Mykonos to Naxos

With a quick re-think of our plans we decided to go to Naxos and then onto Paros. We keep an eye on the winds, we will go in everything up to Force 6 (22-27 knots) and then we try to find shelter when it blows Force 7 (28-33 knots) and above. The power in a boat our size in those kinds of conditions are huge and so are the waves and spray. We have time and we have nothing to prove to ourselves, so we find good harbours to be in … either anchored, moored, or at a dock.

The force 7 winds were predicted two days in the future, so we chose a couple of harbours to wait out the wind in. We chose Naxos because we were getting low on cooking gas and they sell it there – amazing how some simple things like diesel, water, gas, wind direction, and water depth affect our itinerary. So we departed Mykonos expecting Force 3 winds (7-10 knots) and we encountered a solid Force 6 with 2-3 meter waves. I took some video of it that is uploaded to youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhXxGKKsJyc. The sail was exhilarating. Each of us had some helm time and the harbour at Naxos Marina on (you guessed it) the island of Naxos was well sheltered and calm. We took a place on the outside of the quay and took on electricity and water – and it was all free. Woo hoo, we do love Greece. There was also a fine chandlery in town where we found these stainless steel springs you put in the middle of lines to shore reducing the “bang” when ferries and other wash comes in and tighten your mooring lines. We bought 2 bottles of gas, Ross got another 5 books to read, Jessie picked up a book and I got a magazine, got lots of groceries, some wine and beer and we were ready for the next port.