Christian & I had planned to get up early (7:30) so that we could have a coffee at the bakery then head to town to fetch the second car. We did not know that the ferry (which had been in port all night) would depart at 08:00, which meant that bedlam prevailed for an hour and half before that with cars and trucks loading, police whistles and pedestrians boarding. Then suddenly it was all over. Quiet.

Picked up the second car in Hora fine, but I had to fuel the Suziki. Two garages had run out of fuel. It turned out that there are only three garages on the island and only one has fuel. The others have no money to pay for it. Eventually made it back and collected the family, armed with island tourist info – a short list!

First stop an ancient quarry on the coast. The porous and abrasive stone may have been used as insulating building blocks. Stone had been removed right down to water level. One large section of stone remained, into which a little two roomed church had been hollowed out. Drove to the northern barren section of the island where an a Neolithic settlement was being excavated at Palamari Bay. Was occupied 4000 to 5000 years ago. The excavation work which was only half completed had been funded by EU so was well presented. It had been a well fortified settlement with bastions on the land side, and open to the sea on the others to was hot as hell and we were thirsty. The toilets were closed because of lack of water, and the beach stony without any shade so we moved to the west of the island which was completely different. Green with bush and small pines, small valleys and narrow roads.

At Artsitsa was a well established Taverna and beach with all the usual loungers, umbrellas, food and drink. Was busy though, so it took a while to find enough chairs for everyone. Water clear, swimming great and a good place to hang out for some hours, so we did.

Some crisis at HP meant that Astrid had to get access to her computer and work again. Only solution was for me to drive her to our harbour and return – a hour and half trip. This turned out to be not bad for me because the journey along the west coast was exceptionally beautiful. A narrow winding road flanked with soft green pines which presumably had all grown after the forest fire of 2007. They actually encroached the road making it even narrower. The small settlement at Agios Fokas was beautiful, with a sheltered blue bay and small islet. More bays and beaches on the way back, but they will have to remain for another day.

I enjoyed the return journey just a much, stopping to take pictures and ready for a swim by the time I rejoined the others. Discovered that not only do Amstel make 0% beer but also 2% Radler (shandy). All good stuff when you are thirsty.

When the time came to leave I convinced the others to stop by at Fokas for sundowners. Great idea for the view from the cliff top was stunning and we looked over the remains of an old loading pier and well preserved stone columns which once supported a railway from the mine. The owner explained that iron ore had been quarried in the hills and exported from here to Krupp of Germany from ~1880 until the start of WW1 after which it never resumed. The tunnel goes some 2kms into the hillside. Current owner bought the land in 1920. Large ships were able to anchor on the one side, where depth dropped from rock shallows to 40 metres.

Back to Linaria  port and our boat, where I found Astrid looking for a sundowner.  Finally decided to try the local restaurant some 25 metres from the boat. When she asked for a G&T the helpful waiter nipped down the road to his sister’s pub and came wandering back down the street with the drink and an IOU slip!  The girls needed another swim and joined some local boys leaping off the end of the pier until a friendly police ant asked them to clear the area for a ferry arrival.   Once again the town leapt to life for an hour or so.  Ferry parked up for the night – we knew what that meant.   An early awakening.  

Pleasant dinner at the restaurant, although we had too many really nice starters which were not as tasty as the main courses, so some dissatisfaction there.  Afterwards Astrid and I climbed to the Illuminated church on the hill, slipped in through the closed gate and soaked up the atmosphere. In a couple of days we have come to really like this island, it’s simplicity and the friendliness of the locals.  Would love to see it in May at start of season and with all the spring flowers, which now are brown scratchy relics on the barren landscape.

The teenagers negotiated a 2:00 return, fortunately Christian volunteered to take the night watch and see them aboard safely.    Really nice day, nice place, nice memories. 

The church bells chimed out at some ungodly hour like 6:30 am so no one slept too late. Also could not swim in the harbour of course so the plan was to head to the beach for the day. Unfortunately yesterday’s attempts at hiring cars, quad bikes or anything else proved fruitless so we took the bus to town, since taxis were getting expensive. Astrid Charlie & I climbed out in Hora to find a vehicle while the rest continued to the beach at Melos bay.

We had to wait a while until a back street bike company called Expo Vagios opened at 13:00. The heat was intense and while waiting we resorted to iced coffees to rebuild our wilted spirits. Astrid felt sorry for a black street vendor selling a variety of odds and ends, just like they do in Cape Town. Turned out he was from Zimbabwe so he scored double there. His view on Africa was: “ it’s a great country but just has bad leaders”. Spot on.

