty fierce.

We took the midday ferry across to Thira to see the main tourists sight of Oia and have a spot of lunch! We were very happy with the service of the 30 minute ferry which crosses the bay daily at a very reasonable 1 Euro per person! Even though our first voyage was choppy to say the least!

The ferry was bathed in sunshine and hardly a ripple of movement in the bay but once we were out of the shelter of the islands it was a different story and swift movement of seating arrangements took place!

On arrival at the port I wondered where we could get the bus or taxi to take us up to the top of the island because surely we would not be climbing the 300 steps it would take otherwise?? Wrong!!!!

Some younger people found it less traumatic than some not so young people but I have to say it was a true achievement and put my previous record (albeit about 30 years ago!) of the 193 steps in Covent Garden tube station in the shade!

The view from the beautiful terrace bar at the top was breathtaking – or it would have been if I had had any breath left!

This is me after some wine and oxygen had been applied!!

We made out way through the narrow lanes still bustling with late season tourists and overwhelmed by the options to purchase Santorini branded tea towels, ashtrays, linen shirts and beach bags we headed to the sanctity of the Maritime Museum! The first exhibit they had was of Santorini’s strategic place in the Med and we were amazed to see that one of the key trading partners was Genoa, 1008 miles away, and our starting point back in March! Wow!

We then had lunch in a beautiful place, slightly off the beaten track serving the most fantastic food we have had so far. Much though we love the traditional souvlakis and taverna meze type meals, this was a different league yet still traditional and made with local ingredients! And really pleasantly surprised to find myself drinking white wine and finding it fabulous!

We were all jolly happy and the food, wine and ambience set us in good heart before the 300 steps climb down again and onto the hopefully less bumpy ferry back to Mossy Joe!

The following day we would be taking the ferry to Thira again but this time leaving the boat in the bay overnight and staying on the island so that we could see Jeanne off before her early flight. We would also get to see another less busy but equally enchanting part of Santorini. We were to hire a car and stay in the ‘Love Leopard Caves’ and as you can imagine that was not without its special moments!

More on our time there, Santorini’s lost volcano village and our own dancing mermaids next time!

Have a great weekend.

Love and hugs, Tracey xx

After flying back into Santorini with our next guests, Lily & George, we made the last ferry of the day to meet with Jacques and Mossy Joe in Ios. The view from the road down to the harbour across the Caldera just after sunset was incredible.

A late night supper but so happy to be back on board and await the arrival of our next guest, Jeanne, the following morning.

Jeanne had some interesting experiences with the ferries. So thrilled to have landed early in Mykonos and hot footed it to the harbour, jumped on a ferry about to leave for Ios which was nearly two hours earlier than the ferry we expected her on. However, after sitting on the ferry for 15 minutes not going anywhere there was some excitement and noises which indicated that a foreign object had ‘run into the boat!’ Time pushed on with no sign of any ferry movement or any news on the issue that caused the delay and after another half hour the next scheduled ferry to Ios was ready to depart with Jeanne still sitting on the defunct one! There was a mad scramble to get off the non moving ferry and to access the one that was working, however, the crew would not allow anyone off until they had refunded the passengers! With seconds to spare, Jeanne made it onto the working ferry and on her way to us in Ios!

That night the crew was complete and a more substantial evening meal was enjoyed!

Our first full day together was full of inflatable fun in the Bay!

!

And Jeanne and Lily had fun out of the water compiling a list of the daily activities for the coming week! Poor George!

Next stop was Sikinos, where we had been before on the night when they had a whole island power cut! It was nice to be back again and to have food for dinner that we could see!

The following day, the wind dictated that we head back to Folegandros which I was very happy about. It is such a beautiful place and I was thrilled to be able to share it with L & G & J.

Having two nights in one place allows us to explore more that just the town and the port. Us adventurous girls decided a hike was in order to the small chapel we could see from the bay.

Jacques took us with the dinghy to the small beach where we would start our trek. The small beach turned out to be a favourite haunt of naturalists so we had to avert our eyes as we traipsed past them and felt quite conspicuous as unlike the other users of the beach, on arrival we had to put more clothing on!

