From Patmos in the Dodecanese we had envisaged an exciting, 51nm, eight hour, sail to Naxos, in the Cyclades. The forecast was for consistent northerly winds gusting 21-25 knots throughout the passage, and we were heading west. The first two hours were often invigorating with speeds up to 9.2 knots. And then the wind dropped, so for the next few hours we motored/motor sailed (engine plus mainsail). When the wind returned, with a vengeance, it was more on the nose, we could not readily make it around the N coast of Naxos. Cruising sailors always need a Plan B. For us it was to stop in Dhenoussa, a small island off the east coast of Naxos. From the Navioics, Navily, and Noforeignlands apps there was a new small harbour there. With aid from a yachtie on the dock we med-moored there, along with about 4 other boats. A quiet, pleasant location, with good restaurants overlooking the harbour. Served by a small ferry; not too many tourists. We had contacted Gregorgio, the harbour-master in Naxos, who kindly kept space us for the following day.
After a rather bumpy night we motored into the wind and 1-2m seas to get around the top of Naxos to the harbour on the NW coast. It was a slow, wet ride, but we made it (~26nm). There is a commercial section frequented almost non-stop by large ferries, a fishing boat section, and a smaller adjoining harbour for yachts. The latter are primarily charter boats with only one side of a pier accepting visiting yachts. We stayed in Naxos 4 days waiting for the winds to abate and to take care of a couple of boat issues. The first to tackle was to grease the top rod of the watermaker as described by our very helpful Schenker agent, Jim Macdonald, in the UK. John and Hope took advantage of free electricity at the dock to turn on the air conditioning, which made it a lot more pleasant to work in the cramped space and deal with fiddly bolts in unfriendly places. Anyway, the end result was a properly functioning watermaker again, thank you John!
Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades, a population of near 10,000 in 2021, was a major source of emory (an abrasive), and was believed by the ancient Greeks to be the birthplace of Zeus, in a cave on Mt. Zas. Its mountain villages and long sandy beaches account for the increasing number of tourists (too many).
We rented a car to drive around the island. It and the villages are picturesque, with lots of character. The temple of Demeter (goddess of agriculture, harvest, and life cycles) was interesting, but nothing on the scale of ruins we had visited in Turkey. The beaches we left to the sun worshippers. As the water on the dock was not potable and we had been unable to make water recently, John and Howard visited numerous hardware, plumbing, and swimming pool shops to find a dual filter (particulates followed by activated carbon) to filter the water. We diagnosed the reason the genoa furler was no longer responding to the pedestal furler button to a loose connection on the Boxtron control box which was readily fixed. We enjoyed Naxos but the throngs of tourists along the waterfront in the evening and the loud music urged us to move on the Paros, west of Naxos.
Two hours of motoring, again primarily into the wind, enabled us to reach our desired anchorage near the cliffs in the lagoon on its N coast (9.1nm). Strong winds prevented taking the dinghy to the nearby town of Naoussa across the lagoon but we did manage to visit the beach bar, near the cliffs. An upmarket set-up with staff in colour coordinated clothing along with the umbrellas and decor. However, they stopped serving food or snacks at 1900, even though thy did not close until 2000.
Our next and last stop in the Cyclades was in Loutra, on the NE coast of Kynthos, an island south of Kia, which we visited in 2023. The passage took about eight hours, a mix of motoring (25%) and sailing (main and staysail), 45 nm. Loutra has an updated small harbour catering to the growing sailboat fleets in the Aegean. The welcoming harbour master found us med-mooring space on the dock. A few hours later the place was packed, primarily with charter boats, including numerous large catamarans. We stayed two days, enjoying some good food, local walks, tavernas, hot pool, and the delights from the village bakery (the best croissant ever).
However, it was not all play. En route to Kythnos the webbing at the top of the genoa attaching the sail to the furler swivel failed, and thus needed repair. Hope (lightest and youngest of the crew), very gallantly, was hoisted up to the top of the mast (75’ above sea level) three times to correct the issue, although the sail repair was completed on the foredeck. Hope and John spent hours hand sewing on three webbing straps, duplicating the original design.
The next stop, with our newly functioning genoa was Sounio, a small bay on the southern tip of the Athens peninsula, eastern Saronic Gulf, overlooked by the Temple of Poseidon. one of our favourite locations.
