Chapter One: CRUISING AGAIN
We’d finally left Leros and had made it to Amorgos where we’d spent a wonderful time exploring the island. Now we felt we’d done it justice and were ready to move on.
We had no wind and had to motor out of the anchorage. The sea was also very smooth, and we made good progress until the wind build up to a North-Westerly Force 4, which was exactly the direction we were heading, meaning it was on the nose (again!).
Still, we were motoring along quite nicely, when all of a sudden the reel on the rod was making a strong, positive noise. Fish on! Peter grabbed the rod and could immediately feel he’d hooked a big one. Ingrid ran for the gaff, the schnapps and the bucket, but she needn’t have hurried. The fish put up a good fight, diving deep and bending the rod. Bit by bit, though, Peter reeled it in, slightly regretting the amount of line he’d let out. It was not until half an hour later when we could spot the beast on the line. It was huge!
Peter got the skipjack tuna close enough for Ingrid to hook it behind its gills, then we both lifted it into the cockpit, estimating its weight being around 15kg. It was still putting up a fight as we doused it with neat alcohol, maybe it was tee total. We spent the next couple of hours dissecting it and cleaning up the cockpit and stern area. Peter salvaged about 4kg of fillets and committed the rest to the sea.
We’d slowed down Cordelia while we were working, so we arrived at the anchorage at Pori Beach Bay on Koufanisi later than anticipated at 12.10pm. The water there was fantastically clear and turquoise, and we found a big sandy spot for our anchor. When Ingrid swam out to check on it an Italian man in his tender came past, and we gave him a decent-sized chunk of fillet. He was well pleased and said he’d have it with pasta.
A few more boats turned up as the wind increased, our anchor alarm went off and Ingrid checked on the hook again. We hadn’t moved and the shovel was full of sand, so Peter reset the alarm and all was well again.
The wind was howling during the night, and at 1.00am we were back in the saloon with a cup of tea and YouTube. At 3.00am we retired to bed with music on to distract from the noise. It was still windy in the morning, and we waited for the wind to calm down before we launched Buddy. Peter motored us to the beach, and at 11.30am we were underway and followed the road into Koufonísi town.
A nice local lady offered us a lift, but we needed the exercise, so declined. We arrived there within the hour, and made our way to the beach and harbour. We had a look around, then went shopping to both supermarkets and the bakery. On the way back we took a right turn just before we reached the col, and followed a sometimes overgrown path along a stone wall down to our beach at Pori Bay. The bay looked beautiful in the sunshine from the land, and we enjoyed the view before we returned to Cordelia. We cooled off with a swim and a shower, then relaxed in the cockpit with coffee and bougatsa, and Ingrid even caught up with some Zs.
Other than for some swell coming in we had a good night. It was cloudy when we got up, but the sun was fighting through and it cleared out. After breakfast we put Buddy on the foredeck, then prepared to leave. The anchor came up nicely at 9.20am, and we motored out into a windless sea. We were met with some swell on the nose when we rounded the island, but soon left Koufonísi behind and were closing in on Schoinoussa. At 10.30am we dropped the hook at Almyra, a lovely bay with very clear water the colour of sapphire. We ended up with six boats (and room for more), all enjoying the beautiful scenery.
The next morning we pumped up Buddy who (despite numerous attempts by Peter to fix him) kept losing air, and motored to the beach. We’d brought our sandals, but walked barefoot up the road for a while before we put them on. We passed a few farms and still unoccupied holiday apartments, and it wasn’t long before we reached the outskirts of the “town”.
The road to the “high street” was marked by a church that, for once, wasn’t whitewashed. The houses in town, however, were. The place was sleepy and quiet, and we found only one taverna that had (two) customers. We were still very much out of season there, which was confirmed when we entered the bakery. Yes, they sold bread in what must have been a converted cloakroom given the size of the shop, but no bougatsa or pineirli or other baked goods. Ingrid bought tomatoes before we carried on to the “supermarket”. This featured equally depleted shelves, but it did sell a vast variety of bottles of the alcoholic type. Nevertheless, we left empty-handed, then completed our sight-seeing with a loop around the town. We took the same (as only) road back to Buddy, then continued along the beach for another ten minutes to gain a better view over our bay before we returned to Cordelia.
