Amorgos and Kalymnos

Contented cat in Chora on Amorgos

 

After five days on Naxos the weather improved, so on 21^st September we set off south east across the Cyclades, to the island of Amorgos.  Soon after we left the harbour a pod of six dolphins joined us, entertaining us as they dived under the boat and did graceful leaps out of the water. Then it was a peaceful, six hour motor sail with hardly a boat in sight until we arrived at Katapoula, on Amorgos.

We knew we would only have one night on the island as more gale force winds were predicted, and we wanted to do the 70 mile crossing to Kalymnos the next day before they arrived. Once we were safely moored we looked to see whether we could get a bus to the monastery of Hozoviotissa, one of the key attractions on the island. Unfortunately, we had just missed it. Never mind, we had heard the old town of Chora at the top of the hill was worth visiting, so we jumped on a bus there instead.  

Chora on Amorgos

It is a lovely old village, all whitewashed houses in narrow, Bougainvillea-covered alleyways. We walked through it to the top of the hill, and when we got there I spotted a sign by a gate saying ‘Hozoviotissa Monastery, 40 mins’.  Great, I thought, we can see the monastery after all! As we walked through the gate, we found the path took you almost vertically down the side of a mountain to the coast below, where it joined a road that (we assumed) led to the monastery. At that point we had a small disagreement. It was 5pm and the bus back to the port left at 6.30, so Cliff wasn’t keen on doing the walk as he thought we wouldn’t make it there and back in time.  I thought we could (just) make it.

Stunning view from the top of the path to the monastery

 

Eventually we agreed to disagree. Cliff stayed at the top of the path while I did a speedy hike downhill and jogged along the road. Suddenly, as I turned the corner, the monastery was above me, a magnificent, towering white building literally built into the cliff face. The sun had already dropped below the mountain, so the monastery was in the shade, which wasn’t great for photos, but the view was still breathtaking. I sat for a few minutes taking it all in, then turned back to face the gruelling uphill climb.  I kept up a good pace and eventually reached the top at 5.50, so in the end we had time for a drink before the bus came!

The monastery of Hozoviotissa

 

When we got back to the boat we found that the inter-island ferry had moored alongside us, right over our anchor. Clearly we would be going nowhere until the ferry left! A quick check of the timetable told us that it would be leaving at 6am the next day, just before our planned departure at 6.30am.

We were up early the next morning and hauled anchor as soon as the ferry left. But as we did so we found the neighbouring Norwegian boat had laid their anchor over ours, so Cliff spend a frustrating 15 minutes untangling the chains until we were finally free.  We had light winds for our journey but the currents were with us, and we sailed into Pothia harbour on Kalymnos just 10 hours later.

Pothia on Kalymnos

 

Kalymnos is in the Dodecanese islands, close to the island of Kos, and only 10 miles from the Turkish mainland. The island used to be famous for its sponge fishing, but in 1986 a mysterious disease killed most of the sponges in the area, so now the islanders rely on fishing and tourism for their living. We stayed there for a couple of days and found it a friendly, peaceful place. However Turkey beckoned, and on the 26^th September we said goodbye to Greece and sailed across to the town of Datca on the Turkish mainland.