We had a much more comfortable night than expected. The swell went down as did the
wind. We did both manage to get up
in the middle of the night to look at the stars which were amazing.
We had breakfast and made a fairly early start of about 9:30am. I was convinced our anchor had dragged,
because we woke up much closer to the large motor yacht than we had been. But on taking up the anchor it is clear
that it had not moved from where we put it down, and we just had swung around
because the wind had changed direction.
The latter issue of the wind was a problem. We had always planned to go to Koufonisia. It isn’t an island anyone has heard of,
but it is convenient and has a proper marina to stay at. With the original winds we could have
sailed here. But as ever when we
got out to sea we found a nice force 5 breeze from the north, e.g., right on
the nose.
People who know Richard know that he is obsessed with numbers. He loves to find patterns. For this reason he has always liked
London post codes. So all day he
has told me we are in Highbury because the wind is N5. In other words northerly force 5. We didn’t get to Highgate – N6. So it was another motor slog into the
wind and the waves. Only three
saving graces. Firstly the sea is
not bad and just a little choppy.
Secondly we only had to travel about 6 miles which meant under 2 hours
of slogging into the wind.
Finally, it is a lovely day with the sun shinning. So we are pretty content when we get to
the marina in Koufonisia. It is
properly run. There is a staff
member directing each boat into a proper berth and helping with lines. There are pick up lines, so no need to
put the anchor down. It has water,
electricity and proper toilets (with paper), It is rather more expensive than the 5 euros it cost in Ios,
but then 18 euros a night is hardly a fortune.
We have lunch on board and then go out to explore the area. We walk a fair distance to a nice beach
with a café. We have a cold drink
and despite the wind it is warm enough (just) for me to get in the sea and have
a little swim. We find there is a
bus that goes from the town to the beach and back again hourly, so we take that
home. There is also a little boat
that goes to a further beach, which we might try tomorrow.
Back on the boat we find there is a bit of a disaster. The wind has been blowing steadily and
hard from just behind us where there is sand. So we have piles of sand all over the boat. It even got through the side windows
into our cabin and I have to shake out the linen! We try to wash it off, and don’t do too bad a job, but we
fear it will just come back again.
Other than that this is a lovely spot. The island is not too developed. It is clearly just a holiday spot, but it is all low key and
rather charming. We have paid for
two nights. We hope then the
weather will allow us to go further afield and meet up with friends.
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