Chapter Two: ONWARDS TOWARDS PAROS
We had a slightly rolly night, but slept well. After breakfast we put Buddy on the foredeck, and at 9.40am we were underway. The remote for the windlass had depleted its battery, but luckily the spare one still had some juice left. We resolved to replace the batteries at the next opportunity.
We had a nice North-North-Easterly Force 3-4 breeze when we left, so set both sails as soon as we were out of the anchorage. We enjoyed about half an hour of pleasant sailing, including the few minutes we coasted along at 2 knots, then the wind died completely and we had to motor the rest of the way. Of course the wind built up again as we approached the anchorage and dropped the hook in 5.5m in sand at Kalantós on Naxos outside its little harbour. Ingrid swam out to it, and found it had dug in well.
The wind blew Cordelia around and we had quite a swell, but the situation improved in the evening. While we were relaxing in the cockpit Peter pointed out about 30 raptors circling above Cordelia. Research on the Internet showed them to be griffon vultures – what did they want with us?
Not wanting to find out we left the anchorage at 9.15am on the next day, hoisted the mainsail soon afterwards and motorsailed. When we were approaching the South-West cape we could see a yacht ahead heeling over heavily with its (full) sails at the opposite side to ours. We put in a reef and carried on, still under engine.
We had planned to sail to Marmara on Paros, but the wind just wouldn’t play along. Instead, it increased to a North-Easterly Force 6 as Cordelia was pounding into the waves. Ingrid was keen on using the wind, so we stopped the engine and unfurled the genoa to the second reef. We sailed at 35º to the wind, which was as close as we could without luffing up, but it was way off-course, and at one stage it looked as though we’d miss the island of Paros altogether.
We put in a second reef in the mainsail, which calmed things down enough for Peter to go below and look for alternative destinations. He then laid in a new course to Chrisi Akti which was about an hour away. Ingrid was beginning to enjoy the passage, even more so when the wind shifted and we could bear way to 44º. Cordelia could then really stretch her (imaginary) legs and was whizzing along.
Consequently, we had a relatively smooth ride to our anchorage. We doused the sails in the lee of the land, then dropped the hook in about 6m at 12.00pm. When Ingrid checked on it after lunch she found it dug into sand, so we felt very safe. In the afternoon we entertained ourselves by watching the wingfoilers and windsurfers from the nearby station, but we were too busy clearing up to be tempted out ourselves.
We had a rest, were awake at 6.30am and away at 8.05am. There was no wind and no waves other than the wake of the ferries, and the sun that had greeted us in the morning was disappearing behind clouds. We motored up the coast past lovely scenery, and turned round the North-East cape between uninhabited islets. We reached the Bay of Naousa, and saw a multitude of masts sticking out from the direction we were heading. When we turned into the bay of St. John where we intended to drop the hook we discovered that those masts belonged to boats stored on the hard, and that there were only three boats anchored. At 10.35am we had added to that number.
After a cuppa we launched Buddy, and Peter motored us to the ferry pier where we moored up. It was 11.30am when we started our 3.8 miles hike into town. The road was quite busy, even more so the closer we got, but at least it afforded great views over the bay which embankments it followed. It took us 1 hour 20 minutes to the AB supermarket where we replenished some of our stock. We also found a good hardware store that sold us batteries for the windlass remote control, and we bought buns and ice-creams at the Kritikos.
From there we walked to the harbour to get a ferry back. The next one didn’t leave until 1½ hours later at 3.30pm, so we used the time to have a good look around the area, and even walked out to the ruins of an old Venetian castle. We were surprised to find a charming harbour surrounded by eateries, bars and cafés – the place must be heaving in summer!
We were even more surprised when we looked at the prices on their menus. €16.00 for a Greek salad, they must be joking! We sat outside a chapel and drank water until it was time to go to the ferry to buy the tickets. We were the only punters on board, and 15 minutes later they dropped us off at the quay where we had left Buddy.
Back on Cordelia we watched a 47ft boat ploughing through the anchorage trying to get its measly anchor to hold. Down and up again it went, even when it had bit, for about a dozen times until they settled for a place near our Cordelia (typical!) with 5 (!) crew standing on the foredeck looking forlornly into the water.
