Heather with chauffeur on Naxos

It was only a short trip from Kusadasi to Samos and we chose Pythagorio (as usual there are about ten ways of spelling this in two alphabets) home town of Pythagoras. Restaurants ringed the harbour as usual but the smell of roasting lamb had changed to grilled fish. Local conversations seemed louder as acquaintances tried to out boom each other. You can't help immediately noticing the increase in prices, fewer places taking credit cards, and the similarity with Turkish dishes, including Moussaka. Hardly surprising given the way they have swapped dominion over each other for several millennia. If you don't like chunks of tomato and thick slabs of cucumber, eating any meal out can be limiting in either country. You can understand our strong urge for Italian, the only other choice.

We had a quick look at Agathonisi and then on to Skala on Patmos. It has a fascinating monastery and shrine to St John where he did some work on his bible blog. The museum in the monastery contains ancient religious documents and objects that are very interesting. We took a taxi up and walked back down the old donkey track through the fir trees. Very enjoyable.

Seeing a weather window, we high-tailed it to Ormos Roussa on Dhenoussa. Good shelter from the Meltemi the pilot guide said but 25 knot gusts gave our wind generator plenty of power. We didn't fancy another night there.

The following day we tackled three metre waves and strong winds for five hours to reach Naxos where we anchored in the new harbour. The old town was interesting and we started to like the place. It had a very nice atmosphere and an old town full of the usual tourist shops.

Two days later we boarded a high speed ferry to re-visit Santorini (Thira). They take great delight in sounding one deafening blast for at least 30 seconds as they turn to starboard. The water surges, spume flies, the windward anchor plummets and the huge ship backs up with tail loading ramps unfolding on to the dock, like a giant praying mantis about to pick up a human feast from those waiting below. As we walked up the internal stair case to the ship's lounge I noticed the manufacturers plate, it was built in Western Australia! Well you could have knocked me over with a short length of baggywrinkle because I thought Aussie manufacturing was dead.

We sailed round the inside of Santorini's crater last year and but leaving the boat near the old town was not possible. The very high speed ferry saved time and a Meltemi head wind had we sailed back. Santorini from the crater rim is breathtaking and the old narrow lanes and carefully painted houses and walls are very picturesque. The old town is crammed with tourist shops as one would expect but fortunately there were not many tourists.

The water is invitingly blue in the sandy shallows. The weather is definitely getting warmer but still too cold for us to swim. The local kids didn't think so. Two of them swam out to our boat for a chat.

The wailing call to prayer was gone but on Sunday morning the bells kept ringing from all around. They had a certain urgency. Was it for us? Surely not.

We made friends with Yannis, the Greek waiter at an Italian restaurant near the boat. The exception to the rule, he provided excellent service and friendly banter. He even took Heather on his motor bike to a good food market at the end of our stay. The lad at the shop offered to walk our groceries back to the boat. Later, the chandlery was closed so a nearby shopkeeper phoned for the owner to open it up! Naxos was indeed a very friendly place. Perhaps they were not yet jaded by the hordes that were to descend upon them over the coming months.

Tomorrow we head north to Mykonos, light winds and a bit beamy Windguru said yesterday. The day after the Meltemi starts up again. We are at an internet café to post this blog but guess what? No wifi tonight and no one knows where the unit is, let alone how to use the reset button.