After Tom had left, it was our turn to get back to the UK. We had booked to leave the boat in Lavrio in a marina there, so we waited one more day in Perdika for a favourable wind direction to head east.
We then set off first to Sounion bay which is at the extreme end of the peninsular which marks the beginning of the Evia channel and just around the corner from Lavrio. It is a popular anchorage which is overlooked by the temple of Poseidon. It blew hard all of the afternoon and most of the night, testing the holding of Mr Manson, our anchor.
The next morning the wind revved up even more and we decided that it was not worth trying to sail against the strong winds to the marina,so we motored 5 miles round the coast. With the boat safely tucked up in the marina we flew home for just a couple of days to satisfy our travel insurance and home insurance.
We returned to much better weather with about 5 days of fine weather forecast. This gave us the opportunity to visit some of the nearer Cyclades islands. This group of attractive islands sits right in the path of the strong Meltemi wind and from about Mid June to the end of September it is a risky area to visit in a yacht for fear of getting stranded by strong winds. Climate change has made the Meltemi blow harder and for longer than before. Once we cleared the island of Makronisos we had a clear run to the first island in the chain, Kea. We headed for Pisses, a sheltered bay in the west coast of the island. It was a delightful anchorage, quiet and good holding. Scenes of Kea and Pisses Bay below.
In settled weather we moved on the next day to the next island, Kythnos, heading again for an anchorage, Apokriosis. This was again a pleasant bay but we struggled at first to get the anchor to take. The bay sported two tavernas both of which we visited in the course of our two day stay. The northerly one was very rustic and Greek, the southern one was pretentious although welcoming, expensive and not very Greek. The beach was great, with soft sand. Pictures of Apokriosis below, taken when calm, it was very windy most of the time!
Our next stop was Merikhas, the main town on Kythnos. It turned out to be a delightful place with plenty of mooring space for yachts with excellent amenities. The typically island Greece town sported many restaurants and one of the highlights of our visit was eating sardines and drinking Rose wine on the beach in one of them. Another great advantage of the place was its shelter from the persistent strong northeast wind, a blessing after being blown around in Apokriosis bay. Few shots of Merikhas below.
Sadly the forecasts showed a change in the weather with strong westerly winds due , so we reluctantly decided that we needed to head back, with the nearest destination being back to Poros.
It is now June 18th and we have stayed on Poros a couple of days waiting for the weekend storm to blow itself out.
Our target next is to sail west to explore a bit more of the Argolikos Gulf before heading to Kilhada where the boat will be lifted out for the Summer.
Deja Vu 
You must be logged in to post a comment.