Finikas
We were awoken on 23rd July by a neighbouring boat leaving so decided to get up & leave ourselves at about 7 .00. The sea was swelly but the wind got up enough to sail most of the 20mls to the Island of Syros.
 
Rob took the sails down as we entered the bay at Finikas on Syros & then the wind came howling down the mountains at 20-32 knots. It calmed down a bit as we headed for a space on the pontoon between 2 motor boats. The anchor set perfectly & we tied up just in time to be asked by a smiling harbourmaster to move to another space further along!
 
Later in the day, a French yachtie we'd met in Loutra, said he'd been swimming & noticed our anchor was caught on the pontoon chain. Oh Joy!! Rob went for a snorkel & decided he could free dive down & move the anchor the right side of the chain as it was on its side. He proceeded to do this & when he pulled the anchor rope in it re-set. Good anchor that!
 
Finikas is a pleasant wee village, mostly a resort. It has an excellent bakers & the supermarket gave us a couple of promotional baseball caps & a T shirt when we paid!
 
The "marina" is really one pontoon but has electric & water for 3 euros each & it cost us 6euros to stay . The harbour master is a friendly lad but does like to cram the boats in. At one point there was a boat using the 2 boats behind him as a pontoon to tie up to and all of them anchored - it is like a chain cat's cradle underwater.
 
While in Finikas we met up with Richard & June on Caladh, again & went out for an excellent meal in the village. Also the Norwegian youngsters on the charter boat that we seemed to meet in every port. They said they'd put a tracking device on Tiercel so we couldn't escape.
 
One of the best things about the marina is that the water is so good that everyone swims in it which means that the hot winds can be alleviated by plunging off of the back of the boat - bloody marvellous.
 
We decided to take a trip into Ermoupolis on the bus as the Rough Guide said it was a World Heritage Site & well worth a visit. It is a pretty town with 2 steep hills rising from the harbour. They are covered in buildings & one has a huge blue domed Orthodox church on the top & the other a monastery.
 
Ermoupolis
After our visit to the town we decided to sail round as there is a lot more to do than at Finikas .
 
We luckily decided to leave at 8.30am & had a good sail round with the wind just starting to pick up seriously as we arrived in the harbour. We had originally planned to tie up on the town quay , but it looked pretty choppy & the only boat there seemed to have combined rock and roll with St Vitus's dance.

We headed for the marina which was virtually empty & tied up alongside. No anchors needed - YES!

 Brit yachties opposite (Pete and Molly) filled us in on all the gen. The marina has no water or electric & is free. The fish quay has both if you need it. There is an excellent supermarket 5mins walk away & a free bus service into town every 20mins. Can't be bad.
 
We have climbed both steep hills to the top since being here. The Church hill has wide steps leading all the way up with beautiful old villas & mansions from the Venetian times. It reminds us of Sicily. The monastery hill is steeper & has narrow winding stairways through pretty small houses all immaculately kept or being renovated . The views from the tops are stunning. Well worth the climb.
 
The summer Northerly wind here is called the Meltemi. It generally blows during the day and dies at night. However, in July and August the sodding thing starts taking steroids and, for periods, can blow at up to force 8 for up to 10 days at a time.
 
It has hit with a vengeance since we have been here, blowing all day & night. The only berths left when we arrived are on the windward side of the concrete pontoons so we are having our fenders sandpapered by them all day and night! We can't put up the bimini or the cockpit tent to give us shelter from the sun because the wind (up to 40 knots) could damage them . Thus we have the choice of baking in the sun or steaming down below. Our compromise is to stay down below until we get too hot and then surface to be cooled by the wind before the sun starts to bake us.
 
We had planned to take the ferry to Mikonos, the Greek island where "anything goes!" . Well, almost anything goes - we won't be bloody going because we don't like to leave the boat in these winds.
 
Luckily we have plenty of time, we don't have to be in Kos until 21st August. However there is the necessity of a 60 mile trip from Mikonos to Patmos which, weather permitting, we hope to make later this week..