Mykonos
Arwenofbosham
Rob and Jacky Black
Wed 2 Sep 2009 09:24
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37 26.4N 24 25.9E
Kithnos - Loutra Bay 29th August
We left Aegina on Saturday morning having collected
the laundry at 0800 and bought some lovely fresh croissants and bread for the
journey.
There was little wind and so once again we were
using the engine however we did have the mainsail up and were hopeful that there
would be some later in the day to help us reach
Kithnos some 50 miles to the east and the first of the Cyclades islands on our
trip. The journey was pretty uneventful
only marked by the number of passing ferries which
seemed endless plying their way between all the islands and Athens (Piraeus). I
was able to see the
Olympic Stadium through the binoculars as we sailed
passed about 8 miles off the coast. We had originally decided to go into to a
bay on the west coast
of Kithnos but as we were making good time we
pushed on and went into Loutra a small bay on the NE end where we found the
harbour to be full! However
there was a lovely sheltered narrow bay nearby
where we duly anchored and took a line ashore to an iron post on the rocks. We
were the only sailing boat
here but there were a couple of quite large motor
cruisers. Later we were joined by several more motor boats and eventually
another yacht arrived in the dark.
We had a most peaceful night which was good after
the rather noisy quayside of Aegina.
37 27.8N 25 19.6E
Mykonos Sunday 30th August - Thursday 3rd
September
Having left at first light from Kithnos we made
good progress across the channel between Siros and Kithnos and decided to leave
this island to the north
before heading up through the islands west of
Mykonos and into the main harbour there. We had a favorable current with us and
were able to romp along
at 7 knots for some time with the main and the
engine on about 1000 revs. It was a misty day and the various islands almost
seemed to float out of the water.
Gradually the wind headed us and progress slowed
until just before our arrival in the harbour when we had gusts of 20 knots! (A
portend of what was to come later!)
We had been speaking on the radio with Kishorn and
Chica who were also en route for Mykonos and once we were all tied up we were
able to give then hints
on where to find a suitable berth - they arrived
about 30 minutes after us having spent the previous night on the west side of
Kithnos.
We were alongside the wall next to the rather dusty
car park in the first basin of the new marina. No facilities here although there
are boxes with piping for
power and water none work at the moment. The outer
quay here is for Cruise ships and ferries and when we arrived there was a very
large one along side.
Since Sunday we have had at least 6 more liners
come and go.
We decided to hire a car for a couple of days
between the 3 couples and used it for shopping and exploring. On the first day
we hopped into taxis passing the
marina after dropping off ferry passengers 5 Euros
to get to the car park on the edge of town (a 10 minute journey) where we found
a Europe car rental office. The others
(Trevor, Lesley, Rick and Cobi) had the car for the
day while Rob and I walked into the main town to explore. The buildings here are
all white, flat roofed and usually no
more than 2 stories high. The town spreads up the
hill that looks over the bay and it is a warren of narrow alleyways and
passages. Even the paving stones
are outlined in white in places! We passed so many
cafes/ night clubs and restaurants we lost count many of them with terraces
looking out over the bay; needless to
say the prices matched the locations! We didn't
find a bread shop or a butchers shop but could have bought a Rolex watch
or Gucci handbag at any number of outlets!
On the old town quay where the small ferries leave
from there was a van selling fresh vegetables and a small covered market stall
with what remained of a fish catch of the day.
The place was full of tourists (presumably from the
cruise ship) so we headed back to the car park and took a bus back to the marina
where we visited the Taverna Matthew
conveniently placed on the road at the entrance.
Here we found there to be much more reasonably priced food and drink available
and they had free wifi.
Having had a light lunch of calamari and a half
carafe of local white wine we retired to the boat for a siesta.
By the late afternoon the wind was getting up and
we had to put out extra mooring lines (the forecast for a strong wind the famous
Meltemi was right!). We joined the others for
supper in the Taverna later and heard about their
day tour of the island. The meal was good and prices were excellent compared to
the town restaurants.
Tuesday dawned and still the wind was blowing at 30
knots. We took the car for a round trip of the island and succeeded in getting
lost at every turn - the map had English names
whilst the road signs were mostly in Greek! However
as the island is very small it didn't really matter and we were able to visit
many of the beautiful bays that this island is
famous for. Mostly we couldn't get out to view them
as there was no where to park the car! We were on the whole rather disappointed
with the place - the scenery is nothing like
as spectacular as the islands in the Ionian
- very arid and little in the way of trees or other vegetation. All the
houses are the same - white, flat roofed and with
mostly blue shutters - quaint when first viewed but
rather boring after a while. On the way back to the marina we called into 2
different supermarkets and were able to get
the heavy supplies of water beer, coke
etc.
We met a chap ( the skipper of a large Super yacht
- Sundara) in the Taverna - Philip and later his wife - they were awaiting the
arrival of the owner and it was good to hear from Philip
about various places in Turkey. He also kindly gave
us contacts for helpful folk in Marmaris and other ports which will be useful
for us next year. In the evening they came round for
a pre-dinner drink and he mentioned he knows
someone who may be able to help with our fridge problems.
We are hoping to leave here tomorrow and head for
Samos.
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