Nisos Skyros 18.5.2013

Minka of Southampton - Cruising Log
Edmund Wigan
Sat 18 May 2013 15:36

Position 38:50.531N 24:32.239E

 

Nisos Skyros is about 60nm from Nisos Andros so normally about 12 hours sailing. We had strong winds most of the way which gave us boat speeds of up to 7.5kts so made good time to Linaria which is the only port on Skyros. We were not without problems though. The cruising chute was used for most of the trip but I kept it up in winds too strong for it and eventually it developed two small splits in one of the lower vertical panels. So now I know what to do in the future. For those interested we were flying it in 25kts true wind speed or 18-20 apparent wind. The second problem was that the propeller picked up an old white woven polypropylene sack. The rope cutter disposed of most of it so we could use the engine coming into port which was just as well in the 35kt gusts we encountered coming in. I dived down this morning and cleared the rest of it off the propeller so that is sorted.

 

Linaria is a lovely friendly little place. There are only about 8 spaces for yachts and they were all full but the harbourmaster greeted us and put us alongside another yacht overnight.

 

 

We were wedged between a 56ft Oyster at the front and the Search and Rescue boat behind. There is a lot of dock space behind the SAR but this came in later and stayed the night.

 

 

It is the island ferry which we discovered is based here. There is also a small airport here which has flights to Athens with Olympic Airways.

 

The harbour master is very active and gave us a five minute introduction to the harbour facilities. Water, electricity and WIFI are free and we paid 13 euros to stay two nights. The water is plentiful on this island and very good quality coming from a spring.

 

The town is small…….

 

 

…..looking down from the police station……

 

 

….and from the other side of the bay. In this shot Minka has moved onto the quay and the SAR has left along with four yachts so there is now plenty of room.

 

 

The architecture is not exciting but the flowers compensate.

 

 

Very few tourists visit so a real effort is made to welcome visitors. We ate in a restaurant on the quay which has a Greek owner with a Liverpudlian wife who has lived here over 30 years. We met their whole family and a grandchild was being christened today so there was quite a buzz.

 

We leave here for Skiathos or maybe Skopelos in the morning which is a bit over 50nm so an early start.