From the castle at Ay Marina you can see right through to Lakki (with Pandeli below and Kalymnos in the distance) - it will take us a day to sail there but we can return on our bikes in 30 minutes!

Continuing our journey round Leros, we stop and visit the magnificent Venetian castle in Ay Marina. It's possible to see most of the island. We spend the night in Xero Campos and arrive back in Lakki on Saturday to spend a few days getting ready for haul out.

Another lovely evening before we all go our separate ways

We find the perfect place for a campfire and BBQ, but it seems to be in the middle of a goat trail...(don’t worry, they all got safely past)

Oreos Plakoudi now known as BBQ bay

Back on Leros - still in the company of Blue Jay and Constantia - we anchor in Oreos Plakoidi. We’ve been here before but not in such good conditions, this time we appreciate what a beautiful sheltered anchorage it is, lovely swimming and some ready made BBQ pits that we make good use of.

Arki - Beautiful replicas of every boat that's been owned by this Arki family
It’s time to think about heading back East. We leave Syros, spend a couple of nights in Naoussa, a night at anchor off Amorgos before Lazy Pelican rejoins the 'flotilla' in Patmos. We climb up to the Chora and visit the cave of St John - others make a pilgrimage into town to watch the Champions League final between Spurs and Liverpool! Then it’s onto Arki where we get the last place on the tiny quay.

The magnificent natural harbour has served Ermoupolis for centuries

If Tinos town was a shock to the system, Ermopolis is even more of a surprise, this is an industrial town on a tiny Greek island!
We've found a space in (another) unfinished marina on the south of the harbour. This is the industrial side of town, we look at the power station in one direction, the fuel tanks in another and a working ship yard between us and the town - but actually it's very peaceful and rather nice, preferable to being at anchor against the town quay where yachts are backed onto cafes and the ferocious ferry washes leave you bouncing around and in danger of clashing with other boats.
It's a 10 minute bike ride into the town, weaving your way past boat yards and fishing harbours before rounding a corner and finding the back end of a 40,000 tonne oil tanker in your face! From then on, there's a cycle path all round the bay which is backed by faded neo classical buildings - a legacy of a time when Ermopolis was as important to Greece as the port of Piraeus.

The dovecotes incorporated into the island houses

We hire a car for the day - which is plenty of time for a tour of the whole island. Climbing to the top of Exombourgo, the highest peak still with its Venetian fortifications, we have a wonderful view back across all the islands we’ve been visiting. Then we stop to look at the dovecotes that Tinos is famous for - beautifully carved and incorporated into village houses before having lunch in the north at Panormas and driving back via a high remote road along the north coast.

Route to the top - the 2m candles are an optional extra!

Tinos is a tourist town, but not as we know it. No little white Cycladic houses or painted fishing boats here, instead there's a bustling harbour front, ferries the size of Iraklia, motorbikes, roadworks, painting and welding - this is a Greek town gearing up for the Greek tourist season. And they come in their thousands apparently, to crawl up the main street (there is a permanent strip of carpet laid in the road for the weak kneed) to pay homage at the church at the top where, after a vision from a local nun, a painting attributed to St Luke was discovered.

Every man and his dog has been trying to pay the tax - without success

Back in Naoussa, we have met up with Jane on Blue Jay and her mini flotilla! There is only one topic of conversation - have you paid the cruising tax yet? This is a tax the Greek Government have just implemented to be paid by all cruisers according to the length of your boat and the time spent in Greek waters. It was announced last week - and it must be paid (or face dire consequences) by Sunday! Of course the arrangements for paying are unworkable and the website went down within hours of it opening! We had heard that the way to get round the problems of the online payment system was to visit the nearest Port Police so the crews of 4 yachts caught the bus to Parikia and spent the day trying to pay - but with no success! There's a need to meet up and vent frustration!

Luckily we weren't offered a spot on this bit of the quay!

We've come to a place on the South of Naxos that is miles from anywhere - literally, it's 13km along a dirt track to the nearest surfaced road! But a harbour was built here about 10 years ago - and there's even a harbour master who collects harbour dues!! His name's Vasili and he looks like a Greek God - bearded, bronzed and beefy! He also has a small holding - and we buy some delicious cottage cheese made that morning on his farm.
There's a lovely beach, and clearly some tourists make the long road trip as there's a taverna that opens for a couple of months in the summer. Unfortunately, the harbour has silted so badly that half the space is already unusable, so how long Vasili will be needed remains to be seen!