Tuesday 28 June
After saying goodbye to our crewmember and expert helmsman John in Paroikia on Paros (top-left photo), it is time to give Clio a good wash down and make the deluxe cabin ready for the next crew. We collected our lovely clean laundry and then made our way to Mikonos to await the arrival of Thijs and Annemarie from Holland. We had no wind to speak of, but Mikonos is just North of Paros, so the Iron Horse got us there again. There is a joke about the Cyclades (pronounce Kyklathes): there are two kinds of motor boats, one with a mast and another without one.
After meandering through the filled-to-overflow bay out of Psarrou to find a place to drop the anchor, we gave up and anchored the next bay to the East, off Gialos beach to spend the afternoon and night surrounded by buzzing jet skis and wave-generating speed boats towing bronzed skiers and the call of peacocks on the land. Yes, you read right: on inspection with the binoculars we spotted two peacocks roaming the small headland. Oh and I forgot to mention all the 20h/day party music. But we managed to sleep in spite of them all.

Wednesday 29
More wind today so a few less jet skis out and about. So a quiet day for us.

Thursday 30
Today we set off early to beat the predicted high wind on-the-nose, but no such luck: a bumpy ride to the other side of the island and the harbour of Mikonos. We attempted to go into the new partly finished Marina, but no joy there, there were divers in the water, probably repairing the landlines. So we anchored just outside in a little sheltered bay to wait for the ferry to arrive with our new crew.
The first ferry arrived at the scheduled time we expected our Dutch crew, but not on that one. So we waited for the next one and after thinking that they were not on that one either, they snuck up behind us. After greetings were complete we invited them + luggage onto our patiently waiting Cloe and managed to get us all soaked (first time in the RIB) on the short bumpy and very windy ride back to Clio.

We managed to safely deliver crew, luggage and ourselves on board and then Chris and Thijs were taken back ashore (top middle) to seek out a supermarket and stock up on essentials, e.g. Retsina and tomatoes. Once they got ashore they spotted the water bus which delivered them into town after a 10 minute ride. On asking for directions they were directed to go behind the first church for the market. Then directed to the fruit and vegetable shop which is beside the next church. Then back to the butcher just in the nick of time as they were closing for siesta time. But where to buy Retsina? Yes back in the port there is a liquor shop, so loaded up with our essentials, back to the water bus. On arrival back at the bus station, another tour boat was unloading and loading new passengers so we had to go into a holding pattern until they moved out. Francis had come to collect the shoppers and also was doing circles in Cloe while waiting in the ‘fresh breeze’. Finally we were able to transfer from bus to dinghy and made our way back to Clio.

With the wind expected to increase, we want to leave Mikonos, known as the windiest island in the Cyclades, behind us. We made our way to a beautiful sheltered bay on Rinia on the other side of Delos were we had our welcome drink with the new crew and received very kind gifts, very nice smelling bath gel for Chris, an oversized parrot for the skipper (top-right-left) and, very importantly: dropjes (liquorice)!!!. After the grand Clio tour and safety briefing, we enjoyed a very nice swim and snorkel, followed by a good night’s sleep.

Friday 1 July
We set off this morning to the island of Syros, the wind is right on the nose (wind come from where you want to go) so it was motor all the way. On reaching Ermoupolis on Syros we tied up to the quay and treated ourselves to lunch ashore (bottm-middle). Syros, being the administrative centre of the Cyclades and Ermoupolis the capital of both the island and the Cyclades, and occupied by the Venetians from 1204 until 1522, has a distinctive Venetian architecture, not unlike Symi. Also it is not really on the tourist trail so has more Greeks than visitors, which is nice. After catching the free bus to the supermarket and acquiring the other essentials, like food. We headed back to the bus stop. Chris spotted a shop opposite selling deck chairs, the beach kind with short legs, and mentioned that it would be ideal for the front deck of Clio. So Francis ran across the road and after throwing the shopkeeper into a panic saying he must have a chair quickly before the bus comes, he came running back with said deck chair. Chris very happily now makes good use of the new furniture.
We finished the day with a swim and Francis’ yummy pasta dinner. We were 5 metres away from the tavernas and a bar which played music until 4.00 in the morning, it interfered slightly with our sleep. Ah, such is Greece!

Saturday 2 July
Today we expect 10 to 15 knots so figured we would have a nice sail to the island of Kythnos. But, of course, again the predictions are not accurate and we spent the next four hours hooning along in 20 to 25 knot winds, with Clio scoring a personal best of 10.5 knots, making for one very happy skipper. (Eat your heart out John.)

On arrival at Loutra on Kythnos we were very happy to secure a spot in the small harbour, although on first attempt we did not let out enough anchor chain. As the winds are expected to be in excess of 30 knots over the next few days, we needed to re-anchor and managed to get Clio more secure with over 30 metres of chain out.

