Patmos to Mykonos

October 2nd - 11th

After hiding out from the gusty winds at Archangelos Islet north of Leros, we motored to the island of Patmos with the wind on our bow. As we exited the anchorage we were excited to see dolphins jumping and playing off our stern; the first we had seen since we left Greece back at the end of June! 

Patmos is an island that is accessible by ferry as it does not have an airport and this means it is not as overrun with tourists as some of the other more popular islands. The population of the island is only about 3, 300 people. It is known as ‘the island of the Apocalypse’ since it is there that, according to Christian tradition, the disciple of Christ, the evangelist saint John, heard the voice of God. We visited the monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse where John wrote the book of the Apocalypse. 

Monastery

Entrance to monastery

Historic windmills that have been restored are also found on the island. Along the coast are many beautiful beaches, all with their own unique characteristics. On a couple of them, we found stones that we have not seen on any other beach during our travels to date. Of course, we also found the local bakery where we purchased sourdough bread, chocolate cream pastries, cherry turnovers and some other delicious morsels covered in powdered sugar. 

Windmills in Chora on Patmos

A view from the monastery down to the port of Skala

An anchorage in the bay at the small fishing village of Grikos, the fourth largest settlement on the island, was our home for the next three days. I had called ahead to reserve a mooring ball, but "Christos" informed me that he was finished for the season, implying we could take whatever was free. Protecting the entrance to the bay is Kalikatsou rock, also known as Petra. According to legend this rock is the curse of a mother on her daughter. After taking communion, the daughter was tempted by the beautiful Aegean Sea and wanted to dive in. Her mother forbade her to do so, but she persisted. The mother was enraged and shouted: “if you go, turn to stone”. Upon entry to the bay, we thankfully did not experience any of this mother's rage and found a mooring ball to tie up to. The winds were calm and the and skies were blue with the sun shining. Neil later climbed this rock. 

Neil standing on Kalikatsou Rock

Shortly after we were settled, another British-flagged boat arrived and tied up to the ball beside us. After going to shore with Finnegan, we stopped by their boat and were invited aboard. Alison and Dean on Silver Witch are a retired couple from Swindon in the UK and they spend 6 months a year on their boat. The past 5 years have been spent in various parts of Greece. They were there with friends, Jax and Adrian, on another UK boat called Elos. Being October, one of the months in the “shoulder seasons”, there were only a couple of tavernas open in the village. We all decided to meet there for drinks and dinner that evening and we had such a great time that we spent the next two evenings socializing with new friends!

Anchored in Grikos

Neil and I rented a car to tour the island’s historic sights, beautiful beaches, and quaint villages and took advantage of the car to do a large grocery run in the island's largest port, Skala. Our lunch of souvlaki and Greek salad was outstanding. Patmos is definitely now one of our favourite islands!

After sharing contact info, we said goodbye to our new friends and the island, hoping to be back to see both again one day. We made our way north to the Furni Islands, choosing an anchorage on the south end to gain some protection from the north winds. We selected one of three possible bays and were the only boat there for two days and nights. The highlight was definitely the “goat parade” that sounded like Christmas as the goats and sheep, with bells ringing, made their way along the path guided by the shepherd. Another incredible experience!

Anchored at Furni Island

Sheep licking the salt off the rocks

On Monday morning, it was time again to move along as we were getting ever closer to Mykonos and Saturday the 12th, the day we are to pick up Ben for his two week visit! The next stop at the island of Ikaria did not offer many good options for anchoring, so we took the best we could find which was basically just a patch of shallower water (8 meters) that was marked as an anchorage on our charts. It was at the side of a high cliff that was in front of a small stony beach that looked stunning in the sunshine. The wind gusts howled through the night as they came over the cliffs, despite the fact that the wind itself was not very strong. The boat was completely steady; it was just the noise of the gusts that Finnegan and I found a bit unnerving. We took the dinghy to shore to see the unique rock formations and were surprised to see so many beautiful smooth stones that were white, beige and pink. Access to the beach is by boat or walking down a path and along a huge rock face with a rope railing attached. Several locals were there enjoying the beautiful water, but by the time the sun was setting we had the place to ourselves again. The cliffs at Ikaria are some of the highest we have seen in the Greek Islands. It is one of the world’s five designated “Blue Zones”, with lower rates of chronic disease than most other places, with one in three making it to their 90s. According to some, the island gets its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, who was believed to have fallen into the sea nearby. 

"Anchorage" at Ikaria

 

With the winds up the next morning, we had a great five hour sail over to Mykonos. There, in an anchorage on the south coast, we made arrangements to meet up with our Toronto friends, Geoff and Elise on Brown Sugar 2 (we had originally run into them in an anchorage in Turkey). 

Happy Sailor

Air is getting cooler; had my fleece headband on!

It was so great to see them again and we enjoyed an amazing dinner on their boat that evening, catching up on each others' adventures since we were last together. The next morning we all moved on due to the changing wind direction and headed to the north side of the island to a large bay called Panormos, anchored off a large beach of soft sand. Neil discovered a taverna up on the hillside where we have had lunch a couple of times, enjoying delicious salads, calamari and some decent pink wine! 

With Elise and Geoff and our boats in the background

Anchored with Brown Sugar 2 in Panormos Bay on the island of Mykonos

The next day, I had the boat to myself for a few hours while Neil went over to Brown Sugar to assist Geoff with some work he had to do with his headsail and halyard. I took advantage of the time to make a beet salad and an orzo salad to serve with burgers for dinner on our boat. In conversation, Elise and I discovered that we are both originally from Ancaster! Since I moved away from there when I was in Grade 7 and we went to different elementary schools, we did not know each other, but it was fun to share stories about places we remember from growing up.

Geoff and Elise left us this morning to check out the island of Tinos and we hope to meet up with them again in a couple of days on the island of Syros. They are also keeping their boat in Porto Montenegro for the off season, so we plan to navigate the Corinth canal and the route to Montenegro together. Meanwhile, Neil, Finnegan and I are eagerly awaiting Ben’s arrival in Mykonos tomorrow!

Church in Patmos

Cruise ships at Mykonos port

Sunset in the Furni Islands