Kalantos, Naxos

A blow was expected imminently so we had to find a secure bolt hole until it passed. We thought we had found one on the south coast of Naxos. The bay was reportedly good holding with little or no waves albeit the wind gusts would be fierce.

Only 5 miles away.

There was also the option of a place in the little harbour if there was space. There was, so it was an ideal spot to stop as we could let Lily off the boat for a wander as well.

Kalantos bay & harbour. The canteena / lean too is up the hill

About an hour after berthing we heard cat screeching accompanied by Lily high tailing it across the open ground near the harbour being chased by another cat. It’s a shame everywhere she goes she’s always the stranger wandering onto other cat’s territory. She stayed near the boat for a bit but then strayed again. No bother this time so we thought all had calmed down and she was minding her P’s & Q’s with the locals and shying clear of confrontation.

A Greek woman charter skipper on the boat next to us took a shine to her and had asked the harbour master if his Alsatian dog was OK with cats? . He initially had apparently answered Yes, but on our return from dinner that night he approached us and warned that “ His dog liked people but not cats”  He was a nice dog, unfortunately he liked chasing cats!  To be fair at least he warned us.

This was going to be an issue as it wouldn’t be fair to lock Lily in for however many days it took for the weather to calm down. He did offer to keep his dog home the next day but that was equally unfair on the dog and in addition we did not know how long we would be stuck here. We decided to leave the next morning.

It was lucky we had already washed the boat and filled up with water earlier that day to allow us an early start although where to we were still quite unsure.

There are no shops in Kalantos, just a farm, a taverna across the other side of the bay and a canteen shack at the top of the hill looking down on the harbour. Dinner was prepared for us up there alfresco on a BBQ accompanied with the locally made wine – a very interesting taste.

The climb & views from the canteena

Perhaps it was a godsend we had to leave. The canteen affair was very expensive for what it was and 20:00 euros for one night in the harbour was over the top for Greece, where more often than not there is no charge. It would’ve been a costly confinement in the end.

They were very nice though and gave us a plate of figs & honey to take away.

I couldn’t give a fig

Anyhow we were off in the morning despite the worsening weather.

An Israeli had couple arrived during that night and were keen to see inside our Moody, so before we set off we gave them the guided tour of our 9m palace!

Hello & goodbye Kalantos – a flying visit