The Cyclades - with Mike, Taryn & Gwen

We had arranged to meet our visitors in Porto Rafti, a 10 minute taxi ride from Athens Airport so we had to head north - into the Meltemi.  We are getting to know this wind rather well! With three reefs in the main, and the staysail back in use it was a hard sail to a delightful and very well sheltered anchorage.

Porto Rafti, the harbour is exclusively for locals.  The daily catch of Octopus drying in the sun.

After Porto Rafti we set off for the Island of Kea - the Northerly wind deserted us, and we had to motor south for 3 hours. We should have learnt to stop making plans!

Nikolaou, on the island of Kea.  We anchored in the bay for a swim, then went onto the Town Quay for a couple of nights.  We're just visible in the photo - the furthest right yacht.

Plenty of space for the PortaBote

Catch of the day - or at least the small ones that the restaurants don't want, but tasty anyway.

Lunch ashore - Taryn has finally been stung by a wasp - will this have put her wasp phobia to rest?

After a couple of nights on the quay in Kea we set off for the island of Kythnos, just over 30 miles from Kea.  We were heading for Louka, a large inlet with a sandbank connecting a peninsula to the island.  The wind built during the day and by the time we arrived, there was quite a swell running - we anchored on the west side of the sandbank which, at the time of our arrival,  was calm and peaceful.  That night there were three yachts on our side, and about a dozen on the eastern side of the sandbank. 

The crew take a break, on route to Kythnos.

During the night the wind turned into a westerly - it was anything but calm and peaceful.  At first light we weighed anchor, motored into 35kts of wind and round the corner to join the dozen or so yachts who clearly knew what they were doing!

Early morning, heading round to find some calm waters.

The sand bar - it may look peaceful now, but the bay on the left was certainly not peaceful the night before!

Ancient dry stone walling - complete with doorways.  There was lots of this type of stonework on the island.

We are on the main island of Kythnos, the peninsula is behind us.

Early morning - a herd of goats and sheep cross the sandbank.

Sunrise - and a full moon in Louka

After a couple of nights at anchor on Kythnos we headed on to Syros, a town quay and an opportunity to explore the island by quad bike and moped.  The roads were quiet apart from in the town of Hermopolus, and the island beautiful.

Apparently you are legally required to wear helmets, but very few people do.

The view over Hermopolus.

Greek Orthodox Church above the town.

Syros really is as pretty as a picture postcard.

Heading back to Foinikas, where we'd moored on the town quay.

Our final destination with our guests was Tinos, where they were going to take the ferry back to Rafina and on to Athens Airport.  We set off in mild conditions, and even briefly hoisted the spinnaker before the Meltemi revisited.  The wind spun through 180 degrees, reached 44kts, and as usual it was a beat. In the end we dropped the sails and motored the last few miles to Tinos.  We were warned, but it does get seriously windy in the Cyclades.

It was our 30th wedding anniversary this week, and Mike, Taryn and Gwen made it a very special event - several days of celebrations, suitably attired, marked the event.  So thank you, and we loved having you to stay.

One final note - We have decided to give the blog a rest for a while.  These islands are all beautiful, I'm running out of things to say about them!

Meltemi Winds - Varkizas, Sounio and Laviron

Having recovered from our sleepless night in Aigina, we headed for the Greek mainland,

passing Athens on the way.  There were dozens of ships lying at anchor around Piraeus, presumably waiting to enter the port or for further instructions.

Ships at anchor off Athens

Screen shot of the Chartplotter - the blue triangles are ships!

There was very little wind so we passed the time attempting unsuccessfully to fish as we headed  south to Varkizas bay.  This is the playground for Athenians - the beach was packed with sun beds and umbrellas and the sea with pedallos and speed boats pulling ringos.

Varkizas bay, with some classy company (and a few large power boats)

We went ashore for some provisions, and a refreshment break - Espresso Freddo (in a jam jar!), and beer of course.

Nautilus is just visible in the middle of the picture.

Our new tender?

Varkizas is still an active fishing port, despite the tourist developments.

After a peaceful night at anchor we set off for Sounio, at the southern tip of the Attic coast - finally there was an Ancient Greek Temple in a prominent location!

Sounio Anchorage - the Temple of Poseidon on the hill top 

Poseidon clearly wanted to exercise his powers - the wind picked up as we headed the 15nm to Sounio.  By the time we arrived it was blowing 25kts, and by the next day the Meltemi wind was really picking up. We sailed north into the wind from Sounio to Laviron with 3 reefs in the mainsail and using the small staysail - in a Force 8.  Apart from the occasional wave breaking over the boat, it was an uneventful sail.

Laviron is a large commercial port and also a huge charter boat hub.  There are very few places for non-charter visitors especially at weekends.  Anyway, we were lucky and were given a spot in the town centre.

Laviron - the Charter fleets return to their base.

Tucked in amongst the Charter fleets

We have now been in Laviron for 3 days, waiting for the Meltemi to blow over - it's a North wind, and we need to go North to meet up with our next visitors. It's much calmer today, so this could be time for us to move on to Porto Rafti.

Refreshments in Varkizas