Position 37:32.260N 25:09.676E

We left Nisos Mikonos passing two boats backed up to the shore.

They had been very sensible doing this as the wind had been quite strong during the night so they were able to rely on shorelines rather than their anchors. Minka didn’t budge an inch on her anchor but it did take a bit of pulling out in the morning. For yachties we anchored on sand amongst weed with 40mts of chain out in 8mts of water with a Rocna 25kg anchor.

We headed for Nisos Delos which was only a few miles as the book said this had been the centre of the ancient world. We travelled north up the channel between Delos and Rinia and decided we would try to go onto Delos which has restricted access because of the archaeological remains. As we approached the landing stage Phil was on the bow looking out for rocks, we got down to 0.8mts under the keel when a woman came out onto the landing stage and waved us off. I am not sure if she was implementing the Greek policy not to allow yachts to land or whether she was frightened by the sight of Phil without his shirt on…..I suspect the latter. So the only picture I have of the centre of the ancient universe

There are some ruins there but not obvious. We extricated ourselves from this shallow rocky channel and managed to sail to Nisos Tinos and went into Tinos harbour.

There were a couple of other yachts already backed up to the quay. This is a very lively and fun place. We went for a wander up towards the monastery…..

…passing lots of shops selling religious artifacts. Apparently in 1822 they discovered a miracle working icon so there are lots of people coming here for a cure.

We discovered why they have carpeted the steps later when we saw a poor chap crawling his way up the church to seek a cure for his sore knees. He was actually wearing builders knee pads. The carpet goes all the way to the port…….

….as we discovered later.  The church looked a bit like an antique lighting shop

There were several fonts in the basement which seemed very civilised with hot and cold running water

There is an ancient Muriel behind the font. The buildings are very impressive…..

……. but I was even more impressed with the customer service hotline in the cloisters.

You can see scorch marks on the floor where thunderbolts have struck anyone who complains…..the tap is presumably to put out the infernos.

On the way back down the hill, dodging the thunderbolts, we came across this statuary in a small park…..it reminded me of the committees I used to attend although this lot were more responsive than most I recall. Phil just had to join in.

The rest of the town comprises little streets and is quite charming……

…….with glimpses of gardens.

Also some older houses

We have decided we have seen lots of islands and they are becoming a tad boring. So we now plan to make our way north via Skiathos and whatever else is in the way to the Dardenelles and maybe into the Black Sea.