The view was superb and we got to play “Spot Mossy Joe” again!

Later that day Jacques and I headed back to the Hora on the bus to do a food shop – they had not one but two (very small!) grocery shops to choose from! To abate the anticipation of our quest we found a cute cocktail bar in which to prepare ourselves!

We also stumbled upon preparations for a wedding party. So beautiful and intimate.

Our last night in Folegandros saw us having dinner in one of the small tavernas around the harbour. Jeanne and Lily made some new friends!

And so back to Santorini and our next adventure! Very excited about this!

More soon!

Love and Hugs

Tracey

PS Incredible news!! The winch is in Athens!!!

Having left fabulous Folegandros we headed out on the 26 mile, 4 hour journey to Santorini. The island is uniquely spectacular as it is formed from the devastation of a volcanic eruption in the 16th century BC, which has shaped its rugged landscape. The whitewashed, cubed houses, often with the famous blue domed roofs of its two principal towns, Fira and Oia, cling to cliffs above an underwater caldera (crater). They overlook the sea, small islands to the west and beaches made up of black, red and white lava pebbles. When you sail into Santorini you are literally sailing on top of a volcano!

This is what makes the surroundings so incredible and everyone’s goal during a visit to Santorini is to have the chance to witness the spectacular sunset.

The issue for sailors in Santorini is that they are not very welcome (all of the mooring space is dedicated to the 100s of tourist boats on day or sunset trips) there are no marinas and anchoring is impossible in the 500m plus drop to the bottom of the volcanic sea bed!

The few options there are to secure an overnight stay in Santorini are to be found with luck and timing! We managed to get a buoy in the bay opposite Oia but with the condition that we could not arrive before 7pm – given that sunset was 8pm we thought this should be just about OK!

The bay we were in is shown with the red pin and Oia, the main area to see the sunset from a rooftop bar, is shown with the purple pin.

It turned out that there was no way to get across to main town before sunset, we couldn’t take the boat and no time to take a water taxi but we were determined to get the best view possible! The ‘obvious’ option was to load up the dinghy with Prosecco, Ricard, beer, crisps and a speaker and bounce our way the 3 miles across the sea to leave the shadow of the cliffs and into the unhindered view of the horizon from the shores of the main island!!

I cannot describe the madness of this so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves! And the stunning sunset made it all worthwhile!

Having been chased away just after sunset by the returning tourist boats, we bounced our way back to our mooring and the humble but beautiful bay we would call home for the night!

Looking at the picture above there would appear to be a number of potentially glamorous places to have dinner but in fact only one place was open and it was the perfect ending to a memorable day!

The next day we headed back north to be able to disembark our guests (and me) and to pick up our next visitors in Mykonos. We went via the Little Cyclades again and and overnight stay in the charming island of Schinousa.

I was first to ‘jump ship’ and fly back to land based home for a few days. In my absence Jacques has had up to 42 knots of wind, some adventures with old friends back in Naxos and some rain!!

My few days back in UK are nearly up and normal service (and weather I hope!) will be resumed next week

Happy Weekend!

Tracey

PS Now officially given up on the winch!!

We were so thrilled to welcome our next guests, our dear friends Kay, Chris and Alice. They had experienced a traumatic two days getting to us, their original flight out having been cancelled but not until they had been seated on the plane for three hours ending up being surrounded by fire engines!

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/breaking-gatwick-airport-closed-fire-30719576

We spent our last night in Naxos having a ‘Hello, Goodbye Party’ consisting of dinner followed by cocktails to mark the handover from previous guests to new guests who have all been friends for many years.

The following day, after a quick food shopping excursion we set off. Our first stop was to the island of Koufonisos in the Little Cyclades, a 22 mile trip taking us just south of Naxos.

A tiny bay with no Taverna, we were happy to eat the wonderful food that Kay whipped up for us! Heaven!

Having a few restful days in a bay gave us the chance to explore the depths of the remaining unchartered locker! We knew there was a ‘Fatboy’ bean bag in there but to unearth it meant pulling out the very heavy sets of sails that had been nicely nestled on top of it for over a year!

