Back to the Cyclades

Ermioni restaurant looking across to Dhokos

It was now almost mid-September, and time for us to be thinking about crossing the Aegean towards Turkey, where we would be leaving the boat for the winter. Our route would take us through an area known for high winds and confused seas, so we needed to find a window of calm weather for the crossing. We decided our departure point from the mainland would be Ermioni, an easy day’s sail from Porto Heli.

Sandpiper on the south quay at Ermioni

We arrived at Ermioni on Sept 12th and moored off the south quay, it was a bit bouncy with the choppy waves, but it was a pretty spot with views across the bay to the islands of Dhokos and Hydra. The town is built on two sides of a peninsular and the end of the peninsular is the site of the ancient city of Hermione, now covered in pines and protected as a public park. We had a lovely, late afternoon walk through the park, enjoying the shade of the pines, the views out to sea and the random discovery of parts of the original citadel walls, tombs and the ancient harbour. After a fish supper at the taverna a few yards from our boat, we turned in for an early night as the weather looked good the next day to start our crossing  to the Cycladean island of Serifos.

Cliff was fascinated by this face in the rocks...can you see it?

 

Taking a break on our walk round the peninsular

We motored out of Ermioni before sunrise the next morning through still, windless waters. By 9am we had enough wind to sail and were making good progress, but by midday the wind had dropped again and the engine went on. At 5pm, after an 11 hour crossing we finally dropped anchor in Koutoula bay on Serifos, a peaceful spot surrounded by bare, ochre hills topped by an ancient hill fort and the more recent remains of iron works which had been the island’s main industry until the early 20^th century.

Parikia on the island of Paros

The next morning we set sail again, this time for the island of Paros. We had fond memories of Paros as we visited it 37 years ago on an island hopping honeymoon.  There were gale force winds forecast for most of the following week, and we planned to moor in the well protected harbour at Parikia, the capital , then stay for a week to rediscover the island while the winds blew through .



The small harbour at Parikia

When we eventually arrived at Parikia we managed to grab the last space in the small harbour, but after we had tied up we noticed a sign announcing that our space (and most of the others along the quay) belonged to a charter company and could not be used between Thursday and Sunday. A second sign announced that visiting boats were only allowed to stay for a maximum of three days. It was now 5pm on a Sunday and there was no sign of the charter boats so we decided to chance it and stay put.  But it was clear we would either have the brave the storms in the anchorage, or find an alternative harbour before the bad weather arrived.

Sunset at Parikia

That evening we wandered along the harbour and through the narrow back streets of Parikia.  Very little has changed in 37 years,  the bay is still very pretty and the town is busy as ever, but progress means you can now stock up with provisions at a  big supermarket and buy a decent Americano coffee!

By the next morning we made the difficult decision to leave Paros and head instead for the neighbouring island of Naxos.  We had heard great things about the island, and with a well protected harbour it looked like a good place to weather the storms.