September update

After a few days in Jersey (sadly for the funeral of a dear friend), we were on a flight back to Greece and the sunshine. With just a few days before the arrival of family members, we knew it wasn’t really worth going down to the islands and instead set sail for a cove we’d seen when we’d hired a car and explored the area near Athens. The hotel Astir Palace takes over most of a picturesque headland, and has a private marina, and this is where we headed. We’d already enquired about the marina, and decided that instead of paying the fees, we’d anchor off. Even better, when we got there, we discovered a single buoy ready and waiting, so we tied on and waited for someone to tell us we shouldn’t be there. No one did!

Conditions were pretty good for the first day and night, and we just did what we do so well – relaxed and enjoyed our surroundings, read and swam, ate and drank! We’d promised ourselves dinner at the restaurant on the marina where we’d had lunch a week earlier, and intended to leave Zaffina at anchor and take the dinghy ashore, but when we went to the marina to enquire about leaving our tiny tender in the port, we were told that we would be charged 100 euros! We checked on the price of taking our Azimut into port, and that would be 110 euros, and after a quick look at the forecast, we decided that not only was this better value, it was also the sensible option as the wind was due up that evening.

As we came into port, the marineros directed us to the first berth by the entrance – the worse place to be in terms of wake and sea movement, - so, seeing there were dozens of empty spaces, we asked if we could go elsewhere. No was the answer. Frank manoeuvred Zaffina into our allocated space and I took the lines on the bow. “This is the port line,” said the marinero, so I obediently tied it to the port cleat. Two minutes later, he told me it was on the wrong side and instructed that it be moved to starboard – not an easy feat as it was now tight. We eventually got tied on, and were surprised that the marinero hung around for a while, obviously expecting a tip despite his surly attitude. He was more surprised when he didn’t get one.

Dinner made up for the experience in the port, as we sat at a table overlooking the water and the twinkling lights of the Greek coast, enjoying an excellent meal.

Adrian, Chantelle and Lucy arrived two days later and we picked them up in Flisvos before heading straight down to Poros on a calm sea. Our first night en famille was in Russian Bay, an anchorage that has become a firm favourite of ours, as it offers great shelter regardless of wind direction. It was lovely to be back in the islands, and to show off some of the places that we’ve fallen in love with this summer, and the girls and Adie loved not only that anchorage, but others we chose during their week.

In the evening, we had a barbeque on the flybridge, washed down with rather a lot of wine and followed by a long and laughter filled session of charades. I wimped out early – too much red wine I’m afraid – whilst the others went for a late night swim in the still warm water.

From Poros, we headed south and west, back to the mainland area opposite Spetses, where we dropped the hook in the clearest, bluest water imaginable. We’d seen a restaurant on a previous visit that looked worth closer inspection, so booked it for that evening. The situation was beautiful, right on the beach with the tables set just above the water. When we arrived, the staff seemed under pressure and sent us to the bar for a drink before we took our table, which looked as though it may be at the back of the terrace. A little persuasion put us on a better table and we relaxed and ordered our meal. At that point, things went a little haywire! Adie and I were sharing a main course, which was the first dish to arrive on the table. As it was hot, we tucked in, and eventually a couple of other starters arrived, but nothing was co-ordinated and although we’re used to Greek service, and pretty relaxed about it, this was the most extraordinary we’ve ever experienced. In fact, it was the only restaurant I can ever remember at which I’d finished my main course before my starter arrived! I’d like to say that the quality of the food made up for the erratic service, but sadly that wasn’t the case and we rapidly crossed the restaurant off our list of places to eat in Greece!

That evening the girls slept up on the flybridge, and to our surprise managed a whole night under the stars. Lucy counted eleven shooting stars, Chantelle only two or three, and the two of them chatted and giggled until the small hours of the morning.

We moved for a night into the channel leading up to Porto Kheli, which has a number of sheltered inlets running off it, where we tied up near a tiny beach and spent almost as much time in the water cooling off as out of it. With five of us on board, water and provisions run low very quickly, so we popped into Porto Kheli to fill our water tank from one of the tankers that ply along the quay. It cost a full 15 euros, not bad value considering Frank had been debating whether to buy bottled water for the task!

Our next port was Hydra, and to our delight this time we got a great berth right on the quayside. Our guests were as taken with the port as we were, but instead of going to the rocks to swim, this time we took a water taxi down to a gorgeous beach, fringed with shady fir trees, and there we whiled away the hot hours of the day. The following morning, the girls took the opportunity to have a quick (and it was quick, hardly the 15 minutes promised) donkey ride, before we set sail back to Poros, where we picked up another guest – Adam – who had already been there for a couple of nights. With six now on board, we had all the cabins occupied, with Adam in the seldom-used crew cabin, although we did clear it out for his arrival!

Another night and day in Russian Bay was followed by the trek back up to Flisvos and a last night in port before Adrian and the girls departed for the airport in a 5.30am taxi.

Just a few hours later, our next guests were boarding. Christian and Leonie had had two nights in Athens and were eager to continue their holiday on board Zaffina.  After a night anchored off Poros, we retraced our route down to Hydra and although there was space on the quay when we arrived, an arrogant Feretti skipper nipped around us and took the place as we were waiting for the harbourmaster to guide us in. This meant we had to tie to the merchant ship again, although fortunately our position was a little further back this time, making the jump between the two side decks a lot easier.

Once safely tied on, we had a snack lunch on the quayside and then took one of the tripper boats down to a beach in the south of the island. It wasn’t quite as pretty as the beach we’d been to previously, but it had great skimming stones, so I spent a happy hour or so sitting in the water, indulging in my favourite sport! Back in Hydra Town for the evening, we tried a new restaurant, further up the hillside from Sunset – a bit of a trek for Adam, who had just got off crutches after yet another ankle injury – but worth the walk for a lovely meal in pretty courtyard surroundings.