Now it was time to reconnect with our dear friends Alki and Lita in Xerolithia our favourite taverna (bottom-middle). After some drinks, laughter and tears of joy it was time for a siesta followed by dinner at Xerolithia and more fun with all the Xerolithia staff, old and new. Kalliope, Lita’s very pretty and smart (she’s going to study criminology at Athens uni, on the inset photo with Alki and Francis) and the totally mad Georgio on bottom right photo. They are a great team and we really love to catch up with them again. Sadly we missed Claude (who allegedly switched from a sail yacht to a motor boat and was probably hiding from us), and George as they were gallivanting over other parts of Europe.

Sunday 3 July
We’re stuck in Loutra due to Meltemi-strength winds, with very dire predictions for the next WEEK or so. Poor crew, with the predictions giving us many days winds gusting over 30 knots, so there is no chance of us risking our crew and boat and another reminder to not take crews in July and August when we are in the Cyclades.
We keep ourselves occupied by the fun and games in the harbour as boats come and go in high winds and attempt to secure themselves wherever they can squeeze in. We have a relaxing day swimming on the nearby beach and sleeping. While sitting in the small thermal pool, with amazingly hot water, at the end of the beach, Chris and Francis met a woman from London who had Caribbean and Irish heritage and had a long and interesting chat about the incredible outcome of the Brexit vote and the impacts on the English people living in- and outside of London.

Monday 4 July
The wind is still howling, so we are staying put. We tried to hire a car but none available today so we book for tomorrow. Back to the beach for more swimming and then Chris and Annamarie went off to try out the hydrotherapy at the thermal bath-house. For €6.00 each we got to lay in a stone bath filled with hot salt and mineral water for 20 minutes. No explanations, no fuss just hop in the tub and then "bath finished". Not quite the kind of spa we are used to (many times the price though), but an interesting experience. Sadly it did not cure the ageing, achy joints for Chris.

Meanwhile back in the harbour, more fun and games. A yacht came in full of young Brits and in a strong crosswind they attempted to drop anchor and reverse into a tight corner spot. They were pushed by the wind in the wrong direction and proceeded to drag across all the moored boats lines. Pandemonium as a bunch of crazed yachties, Chris included, stood on their bows waving arms frantically and screaming stop, go back, pull up your anchor etc.,
Thankfully they managed to get their anchor out without causing any damage and after a third attempt managed to get themselves tied to the quay with lots of directions and advice from the sidelines. It turned out they only had two mildly experienced sailors on board and the rest were complete novices. The boy operating the anchor winch had never done it before and was a bit overwhelmed by all the yelling, understandably. We all breathed a sigh of relief and congratulated them on getting in safely in such bad conditions. They were very grateful for the assistance, and came to thank us once they were settled. They also were seeking some technical advice which Francis was happy to share with them. They really are such a lovely group of young people.
Francis met another of our neighbours, a Canadian couple from S/Y ‘Geronimo’ and spent many hours discussing world politics with them.

With the wind howling at over 30 knots and us being the last yacht at the end of the yachts and being pushed sideways, the Canadian kindly lent us a long sturdy line to tie us to the side quay 50 metres on our starboard side, we then connected with another line to his yacht 3 boats over which made us all very secure.
And still the yachts come limping in, just when you think the harbour is full a couple of Greek charter boats squeezed alongside in the corner and rafted together in front of the young Brits. Nobody is leaving any time soon.

Tuesday 5 July
Today we collected our very small fiat hire car at 12:00 and headed off to explore the island. We first went to Merhikas on the other side of the island for Annamarie and Thijs to buy their ferry tickets to return to Athens on Saturday, and then enjoyed a delicious lunch in one of the many beach tavernas, the wind and transparent wind guards around the terrace produced enough noise to make conversation hard at times. But the company was good and the food up to the Greek standard, so not much to complain about. After lunch and a couple of navigational surveys (getting lost), we found the monastery at Kanala and enjoyed the many great views from the high mountain ridges overlooking the ink-blue Aegean sea with the ominous long white wave-caps. .We didn’t envy the two sail yachts bouncing and cork-screwing their way north into a heavy sea. We finished off the day with very nice gelato ice cream back in Loutra.

Wednesday 6 July
Still stuck in Loutra by high winds, but a brief respite from the wind howling through the rigging as we head back up to the chora for coffee and then another small drive to find a Castle which we found the sign for, but no sign of a castle anywhere, but we enjoyed the magnificent views anyway. Now it is time for swimming, eating and sleeping again. Thijs and Annemarie adapt very well to this life style, but it must be hard to not be able to go anywhere in your holidays. So sorry guys, we will speak to the Meltemi-Gods about this!