We left Astypalia and sailed in the wind direction headed for Amorgos in the Little Cyclades we had varied winds but then they came in with a blast around 30kn so we reefed our sails, arriving in a lovely bay at the southern end of Amorgos. Lots of fishing boats and us. We anchored but there was a bit of a swell rolling in so Steve decided to check out the pier it was a bit shallow at only 2mt, we had a discussion and decided that we would try tying to the pier but keep our stern about 5mts from the pier. Perfect! we had a good night without too much roll. The winds were forecast to be quite strong the next day so we decided to stay another night. So Nice to have the place all to ourselves. The locals were starting to prepare the beach for the influx of summer tourists one thing we couldn't get over was the amount of rubbish around especially plastic so we decided to go ashore with rubbish bags and clean up some of the plastic we filled up 3 very large rubbish bags I couldn't get over the amount of plastic bags, cigarette lighters, plastic lids and bottles we picked up, anyway the locals were very happy for our help and grateful as well, they couldn't believe we were willing to help. Was good to feel we had left a place better than we found it but also very much aware that yachties were perhaps the main culprits. We also befriended the cutest little ginger kitten he was all on his own, very friendly but what a survivor, he was very good at foraging we would see him disappear into one of the piles of fishing nets and come out with a small fish. I think if we were in NZ Steve would have picked him up and taken him home. We did feed him of course. After 2 tranquil nights in the bay we headed for the port of Katapola as we wanted to visit a beautiful monastery that was built in a sheer cliff face above the sea. We managed to Med moor to the pier without incident next to a French boat that was tied side on we commented that this must cause a bit of anger with the other cruisers as it was rather selfish taking up that amount of space as this pier is a very busy one. The next day we caught the bus to the monastery and climbed the 400 odd stairsin the mid morning heat, but it was worth it, a fantastic place built 700 AD and an amazing feat of engineering, there were some beautiful ancient icons just awe inspiring even for the agnostics. Back on the pier we had a lot of people stopping to talk with us, a few Kiwis and a lot of people just curious about whether we had sailed all the way from NZ. We also found out about the French boat apparently the owner a 56 year old had a heart attack and his crew had to get the boat into port while trying to perform CPR, unfortunately he died. This certainly brought home to us that we had made the right decision to do what we were doing. You never know when your number is up, so live your dreams.
Photo is of the walk up to the Monastery.
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