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31st October - 15th November Syros and back up the
Evia Channel and home early
We managed to get away from Tinos and over to the island
of Syros but after another week being stuck in Syros
due to more gales we turned around and headed back up
the Evia Channel to find somewhere to haul out of the
water
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We had a horrible two and a half hour sail from Tinos Harbour
to the town of Ermoupolis
on the island of Syros. But we had to escape when we did as
this was going to be the only day the weather would let us
go. We did intend to go to Paros but once out of the harbour
we realised it would be a horrible 7 or 8 hour sail.
Ermoupolis is the capital of the Kyklades and a lovely town
to explore. We spent 6 nights here but not out of choice,
but due to the high winds that were blowing outside the harbour.
Ermoupolis nestles between two small hills and the houses
line the tiny streets all the way from the harbour and up
the two hills. We spent a lovely day climbing the streets
to up
Ano Syros which has an old monastery and church at the
very top with great views of the Northern Kyklades. Everyday
we went out and explored more of the streets and narrow staircases
that make up the town. The only negative during our time here
being the ferry captains who seem to think they are driving
a Formula 1 race car, continually doing the equivalent of
hand brake turns in their huge ferries and causing all the
yachts to constantly rock and roll in the harbour
We had a minor drama whilst here as we needed to reanchor due
to all the rocking and rolling from the ferries. So we slipped
our ropes and lifted the anchor in the bay ready to moor up
again. However whilst reversing back against the quay our steering
broke. Thankfully a speedboat was out in the harbour and we
managed to get their attention and they kindly came alongside
and helped us safely in the right direction back to the quay.
Not sure what we would have done if they hadn't been there.
Thankfully Karl managed to fix the steering after a a couple
of hours.
We were lucky to have spent a couple of evenings in the company
of Armin and Birgitta Mueck, a father and daughter team, who
make wildlife films for Swedish TV. They were great to spend
time with and lead very interesting lives where diving and
swimming with Orcas, Sperm Whales and sharks is just everyday
stuff. They showed us some of their footage and it was amazing.
Whilst we were in Ermoupolis we made lots of phone calls
to organise somewhere to lift out of the water, the price
in Syros was 165 euros per month and a further 400 just to
lift out. The price came in for a yard in Crete and it was
even higher. After looking at the forecast for the next week
we made the difficult decision not to try to go any further
South. Going South in these high winds whilst not impossible
was going to be tiring and uncomfortable and then the prospect
of possibly having to fight our way back up against the prevailing
winds was not something we liked the thought of.
After taking the tough decision to head back North we started
searching and found a boatyard which was only 65km from Athens
airport and on the east coast of the Attiki region opposite
Evia, so on Sunday 6th November we turned around and headed
out of the Kyklades and back towards Lavrion in the entrance
to the Evia Channel. We spent a further 3 nights in Lavrion
waiting for the right wind before heading further north into
the channel to Nea Styra where we anchored in a
lovely bay. We hit the 5555
mile mark whilst on our way to Nea Styra.
On one of the few calm days we'd had in 7 weeks, we made
our way to the boatyard to get hauled out. So on Thursday
10th November we finished our cruise early and came out of
the water.The boatyard has a lounge that boat owners can use
with a lovely log fire which is most welcome. A Dutch couple,
Wim and Gerrie from Yacht Melody, that we had met briefly
in Tinos, were also here so we had a lovely afternoon drinking
gin & tonics and enjoying each others company. The boatyard,
Evoikos Sea Centre
is near a lovely village called Halkoutsi and is run by Zacharias,
his wife Krina and their son Dennis. They are lovely and we
are happy to leave Madison here.
So we are now about to fly to the UK and embark on a tour
of England again in a hire car before heading back to Edinburgh
around 24th November.
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