Peacocks and Deer

Ormos Kalamakiou was quite industrial with views of many refinery works, but it was well protected and after a restful night at anchor we motored out of the bay passing some big ships anchored outside waiting to be loaded up.

Our course was set to travel 25 nm to a bay on the north west corner of Nisis Moni, a small, rocky, uninhabited islet close to the southwestern shore of Aegina island.

It was a calm journey with light winds, there were dolphins in the distance but they didn’t come and swim along with us this week. After five and a half hours we arrived at the bay, where there was only one other boat, and anchored in clear turquoise water.

There are the remnants of an old campsite here where wild peacocks and deer roam around freely so we took Fred ashore and went hunting.

It wasn’t long before we were checked out by the locals, they certainly weren’t afraid of humans, I was more wary of them, particularly when the deer with huge antlers wanted to get a little too close!.

The peacocks were happy to pose for a photo.

This peahen had 3 babies following her but they kept running away from me.

Following a narrow path we continued over the hill to the next bay which has a beach bar and sunbeds set out along the sandy shore. It got much busier in this bay after the day trip boats arrived, the peacocks and deer all congregated around the new arrivals expecting food.

There were great views of Ziggy, now alone in the bay, as we walked over the hill.

The bay is open to the north and there were some stronger northerly winds forecast through the night. So later that day we lifted the anchor and travelled a short distance of approximately 2nm to anchor at Ormos Profitis Ilia, a bay on the southwest coast of Aegina island, which would give us more protection from the forthcoming wind.

There is a large bay here and we stayed for two nights to wait for the winds to pass. On our first night there were only 2 other boats anchored. It was a lovely tranquil bay with clear water and a colourful sunset.

Everyone must have reached the same conclusion that it offered good shelter as it suddenly became very busy when we were joined by 24 boats on our second night.

Once the wind calmed down a little we lifted the anchor and motored out of the bay heading east towards the Cyclades islands. The wind was a constant force 4 and Ziggy was cruising along at 6kts weaving between many other yachts and passenger ships.

After 53 nm, it was late afternoon when we arrived at Loutra harbour on the northeast of Kythnos island.

Loutra is a small village built around a natural bay, with less than 100 permanent inhabitants, it is mostly engaged in tourism and fishing. The name means ‘baths’ and the village is known for its thermal springs and attracts lots of visitors in search of a cure. Rich in iron and sulfur, the thermal springs are believed to have many healing properties which have been famous from the ancient times.

We went along for a ‘spa treatment’, there is a small area contained by rocks where a hot spring meets the sea. The temperature was burning hot in the spring but much more bearable where it mixed with the sea water.

There are other formal spas on the island, including some preserved marble baths which were ordered by King Otto and queen Amalia in the 1830’s, they are apparently fit for royalty, so we stuck with the beach bath.

You have to get your towels out early if you want a sunbed on the beach.

The island has a history of iron mining starting from the middle of the 19th century and continuing for approximately 100 years. The relics from mining can be seen throughout the island and there is a large loading platform in Loutra near to the harbour.

At first light as the sun rose over the water we left the harbour heading towards Paros. It was a frustrating day of changing winds, the sails went up several times, only for the wind to quickly disappear and they had to come down again.

Our plan was to go into Paros town but there was some swell rolling in the direction of the bay which would make it uncomfortable so we changed course towards Despotiko at the southern tip of Antiparos with good all around protection.

The journey took us through a narrow channel between Paros and Antiparos, there are lots of rocks around to avoid including some just underwater so I went to the bow to keep watch. Fortunately the area is well charted and we passed slowly through with no dramas. The fact that this tricky diversion was not part of the days original planned route will always raise the stress levels of one member of the crew!

The journey was 49 nm in total and after anchoring in the very calm, large bay, we were ready to watch the sunset with a nice cold drink. Luckily we had some friends already anchored in the bay who invited us over for sundown cocktails.

One cocktail leads to another and it wasn’t long before one de-stressed crew member was dancing on the deck.

Despotiko is a small uninhabited island with the exception of 1000 goats.

The bay is overlooked by the ancient 6th century BC temple to Apollo which ongoing excavations suggest was equal in status to the more famous Cycladean temple at Delos. The temple was dedicated to three of the Olympian gods – Apollo, his sister Artemis, and Hestia.

We found the site unmanned and not really intended to be open to the public, but with a huge hole in the fence it was a good opportunity to have a private viewing.

We hung around for a couple of days to enjoy this bay with its clear blue sandy waters before deciding that it was time to move on.