Leaving Ormos Fikiadha
21 May 2014
Sunny and warm
Leaving Ormos Fikiadha
Had a windy night and the forcast is for the same today so Gary didn't want to go and ask for his chain back so we decided to wait until the next day before moving on.
Went ashore and dragged the dinghy to the other side of the sand bar to go have a look at the hot spring. Beautiful clear water but what a pity the bottom is polluted with plastic bags. Same when we got ashore in a small cove which even had a wheel and tyre on the beach along with bags of rubbish decintergrating, spilling the contents everywhere.
Well we tramped all over the place, on the sand and into the growth up the hill but couldn't find a hot spring. Maybe the puddle we did find was it but may be a seasonal thing after rain...don't know , so we returned to the sand bar and became mountain goats climbing to the ancient ruins along the goat tracks. Found plenty of goats on the way.......views are terrific and plenty of pics taken. Easier trip down and back to the boat. We had yachts arriving and leaving some staying during late afternoon.
Friday morning and we retrieved our chain and gear from the Finnish people and set off at 0810 for the eastern side of Kythnos. A couple of metre swell and put the head sail up @0835. Cleared the lighthouse at the top of Kythnos @0930. We arrived at Loutra (Loutron Port Irene)and anchored by 1000 .The Frenchman close by where we anchored came over saying we were over his anchor ( he had 70 mtrs of chain out) and he wasn't happy for us to stay where we were. Apparantly the night before a couple of yachts dragged their anchors and went aground. Because his weather forecast said similar conditions for this night he didn't want us dragging on to him. Our forecast did mention thunderstorms but not the winds this bloke was talking. To keep the peace we moved, then set off in the dinghy to the marina area, rimmed by tavernas on the sand. Secured the dinghy, put on our walking shoes and asked directions to the Chora. This is the capital of the Island and is where the original settlement was. Its name of course is Kythnos. The island boasts 359 churches/chapels and I have no doubt about this as we passed several on the 5 klm walk up the hills. Once in the village there is St. Trinity, the oldest church of the island, St Savas (1613) and the monastry of Pangias of Nikous. They have one of the biggest religious festivals every year on 15th August.
This village is just the kind on the postcards, with narrow paved streets and alleys. Absolutely wonderful....so engrossed in photo taking we forgot about siesta. Everything closes at 2pm until after 5pm. Hurried to a cafe and had lunch. Small choice but with our coffee came complimentary cake and then to top it off sweet glace fruits, some of which we didn't recognise. So pleased we had the 5 klm walk back down to the waterfront. When we left the whole place was empty. Warm walking and checked out the mineral springs on the beach before doing the stroll back to the dinghy along the tavernas.