windy Skiathos town

Scott-Free’s blog
Steve & Chris
Sun 12 Jul 2009 09:44
Sunday 12th July 2009
 
We were awake bright and early the next day, mainly because none of us had slept much.  The wind picked up around midnight and was quite strong all night, making for a lumpy night.  We had booked a jeep for today but we were not happy to leave the boat unattended in this much wind, so suggested the kids go off for the day by themselves to explore the island.  We thought they would jump at the chance, especially as it meant getting off a very rocky boat and spending the day on dry land!
 
They decided, however, that they wanted to spend the last day with us, so we cancelled the jeep.  When the wind subsided a little, we took the rib ashore and bumped into the guy who was organising getting the freezer looked at.  He said our man would be with us tomorrow, but when we said we were at anchor he said the guy wouldn't come out there, so we could have one of the charter boat berths which would be empty till Thursday.  So we went back to the boat to move it straight away rather than lose the berth.  It was still very windy and the outboard motor decided to play up, cutting out several times.  At one time we were being blown away from the boat and Kerrie and Chris were madly paddling while Steve got it going again!
 
Eventually back on board, we started to take up the anchor, only to discover that we were again caught on something.  By this time we were beginning to think someone here in Skiathos had it in for us!  So once again we had to call out a diver and he confirmed we were caught on an old Navy anchor and chain that had just been left lying on the bottom.  He had us free in less time than before, then hitched a lift with us back to the quay, where he was a great help in getting lines ashore.  He turned out to be a very nice guy called Theo (not 'Scubie Steve' as Kerrie called him) and Steve arranged to do some diving with him later in the week.
 
A very big sigh of relief was audible on board Scott-Free as it meant we were now confident to leave the boat and enjoy the last day of the kids' holiday together.  It was too late for a jeep now, we decided, so enjoyed wandering around the town and buying a few pressies for people at home.
 
In the evening we went to a restaurant that had been recommended to Kerrie by a friend, and had a very nice meal in an excellent setting on the hillside overlooking the bay.