We got ready to set sail for Kea, packed up our loose items, did the dishes and hauled up the anchor.  Today was really the first day where the winds looked good enough to sail.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and very breezy!  We were off the hook by 10:30 AM with south winds at 20 knots that lasted for one hour.  The wind dropped and we motored for a while and ate while we motored.  Demitri from Kythnos had caught a calamari and cleaned it for us.  The girls all threw out ideas as to how to prepare it then Tracy and Valerie marinated it in lemon juice, wine, olive oil, garlic, onions and fresh herbs just to name a few things.  The calamari had been marinating since yesterday so we were certain that it was ready.  The lemon juice had “cooked” the calamari and it was served up with a couscous salad, fresh bread and cheese, tzatziki (made from cucumber and yogurt) and of course, olives from Demitri’s olive trees.  It was a feast fit for a king!

 
After cleaning up, the wind kicked in again but this time from a northerly direction at about 22 knots.  So we turned off the motor and hauled out the jib.  Mark and Bill both took turns at the helm while John and Tracy worked the jib and trimmed the main under Valerie’s direction.  It was a great sail!  This was our reason for being on Maya…thank you Poseidon! 

The islands of Kythnos, Syros and Kea are part of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea.  Kythnos and Kea in particular are very small islands and are not the type of islands that the cruise ships or tour boats frequent.  Kea, has a population of around 3,000 and it’s capital is Loulis which is situated inland at a high altitude (due to fear of pirates in the early days) and we decide to take a cab there to see the Lion of Kea.   

The town is beautiful, dotted with white buildings and red tiled roofs, gardens and archways with grape vines, and flowers everywhere.  It is simply breathtaking, when you see the architecture, flora and the view of the Aegean Sea in one panoramic glance.  I believe this is my favorite island after Hydra.  Once again, we have timed it perfectly for siesta time and all of the shops are closed.  But we are really here to hike up the mountain to see the Lion.  So we hike.

We finally arrived at the site of the Lion of Kea!  Wow!  He is the oldest stone sculpture on the island and it had been dated at 600 BC.  No one knows who sculpted it or why he is here but he is beautiful and the mystery about him captivates all of us.  We can’t get enough of him and actually overdo the tourist thing with the number of pictures we take of the lion. 

We returned to the boat, showered up, played catch up with Valerie and John and then headed out to the restaurant, which was practically at the end of the passarella.  The restaurant is “Aristos Greek Taverna”.  The waiter was very sweet when I asked if he could get permission for me to watch the chef make saganaki.  He consented and I followed him, camera in hand.  The cooks were all laughing because they couldn’t believe that anyone would want to watch them cook.  I took pictures and they explained, get your oil hot; cut a slab of Gruyere cheese and coat with flour, then cook.  Wow!  Whodda thunk it!  No more than that!  You don’t even turn it over!  You just put it on the plate with lemon wedges.  They cooked it in about two minutes!  No wonder they were laughing!  But it was yummy!!!!

We planned to head out early in the morning since we were going back to Athens.  Debbie and I had not yet visited the Acropolis and we wanted to try and fit that in on Friday.  The rest of the crew all agreed that it would be a sin to be in Greece and not see it, so they graciously agreed to set sail early so we could fit the visit into our schedule.  We headed back to the boat, and once again, we enjoyed another great night in Greece.  Good food, good friends, good fun.  Good night!

Day 5 Hydra to Kythnos or “Hand Me the Pliers and Don’t Crush that Dwarf”

Everyone was up and Valerie had gone to the bakery and picked up some spanikopita and pastries for everyone.  She had two kinds of spanikopita, spinach and cheese or ham and cheese, made fresh this morning.  They looked yummy.  The “furry guy” (the harbor master) was scooting around in his little red rowboat making certain that the boats that were pulling up anchor, pulled only their own and left without any incidents.  The water was so clear, we had no problem seeing our anchor line and we cast off the lines and pulled up the anchor without a problem. 

      Hydra

Oddly, there was still little wind and no dolphin sightings.  The closer we got to Kythnos, however, the wave action picked up...  We motored into a small inlet and the waters calmed and we could see the harbor.  It was very picturesque, quaint and serene, quite different from the other harbors we had visited.  We were able to back into the dock and hook up to shore power and water!   

