We are going a different route to Nicolas, he’s heading round the same way we did last year but we’ve decided to have a look at some of the Southern Cyclades so our first stop is the island of Milos.

Arriving Milos

We had an early start of 0600 as its about 60 miles to Milos. Unfortunately, we only got sailing for about two hours as there wasn’t much wind. We arrived at the marina (pontoon) in Adhamas where we moored up on the inside . It was a long day, so had a quiet, early night before exploring.

 

Next morning we were visited by Renate & Wolfgang from Kalamata. They had been over anchoring in a bay when they were approached by the coastguard in the middle of the night.  Somehow, they had some SOS light going and didn’t know, so the coastguard had been alerted to this and paid them a visit to see what was wrong. They were asked to follow them into harbour and go to the office in the morning with all their papers etc. Good that the SOS light was acted upon but not so good for Renate and Wolfgang having to follow them into harbour in their pyjamas in the middle of the night with a big spotlight on them to guide them in.

Dr Wolfie & Renate

We met an English couple here who were out on a trial sail on an Oyster 57 for a week to see if the were going to buy it. They did and are now the proud owners of Ultima. Jon and Angie, the new owners, have only started sailing and just done their Comp Crew and Day Skipper…..wow, a big boat for two newbies. They seem like a nice couple and we’ve exchanged details to find out how they get on. They’ve sold up everything at home to do this, I hope it works out for them.

Adhamas is a nice place, it has a wee buzz about it, plenty cafes, nice bars and restaurants along the waterfront and when we were there, not too busy. The bay Adhamas is a volcanic crater glad it didn’t erupt when we where there.

We met a French lady who was feeding the stray cats. She was telling us she came to Milos two years before that on holiday and ended up staying there. She has set up a wee feeding station for the cats. I told her I had seen a wee kitten there the day before and it looked quite distressed. While we were talking, we heard the kitten and she went over to it. The poor wee things eyes were all crusted over and it couldn’t see. The lady put it in her car and took it home. She already has forty cats, now she has forty-one.

The Cat Sanctuary – Tiger has a lot to answer for !

We left Adhamas Bay on 19 May and went across to Rivari Bay to anchor.

Rivari Anchorage

It says it’s sheltered from Southerlies!!! We had gusts of 35-40 knots and a sleepless night so we upped anchor and made our way to Pirgonisi Bay on the south side of Kimolos Island about 13 miles away. We anchored here for one night with only us and one other German boat, another Moody. We didn’t bother going ashore as the place didn’t really grab us, a good enough anchorage but that was about it. Other than I was looking like Qusimodo with an eye infection, Dr Wolfgang reckoned if you can still see then its OK.

Our next stop was altogether a different story. The barren Island of Poliagos, close SE of Kimolos is connected by a reef and sand bar to a little islet called Manolonisi Island. You can tuck in behind Manolonisi and drop anchor there. The place is lovely, totally secluded and has Caribean type water and good shelter. We had a lovely two days here swimming in the beautiful clear water. We also had an interesting four hours watching a German charter boat trying to anchor????  3 metres and a sandy bottom….I have no idea what their problem was. If I had been them, I would have given up and moved on with embarassment. Wait till you see, I’ll get my come uppance for that comment. 

 

Whilst I was in Scotland Gordon had been “On holiday”. He hired a bike, well bought a bike then would sell it back, cost him 30 Euros for 6 weeks or so.

 

The rented bike & Miki holding Holly’s Kittens

He also did his rounds for dinner on Bob & Andrea’s boat, Penny & Sandy’s boat and tried out Paul’s new BBQ. He didn’t starve.

Back home Iain helped me power hose the decking on the house before we went for lunch up town in Glasgow.

Harry, Diane & I went to Largs and I had a day out with the girls & Billy & Jayne

 

When I returned to Kalamata there were a round of final farewells with a lovely night on Claudio and Connies boat where we were treated to delicious Italian meats, cheeses and wine. Such a nice change from the Greek food and wine.

We were also treated to dinner and drinks on Penny and Sandy’s boat. Poor souls, they can’t get going till Sandy gets test results from the hospital so they don’t know when they’ll get away. Penny also gave me one of her lovely necklaces she makes, I can’t remember what it’s called but it all done with tiny beads and is very intricate work, a really nice gift.

Next on the list before leaving was waiting for Nicolas to arrive. He had given us gas last year and one of his diesel jerry cans which we were to return to him in Siracuse….however, as you know, we didn’t get there. He is coming up to Kalamata to drop off his cousin Olivier who has been out for a holiday & to check out Kalamata for the winter, so we can return them then.

We had a nice night and were treated to dinner again on Nicolas’s boat this time we had Confit Duck…yummy!

Having said all our goodbyes we left with very heavy hearts after putting wee Tiger off the boat and feeding him one last time. It broke our hearts.

Camira and Syeni left on 10 May for the first sail of the season to Porto Kaio where we anchored for the night. Next morning we left for Frangos Bay on Elafonisos. We are having a few problems with starting the engine, Gordon thinks it loose wiring in the loom.

We had a visitor along for a wee rest.

We had our first swim of the season in Frangos Bay, the water is crystal clear if not still a tad chilly, but it’s so beautiful here you just can’t resist it. Nicolas came over for dinner and we made plans to depart next morning to round Cape Malea for Monemvassia. I did mention that my weather report was showing somewhat stronger winds than Nicolas’ but we decided to go next morning anyway.

   

Yep! mine was correct. As we headed to Cape Malea we had a good sail in about 15-20 knots, however, as we neared the Cape we were hit with stronger winds and gusts of 40 knots. So much so that Nicolas’ second foresail ripped at the clew as he was hit by a gust. We could see something was going on as he was in fromt of us but too far to offer any help. However, he got things under control and we all reached Monemvasia in one piece, well… that is except the foresail.

When we arrived in Monemvasia who was moored up but Roberto and Michaela from Kalamata. We had a lovely few days here visiting the old Citadel for dinner

    

and having a wee night on Camira with Roberto, Michaela and of course Kino their cat.

There was another boat, an Oyster 56 from Kalamata. We didn’t actually get to speak with the people on this boat in Kalamata but we got chatting to them here in Monemvasia. He was the Royal Apothecary before retiring, it’s quite amazing the different people you meet on this journey, “Mi Lud”

If you look carefully in the 1st picture from Gordon up the mast you can see the turtle that lives in the bay.

Monenvasia Birth Control

I’ve just run through these first few places as we’ve been to them all before just at the end of last season so don’t want to be repeating myself too much.