Author: Merro

We have spent quite a bit of time this summer toasting with the Greek word Yamas or ‘to our good health’.

Sue and Swanno flew in from safari in Africa. We collected them from the ferry in Parikia on Monday night and had a wonderful Greek dinner on the beach in Naoussa.

The next morning, we left our special port of Naoussa and headed for Donoussa, which was nine miles off the east coast of Naxos.

We found Ormos Dhendro to be the perfect place to farewell the Cyclades, with a swim and a Sue-cooked dinner under the stars. Sadly also with quite a swell into the bay when we were trying to sleep.

With the possibility of a strong meltemi, we departed before dawn to reach Patmos before the wind set in. Being up for early morning safari’s had Sue and Swanno in prime condition to deal with the rigours of sailing but they did keep asking where the staff were.

Patmos is the northern most island in the Dodecanese, so we are hopeful of having future meltemi’s on our stern. It is famous as the island where the Apostle, John the Evangelist, wrote Revelations. We arrived, swam and wandered about the town of Skala, shopping in the big AB market, which have lots of goodies, fruit, veggies and nice wines.

This morning we went up to the Chora and visited the monastery and museum.  All Greek islands seem very different,  Patmos chora  prides itself on its spirituality. In Skala are lovely beaches and bays, shops, cafes and hotels but there is a strong underlying feeling of peace and serenity.

St John lived in a cave and the church of the Apocalypse, is now built around the cave. The cave is quite small and one can imagine a hermit living in this grotto and dictating his frightening visions for posterity. Sue and I were wearing sarongs over our shorts to visit the churches and monasteries. We weren’t allowed to take any photos, but we could understand it because of all of the precious icons, vellums and paintings.

The four of us have been racing around Naxos and Santorini, kitty has been very busy. Now we are in Naoussa, Paros. Paros is ‘the new Mykonos’.  Deb and Gaila managed to do just a little shopping and we have found some restaurants and cafes and sat in the shade of umbrellas and trees. We have swum and floated in the cool Aegean sea and basically chilled out.

If there was a laugh to be had we took it, James and Davo were often in corners with a beer and we could hear the word ‘Squadron’ popping up in their conversation.

On Santorini we were too busy to shop, but on Paros when we would wander we would find some very interesting shops. We loved Izu for wonderful pareos and Melissa for jewelry and other interesting items.

We wandered around Naoussa looking at all the fishing boats and nets and we visited other village, with their older style houses and wonderful churches.

We are going to miss Geoff and Deb.  We had such a good time.

Dear Clare

The entire crew of Mercier have been worried about you.  We are so glad that you are getting better and will soon be back to your own healthy self.  We were thrilled to hear your voice today and we wanted you to know we are thinking of you.

Love to you, Tom, Melissa, Hugh, Julia,Jenny and Brian.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Get well soon and thank everyone who is looking after you from all of us.

Really, if you want to know the answer to that you had better check with Wiki Answers or King Minos.  What I do know is that after sailing to 20 Greek Islands, Santorini captivated us. The grandiose scale of island as well as the striking colours ranging from obsidian black to red earth to creamy white tufa.

We discovered that it is a very big island, with looming volcanic cliffs. There is no real anchoring for a small yacht like ours.  We only saw commercial ships, gulets and cruise liners. The four of us took a ferry, from Naxos leaving Mercier under the watchful eye of Harbourmaster Nikos.

The ferry sailed straight into the caldera.  We were literally in the volcano, looking up at the cliffs.  The ferry docked and we went straight onto a bus.  We were driven up steep, switch back roads a kilometer straight up to Oia.

The lovely village of Oia, was our destination, at the northern tip of the island.  This be the home of vampires of Santorini, not to mention the pirates.. Not surprising when you remember the tortuous road up the hill and the sheers cliffs.

Later on we were taken to Fira, the Chora or capital of Santorini.  Here you see something scarier than vampires and that is gross insensitive tourism.  If you are interested in coming to Santorini, come outside  of the months of  July or August.  Don’t come for a day trip, stay a few days so that you can enjoy the views, black sand beaches and the sunsets. We escaped to a wonderful cliffside restaurant for moussaka, greek salad and a bit of tzatziki .

We loved Santorini, but after a day trip it is still on our bucket list, another time for several days.

Geoff and Debbie Davidson have arrived, James and I  have to split up to meet them at the ferry, because the traffic on the ferry comes off and splits east or west.  We take a cab back to Finikas, stow gear and jump on the next bus back to Ermoupolis.

We stroll around town and in the convoluted alleys with the best restaurants. It’s warm, blue skies and finally not blowing a gale of a meltemi. We settle on a restaurant, Archontariki Thalassa and have mezzes for lunch, sharing salads and kebabs and grilled haloumi and sit down to catch up on gossip from Sydney and the RSYS.

There seems no quieter time than Sunday afternoon on a Greek Island.  The bustle of the work week or Saturday night’s passegiata seems to go completely still and only four wander around Hermoupoli streets and laneways looking over bays and beaches. The clearness of the water surrounding us is dazzling.

We finally succumb to the heat and stop for a drink at Ploes Cafe in Vaporia.  Down an alley with a lookout of blue azure, we could stop for awhile and contemplate the catamaran that seemed to be sailing nowhere.  The meltemi had eased but it was still very strong in the channel between Syros and Tinos.

.We woke on Monday, filled the water tanks and said goodbye to Nikos, the wonderful Harbourmaster of Finikas Marina and took off for Mykonos.

The meltemi causes a jet effect once we are out of the relatively calm waters of Syros.  We can see Tinos off to the east and Mykonos down to our south east.  The wind picks up and so do the short choppy waves and confused seas. Geoff steered to give us a more comfortable ride and also because there is almost nothing Geoff would rather do than steer a boat. The winds seem to alternate between five knots and fifty knots.

Mykonos is very unlike most of the islands we have been to so far, sailing into the busy harbour after quiet Finikas was almost a culture shock. There is no lee until you are fully in the harbour, trying to bring in the sails in high winds while dancing between inter-island ferries, local sea bus ferries and fishing boats. At one point I hear a calm Geoff say ” Well Merro, do we have a plan?”.

Mykonos looks quiet in the photo above, doesn’t it?  Mykonos is Greece’s answer to St. Tropez. Dazzling, commercial, frenetic and beautiful, but the old beauty shines through.