With a faultless strategy i.e. sheer brute strength, Jacques and Chris brought the Fatboy to the surface and we enjoyed the evening sun on a variety of seating options!

The Paddle Board was re-inflated and new contenders for mastering it queued up. We were glad to have Alice’s skills on hand to assist Chris when another daring rescue mission took place – this time of a green cotton towel!

It was quite a complicated rescue including a snorkel mask, the boat hook and the dinghy anchor! Also, lots of shouting from Alice and pained expressions from Chris!

As if that were not enough drama for the day, our next activity was to cheer on the Lionesses. We have on board most of the flags of Mediterranean countries (you need to always be flying the flag of the waters you are sailing in) but we do not, it would appear, have a St George’s Cross (probably as the likelihood of sailing in English seas is approximately zero!)

It is also courtesy to fly the flags representing the nationalities of the people on board so the Union Jack we had and that would have to do!

Next stop was the a bay in the south of Ios, which was graced by semi-detached tavernas on the beach. We took the dinghy over to shore and first approached the taverna on the left, The Grand Blue, asking to look at the menu. Ten strides later we were at the second taverna, AntonIOS, asking to see their bill of fare and decided that was where we would eat. Neither taverna was very busy but we got chatting to a lady from Cambridge who is spending the summer living and working in Ios. She explained to us that the tavernas are owned by two brothers who had a big falling out and now don’t speak to each other! When the lady decided to change her accommodation from one brother’s villa to the others she was instantly barred from the first brother’s taverna!!

Sikinos was our next stop and what an unexpected gem it turned out to be!

This time the Paddle Board took a back seat in the Water Toy Wars to the now inflated Kayak! Huge fun! I actually swam out to Alice and managed to climb on to the Kayak without capsizing us! Those of you who are familiar with my prowess on water based inflatables e.g. lilos, would have been very impressed. There is no photographic evidence which is fortunate as just because I was successful in my quest, it does not mean it was achieved with any grace or elegance!!

We headed for dinner at the one small taverna, not sure if it was open as the lighting was almost non-existent. When we enquired we were told that there was an island wide power cut and only then did we notice that very few buildings around the bay had any light shining. The staff brought us candles for the table and dinner was a selection of cold meze and one portion of Calamari – it was all delicious!

We learnt the next day that the cause of the power cut was a large unknown boat ploughing straight through the underwater electric cable. We were pretty sure it was nothing to do with us but we do have history in this department!

Back in 2012 we were in Turkey, in the marina of the small and lovely town of Datca. The marina was over run with ferrel cats, and a few dogs, and we had already experienced a group of cats chasing each other, jumping from the front of one boat to another, making those blood curdling noises you associate with childbirth!

The plan was that the last of us to bed would pull up the gangplank as the distance from the quay to the boat was too far for cats to jump. I was the last one to bed and mindful of my duty set about pulling at the thin ropes that keep the plank attached to the boat. What I had forgotten was that also attached to, or rather entwined around the plank, was the thick electric cable plugged in to our boat at one end and to the electricity box at the other.

With a force I did not know I possessed, I yanked the plank upright and on board and yes I did hear a splash and perhaps a sizzling noise. When we awoke to find out that not only we were devoid of electric but that the whole marina and its thirty plus moored boats were also the victims of some kind of electrical issues we made a hasty exit!

Our next destination was Folegandros which we had all been to on our previous sail of the Cyclades seven years (almost to the day) before. On that occasion we had not gone ashore except for a quick bread shopping run the morning of our departure. It has become slightly more built up but still essentially a small, charming, laid back village. The approach was stunning and our skippers were very happy that the wind was with us and the sailing a pleasure.

We decided to stay for two nights so that we had the chance to visit the Hora which was a 20 minute bus ride up (as usual) a very steep road!

We had so much fun in the bay and at the restaurant on our first afternoon and evening.

The next afternoon we took the bus to town! How splendid it was and the views spectacular.

And one restaurant offering a burger for every occasion! And also actually sold souvlakis!

