The Last of the Sporades for us this year, Skiathos
So on the 2nd August we left our peaceful harbour of Loutraki on Skopelos and motored across the millpond called the Aegean to Skiathos, weaving our way around the little islands that lie off the natural harbour that leads to Skiathos Town, the capital of the island and managed to grab a space on the small pontoon.
The Approaches to Skiathos Town
Skiathos, described in our book of Mediterranean islands as lovely, very wooded with many fine beaches, it is actually all about the beaches, that is what people come here for, and the nightlife of Skiathos Town. For us, initially at least, it was all about getting some laundry done and our air con fixed, as the forecasted heatwave of 40 degrees plus was rapidly approaching!
We had thought arriving on a Monday would be a good thing, the charter yachts would have departed and everything would be a bit quieter. Hahaha… didn’t quite take into account the charter yachts from Volos! We lucked out on the laundry.. too busy for at least 3 days, but we did find an engineer and electrician to help us with the air con!
We also hadn’t realised just how close we were to the runway. Dont envy the pilots! 
Whilst the first day was a bit of a washout (excuse the pun!), waiting on board for the electrician to do his stuff, we did feel sorry for him, it must have been 40 odd degrees down below and he suffered from sea sickness, even though we were in the harbour. Whilst he did work out that we needed a new power control unit, which he luckily could source on the island, the pump was also knackered and that was something that needed to be looked at by Manos, the engineer, overnight!
We did have a good old wander around the town in the evening, which was absolutely manic with so many people, in fact we haven’t seen that many people in such close proximity since the start of covid, needless to say, we did donn our masks despite the heat. A Gyros and 1/2 ltr of wine later, we headed back to our sweltering boat, doubtful we would get a good night’s sleep because of it!
We weren’t wrong, so being awake before the sun, I decided to grab my camera and have a walk around the town with my camera, just as the clean up process started!.
Upturned dinghy, novel bed! 
Double stacking!
Beautiful Sunrise 
A couple of hours later, I returned to the boat with breakfast from the local bakery in hand, in time for Manos to come back with our pump, fingers and toes crossed he had been successful, sadly not, a new one was required which had to be sourced from Athens. Knowing that would take at least a day if not 2, David went in search for a little run around so we could go and explore the island inland!
We soon learned that the island really is about the beaches, with only 2 monasteries inland to see, and roads that turned into dirt tracks. Still we will let the pics do the talking!
Monastery No 1..yes that is it! 
LunchStop 
Monastery No 2, a lot more impressive! 
View across to Skiathos Town
Our last stop was the supposed boat yard on Skiathos, so glad we didn’t chose that one to leave Seaclusion at for the winter, wooden blocks and barrels for support probably wouldn’t have passed muster for our insurance company!
The following day, with still no sight of our pump, we left our mooring and went for a sail around Nisis Tsoungria, due south of Skiathos harbour opposite the Island of Evia, where we finally anchored off the beach to spend a somewhat cooler night and watch, to our horror, the fire start on Evia. We also had a bit of a chuckle when a day tripper yacht got caught on the sandbank and had to call in the cavalry, a fishing boat, to pull it off with one of its own halyards, they really should have known better, given they sail these waters every day!
If you look closely, you will see the line between them! 
The following day we headed back to Skiathos to await Manos and our pump, provision and clean the boat, ready for our next leg into the Gulf of Volos. Luck would have it, the pump arrived and Manos worked his magic, leaving us time to have another wander when the town was awake but before the evening madness.
And Boy, did we sleep well that night in the cool, and left early for the Gulf, sad to see that the fire on Evia had not been extinguished, but grateful that the winds were carrying the smoke eastward, in the opposite direction to where we going!
6th August 2021
