After hiding from the winds in Livadi, Serifos we sailed across to Naoussa on the Island of Paros and we did actually manage to sail most of the passage. We met up with Scarlett and Awake and had a couple of lazy days relaxing.
We really wanted to visit the Island of Thira and the village of Santorini so with a weather forecast that looked pretty good for the next few days we headed to a peaceful anchorage on the South of Ios for a nights rest before heading to Santorini the next day.
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| Goats Sharing the Beach, Manganari, Ios | The Village of Finikia, Thira |
Thira is a spectacular Island that is actually the remains of a volcano, the Island itself is the remnants of the mountain surrounding the crater that you actually sail into, there is also a small Island in the middle that is the plug of the volcano. The size of the crater is quite amazing, it is around 4 miles across and very deep with depths of nearly 400 metres over most of the crater, it must have been a spectacularly huge eruption that created the volcano around 1400BC. There have been some smaller eruptions since then and the volcano is technically still active.
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| The Main Village of Santorini, Thira | Donkeys to Take You Up and Down the Steep Path to the Top |
There are two main villages, Finikia and Santorini, both perched high above on the rim of the crater, all the white buildings almost make it look like the mountains have snow on the tops. Because of the water depths there is hardly anywhere that you can anchor and all the small harbour space is used by trip boats. We ended up tying the front of the boat to a huge steel mooring buoy and the back of the boat to an old loading gantry on shore, this needed some 40m of line fore and aft but gave us a very secure spot right under the cliffs and only a short dinghy ride to the harbour. Awake joined us and tied up alongside with their own lines to shore and buoy.
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| Looking Over The Crater from Santorini | Tied Up With Awake Inside the Crater |
We took the cable car up to the village and the views over the crater are quite spectacular and really make you think about just how massive an eruption it must have been. Sadly the place is much visited by cruise ships and tripper boats so the village only seems to exist to part tourists from their money. There are some very nice quiet parts but you have to look quite hard to get away from all the souvenir shops, restaurants and bars. Having said that it is still a place that is well worth seeing, especially when you have the satisfaction of doing it in your own yacht.
After our tour of the town we returned to Nimrod and Awake to watch the sunset over the edge of the crater, unfortunately one of the cruise ships decided that his guests were much more important than anyone else and he motored very, very slowly across in front of all the other moored boats and spoilt the view for everyone.
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| Tris Klies Anchorage, Ios | Our Own Deserted Beach, Ios |
From Santorini we returned to Ios where we had a pretty uncomfortable night in a rolly anchorage at Tris Klies, the wind direction should have meant it was a nice calm place to stay but the swell rolled in from the wrong direction and had us all rolling around for most of the night.
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| Kalotaritissa Anchorage, Amorgos | Panayia Monastery Built Into the Cliffs |
Next stop was the Island of Amorgos 25nm to the East and we spent one night in the lovely remote anchorage at the SW end of the Island. Next day we headed up to the main town of Katapola to shelter from 4 or 5 days of forecast strong winds. We hire a quad bike to explore the Island and managed to see pretty much all of the sights in one day with Panavia Monastery being the highlight. The monastery is literally built into the cliffs about 200m above sea level and is accessed by a steep winding path that takes about 15 minutes walk from the car park. The road and path would have been a lot worse when the place was built so it really must have been a Herculaneum task to get all the materials etc up there to build it. The monastery has around 50 rooms inside although you only get to see a small number but it is still very impressive as you make your way up narrow staircases with the cliff face on one side of you.
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| Lonely Anchorage, Vathi, Astypalia | Periyialo Village and Harbour |
Once the winds had died down we headed over to Vathi on Astypalia, this is almost a lake with a narrow entrance that is about 1.5nm long and 0.5nm wide so it is a wonderful safe anchorage in any weather in very isolated surroundings, only a few houses and a taverna on the shore. We are now in the first of the Dodecanese Islands and getting close to the Turkish mainland.
