It’s a Small World

The last two days have blurred into one in my head. They were filled with golden sunshine, blue seas, and cookies. The sails were filled with frisk breezes and we bowled along, sleeping when the feeling hit, snacking, drinking tea, or just sitting and doing absolutely nothing. I don’t think we’ve ever had such consistently perfect sailing weather for so long since we started sailing. The miles flew by, which was good, as we had quite a few miles to cover.

We left Santorini when the Eastern sky was just starting to get the faint glow of dawn. Our first destination was Amorgos and the shipwreck of the Olympia, which is about 38 miles from Santorini. The seas were big but tidy and they pushed us along with very little drama. We were all relaxed and cheerful as we crunched on our yogurt and granola, drank hot coffee and occasionally tipped over and slept a little. There’s something about sailing that makes for excellent sleeping, though not always when you’re technically supposed to sleep. I’m quite sure none of us, possibly with the exception of Andrew, have gotten over our jet-lag as our schedule is, well, nonexistent.

We anchored near the Olympia around 11:00 and went to explore her rusty skeleton. You could climb around on her decks, though they were at a ferocious angle and broken up with rusty bits just waiting to jab you. Some snorkeled around her underwater parts and when we had seen all we wanted it was back to the boat for a big lunch before heading off again.

The following excerpt is taken from Greeka.com.

It was February of 1980 when the commercial ship Olympia reached the coasts of Amorgos and stood permanently there due to strong winds (10 Beaufort, based on the testimonials of the locals) that led it directly on the rocks.

The captain of the ship was trying in vain to find shelter in the area during the bad weather conditions, but his attempt to throw anchor was unsuccessful as the ship was hit by the rocks. However, the crew abandoned the ship soon enough and a bigger tragedy was avoided.

According to narratives, the ship’s crew consisted of contemporary pirates heading from Cyprus to Greece. That’s why the ship was under the flag of Cyprus at that time.

Another six hours of beautiful sailing brought us back to Astypalaia and the cozy, secluded Vathi port. We were getting ready for a break as it had been a long day and the seas were building. It was dark when we entered the narrow channel and eased our way past the shallows and into the inner refuge. I could hear goat bells tinkling on shore and the white rocks reflected the light of our torches. As we got near the dock two older men came out of the nearby Taverna and waited to help us tie up. I think the only word of English they really knew was Balloon, but they used it frequently. This was in reference to our fenders that hang from the boat to keep it from getting damaged when you bump and rub on docks or other boats. The old men thought we needed more balloons and lower balloons, so we rushed around ballooning until they were happy. There had been three cats on the pier when we pulled in, but looking up after tying the last balloon securely in place, I was astonished to see they had been joined by 20 or so more. There they sat, looking expectantly at us, hoping for who knows what. I’m guessing fish, as I’m pretty sure that port gets almost exclusively fishing boats. It’s very remote and the town is just a couple of houses. Way more cats than people for sure.

As a courtesy, since this place is free, some of us went to the Taverna and found sodas to go with our supper and some more water. We can hardly keep up with our drinking water consumption. The wind and salt make a person awful thirsty. It was exceedingly quaint inside, with three old men visiting at a table and one woman sitting and watching TV. She happily helped us with our drinks, apologized that she wasn’t prepared to cook and in general warmed our hearts with her cheery welcome.

Back on the boat we sat down to a delightful chicken, potato and carrot stew that had been cooking while underway. From our cozy cabin we could see the dark forms of cats as one by one they hopped aboard to take a look around. After a while we heard strains of what sounded like a fiddle coming out of the tavern. Truly an idyllic shelter. Santorini and its beauty is great, but give me a scruffy taverna, peaceful hillsides, prolific cats and friendly locals any day over that. “This is IT” were my thoughts as we sat there.

Leaving the port in the morning to head to Nisyros, a volcano island quite near Kos, it didn’t take long for us to hit messy seas. The waves were very unorganized and quite large, so our boat really sloughed around. The online weathermen were saying the significant seas were 5ft and the wave direction was from the NW. This was not quite so. I’m thinking the waves were more like 6’ and they most certainly were more NE than NW. Regardless, we have a catamaran, and while everything in me would like to stay loyal to monohulls, I can’t dispute the fact that this is a much nicer ride. We may have swayed, bucked and surfed over the waves, but we did it upright instead of at a 30degree angle. The wind was stiff off our beam and our speed was fantastic! The highest wind gusts I saw on the anemometer were 27knts, so it wasn’t anything crazy. Just fast and fun and totally invigorating! Even when I got completely soaked by a wave while at the helm. Dalen felt horrible smart cause he had just handed the helm over to me after a long and somewhat splashy time, and then two minutes later I got the drowning.

Forty miles later, Pila harbor at Nisyros was a welcome sight. While the sea is fun, so is the land and one can sleep and eat and lounge just so long before needing to get on the move again. Heath had been messaging with a guy from Manos K’s rentals and getting scooters lined up for when we arrived. A couple of their people were at the quay waiting to help us dock and they brought the bikes right out there to us. Talk about service! After a quick lunch we all headed out, a herd of bikes with one Original Beach Buggy chucked in for good measure.

Nysiros is gorgeous! Endless terraces that used to be farmed, lots of oak and olive trees, quaint villages and in the middle of it all, the steaming volcano cauldron. The goat to people ratio here is quite high in the goats favor. We went nearly to the top of the island and ate some chocolately bliss called volcano cakes in a little town square with flowers, cats and of course a church. From there we climbed even higher to another church where we had the unbelievably beautiful panorama of the Aegean Sea spread below us on all sides. From there we continued on, dodging goats and taking switchbacks with aplomb, til we got to the little rock sauna that is heated by the volcano. It’s a constant 60deg C in there, and moist air puffs out of various holes in the rock. It didn’t take long at all to feel quite damp and sweaty.

And then it was down into the crater itself, whizzing past olive groves and bumping over bad spots in the road until we arrived at the stark, Mars-like bottom of the valley. The guy at the gate to the crater said we should take the time to visit the lesser craters and not just the big one as they were much more terrifying. So we did that, walked around in the stink of the big Steffanos crater for a while, and then hiked the short distance to two more craters that were actively sending out little vile smelling puffs of steam. I couldn’t quite get the terrified feeling, but it was interesting. For whatever reason, where the steam puffs out the rock is a brilliant neon yellow. It almost looks Dr Seuss-ish.

We took the back road out of the crater and wound our way slowly down and around the island. There is never not a gorgeous sight. Does that sentence even work?! Regardless, you simply can’t get your fill of looking, of watching goats hopping around or of drinking in the bracing air. The island is largely uninhabited, which adds to the appeal. We were down at the ruins of an old castle in time for sunset. As we strolled along the top of the old wall, I suddenly noticed a bright yellow crocus growing out of the formidable black rock wall. Stunning! I stopped and just looked for a while.

The sunset was glorious, but also meant it was getting time to turn in the bikes and become responsible adults again. An oil spill needed to be cleaned up in the kitchen cabinet, our fresh water tanks needed to be refilled, trash taken out, more provisions bought and the route for tomorrow planned. Showers were also a must, as we had sorta skipped last night due to a water shortage. It seemed we all were pretty droopy as we munched our spaghetti for supper and bed was bliss. Not like I actually slept so well. Most of this post was written in the middle of the night and I could hear the pitter-patter of Dalen’s feet as he strolled the deck, also not sleeping. Oh well. Good nights are overrated, we’ll say.