From Folegandros our next sail would be to the star of the Cyclades, Santorini. This was a very special experience in many ways and deserves a short post of its own in a few days time – once I have recovered from the experience!!!

Here’s a small taster of the magnificence of the island…..

Happy Bank Holiday to you all.

Love and hugs

Tracey

xx

This has been a very lazy week, back in Naxos, waiting 3 days in the bay to get into the marina and then once in the marina catching up on jobs on the boat.

Prior to our arrival in Naxos, the night before we left Kalantos to come here, a scary and yet life affirming incident took place which saw the boating community come together to assist a crew in distress.

I have mentioned before the Navily app which is like Booking.com for boats. It tells you which bays are safe to anchor in, if there are tavernas on shore, which marinas have water and electricity, what the costs are etc. Another feature I had not noticed was the ability to use it to message the nominated captain on other boats.

My first experience of this was in the tiny marina at Kalantos when Louis from Ariana messaged me to ask if there was room in the marina as they were heading there – I replied to say yes and the next morning via the app he thanked me for my help and said they had indeed found a space and spent the previous evening there. I then replied late afternoon suggesting they come say hello if they had time.

No response until 8pm that night when my phone started buzzing and I found another feature I had never seen before and that was the ‘New assistance request’ sent by Louis with the words ‘we lost our direction’. There then commenced a flurry of other Navily users in the vicinity offering help and suggestions and after some discussion that the crew from Ariana, who were French, should write their situation in French to be Google translated, our very own French hero, Jacques, stepped in to directly call them on the phone.

This is an excerpt of the Navily chat which now had 13 contributors on it…

What was very bizarre was that from the Taverna we were at (up one of the hills mentioned in the last blog) we could see them and they were not too far from where we were. However, without a rudder, getting to safety would be very difficult and it was now way past sundown and not long until it would be pitch black.

They somehow rigged up a temporary rudder and made their way into the bay and dropped anchor. Whilst this was happening the Coast Guard showed up and all the time we could see Ariana waving their distress light. It was really a sobering moment to know that they were so close to safety yet it could have ended up in disaster.

The next morning as we left the marina we sailed over to see them and check they were OK. They said yes they had repaired the rudder and that they had beer so all was well! Phew!

Fast forward a few days and back in the Naxos bay and then into the marina. We have now been here a week and I almost feel like I live here! Highlights of the week have been……

Having dinner and drinks on a few evenings with our friends who after leaving Mossy Joe were renting an apartment in Naxos.

Back to our lovely rooftop cocktail bar “Swing’

Guess which drink was called ‘Shopping Therapy’!!

More cocktails and Jacques teaching Jake and Kyle his favourite party piece with a napkin!

Jake catching his first fish with his new fishing rod!

A boat load of Ozzies rafting up alongside us 2 hours before the England v Australia Semi Final!! There were some ‘discussions’ about who would win over the virtual boat ‘fence’ and good natured banter as they crossed our boat to get to the quay to find a bar showing the game!

Needless to say, they were very sheepish on their return, with me still ‘Yippeeing’ and dancing around the boat!

The other activity of note this week was our athletic style boat cleaning which is exhausting in 30 degrees of heat but the boat does look very lovely now. I have to say also that the Ozzies were great at following boat etiquette by removing their shoes and washing their feet before walking across the deck.

And finally yesterday after 6 weeks of being battered, bruised and chipped I took my feet and my toes for a pedicure! Now I know the skin on my feet must have been hard – not wearing shoes for most of the day and jumping on stone quays will have that affect – but truly I have never had a pedicure before where an high speed electric sander was used – and not just on the very tough parts but also on the backs of toes, heels, everywhere!! The pain!!

Anyway, this is the result – not sure it is my shade but when presented with a shelf with over 200 bottles on it and being asked ‘which colour’ and not knowing enough Greek to say ‘the incandescent coral rose with a hint of glitter’ I just gave up on saying ‘ No, no, back, no, forward, no, no, no, yes, yes, no, back again’ and just went with the next one that her fingers alighted on!!

