The Beautiful Island of Kythnos!

Having hoped to be on our way again on Monday 5th June, we soon discovered another issue with our mainsail this time, which required waiting for the part and fixing and which kept us in Finikas for another 6 days, giving us the opportunity to make friends with Nikos the harbour master and  George who was fixing our boat and joining in their “family” BBQ one evening. Finally on the 10th  after having all the repairs completed, lets hope that is the last for the season, said goodbye to George and Nikos, we set off to Kythnos, only some 22 miles away. The good thing about these islands are the facts that you are never very far away from the next one, and that you can always get shelter somewhere if the winds are blowing. But today they weren’t ! After a easy motor across, we nabbed a safe and easy mooring in Loutra, on the east coast of  Kythnos, a barren rocky island, and as you will see, little touched by tourism.

Loutra (East Coast)

It is said that most of the population lives in the Chora on top of the highest peak on Kithno, and so we felt we would be be very remiss if we didnt visit, so the following morning we jumped in a taxi for the 9kms to the top and set about exploring. It was blissfully quiet when we arrived, full of tiny quaint streets and colourful bars and not many locals or tourists for that matter!

The Chora (Centre of the island where all the roads meet)

Our 2nd night in Loutra, brought strong winds and high seas with it, causing Kastos, ( the harbourmaster ), to keep very busy and show a great deal of initiative in giving shelter in the marina to 28 boats, in a marina that normally holds 15, and this is only June, God knows what it would be like in July and August when it really gets busy.

So when the winds are blowing and the seas are rough, what do you do ? Well given we were in no rush, we hired a car for the day and toured around the island, taking in most of the sites… The pictures below give you that guided tour.

The only thing to add is that we tried to track down a vineyard, which turned out to be a very small homestead, so we drove past it without knowing, but we did catch up with the owner in Merikas, who allowed us to taste his wine, the white was lovely, so it would have been rude not to pick up a case of it. The only problem was he was then of the opinion that we might be open to buy his red, for which he has only produced 200 bottles this year. There were two problems with this after the tasting, one it wasn’t very good and two, it had a price tag of 30 euros a bottle, so we gave the red a swerve.

Merikas (West Coast)

A comparative newcomer of a village full of tavernas to while away the hours whilst the Meltemi screams into the bay, which it was doing whilst we were there, the boat safely tucked up in Loutra.

Kolona Beach

Apokrisi

Kavala

Dryopida, in the heart of the Island.

On our last night in Loutra, our new friends Dirk & Connie, arrived in the marina, together with his sister and her boyfriend, so a good meal, laughs and plenty of alcohol was consumed.

Whilst getting ready to leave for Finikas, en-route to Delos and Mykonos, a privately owned yacht with a German skipper, had managed to cross and pick up 2 other yachts anchors / chains, namely ours and Dirk’s, how he thought he had laid a straight anchor in the first place is beyond me, maybe too much Ouzo, however he was then kept waiting until we were both ready, but patience clearly wasn’t his forte as he came round to insist we leave soon, and he wasn’t too polite about it. So on that basis we did make him wait a little longer than necessary.

Off to Delos & Mykonos tomorrow, to see the ancient ruins and perhaps, meet up with Emma (from Dubai) who is out sailing on a Catamaran with her partner, Ryan and his family.