The Knox Whites, being intrepid travelers, joined in the adventure of going where the wind blows. This meant it was uncertain where we would end up after a week. It turned out to be Astapalia. The island was a relaxing place to experience Greece- as the Lonely Planet book says "for the alternative traveler." With only a smattering of tourists, and a number of other yachties, it felt like a step back in time. There were old greek ladies in black sitting in doorways and men driving scooters loaded down w/ their family and appliances. We spent our last day lounging in a traverna, w/ the kids playing board games. Hanging out w/ the KW's felt like having a part of home on the boat. And we were happy to give them a crash course in real cruising situations. Like when John saved the day noticing that the boat was floating out of the bay...sure enough, we dragged anchor. After frustratingly re-anchoring about ten times in windy conditions, we finally had to move to a less weedy spot. This was the first time our fantastic Rochna anchor let us down, but only b/c the weeds were in charge. With all of their hard earned knowledge, John and Jen had new appreciation for the evening entertainment of watching other yachties anchor.
Somehow the KW's figured out how to get back to Athens from Astapalia. The weekly ferry off the island was an early departure and it turned out to be stressful as their 3:35 am taxi (one of three in the town) finally came at 4:00 am - allowing a few seconds to spare for them to catch the 4:10 am ferry. Got to love Greece b/c as it turned out the 4:10 am ferry was delayed until 7:00 am. The ferry went to Kos, where they stayed a couple of days before catching a plane to Athens.
Thankfully, the wind eased up for on the same day the Knox Whites left. Forty knot winds were predicted, so we quickly got out of the area doing a 12 hour passage to Simi and have been sitting out quite a blow. Photos Here