It was after midnight when we had our first taste of the wind to come. Peter got up to adjust Buddy’s straps to stop them from making a noise, then came back to bed. The wind, happy with what it had achieved, did likewise. It got up again when we did, and began to blow in earnest at around 9.00am. Peter saw gusts in the 40 knot range, and at one stage even thought we were dragging (but Ingrid, having checked on the anchor when we’d arrived knew it had dug in perfectly, and was not worried).
The sun came out again later, and had it not been for the gusting wind it would have been quite pleasant. At around 3.00pm we’d seen the worst and we began to plan some walks in the improving conditions.
Chapter Three: EXPLORING PAROS
By the next day the wind had calmed down and the sun was shining, so we headed ashore and picked up the path of Walking Route 3 that led along the coast out to the end of the peninsula. We enjoyed great views of the bay and of Cordelia, as well as over to the other side out to sea. The path made a little loop before it returned on itself, but we spotted a turn-off inland marked Route 5 and took it to join Route 2.
The paths took us past some great rock formations to the lighthouse. The building was closed, but once again the view was spectacular. Ingrid remarked that had we been in Austria or Switzerland there would have been a “Jausenstation” serving refreshments of the liquid and solid type on the little terrace. We had a drink out of our water bottle, then opted for Route 1 for our way back, which followed the cliffs above the sea and continued to a monastery. The monks had long since deserted their cells and chapel, and the buildings were in a derelict state.
We continued to the “Monastiri” beach restaurant/bar, and made it back to Buddy. It had taken us 2 hours on well-marked and slate-paved paths, it hadn’t been too busy or too hot, and we’d had a pleasant walk. We were sweaty when we returned to Cordelia, so decided to go for a swim once we’d rehydrated and stowed our gear. When Peter got on deck ready for his dip he noticed an approaching superyacht. Of course they dropped their two anchors right next to Cordelia and tied stern-to to the rock behind us.
We decided there and then that we’d be off just as soon as we had finished the lunch we had started while we had been watching their shenanigans in horror. We upped anchor as they prepared their jetski, and were out of the place before their toy had touched the water. We motored across to Latseri Beach with Buddy in tow, and when we looked back we could see them tearing up our lovely anchorage. Well, they had come from Mykonos and were obviously still in party mode.
We had escaped in time, and just under half an hour later we dropped our hook in our new anchorage. It was very peaceful there with only another three boats, and plenty of space between them. We finally had our swim, then relaxed in the sunshine with a snifter of raki.
Another sunny day, so we motored ashore for yet another walk. With the benefit of hindsight we should have put on our trainers from the outset, but as it was we treaded along barefoot, albeit carefully. We managed to get to the chapel we’d seen from Cordelia’s cockpit, cleaned our feet from sand and stones, put on socks and shoes and carried on along a dirt track. This eventually took us to a road which joined the main road. We were surprised to see how brown the fields were already as we walked towards Naousa. It took us a good hour to get there, and we headed straight for the harbour to take photos in the sunshine.
We also strolled through narrow alleyways with shops of the “I saw you coming” variety left and right of them. We heard a lot of American twang as we passed the area and marched on to the Kritikos supermarket.
MapOut helpfully provided a “shortcut” which, although shorter, led up steeply to what felt like the outer stratosphere and equally steep down the other side. We might have gained on the distance, but certainly not on time! We awarded ourselves for the effort and energy loss with an ice-cream and Fanta from the supermarket, and filled our rucksacks with other goodies before we looked for our way back. The option we were given led past the AB supermarket and in a loop around the town, which suited us well enough. Further on, we picked up the main road again and from there retraced our steps, only this time we kept our shoes on until we’d reached Buddy.
We spent a few days on board, sitting out some rain and howling wind. When the wind eventually calmed down we decided to rig the windsurfing gear. Ingrid had a few good runs on the ISonic and 6.8m2 sail before the wind had enough. She had one last go and thought she should be planing, so had a good look at the kit as she wasn’t. And there it was – a large tear on the bottom panel! Herewith endeth the session! We quickly de-rigged and, as we were at it, put Buddy away, too.
