After nearly two months of hopping around the Aegean, it is time to move on. We will miss the windmills and the the white-washed, blue-domed chapels, the monasteries perched atop mountaintops, the ancient castles and the ubiquitous cats. We'll even miss the dreaded Meltemi wind, which has kept us cool much of the time. Despite it being high season summertime, the anchorages have never been crowded. But the islands are beginning to all look alike, and the cloudless blue sky is becoming monotonous. The clock is ticking and the Peleponnes are calling.

It is nearly 90 miles from the caldera of Milos to the notorious Cape Maleas, where Odysseus was blown offshore to the Land of the Lotus Eaters. We had a good weather window for our crossing, and we had two choices: leave at night and arrive in the morning, or leave early and hope to arrive before dark.

With 14 hours of daylight in our favor, we chose the latter, and set sail just before dawn. The wind soon died as we left the islands behind us, and we motored the rest of the way, with no problem rounding the rugged Cape by late afternoon. We anchored in the beautiful circular, sandy cove of Sarakino, on the little island of Elafonisos just offshore of the cape. The cool, clear water was delicious after the long, hot trip, and once the tourists left the beach for their hotels, we had the place to ourselves. Little wispy clouds dotted the sky over the distant mountains as we sat in the cockpit, enjoying our sundowners. Welcome to the Peleponnes!

Photo: dramatic colors of volcanic Milos, as we sailed by