Paros to Siros - Photos of the Chart

Ahoy PAROS

Iridis departed from Mykonos around 7 am and we saw the beautiful pink sun rise behind us as we started motoring to the island of Paros. Some of the crew was still up from casting off Reggina at 5am, and some just lollygaging back from town after late night dancing and souvlaki.
By 9 am Iridis had lifted the main sail and experienced strong winds again....25-30knts... many beufords. (not sure about the scale yet.) Captain Nic took a break and Julia and Kathy helmed a bit.
In Kea, Iridis gained an electrical converter and in Mykonos, we picked up many bad arse tattoos... but perhaps lost a yellow jib sheet and dignity.
Nicole found an amazing cove at the north end of Paros, called O Naousis on the chart. Reggina joined us at the cove after dropping off three people (Sarah, Tiffany & Lindsey) in town so they could catch a ferry to Santorini.
At the cove, the views and colors of the water were like gemstones, and the beach had plenty of sea glass, marble rock and quartz. Chuck made everyone delicious frappe drinks, then Kathy, Liz, Liz, Leslie and Nikoletta went to shore to do some hiking while Erik and Julia snorkeled and others sunbathed on the swimming platform off the back of the boat.
The crotch views and backsides of the nudists not so enjoyable. Early full moons.
While sailing from the cove at Naousa to the town of Paroikia, we lost one more hat... then encountered some more challenges with med mooring. Our bow thrusters are unreliable and giving us trouble--which makes the docking process that more tricky.
For dinner last night, Nikolettta prepared a traditional Greek dinner that included spanikopota, salad, mushrooms and sweets for dessert.
Today we are spending the day in Paros. Activities include moving boats, re-anchoring, shopping/provisioning, visiting the beach and, of course, sunbathing. We will try to post some photos soon!

Got to Mykonos

Hello,

Well, we are docked in Mykonos...

We had our first experience with this Med Mooring.... essentiallly backing into a sea wall and throwing our anchor over.  It was interesting, but after a couple failed attemps and some nice greek on-lookers both boats made it to shore and we were able to dock next to each other.

This morning Captain Mike woke  at 6am to set sail.... everyone was troopers and woke for a great sunrise sail to Mykonos.  After sailing over 60 nautical miles in 30+ knots of breeze we moored (again).  Each time we get better and better, but everyone is super helpful.

The girls on Reggina learned to sail 6 + foot rollers and everyone is learning how much fun big wind can be.

Tomorrow we depart for Paros (EARLY).  The boats will spend 2 days in Paros so some of the sailors can to Santorini.

Sorry no pics yet... the Greek writing is challenging.

Missing you in the States, but having the time of our lives.
Captain Nic

Santorini

Hello All,

We've had the most amazing time in Rhodes and Santorini and in a few hours we're off to catch the midnight ferry to Athens.  Everyone is extremely excited to get on the boats and set sail.  The weather has been perfect.  80+ degrees, sunny and a little breeze.  Of course Mike and I are hoping the wind picks up but we're 100nm away from Athens so things can change.

Once we get to the boat I'll try to download some pictures.
~nic

Final days before we leave for Greece

So everyone is gearing up to jet set off to Athens. We have 16 sailor for this trip. Due to the high demand we've actually fill two Bavaria 45' Cruisers. They look like super cool boats. They even come with a PC and internet.

Everyone is really excited about going. Many of the sailors are getting to Europe early. Some are seeing Italy, others are off to Turkey, and still more are cruising around some additional islands. There are 5 of us meeting up in Rhodes. Rhodes is just south of Turkey in the Dodecanese Islands. From there we'll be traveling to Santorini for a few days before hoping a ferry to Athens where we pick up the boats.

Our trip will start in Alimos, Athens on Saturday, Sept 11th. We hope to set sail around 3pm and head south to Sounion. Sounion is a small harbor on the southern tip of the mainland. Here there is the temple of Poseidon and a number of tavernas. I think this will be a good start to our trip. Here we can make a sacrifice and toast to our favorite God of the Sea. Not sure who to sacrifice yet... probably Mike.  But we will definitely be celebrating with Oozo.

From Sounion we'll head to Kea on Sunday. Monday morning (really really early) we'll set sail for Mykonos. Kea to Mykonos is over 45 nautical miles, so the early risers will be taking one for the team. From Mykonos we travel to Paros where we'll spend two days. Paros has numerous ferries that can take you to another fantastic islands including Santorini (Thira). If you've already seen Santorini you can make your way to Naxos, Milos, or Ion for the day.

Once we've had our fill of Paros, we'll set sail Thursday for Syros. Syros is the capital of the Cyclades and our last island. From Syros we've got another LONG sail back to the mainland to drop the boats.  Even though our island hoping will conclude on Friday, we have another night on the boats and another night in Athens to see the Acropolis, Delphi and Plaka.

Just to give you some insight into Greece... here ares some interesting facts....

• Greece is currently the most sexually active country in the world.
• Greece has the highest smoking rates in Europe
• Athens is the oldest city in Europe, and the birthplace of democracy.
• Greece is the only country in the world that is officially Orthodox (Christian)
• Greece is the only country in Europe where state and religion is united.
• Greece has the largest maritime fleet in the world. (15.5%)
• Greece has about 2,000 islands. (227 are inhibited)
• During the World War II, Greece was the only country which had to fight 3 countries continuously (Italy, Albania, Germany). And it was the only country in which it held the most days of resistance. (219 days)
• Hitler referred to Greeks during WWII as "the bravest who fought with the highest disregard of death" (1943)
• Winston Churchill recalled them "Greeks do not fight like heroes. Heroes fight like Greeks." (1941)
• The "Lost City of Atlantis" is believed to be found in the island of Santorini after a volcanic eruption.
• The New Testament was written in Greek.
• Cleopatra was Greek. (She came from the famous Ptolemy family, and she was the only Greek ruler that spoke Egyptian) and... <
• 13% of the English Dictionary is derived from Greek words.

Well, keep your eyes open for more posts... I'll try and give you guys some updates on our progress in conquering Greece.

Tentative Greek Schedule

Greek Lesson #3

ALPHA — Α α                             BETA — Β β

GAMMA — Γ γ                           DELTA — Δ δ

EPSILON — Ε ε                          ZETA — Ζ ζ

ETA — Η η                            THETA — Θ θ

IOTA — Ι ι                              KAPPA — Κ κ

LAMBDA — Λ λ                         MU — Μ μ

NU — Ν ν                              XI (z-eye) — Ξ ξ

OMICRON — Ο ο                            PI — Π π

RHO — Ρ ρ                              SIGMA — Σ σ

TAU — Τ τ                                  UPSILON — Υ υ

PHI (f-iiii) — Φ φ                          CHI (k-eye) — Χ χ

PSI (s-eye) — Ψ ψ                       OMEGA — Ω ω

But can you sing it like the crazy fraternity and sorority boys and girls?