After breakfast on the next morning we mended the windsurfing sail, then packed away all the gear. At 9.20am we upped anchor and motored out of the bay. Outside there was still no wind, but a rather uncomfortable swell. The wake from the ferries added to the discomfort and Cordelia endured a few nasty poundings. We followed the coast West and made sure to avoid some rocky shallows along the way. A couple of hours later we arrived in Paros Bay, motored Buddy to the fishing boat harbour and went shopping. We planned to return ashore after we’d offloaded to book a car for the next day, but then decided to take the bus instead, so stayed on Cordelia. We had coffee and biscuits in the cockpit and got very hot. The music from two bars on either side of the bay did nothing to make us want to stay on deck, so we adjourned below to cool off.
The ferries kept coming during the night, and we slept accordingly. After breakfast we prepared our rucksacks and motored Buddy over to the harbour. We had a stroll through town which seemed a lot friendlier and less hectic than on the previous day, and we began to understand its attraction. We visited the Panagia Ekatontapyliani (= the church with a 100 gates) from 320 AD, one of the most important monasteries in Greece, reportedly founded by the mother of Constantine the Great.
We then went to the bus terminal where we purchased tickets to Levkes. The bus left at 10.00am and took us on a good road upwards, still, we were glad we didn’t have to drive ourselves. We arrived about 35 minutes later to a pretty, but very touristy place (with not too many tourists yet) and tourist prices. Levkes once was the centre of the island, and it still showed it with an impressive church, a lovely little park and plenty of whitewashed houses.
We followed the sign of Route 1, and picked up the Byzantine Way, an ancient road that connected the villages. In parts it was still paved, some of it with the local marble.
It took us gently through the countryside with lovely views out to sea.
Soon we approached Prodromos, a charming village with narrow alleyways. Vibrantly coloured bougainvillea contrasted against the white houses as we walked through and admired the beauty.
We found the bakery next to the bus stop, and as the next bus wasn’t until 1½ hours later we treated ourselves to frappés and bougatsas outside, then went for another walk around before we returned to the bus stop. The bus was 15 minutes late, and while we waited we were offered a lift by a taxi for €20.00 all the way home and another car to take us to Levkes. Finally the bus turned up and took us back to Parikiá.
With the sight-seeing done and the larder restocked we upped anchor at 7.20am. Wind was forecast for the afternoon from the North at Force 5, but there was none in the morning. We didn’t mind motoring for two hours back to Latseri Bay and in fact preferred it to a potential endless tacking and pounding. We dropped anchor near our original spot, launched Buddy, and rigged the windsurfing gear after lunch (ISonic, 7.7m2). Ingrid had a few planing runs, but Peter wasn’t quite as lucky when he ventured out after tea and biscuits, so we de-rigged after he was done.
Chapter Four: NAXOS, SYROS AND KYTHNOS
We left the quiet Latseri Beach at 8.50am and motored out into a calm and windless sea. Later, we got some swell from the passing ferries, and when we’d gone round Paros we faced even more wind. We used the genoa with the engine which gave us another knot of speed, and soon we reached Naxos. At 10.25am we dropped anchor on the northern side of town away from the harbour in about 6.5m of gorgeous sand, and it dug in well.
After a cup of coffee with biscuits we prepared to go ashore. Buddy had lost air again and needed pumping up before we could leave, but then performed well. We dragged him up the beach, then walked to the bus terminal and harbour. It was busy on the front, so we headed to the backstreets. Narrow alleyways passed souvenir shops and boutiques, and steps led up towards a castle. We couldn’t gain access, and instead paid a visit to the Archaeological Site Museum. The entrance was free, so we had a good look at the figurines, gold leafs and remarkably well preserved and restored vases / amphorae.
We found our way back through the labyrinth to the bus terminal. Ingrid bought return tickets at the kiosk to Filoti for the next day, then we carried on to the (unfinished) Temple of Apollo. Only its portal was relatively intact, but at least we had a very good view from the site. Before we returned to Cordelia we walked through another part of town to a couple of supermarkets, but the local special alcohol we were looking for could not be obtained in either.
We were awake at 5.45am and motored ashore in Buddy at 7.00am. We carried our walking boots to a bench where we put them on after having wiped off the sand from our feet, then walked to the bus terminal. We were early, but eventually more people turned up waiting for the bus. It arrived 15 minutes late, then roared through the town and its surroundings, uphill around hairpin bends and along the narrow streets of the villages, and dropped us off at Filoti at 8.30am.
