The Cyclades

We waited in Poros for a depression to pass by and serendipitously Chris and Liz Jones, our very good friends from long ago, delayed their arrival to allow Chris to get over a virus.

Whilst waiting for them Nigel got to know the chandlery owner Spiros and managed to negotiate the delivery of a new fridge to the boat the next day! Incredible service; it arrived from Athens on the ferry and was duly delivered to the boat on the back of Spiros’ son’s motorbike!  It was blowing hard, the boats were bucking around, but we got the large package down below safely at about 8pm. By 6am the next morning we were up to install the fridge before the lively weather came back. It is just brilliant to have an upright fridge to supplement the good old chest fridge and we can now make ice cubes in the freezer. This model seems much better than the original one we had and runs on less power, so a win all round. Nigel’s engineering/DIY skills continue to impress!

Chris and LIz arrived with sunshine and light winds in their luggage to make a significant change to our weather outlook. We had a window of opportunity, without the threat of the Meltemi which famously blows in this north south corridor, to spend the next week in at least a part of the Cyclades. This is a central group of islands in the Aegean divided into a northern area, central and southern. We picked off the western most islands catching some from each of the groups.

 It was great to welcome Chris and Liz on board. They had not sailed with us in Greece before, having last visited the boat in Croatia in 2016 just prior to our leaving, but it was not long before they both remembered the ‘ropes’. We visited lovely places enjoying their good company, unfortunately motoring more than sailing, but feeling fortunate to be able to explore these Aegean islands in unusually calm conditions.

The pictures tell the story, but we started on Kythnos, which we visited in 2023, anchoring in the same bay as we did last time, then 25 miles south to Serifos, another 25 miles south again to Sifnos and finally 20 miles to Milos, from where Chris and Liz needed to depart by ferry to get their flight back from Athens.

Essentially the northern islands are volcanic, barren and rocky with few small settlements and little tourism, but the white buildings are a typical feature of the Aegean islands, unlike the Ionian. In the middle Cyclades, on Serifos,  more white houses were visible in the villages and lots of evidence of a bygone iron ore mining industry. Similarly on Sifnos, where a little more tourism was evident in Kamares, the port, and Vathi, the lovely bay we anchored in. Being time limited we only spent one night on each island, at anchor, but we made full use of the chance to swim in beautiful clear water, surrounded by stunning scenery and enough in the village to provide supper on more than one occasion. Finally we had a good sail down to Milos, arriving in the comparatively bustling port of Adhamas where we moored on a pontoon in the well run harbour.   Unfortunately the ferries approach the town fast and push a tremendous wash towards the harbour which sets all the boats there rocking frantically.  We had to take care that our mast was not lined up with our neighbour as boats have been known the damage their rig during the periods of wash.

Pictures below of Kythnos, Sifnos and Serifos

Milos is an ancient volcano which long ago erupted and scooped out a giant bay. The circular mountain ridge surrounding the bay is mostly barren but shows scars of open cast mining of alum, sulphur, barium and kaolin.  In past times the large sheltered bay gave Milos a unique and much contested asset, so there are many tales of conquests since the Hellenistic period. In World War 1, it was a British Naval base!   Many tiny pretty villages are scattered around the shoreline, most famously Klina with the coloured fisherman’s cottages. Pictures below taken inside the large natural bay.

We arrived at the head of the bay in the town of Adhamas, picture below.

Pictures blow of our day trip inland to Plaka, Trypiti and the Catacombs.

We had a spare day before Chris and Liz departed so we took a taxi to the village of Plaka right at the top of the island.  A walk uphill from the town towards the castle afforded magnificent 360^o views of the island and out to sea.  The walk was thirsty business so lunch and a couple of beers was in order to aid recovery.
After lunch we walked downhill to the next village of Trypiti and further down to visit the catacombs which were unfortunately closed when we arrived.  We called a taxi to rescue us and return us to the port. That night we dined, courtesy of and a big thank you to Chris and Liz, in a superb restaurant, Mikros Apoplous, recommended by a local we met on the quayside. We were told it is where all the locals ate, and for very good reason!

We were sad to say goodbye to our crew, but Chris and Liz had a plane to catch, and we had a weather window to do the 70 mile trip across from Milos to the Peloponnese, which we completed in 13 hours on June 8^th, sailing for half of it, motoring when we lost the wind or it chose to blow the wrong way!  Before we left we re-provisioned the boat at the local supermarket.  It was a ghastly experience, the store was tiny and stuffed with people fighting over the last items of particular foods; the butcher, the only one in town, decided to fulfil a huge order for mincemeat at peak time so the queue grew and grew as she failed to serve anyone.  If ever a town needed a better shop it is Adhamas!
We made landfall in Kiparissi just north of Monemvasia and anchored for a good nights’ sleep before heading north to Astrous for a couple of nights. The fresh northerly winds made our mooring uncomfortable, but our anchor was well dug in and we were not going anywhere. We were most pleased to leave Astrous without any stowaways, as it was here in 2023, that we had a rat visiting our stores!  A beam reach across the Argolic gulf to Kilada was most enjoyable and we were rewarded with a lovely anchorage for the night. Kiparissi and Astrous below; we were reminded just how mountainous the Peleponnese are.

It was time to head west so we set off for Ermioni in little wind but as we approached the island of Dhokos the wind increased to a force 6 on the nose. The little sailing that we did beforehand then gave way to a final motorsail  across a sea of white horses to the welcome shelter of the south quay at Ermioni.

We are now in Poros again. We have come full circle in 2 weeks, travelled just under 300 miles skirting round the western Cyclades and eastern Peloponnese, the Argolic gulf and now back in the Saronic. On Monday we meet up with our final crew on this trip, our good friend Peter from Farnham is joining us here to begin the journey back to the Ionian. We are hoping he will enjoy the Corinth Canal and the Gulf of Corinth this time after his 2023 trip was rudely thwarted due to the inconveniences of Storm Daniel!