Sorry for the delay in this blog post, we have had a few days without internet connection.

Having waited for the wind to abate somewhat it was time to hit the seas again. We headed out of our sheltered anchorage on Paros to head south down to the island of Andiparos. The sea was quite rough and we had a somewhat wet and wild downwind run - not for those who get sea sick!

The bay at Andiparos would have been a lovely place to stay. Lots of sandy beaches, a good area for swimming and tavernas ashore. Unfortunately, the wind blew at up to 30 knots all afternoon so we just hid away from it on the boat as much as we could. We did see our first turtle here. We vowed to come back when the weather is calmer.

The sail from Andiparos to Ios should have been a brisk 20 knots downwind but as often happens we went from good winds to no wind. A highlight was seeing our first dolphin for this year, which jumped out of the water beside SCII. Sadly, we were not quick enough to get video footage, despite having the Go Pro at the ready.

Ios is a delightful island with a small harbour. The guide book suggested the harbour was fitted with lazy lines but someone in their wisdom decided that the lazy lines were not to be used by visiting yachts, so were disconnected and were left on the harbour floor along with a massive big chain, perfect for fouling anchors. We managed to drop and pull up our anchor without catching old lazy lines or the massive chain.

The small harbour has numerous ferries that dock both day and night. Some of the ferries are massive and must turn around in the small space, sending a surge of water into the harbour. The ferry surge makes all boats rock and roll considerably for a couple of minutes. Care needs to be taken to ensure that boats have ample room between them and the harbour wall, so the surge does not damage the boat. We have included some video for however it does not really show the full impact of the ferry surge.

We enjoyed a couple of days in Ios with great options for eating out, shopping and just people watching around the harbour. We also hired a car for a day and did a trip around the island. Like many Greek islands, the main town or Chora, is located at the top of the hill above the harbour. We parked the car and walked the narrow pedestrian only streets. During the day the chora has a sleepy feel with only men sitting in front of the church chatting or having a coffee, with a clear liquid (probably alcoholic, perhaps ouzo or tsipouro) at 10.30am in the morning. The chora has many bars and restaurants, which come alive at night.

One of the most visited sites on Ios, apart from the sandy beaches, is Homer's grave. Homer as in the classical Greek poet who wrote the Odyssey and Illiad, not Homer Simpson! There is considerable debate as to how Homer died and whether he is buried at this site. One theory is that he died on a voyage from Samos to Athens and his body was thrown overboard to be washed up on the beach below the grave site. This theory does not seem plausible and that he was carried hundreds of meters up the steep rocky hill to the inaccessible place where the grave site is located. Regardless of whether Home was buried here, the view across the nearby Cyclade islands was sensational.

We lunched at an isolated little taverna having a Greek salad with local goat cheese rather than feta, fried chickpea croquettes and saganaki. Ios has a couple of dairies that produce local goat and sheep milk cheeses. We visited one which had a museum to traditional Ios farming culture and cheese making. We took up a guided tour here, not that there was much to see. Some of the facts stated were a little far fetched but who are we to argue... Well Nerida did tactfully suggest an alternate theory for the discovery of rennet to coagulate milk and make to cheese. The guide suggested that farmers accidently discovered that goats vomit added to milk made cheese. There were just too many questions - how do you know a goat is going to vomit, how do you collect goat vomit and why would you add it to milk? Nerida suggested an alternate theory was that sheep's stomachs were once used to carry liquids and the rennet in the stomach caused the milk to set. The guide commented that this was a good theory, so we wonder if her commentary might change.

We left the lovely Ios and are making our way east back to the Dodecanese group of islands as the Cyclades will become more and more windy as summer arrives, there is a local term for the prevailing wind called the Meltemi. The meltemi starts to build up in June and blows strongest in July and August, especially in the Cyclades. So it was good to visit these islands before the meltemi sets in. We stopped at anchorages at the islands of Skhinousa, Amorgros and Levitha. We ate on board for a couple of nights, using the BBQ, as well as visiting the farmhouse taverna at Levitha again. This is the one in this week's video. Our next stop will be the island of Patmos.