We hopped off the boat to explore the island.  Kythnos is famous for its mineral baths.  It has natural springs of steaming hot mineral water that flow down from the island to the sea.  There are bathhouses up on the hill, providing private marble baths with little Greek women that assist you.  It was after 3 PM so it was too late to go to the mineral baths at the bathhouse, but there was a place where the mineral springs meet the sea naturally and Valerie and I opt to go there.  The remaining crew voted to rent scooters and explore the island via motor. 

As Valerie and I walked around to the “natural spa” area, we checked out the small restaurants and tavernas.  This is the island where her friend Dimitri has a farm and provides everything his family eats except for bread

and raikie (his moonshine).  He is a fisherman too!  Valerie had almonds and olives on the boat from Dimitri and they are wonderful!  We stopped at the Poco Loco Café and Valerie and I visited with Antonis, the owner.  He helped our crew make arrangements for their scooters and said they all seemed fine. ..  We drank frappes with him and shared a snack of grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches that his mother prepared.  It was really good!  While we visited with Antonis, Dimitri drove up on his three- wheeler and visited too. 

The beach was just around the bend but we could still see Maya across the tiny harbor.  The sand had beautiful snow-white marble rocks that looked like seashells on the shore and I collected a few to take home.  The stones were polished and worn smooth by the sea. 

The water was refreshing and had both warm and cool spots.  We swam around and then applied a hair mask to our wet heads and tied our hair up to sun-dry with the moisturizing cream on our heads.  We walked over to the mineral spring that flowed down from the hillside in a cement gutter and meets the sea.  At the “meeting” point, rocks have been placed in a semi-circle extending out from a rock wall forming a “natural” pool.  On one side, the mineral water empties into the pool area next to the rock wall and from the other side the waves spill over the semi-circle of rocks into the pool area, making a nice, hot, relaxing bath.  People come from all over to soak in these healing waters.  The steam rises from the mineral water and it is very hot, but the cool waters of the sea make it comfortable.  We soaked for a while, swam again and then started back to the boat with the conditioner “baking” on our heads. 

The others had been gone for quite some time and after our showers, they showed up “Easy Rider” style.  “Like a true nature’s child, we were born, born to be wild”…move over Steppenwolf the kids are back!  They were all comfortable with their scooter expertise and ready for a dip in the “spa”.  

Ordering dinner at the Taverna D’oro proved to be an experience that provided entertainment, creativity, and a lot of laughs.  We of course, ordered Greek food, as there was no other choice.  The waitress/cook/owner did not speak very much English so we improvised.  When the menu described a platter of “local meats”, we tried to distinguish exactly which meats were included on this platter…”moo”?  “Oh, yes it had moo”.  “Oink”?  “Yes, yes.  It had oink as well”.  “Baa baa”?  “Of course, we have baa baa”.  The waitress is getting into the rhythm and laughing with us because, hey, she understood baby talk, we are communicating!  “Does it have Eey aaw”?  This is when the waitress lost it!  She could not stop laughing and the other workers came over to join the fun.  “No!!!  We do not serve Eey aaw!”  With a sigh of relief, “survey says”…”order the local meats platter”!  We order and our waitress is giggling all the back to the kitchen.  The dinner was really tasty, local meats included.

...The three of us take a taxi to Alimos Marina and waited at the Skipper’s Bar for everyone.  Valerie is the first to meet us and she brings us up to date with what is happening in her busy life.  She has had several charters back to back and is ready for a break.

 The boat, “Maya” is a Bavaria 49 and shows beautiful German craftsmanship.  She has an aft cockpit with dual steering.  The cockpit is cushioned, roomy, has both a bimini and dodger.  She boasts a forward V-berth, two side crew quarters, two aft double berths and three heads.  The main salon is roomy and the galley is open and easy to manage.  The floors and walls are teak and in beautiful condition.  The boat is clean, well cared for and still looks brand new.  Her decks are clean, her lines are neat and she looks ready and able.  We stow our gear and prepare to get underway.  By 10:30 AM we are out of the marina and headed for the island of Poros.    