Peter had devised a round tour and quickly found the start of it. We walked out of town through its unknown-to- tourists outskirts and found the unmarked turn-off to a path. This led gently uphill, still partly in shade, and we gained height steadily. We picked up the road again further up and followed it to Agia Marina, a little chapel where a later bus could have dropped us off. We had made it there in 50 minutes, and it had been worth the effort for the fantastic view down to Filoti and out to sea alone.
After a brief rest we followed the track behind the chapel. It took us through some woodlands with deciduous trees up the mountainside, using at times marble slabs and steps to help us (and other walkers) along. The terrain got rougher further up, and although the path was marked with cairns it wasn’t always easy to follow.
Ingrid got quite tired about 100m below the summit and had to rest for a drink and Haribos. This helped her to tackle the last stretch up the rocks and rubble, and at 11.00am we both stood on the top of Mount Za, also known as Mount Zeus (1,004m), the highest mountain in the Cycladic Islands. The views were stunning, and we spent some time there taking them in and taking pictures while we had our lunch.
Suitably refreshed we now prepared for our descent by a different route. A Dutch guy who was on his way up warned us that the onward route was steep, and he was not kidding! We were grateful for our sticks and walking boots as we carried on down through a narrow gully. A US girl from Chicago who’d come down with us needed a break as her legs were like jelly, despite of having already reverted to sliding down on her backside on the steepest sections. Once we’d passed Zeus’ Cave where he’d allegedly spent his childhood (closed for bat rehabilitation – did he have to deal with something like that, too?) the gradient became friendlier and eventually eased off. We soon joined a road and continued along it rather than looking for the turn-off to another path, as after all the strenuous knee-jerking we rather enjoyed a gentle stroll.
The road took us to Filoti where we arrived at 1.00pm. The next bus was due an hour later, and in the meantime we rehydrated with 1.5l of cold Fanta from a supermarket, and treated ourselves to a proper “gelato” from the ice-cream parlour. This time the bus arrived only 5 minutes late, so consequently didn’t have to race back to Naxos town like a loony. We, however, wasted no time in returning to Cordelia for a cup of tea.
We were awake before the alarm went off at 6.00am, which was lucky as it didn’t make any sound, so wouldn’t have woken us up anyway. At 6.30am we weighed anchor in a South-South-Easterly Force 4 and motored out of Naxos.
As soon as we’d left the bay we set both sails. The wind increased nicely to a Force 5 and Cordelia (and her crew) enjoyed the conditions. We experienced a slight acceleration effect between the islands, then, after 1½ hours of great sailing, – nothing! The wind turned to West Force 2, then North-North-West Force 4-5 (on the nose!), and we had to use the engine. Peter spotted a wind line in the distance, and indeed, after 35 minutes of motoring we got the wind back. It now came from South-West and was blowing Force 5-6, so we put one reef in the main and two in the genoa. It got rather bouncy after a while, so we took action and replaced the genoa with the superjib. This calmed things down, and we relished the ride until the wind eased.
We used the changed conditions to try out a new sail combination. In addition to the main and superjib we put up the genoa, and were pleased with the result. We managed 4.5 knots of speed in 8 knots of wind, something we would never have expected.
When we had to alter course to a) avoid a Blue Star Ferry and b) to keep on route to our destination we lost any useable wind. We tried motorsailing with the main and superjib which worked for a while, then with the main only until we approached our anchorage at Kini, Syros.
A few boats were there already and we circled around to find a good spot and keep away from a submerged rock, and at 1.00pm we dropped the hook in a lovely patch of sand. Ingrid swam out to it when we’d stopped and was very happy to see it dug in up to its hoop. Peter put Cordelia to bed, then we folded up the superjib and reinstalled the bimini. We were rather tired, so were glad to relax in the shady cockpit with ouzo and peanuts.
After a rest day we recommissioned Buddy. He’d started to look rather sorry for himself, but was still holding together and made it to the quay. The bus from the fountain left on time at 9.20am.