And yes I know I need to moisturise!!

So a week without any boating but we are sure to make up for this in the coming days as we await the arrival today of our next guests, our lovely friends and sailing buddies Kay, Chris and Alice. Hooray!!

More soon

Stay safe and be kind

Tracey

p.s there is a rumour that the winch is actually now somewhere in Greece!!

After picking up our friends on the south coast of Mykonos we headed straight to a beautiful bay for a swim, lunch and investigation of the various water toys! This included bailing out the dinghy!

The next day we headed to the small Island of Renia just off the coast of Mykonos. Splendid scenery, great walks and great view of the Moon rising over the Mykonos skyline!

We ate on board that night and Kyle was so taken with Jacques’ version of a Greek Salad that the following day he had his first attempt at making his own and it was delicious!

The strong winds started to arrive a day earlier than expected so we went with it and headed back to Naxos but this time much further south to a small marina in Kalantos which is run by Vasilis and his family. Very enterprisingly, Vasilis also runs a small Taverna and will take you food shopping in his car for 50 Euros! We declined the food trip but we did head to his rustic Taverna. What is amazing is that in such a small place, where there is nothing to be seen apart from the Marina (which anyway only has room for six or seven boats), there are an additional two Tavernas within walking distance!

We spent 3 days in Kalantos, mostly chilling – I’m not sure if this was a ‘fishy tale’ that Gary was sharing with Jacques!

With the trips to the two Tavernas we had only one night eating on board during our stay here. What is so good on Mossy Joe is to have a galley (kitchen) where there is space to cook along with storage for the full range of kitchen utensils and all the ‘pantry’ items that you would expect to find in a house. What is even more fantastic is to have not one, but two, excellent cooks on board (plus now Kyle with his Greek Salad!) On this evening Rosario made us a fabulous curry! Delicious!

We had some lovely walks, albeit two of them were to the Tavernas up the hills, and there was hiking for the more adventurous! There are no pictures of the hikes because, surprisingly, I was not on them!

The walk for our visit to a second Taverna had been part beach, part sea and part rock climbing! Suffice to say that there was a heavy session of ‘wash your feet’ when we got back on the boat!

After three days and a slight break in the wind conditions we headed north to be close to Naxos town for when our friends had to depart. We anchored in another bay, slightly livelier than previous ones, and went ashore for food shopping and a cheeky cocktail – well 2 actually! A very kind treat from Kyle. This is the view from our cocktail bar and spot Mossy Joe!

There was time before dinner for some more fun in the water! This series of photos I am presenting as ‘Images of Brotherly Love’ starring Kyle and Jake!

And so the following day back to Naxos town – a short trip of 40 minutes but with a strong 22 to 28 knots of wind right on the nose making it incredibly uncomfortable! There was no space in the marina so we anchored in the bay fully expecting the wind to drop so that we could dinghy to shore.

The wind, and therefore waves, abated slightly and there was a moment when it appeared OK to make the short trip for some of us, by dinghy from the boat to the quay. As you can see it’s not so far and not at all disconcerting in the daylight!

The ride there at dusk was bouncy but safe, if a little scary climbing out of the dinghy to grasp the ladder on the quay wall. I was tired and decided not to go ashore so I watched from the boat as Jacques offloaded his passengers and then headed back to me – all looked OK until Jacques got back completely soaked as the waves had crashed on the quay and all over him!

The return trip just after 11pm was even more of an adventure – the wind traditionally dies at night but not this one! Still peaking at 28 knots when Jacques went to pick up for the return journey was really frightening, the waves crashing into the front of the dinghy and as I watched I could have sworn at one point that it had capsized with all 5 people flung into the sea! Thankfully this was not the case, I had just lost sight of the dinghy lights for a few seconds as it was tossed about in the waves! Everyone was soaked but our lovely gift of Gin and Cakes had made it back unscathed!

On a lighter note, one of the unexpected highlights of the week has been the introduction of the card game, Uno, to our friends which we often played well into the night seeking revenge on whichever player had caused us to pick up 24 cards just as we were about to win!!