 The color of the island growth varies in shades of a dusty gray-green to lush greens.  The flowers we see are oleander and bougainvillea.  The reds, pinks and whites are everywhere, both cultivated and wild.  The land mass varies too from farmlands, to mountainsides, rocky crags and caves.  It is amazing that all these different characteristics can appear on the same island.  You can see small villages clustered together then wide expanse before the next village.  Monasteries and churches appear on the top of mountains and in the center of a village.  It is predominantly Greek Orthodox Christianity that is practiced here.  We can spot domed churches with crosses on top throughout the area. 

We arrive at Poros and Valerie executes a perfect “Mediterranean mooring” which means she dropped her anchor in the harbor and backed the boat toward the dock where lines were looped onto huge dock cleats then secured on cleats aboard Maya.  Maya’s anchor has an electric windless and Tracy and Debbie opted for anchor duty.  One fed the anchor rode (chain) out and kept an eye to make certain it was secure.  The other communicated with Valerie with hand signals to let her know where the rode was and how much was out.  Once she knew it had taken hold, she threw docks lines out to waiting hands and John secured the stern of the boat to the dock cleats.  It really was amazing to watch a crew that had never sailed together before work smoothly in sync.  Kudos to the captain and crew, they made it look so easy!  We are “in” for the night.  

Poros is a busy, happening place.  There are motor scooters everywhere, zipping this way and that.  The engines are so quiet, you need to keep an eye out or you are likely to get run down as they pop out of nowhere.  Helmets are not required and from what I can gather, neither is common sense.  We saw three on one scooter pass by us.  I’m just glad my kids didn’t see that! 

It is Sunday morning and I am up early to get ready for the church service.  I tiptoe around my cabin and try hard not to disturb anyone.  They will probably sleep in until I return.  I poke my head up the companionway to catch a glimpse of the morning and the village is still asleep.  I can spot a few early risers on other boats, drinking their coffee and reading their books.  I still try desperately not to waken anyone and I move stealthily across the cockpit toward my “friend” the passarella.  I was getting ready to untie the line that secures it to the boat at night, when all of a sudden these loud bells began to ring non-stop!  Clang, clang, clang!!!  Apparently, they were announcing that the church service would begin in fifteen minutes.  Everyone on the boat shot up out of a dead sleep.  Debbie and I cracked up because there I was pussyfooting around when these bells woke up the entire village!  Well, so much for good intentions....

....Most of my boat mates were up and getting ready to set sail for Hydra.  Poros and Hydra are in the Argo-Saronic Islands group in the Aegean Sea.  We pretty much have no wind, so for the most part we are motoring to Hydra.  The sun is hot and we buttered up with sunscreen.  Valerie told us that we were lucky because the weather was so nice.  She said the previous week the temperatures were in the forties.  We are all shocked thinking that in two weeks the weather could change from cool to hot so drastically and we comment on the temperature spread.  Val straightens us out in explaining she was talking Celsius rather than Fahrenheit.  That changes things considerably!

We arrived at the harbor and it is more crowded than Poros!  Again, Debbie and Tracy were on anchor duty, Mark and Bill secured fenders to the side of the boat and John and I are at the stern ready to toss lines to waiting hands.  Valerie is backing the boat to the dock with a dazzling smile on her face.  There is a man on shore calling “Valeria!  Valeria” and giving her hand motions as to which way to back up to the harbor wall.. ..

Debbie and I walked to the end of the point where there was a maritime museum that was quite interesting.  

We checked out some shops as we walked back toward the boat.  The streets are emptying of its activity and several shops are closing as they participate in a siesta from 3 PM to 6 PM.  Seems like a good idea so we returned to the boat to re-group and nap and then the fun began…

We plan to watch the sunset at the top of the mountain at the Hydroneta, sunset bar.  We walked the marble and stone sidewalks up around the shops and to a tree where a local artist has his easel set up and he sketches beautiful pen and ink drawings of the harbor below.  We stop to browse only for a moment and continue up to the taverna.  We find seats at tables situated beside the stoned wall, order drinks and wait for the show.  Mother Nature does not fail us!  The view is spectacular and the sunset reflects shades of rose, orange and gold that would take your breath away.  No one is talking, no one looks away and only the cameras are busy.  As the last bit of sun dips below the island mountaintop and the reflection in the water disappears, Mark in his infinitive wisdom declares, “This doesn’t suck”.  We all concur.