GHOST

Nice early start this morning. Up and out by 7am. The weather was forecast to be pretty much the same, perhaps a little lighter winds, but as we know they are only forecasts and purely advisory! The trip over to Santorini was fairly non descript except for the anticipation we had for arriving here. I've heard about it for years. My mate Gav came here years ago and loved it, the pictures look stunning, the sunsets are world famous and the Lonely Planet guide raves about it. The island has played a huge part in the history of the area as it was once a single round island which has erupted many times in the last 3000-5000years (was rumoured to have wiped out the Mycenians) which transformed it into a massive caldera of a volcano but the middle is several hundred metres deep and 1000ft cruise ships are dwarfed by the sheer size and grandeur of the place...or so I had heard!

We arrived in expectation having chatted with some other sailors that suggested the cruising guide (which said the place is hard to moor to) was a little harsh and it would be fine. Alas, the guide was right. The fantastic location is ruined by one simple thing, it is now run by the Greeks. Old Winny Churchill has a lot to answer for. He took perfectly good islands and gave them to the most unorganised, careless, useless (when it comes to sailing activities) people in the Med..and that is saying something. I mean what would be wrong with a few laid mooring lines and I guy taking lines. It works everywhere else in the med. They built a marina but it slits up so we can't be sure we'd be able to get in. I truly believe this place would have been better run by Italians!

After the stark realisation we couldn't moor anywhere near the major town, Fira, we contemplated heading straight back to sea and on to another island. We had however spied some mooring buoys on the way in had decided to give Santorini one last chance. While even the simple task of picking up a mooring buoy was exacerbated by...you guessed it, a local telling us it was reserved, we finally said to hell with it and moved to another buoy and headed into town.

A short donkey ride to the top of the hill and we can finally understand how amazing this place is. High on the cliffs looking down over the caldera with the stereotypical white and blue houses it is a truly lovely place. We've looked down from a vantage point occasionally to make sure Ghost is OK and so far she is holding in there!