We have had the most wonderful week with our friends, they have now headed off to an apartment for a week on land in Naxos and then Santorini. We wait in the bay for either a spot in the marina or for the wind to change before our next lovely guests arrive on Wednesday.

Right now though, Saturday night cocktails await…..Hooray!

Thank you for reading and more to come soon xxxx

Our last couple of days in Naxos were filled with new adventures! We hired a car and went off to see the treasures that lay inland. First stop was to the small village of Halki in the heart of the Tragaea mountains and therefore another winding road that should have taken about 20 minutes from the harbour but, as expected with my navigational talents, took nearly double this! The village was a small but beautiful maze of galleries, craft shops and places to eat.

A further 20 minute walk out of the village through meadows and fields took us to the 11th Century Church of St Georgios Diasorites. It is so tiny I’m not sure how it ever functioned as a place of worship but the Frescos that have been uncovered were spectacular as was the unusual design of the church.

We then headed off to see what had been described as ‘discarded marble statues’. I think I had in mind something like Stonehenge that we would just see from the road but it turned out to be slightly more complicated than that and left me wishing we had brought our hiking boots!

Naxos is famed for its marble, there have been quarries here for thousands of years and it is still collected today. Driving around looking for the ‘discarded marble statues’ we could see the sliced open sides of the mountains. The look has been compared to huge slabs of feta!

At last we saw the small turning signposted to where we needed to be – ‘Kouros’ – which I always thought was an expensive men’s aftershave but apparently it means ‘youth’ in Greek! Kouros is the name given to the particular type of statues that had been discarded as they were both images of young men. Each one measures about 5.5 metres and are from the 6th and 7th centuries BC. The statutes would begin their creation up in the marble quarry with the sculptor making a rough shape of the statue before it was transported down the mountain for the final details to be carved out.

The belief is that these 2 Kouros were dropped on their descent and just left there! I can only imagine the pain, figurative and literal, of both the sculptor and the poor guys tasked with moving the statues!

The first example was just a 20 minute walk along fairly flat terrain mostly in the shade.

The second one was to be found after hiking another 20 minutes up the mountain!

Well that was quite enough tourist adventures for one day so back in the boiling hot car and winded our way back to the harbour and Mossy Joe, ate on board and gazed at the stunning sunset.

The next day was our final day and night in Naxos and we celebrated by going to buy a replacement wet and dry vacuum cleaner along with a shiny new electric kettle! Yay!

That night, after 5 days of saying we would walk up to the Castle, we did in fact walk up to the Castle! There is no actual castle to see as such, rather that castle buildings have been turned into museums or shops and at the very top this stunning church and a spectacular roof top restaurant.

Saying ‘Goodbye’ to Naxos the next morning was difficult but I have a hunch we will be back!

As an aside, you may remember that when we went to Sicily back in April to drop off Mossy Joe that I was very taken with the whole island and in particular fond memories of the day we went out to the Segesta temple and the incredible landscape, wild flowers and plants. I came across a report in the news of what the wildfires had done to that area and I was in disbelief!

This was a photo I took in April…..

And this is last week…..so sad.

Our crossing up to Naxos was an 18 mile, 2.5 hours hop and as we decided not to head straight into the Mykonos Metropolis, instead moored for 2 nights in a secluded bay on the small uninhabited island of Rineia next to Mykonos.

The only photo I have of this magical place seems to be this one of a rising moon as the backdrop to my washing airer!

We had to be on Mykonos ready to pick up our friends in 2 days time and we had not managed to secure a place in the Marina. This turned out to be the best outcome as we ended up in a bay closer to where Gary, Rosario, Kyle and Jake had been staying and as it offered a dinghy dock it was a perfect pick up point!

5 people and luggage was certainly a test for our dinghy but so happy to have our friends safely on board and for the next adventure to begin!

More Mykonos fun and frolics next time!

Take Care

Tracey xx

Still in beautiful Naxos for the weekend, we decided to have a lazy morning and then explore the town in the afternoon – I was keen to get up to the Castle and see the views from the top of the hill.

