AMY’S VISIT

Santorini has very poor anchoring options in strong winds, especially from the south, and our daughter Amy was due to arrive from London one morning at 0615, meaning we needed to be anchored the night before somewhere safe. Fortunately the weather gods were smiling, and we had only a light westerly breeze and no swell, enabling us to anchor off Kamari Beach on the eastern side of the island. As often happens, this is not mentioned in the cruising guides, which are just that – a “guide”, and not the gospel.

Kamari Beach at Santorini was perfect for anchoring in the light winds


We had all been to Santorini before so didn’t stay there, but headed north to Manganari on the island of Ios. The next day Di and I took a walk ashore on a beautiful, clean sandy beach, and were questioned by two Port Police – they had noticed Envoy, and thought she was a foreign fishing boat.

Amy and I enjoying a beer in very crude Taverna on Manganari beach at Ios

Amy and Laurie swimming at Manganari Beach, Ios

Ios has one of the best Choras we’ve seen with fascinating, narrow cobble-stone alleyways to explore, filled with interesting shops, and tavernas. Here we noticed quite a few “Staff Wanted” signs on shops and tavernas, so despite overall 22% unemployment in Greece, there are jobs around. We were told that until recently Greek Government workers were able to retire at age 52 on a pension of 90% of their previous wage – what country can afford that? Now pensions have been cut by 50% to about Euro 700 (NZ$1,167) per month, and retirement age increased to (still a very young) 62
I wanted to buy a guitar string, and asked a shopkeeper if there was a music shop on Ios. The answer was no, but he directed me to an art shop run by a musician, and there we met Thomas, who teaches guitar, writes his own music and has released 40 albums. He played us a selection of his music, gave me the guitar string I needed, and we bought two of his albums. I have said before, that we never go ashore without something interesting happening, and here it is again.

Laurie with musician, Thomas

Laurie back in action with guitar

The Aegean is notorious for the “Meltemi” wind – a NW that kicks in at 25-35 knots and creates a vicious short, sharp one to two metre chop, with the odd larger wave. This doesn’t sound much, but the waves are steep and close together. Some friends of ours who sailed their yacht across the Atlantic said they’d rather have a 30 knot wind in the Atlantic than in the Med. Anyway this time a SW was forecast at about 30 knots so we decided to shelter at the island of Amorgos – somewhere we’d been before in 2007. Here the jetty backs into the SW so whatever was coming our way didn’t matter. The cost was a very reasonable Euro 10 (NZ$16) per day including power. Boating back in New Zealand, when we get a strong wind warning (a regular event), or even a gale warning, we don’t think much of it. But it’s very different over here, where we’re not familiar with the anchorages, and we always “play it safe”.
One day we hired a car for a tour of Amorgos Island. The most famous attractions here are the Chora and the Panayia Monastery - built into the side of a grim, craggy, towering cliff high above the Aegean Sea, and accessible only by a steep, stepped pathway. It’s not clear when the monastery was built, but it’s known to have been renovated in the 11th century – so that makes it pretty old. The monks are very traditional, so men are only allowed to visit wearing long trousers and proper shirts, while women must wear a modest skirt and blouse.

Enjoying a drink at the Chora at Amorgos

The steep pathway to the Panayia Monastery

The Monastery is accessed through a small door, now reached by steps but in former times by ladder

Near the Monastery is a tiny cove where one small fishing boat is hauled into a cave, while another is suspended above the sea

Later we found the wreck of the 1,000 ton coaster, Olympia, driven ashore by a gale in 1979. It was quite eerie as we snorkelled around the wreck expecting a conger eel to emerge from within at any moment. Many scenes from the movie “The Big Blue” were filmed around here.

The wreck of the Olympia at Amorgos

That evening, we found an absolutely great, inexpensive restaurant, only 30 metres along the wharf from Envoy and enjoyed a fabulous meal. The owner / chef, Vangelis, said “I am really an electronics engineer, and I only run this restaurant for fun”. Judging by his build, he has plenty of fun!

Diane and Amy with jovial chef, Vangelis

There was only one problem with the harbour at Amorgos. Here in the Med it’s very common that you drop your anchor, then back into your berth. But at Amorgos they have two jetties at right angles to each other, so the anchor chains end up like macramé, and I had to spend some time in the dinghy untangling other boats’ anchor chains from ours.
Fortunately the wind had dropped, as this can be a serious issue in strong winds.

Envoy anchored in Katapola Bay, Amorgos

Next stop was the island of Nisos Skinhousa. We had been here previously in 2007, and although the bay was “crowded” with five yachts, we dropped our anchor and reversed back to tie to the shore in a depth of 1.7m. Here was magic – the water clean, crystal clear and warm, a great sandy beach ashore, and we did lots of swimming.

Amy swimming in Skinhousa - Envoy's stern lines in water


Later in the afternoon we visited the hill-top Chora, and had evening drinks in a taverna with superb views across the bays, then had a great dinner of shrimps and pasta.

View from the taverna at Shinhousa’s hilltop Chora

Dining out in Skinhousa

We planned to finish our trip with Amy in Naxos, from where she could take a ferry back to Santorini for her return flight to London. Naxos is great, and we anchored under the breakwater to shelter from a 20 knot NW and 1.5m choppy swell.
Naxos is hugely historical, and we explored first the old town, and then the Venetian Kastro.

Envoy anchored behind breakwater at Naxos

View of Naxos from Envoy

Soon it was time for sad goodbyes – where did eight days go to? Anyway our family is used to this, and we always focus on the next getting-together and adventures to come.
After Amy left, we moved on to Aliki, on Paros Island
TECHNICAL
Nothing to report.
LOG
Up to 15 June have spent 77 days aboard, and cruised 543NM for 98 engine hours