It took us in a roundabout way South through the hills and countryside as well as pretty villages, then back North to Ermoúpoli, the main town on Syros. We walked along the harbour, then followed a sight-seeing tour that had been recommended on the Internet. It consisted of three major churches and a beach and lasted about an hour, not because of the distance but due to a plethora of steps we had to climb to get up to those places of worship. The last set was particularly long, and for some reason the song “Stairway to Heaven” entered Ingrid’s mind when she stared at it. Anyway, we made it, looked at what there was to see and walked back down.
Next we went shopping to the Lidl where we got some decent tea and other treats. We licked one of their (now ours) large ice-creams each on a bench at the fishing harbour where it smelled very fishy, then made our way to the bus station. We only had to wait 10 minutes to the next one which reversed the outbound route. At 3.30pm we were back in Kini, and half an hour later Peter had put the kettle on for a nice cup of “new” tea.
We were up early again and ashore at 7.45am to start our walk to Ermoúpoli. We took the road out of Kini, but instead of following the bus route we opted for a more direct line. We joined the main road further up and carried on upwards to a col on a nice gradient and very good viewpoints along the way.
It was quiet other than for a few birds, dogs (though some barked), sleepy cats and some farm animals. Flies and bees were humming, shrubs were flowering, and the world was slowly waking up around us. Before the road descended we turned off left to pick up an ancient path to Ano Syros.
We had to lose height to cross an old bridge, only to climb up the many steps on the other side to the (Roman Catholic) Venetian cathedral of St. George. We’d gotten quite a sweat on and cooled off inside before we carried on.
It was downhill from there through a maze of medieval (13th century) alleyways and past the whitewashed houses, and down multiple flights of steps till we reached Ermoúpoli.
Once again we were off to the Lidl which, as a matter of interest, was housed in one of the largest former textile factories. We stuffed our rucksacks full of goodies, and ate another large ice-cream in the adjacent “park”. We had to finish it walking along the road though, to catch the 20 minute bus ride back to Kini at 12.00pm. The waiting area was full of punters, so when the bus turned up we used our years of experience gained at ski lift queues to be one of the first to mount the bus. We had seats, but some of the other passengers had to stand and they were keen to grab ours when we got off.
Back on Cordelia after a detour to the local mini-market for water and cold Fanta we refreshed with a drink, then heaved the outboard and Buddy on deck, upped anchor and motored 15 minutes to Ormos Delfini. The wind was forecast to change direction, and the last two rather rolly nights in Kini provided enough reasons to move.
The new anchorage was quite comfortable, there was plenty of room, it was only our neighbouring catamaran that slightly annoyed us with trumpet jazz. The beach was also busy, with nudists getting an overall tan, and with divers, kayaks and SUPs in the water. We deflated Buddy and prepared the superjib, experienced two seismic spells of swell while we had dinner, and got ready for the next day.
Awake at 6.00am, quick breakfast, and away at 7.00am. We had a North-North-Easterly Force 4-5 in the anchorage, but outside the wind was from North-North-West and blowing Force 5-6. We put up the main with one reef and hoisted the superjib, and for a while we had an enjoyable quick ride.
Then the wind turned to North and build up to a Force 6-7, so it wasn’t long before we used the second reef. This eased things for a while until the wind turned up another notch to Force 7-8 and we sailed in 38 knots apparent wind on a 70º angle. The waves were from abeam and confused and choppy, and although Cordelia cut through them she was still flung around a bit.
We hove-to so Peter could adjust the lines for the stack pack, and used the opportunity to douse the mainsail. We were now sailing on the superjib alone and still reached speeds of 7 knots.
We could see other boats around Kythnos under full sail, and when we approached the island we could see why, as the wind dropped to a North-North-East Force 5. Close to the headland it was wafting a Force 3, and we motorsailed until the wind disappeared altogether. Down came the superjib, and we continued the last half hour under engine. Of course the wind returned with a vengeance (around 25 knots true) when we motored into the anchorage. Boats were there already, some stern-to to rocks, others swinging. We found a sandy patch in 10m for our anchor and let out 50m of chain in lovely clear water.
It was 12.00pm and time for lunch. Afterwards we cleared up and re-installed the bimini we had folded away before we left, and recovered in the shade. Ingrid checked on the anchor twice as more boats came and left to confirm we were clear of their tackle, so we’d be free to leave Kythnos for mainland Greece on our own terms.