Periyialo is the main town on the Island and that was the next stop to tie up in the harbour with Awake and Limelight. We were also joined by Lis and Fleming on Summertime who seem to have been trying to catch up with us for about a month.
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| Restored Windmills in the Village | Looking Over the Centre of Astypalia Island |
Chris, Fleming and Francis set off on a hike the next day to explore the Island, first we walked to the reservoir and then on up to the peak of the Island with some stunning views over the Island and the Aegean. It was pretty hard work for some of it and we covered around 10 miles but it was well worth the effort.
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| Water Supply Reservoir for the Island | The Complete Village, Chora and Castle |
The village itself was very friendly with good supermarket, butcher, bakery and local tavernas so we had a really enjoyable few days.
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| New Bikes for Dave on Scarlett | Volcano Crater Walls, Nisiros |
Palio on Nisiros was next, another volcano to explore and another great harbour to tie up in for some more windy weather. The harbour was very busy as everyone heads for shelter so it was great fun watching the entertainment as boats crossed anchors and squeezed into ever smaller gaps, it is much better watching when you are tied up nice and safe. We were joined by Awake, Summertime and Limelight and next day we all set off on scooters and car to explore the Island. We rented scooters from Eagles Nest Car Hire and the man in charge was brilliant, he was from the village of Nikia and gave us a full run down of all the sights we should see and how to get there, he was really enthusiastic about everything and he was really pleased when we returned to tell him what a great day we had had.
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| Looking Over the Complete Volcano Crater | Marble Decoration in the Church at Nikia, Nisiros |
We visited a couple of villages overlooking the volcano crater with the usual stunning views and then rode right down into the crater itself and finally walked down into the calderas with bubbling mud pool in one.
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| Girls on Tour | Sue and Lis Above the Crater |
We rode down a very windy road to a wild exposed beach on the South of the Island before heading back to the village of Mandraki for a look round the remains of the castle. Some of the stones used to build the walls weigh over 30 tons and they managed to get them up to 30 ft in the air and fit them together with great precision. Once again a really interesting day around the Island.
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| Harbour of Palio | Impressive Stonework, Mandraki Castle |
Hi all Sue here
Well the captain has covered everything, What a fantastic time we are having exploring Greece and all made more special by doing it with great friends. One of the highlights of our trip around Nisiros was the natural sauna we went to which was built into the walls surrounding the village of Eborios. We would never have found it if it hadn’t been for the helpful man at Eagles Nest Car/Bike hire, he is so proud of the Island of Nisiros. He even gave us a CD of Greek music which he features on.
The dress code for visiting the Monasteries is very strict but they always have an array of clothes for you to borrow. Which is just as well as having climbed up 300 steps you wouldn’t want to be turned away for not being in the right attire!! Chris, Erika and myself were prepared but Francis ended up wearing a very fetching pair of orange trousers!! The monks were very friendly and we had a taste of the liquor and Turkish delight they make.
Hiring bikes to see the islands is definitely the best way to get around although I never quite saw myself as a biker chick!! I’m quite disappointed I don’t get to wear the leathers though, it’s not quite the same in shorts!!
We haven’t had much luck with fishing lately but we are still enjoying the tuna we caught before. Many Tuna BBQ’s have been had with various friends. We did have one bite but before we could do anything the fish had taken all the line off the reel and the brake on the rod couldn’t stop it!! We consoled ourselves with the fact that whatever it was it was probably too big for us to handle!! Well Chris would liked to have had a good go though!!
It’s so nice sailing in company as when the men want to go off on a mammoth hike the ladies can sit on the beach and put the world to rights. Although we do end up going on most excursions. We are all getting quite fit.
We are now in Simi and are going to Rhodes tomorrow to pick our friends up, Jean & John, who are sailing with us for two weeks, which we are really looking forward to. We will make our way to Finike with them, where we will then settle in to our winter berth. So it’s nearly time to say farewell to Greece until next year. We will include pictures of Simi on our next blog.