I was half way through a chapter of my book when Jacques said he was ready to go out and I said ‘give me 10 more minutes – just finishing the chapter’.

Four hours later, we were still on the boat – not because I am a slow reader – but because with the 10 minutes I had given back to Jacques he decided now would be a great time to change one of the lines (ropes) – the very, very long one that goes to the top of the mast. I surfaced just in time to see the new line come unattached from the old line and therefore no line where a line needed to be and the old line being completely out of reach swinging 12 metres above us!

After half an hour of contortions with a boat hook and Jacques climbing precariously up the mast we managed to get a grip on the old line – now it just needed re-inserting back into where it had originally come from.

It is difficult to explain and you’ll understand why I don’t have any photos but after another hour (and buckets of sweat) of trying to thread the line back through a tiny hole at the end of the boom – which was way beyond arm’s reach – we abandoned that plan and I thought we had abandoned the whole enterprise and would organise a professional to come help.

I dared to head back to my book only to hear sounds of grunting – when I went back on deck to investigate there was Jacques trussed up in the Bosun’s chair and asked me to winch him up!!!

Bosun’s chairs are designed to have people sit in them and be manoeuvred up the mast – vertically. Jacques had decided that it would work just as well horizontally to swing him out to the end of the boom – a mere 10 metres above ground level!! To say I was terrified was the least of it – at some points Jacques was nearly hanging upside down!!!

After many attempts it was clear that this would not work or Jacques would
have to die in the process!

We booked a professional rigger, Fiori, to come and do the job on Monday plus a couple of other jobs that would require elevation to the top of the mast!!

Then we went and ate Souvlaki and afterwards got drunk in a fab bar called Swing!

Guess which Cocktails we chose!! Shame there wasn’t one called “Dangling with Death’!

And the toilets were very special too!

After two (very strong) drinks we realised that this was not a Jazz and Blues bar as I had expected but a hangout for the young and beautiful and we took our leave and stumbled our way back to the boat!

The following day we decided we needed a day on land so hired a car and set off to see inland Naxos. I’ll tell you more about this next time but to close this chapter a couple of photos of the wonderful Fiori up the 76 foot mast!

We now love Souvlaki, Naxos and Fiori!

More soon!

As soon as we approached Sifnos, I remembered how much I loved it when we were last there. Much smaller than it’s neighbour, Serifos, with clear turquoise waters and a charming waterfront with just a handful of restaurants.

We headed straight for the smaller family run taverna, where seven years after first requesting Gemista (stuffed peppers and tomatoes) to be told they only had one portion left and that had been earmarked by the vegetarian in our group, Jacques at last got his longed for dish!

Mine was a Greek Salad but instead of feta it was accompanied by the local soft cheese, Mizithra. Everything was very yummy!

One of the finds of this trip has been the rosé wine which has been very good, pale and dry – ALMOST like a Provence!

The stay in Sifnos was brief, more high winds were coming so we needed to be in a safe harbour not just at anchor. We headed to Paros and had what was definitely the best sail of the trip so far, 13 to 17 knots of wind and for a change not straight on the nose! We only had one night there and from the limited experience I was not particularly impressive compared to the other special places we had been to. The approach though to the marina on the North West coast was splendidly rugged!

Early next morning we set off for Naxos and a much coveted space in the marina. We had been asked to arrive early to secure a spot but due to work commitments we couldn’t set off until midday so it was mid afternoon when we arrived.

To help us on our travels, there are a number of very useful apps that we have for weather, routes and marinas/harbours. The app that gives guidance on places to stay over is called
Navily https://www.navily.com/ It’s a bit like Booking.com for boats!

All of the comments about Naxos Marina were very positive, especially about the harbour master Gregoris and his team and how helpful they were. Little did we know how much help we would be needing from him! The first instance was coming in to the Marina where we had to go alongside in quite a strong side wind, boats moored all around us and the constant wash from the enormous ferries that seemed to arrive and depart every five minutes!

I am really enchanted with Naxos. Yes, it is touristy but it’s more a family
than stag night vibe.

