The trip from Samos to the southern end of Chios is about 65 nm (about 120km) and took us about 10 hours. We picked a day that had light winds as we knew we would be beating into the prevailing north westerly winds, and wanted to ensure relatively calm seas. We left Samos at 6am and arrived in Chios just before 4pm. - it was a long but relaxing day. We managed to sail some of the way but inconsistent winds resulted in a lot of motoring. We anchored in a lovely bay off a small rocky beach and spent two days just swimming and relaxing. There were people swimming on the beach during the day here but otherwise in the evenings it was totally deserted. On the third day we moved into an adjacent bay that provided better protection from the strong northerly gusts. The bay was frequented by fishing boats, the fishermen having rough shacks around the rocky bay.

We had very weak and unreliable internet connection here for checking weather forecasts and emails. Glenn solved this issue by putting a mobile phone in a small bag, attaching it to a rope and hoisting it up the mast. This worked a treat, as we could hot-spot off the mobile phone to get weather updates on our iPad.

The weather forecast for Saturday was for light winds, so decided to head for Oinoussa island off the north eastern tip of Chios. It is amazing the number of small Greek islands that we have never heard of before. Oinoussa has turned out to be a real gem, with pretty painted houses on the hill surrounding the harbour. Some of the houses are quite large as the island had considerable money in the past with a prosperous seafaring community, including a couple of Greek shipping magnates. There are many houses now that are in a state of decay but it seems like the community are working towards restoring many of them.

The port is quite large with lots of local fishing boats and about 8-10 visiting yachts. The main industry is fishing, with very limited tourism. This is the first harbour since leaving Rhodes in early May that we have had a visit from the port police who checked through all our required paperwork. It was a little surprising given how isolated and quite this place is.

We visited a local taverna for lunch, which was frequented by local workmen who were either collecting take-away or enjoying fried calamari or whitebait and an ouzo. Interestingly apart from the cook and a waitress, there were no women in the taverna. We were greeted warmly here, as we have been generally in the town. They all ask where we are from and are surprised that we are visiting Oinoussa. In the evening we ate dinner on the waterfront but most of the patrons at the taverna were locals, which is different from many of the touristy places visited lately. We enjoyed a lovely meal of watermelon, feta and mint salad, cheese balls, local sausage and fried potatoes.

Sunday morning we were woken by church bells at about 7am, the large church up the hill chimes the time every hour as well as chiming for church services during the day. After breakfast we walked up the hill to explore the town. We found the local bakery, so purchased bread, Greek honey biscuits and spanakopita for lunch today. Again, we were warmly greeted and surprise expressed that we were from Australia.

Our plan is to spend the next few days anchored out in bays around Oinoussa and then slowing work our way down the island of Chios, exploring different bays and towns. Oinoussa will be the furthest north we will travel this year, as we only have a month left in Greece before returning to Turkey. The EU limits travel for those from non-EU countries to 90 days, with extensions in Greece being very difficult to obtain. Although we have had a few brief cloudy periods (even drops of rain!), the weather remains warm and sunny. On some days quite a breeze gets up from the north in the afternoon.