After concluding our car hire, island style with instant paperwork and a cash payment, we headed out. I think we got the wife’s car because 20 minutes later she phoned to say she had left both her mobile phones in the car!

Joining the others on Molos beach was a most relaxing afternoon. With sun umbrellas and loungers provided (normal around the Med, just support the local restaurant or bar) I was able to read, doze swim and totally relax. Wonderful afternoon. Astrid however felt pressured to sort out a work problem so she and the teenagers headed back to the boat for a couple of hours. The rest of us migrated to the “Windmill” restaurant for sundowners overlooking a beautiful small boat harbour.

Then came the call – our boat (10 kms away at Linaria) had to be re-located as the ferry was arriving at 10:pm. How they never knew this yesterday when we paid for our 3 night berth, we can only surmise. That meant when Astrid and the girls arrived at the restaurant for dinner, I had to take the (only) vehicle and drive back again to sort it out. Another 1 hour round trip. Between Charlie and I we had the boat relocated and tied up stern-to with power connected all the space of about 10 minutes. Impressive.

Nice meal, although Greek salad and Tzatziki were starting to get a bit monotonous. Much wine got consumed though, and fortunately Christian had been off alcohol all year so he had to make the two round trips and ferry everyone back to the boat. We got tho know that route quite well! The good news was that our friendly car hire man was able to provide another small Citroen the next morning, maybe his neighbours wife’s car?

Yet another late night on deck. Life never stops around here, and the teenagers wanted to hang about the harbour until all hours. They were most upset with me when I got them back by 1:30 am. It’s not that kind of harbour though. The harbour, village, shops and restaurants are all integrated. Life erupts once or twice a day for about 30 minutes when the ferry arrives, then it’s back to the locals and tourists.

Exactly at 8:00 am we departed with the prospect of an 8 hour crossing ahead. The wind was weak and we alternated between sailing and the motor. Most slept on and left Edsel & I to handle the boat. We planned a “breakfast” stop at Skantzoura which was visible on the horizon and which lay less than halfway to our destination of Skyros Island. It is a barren god-forsaken place whose probable only redeeming feature is some kind of protection from the Meltemi gales on occasion. Did not hang around too long for it was still around 30 miles to Skiros, which was another barely visible smudge on the horizon. Everyone found their own way to pass the time, and pass it eventually did. The final approach to Skiros was between some islets which was narrow and shallow. The pilotage book assured me that it was possible to go that way, but we kept a good lookout just in case. On arrival at Skiros a very friendly harbourmaster explained the facilities, which were remarkably organised for a small port. Even had a rack of books for loan/exchange and shopping trolleys on the quayside. This was also the first time so far that we could use lazy-lines instead of our anchor, which made life easy.

After dumping a ton of rubbish and sorting ourselves out with showers etc we took taxis to Molos, a pretty beach side village some 10 kms away for our first dinner out in ages. Molos is dominated by the capital town of Hora on the hillside above, which in turn was dominated by a huge lump of rock with the remnants of a castle on top. The entire town consists of typically square white buildings, which did not have as much blue contrasting paintwork as seen elsewhere. It was a must-see of course so after dinner we ambled up the steep stony walkway to explore. Very festive place with live music and many busy bars and restaurants, despite the narrow streets and walkways. It appeared that, as Greece had just received another 13 billion bailout from Europe, there was something to celebrate! The streets in the old town were narrow and cobbled, flanked with interlinked small houses. Many folk sat on their small street side patios and watched the world go by. While our women shopped, the teenagers explored the heaving end of town which was dominated by numerous clubs spreading all over the streets and attempting to outdo each other with their music. Mainly Greek tourists with not many other Europeans in evidence. We men settled at a music bar on the winding main walkway, fascinated by the passing parade until shortly before midnight when we all gathered together to celebrate Dani’s birthday. Then came the surprise……… Christiaan had organised a comfy corner on the rooftop terrace complete with sofas and wine at the ready. We expected a short speech to follow but what bowled us over was when he dropped onto one knee and formally proposed to Dani (they have been together for 20 years). Much elation and not a dry eye in sight. Their daughter Ariana was over the moon. All this under the atmospheric setting of the illuminated hilltop and castle above us.

Finally we left the hectic early morning scene where no one sleeps it seems and took taxis back to Linaria. Everyone was awake there too, despite the early hour so we took up our late night positions in the cockpit and managed yet another round of Uzo. At this point we all collapsed into bed. A noisy place to spend the night but after the tranquility of recent days we could handle anything.