Naxos has a fascinating history, the largest island in the Cyclades and having been the cultural centre of classical Greece with Byzantium, Venetian and Frankish influences. The medieval Venetian mansions and the hilltop 13th century castle are all visible from the harbour and on closer inspection, create a superb opportunity to get lost in the winding, steep and cobbled back alleys.

I do have much more to say about Naxos and one particular incident which is the reason we are still here, five days on! On reflection, this deserves a post all of its own so I’ll leave you with this and more soon!!!

And I Love Naxos!

Bye for now

Tracey xx

Having left the Greek mainland we had planned to head to Andros – a big jump but getting us a good way to Mykonos where we need to be for 5th August. However, after 20 minutes of horrid waves and wind banging on the nose of the boat we turned around and made our way to the island of Kea instead! This is one of the special facets of this experience that we literally can go where the wind takes us! Kea is the closest to Athens and a frequent weekend get away for Athenians but for us this was a one night stop at anchor and dinghy ashore for dinner at a wonderful ‘locals’ restaurant.

Superb food cooked by an elderly Greek couple and seems it’s good enough to attract the local Padre and his loyal cat!!

We had enjoyed the sail across and our first view of the spectacular island scenery!

I also spotted a little house on the hill that I decided would be perfect for us to renovate and build a jetty to moor up Mossy Joe in a few years time!

Following day we took off for Kithnos, again at anchor in a peaceful bay. One tavern on the hill but we had a chilled evening on board eating Jacques’ marvellous tomato and feta salad!

Next stop was an old favourite of ours, having been here years before with the family, Serifos. When we were last here we anchored in the bay alongside our friends Kay & Chris’s boat which ended up in a mighty tangle of anchor chains the next morning – not fun!

The area around the harbour is lined with bars and restaurants and our walk along the beach brought us to this contraption! I decided that this was a fab idea, once I realised it was for people who were unable to get in the sea unaided and not just for wimps like me who don’t like stepping on the slippery and often jagged rocks on the way in!

Serifos was bigger than I remembered it but still had a charm and one of the things we did not do last time was head up to the village. Like most Greek islands, the main inhabited area is not by the port but in the safety of the hills. We decided we would go visit the Hora in the local bus and by the time we were ready to go out it was dark – this was just as well!! Had I been able to see the sheer drops over the cliff whilst we ascended at a 90 degree angle I might have panicked. However, given the massive overcrowding on the bus and the fact that all I could see were the armpits and cleavages of the youngsters straight off the beaches – it was more like a scantily clad version of the Victoria line in rush hour – I was soothed into a sense of fatalism that it would all be OK and if it wasn’t well so be it!

The Death Ride was worth it – the village was spectacular! The labyrinth of alleyways housing small shops, bars and restaurants were remarkable.

Jacques pointing out Mossy Joe in the distance!

The main square at the top of the Hora – tourists eating and drinking with the beautiful backdrop of the neoclassical Town Hall alongside the Cathedral of St Athanasios.

We had a couple of cocktails in a Rooftop Bar – these were the first set of three steep stairs to climb to get up there.

The view from the bar and some of the young and trendy (including us of course!) customers!

Having had the cocktails we felt brave enough to get the Bus back down to the harbour!! When we got off the, thankfully half empty, bus unscathed and stomaches settled enough to eat, we saw this which made us laugh. The lengths some people will go to get a space right outside the Supermarket especially as parking and the regulation of it is always a drama on the islands!

Whilst we had been on our evening adventure, Jacques had received a text message from Lothar who was the Austrian contact that Marc had given us to help us purchase and transport a new anchor chain (see Athens Blog!). Lothar was also in Serifos and had spotted Mossy Joe as he sailed in to the harbour! We had a lovely chat and a coffee the next morning before setting off! What a small world!

We were sad to say Goodbye to Serifos – a very beautiful place. This is the view from the sea back to the Hora – no hint of the inherent deadly threat to be seen in the daylight!

Next stop – serene Sifnos!

PS: Winch update – still no sign of it but rumours that it as been in Bulgaria and Romania – no where near Greece though!!!