Having two sets of guests for a week at a time meant that we were pretty much doing the same route as the previous week, although in slightly different order. We returned to the anchorage where we’d had to cut our ropes a few weeks previously, and tied on in almost exactly the same place, although this time keeping a firm eye on the sea conditions at all times! After dinner on board – we weren’t going to try the “main course first, starters later” restaurant again – we all dropped into the water and were astounded by the phosphorescence. Although we’ve come across this phenomena a few times, and in fact seen it almost every evening for the past month when we’ve been in the water in the dark, this was exceptional. As we swam in the warm sea, we each left an asteroid trail of sparkling stars in our path, a Disney-esque interpretation of Tinkerbell’s twinkling wake. The further we went from the lights of other boats, the more our wake sparkled and we spent a happy hour in the water, splashing and kicking to create a myriad of shooting stars beneath the waves. It was a special evening.

The following day we moved into the channel up to Porto Kheli and in the evening took a taxi boat over to Spetses. We’d tried to take Zaffina over there earlier in the season, but marina spaces are difficult and tying on is strange, requiring exceptionally long lines from boat to shore and impossible to do by swimming, which is our chosen technique.

Spetses Town turned out to be gorgeous and after a cocktail in a fun bar overlooking the new port, we walked around to the old port for an exceptionally good dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was Frank who decided the next day that we should go back to Spetses for another evening, and nobody disagreed so we again took the taxi across the channel. Cocktails were on the terrace of an elegant hotel on the seafront, and dinner was again in the old port – this time we took a couple of horse-drawn carriages, the only transport apart from two-wheeled or taxis on the island – but a different restaurant. The evening shot past, and all too soon we were on the taxi back to Zaffina. When we got back, there was loud music coming from one of the boats anchored near us in the bay by Porto Kheli, and deciding that if you can’t beat ‘em, you join ‘em, we all piled into the dinghy and went across to ask for admittance to the party! Despite some persuasive talk from Christian and Leonie, we were denied access (not surprising really) and so instead we went across to the newly opened Niki Beach Hotel, where we managed to blag our way into their rooftop bar. Not sure how that happened! The view was beautiful, the cocktails were excellent and the giant, colour-changing eggs were a wow, particularly when we managed to get hold of the controls to change all the colours! The sight of Adam walking to the gents with every decorative egg changing colour as he passed, will stay with us for a long time, as will the image of Frank apparently given birth to one! Amazingly no-one threw us out!

Adam was due to fly home the next evening and Christian and Leonie wanted a couple of days on their own, so we dropped the young couple in Spetses, their chosen island, and pressed on up to Athens with Adam, ready for his departure.

With a couple of items needing attention on the boat, we decided to jump ship and we returned to the Astir Palace, this time by road, and had a couple of nights on terra firma and another lovely meal on the marina (though without paying marina fees or facing the grumpy marineros!)

On Wednesday afternoon, we met Christian and Leonie on their return from Spetses, for a quick drink in Syntagma Square before they too high-tailed it to the airport. Now our high summer visitors had all gone home, hopefully with a stack of happy memories of Greece to look back on.

Alone again, we checked the forecast and were delighted to see that things finally looked good for a return to the Cyclades. The winds in the central Aegean are notorious in the height of the summer, and although we were down here in June, there was no chance of a return in July or August. Now they’ve dropped again, and we set sail from Athens early on Thursday morning, heading south. The sea was mixed – good for a while and then with quite a swell before we reached our first port of call, the island of Serifos. As we came around the island, it looked pretty barren and we wondered if we’d made a mistake by bothering to visit, but once we got to the small port, we knew we’d hit gold. It was beautiful. By the port were a couple of gold beaches fringed with tamarind trees, and on a towering hill overlooking the sea was a picturesque town of sugar-cube houses.

We went ashore early evening and after a drink on the port, took the bus up the hill to the town, which was just as pretty close up as from a distance, although not nearly as polished and touristique as Santorini and Mykonos. In a tiny square, we sipped fresh orange juice as the light faded, and watched the residents congregate for their evening constitutional. It was a magical evening.

We debated whether to stay another day in Serifos, but we’d heard a lot about Milos and instead set sail again. Many centuries ago, Milos was another volcano, and sailing into the Caldera was a jaw-dropping moment. It is exceptionally beautiful, especially when the sea is as calm as it was that morning, and we were both awe-struck by the island. We tied up in Adamas, the main town and port, where ferries come and go with alarming regularity causing the boats moored there to rock and roll on the swell.

As the island is quite large (compared to others in the Cyclades), we hired a car for the day and after visiting the catacombs, ended up at a tiny fishing port called Firapotamus, where the old boathouses are lined up along the water’s edge, each with different coloured doors, and a blue and white church stands on the end of the promontory. It was about as pretty as you could imagine, enhanced by the bright turquoise of the warm shallow waters in the bay.

Yesterday we moved on again, intending to sail most of the way around Milos but eventually making a break for the north to try to get out from under a large, dark grey cloud that was dogging us. I think Zaffina may have had a cloud magnet on board, because it seemed wherever we went, the cloud followed, and eventually we moved on to the island of Kimelos, where we dropped anchor in a sheltered bay and waited for the cumulus to dissipate. Eventually it did!

So here we are, debating whether we should go back to Milos or move on to Sifnos. The latter looks likely; there are supposed to be some exceptionally good restaurants in Sifnos…not that we are guided by greed in any way! The dark clouds have gone, the sea is sparkling and there is plenty more exploring to be done.

I love Greece!