Our Grand Plan

We planned 3-4 seasons in the Med (our first season was a short one, as we started in August 2018) with trips back to Australia in the Northern winter, and if we are really lucky the odd ski trip thrown in too. We plan to cross the Atlantic in 2021 and spend some time in the Caribbean before braving the Panama and finally exploring the Pacific on the final leg of our journey. As we all know however, some of the best laid plans can come undone and sometimes the things you don’t plan can be the most rewarding. We hope you enjoy sharing our journey with us.

Where are we now?

You can follow our journey live on NOFOREIGNLAND using the icon at right. The map below is embedded from that website and should be updated automatically as we move. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook (ITIKI_on_tour) for daily posts of our location and anchorage. Season 2019 and 2018 have been archived at these links.
Season 2020 was set to commence in April 2020 and we planned to divide our time between Aegean Greece and Turkey, wintering in Leros again. Sadly this the Covid-19 pandemic put paid to those plans, as we just made it out of South America before the world went mad and locked down. ITIKI stayed on the hardstand through summer and another winter, getting very dusty and forlorn but safe and sound.

season 2021

Season 2021 officially commencing on 12th July when we returned to ITIKI and started prepping for a 2 August launch date. We managed to get into the water a few days earlier than that. This season we are heading west out of the Med and plan to cross the Atlantic in November. Stay tuned for irregular updates. When we are doing long crossings we will have our Iridium sat phone on so can be followed live on PredictWind.
24 Nov 2021, Wednesday
Last shop at the F&V markets. The fridge and freezer are now officially full! Returned the car, cleaned boat, went through our safety briefing and checklists, organised our grab bags, and then had dinner and dessert out. We are ready to go!
22 Nov 2021, Monday
Tour of Tenerife, Mount Teide. Drove up towards the peak, morning tea and cake at a small village along the way. Incredible landscape through the crater with lava flows, lunar landscape and sticky up rocks. Went down to Santa Cruz for lunch and had a great and cheap chicken snitty! Wandered around the town a little and then headed back to the boat via Lidl. 
21 Nov 2021, Sunday
A few light jobs in the morning then we went for a walk and found a lovely place for very good value Sunday lunch, roast lamb with roast and mashed potato and yorkshire pud. Met an English couple who have a place here and gave us a few tips on the island and hardware stores etc.
​20 Nov 2021, Saturday
Tour de La Gomera. Took a taxi to Los Christianos, a ferry to La Gomera, picked up a hire car and headed off. Lovely morning tea in a small village bakery with freshly baked cakes. Almond cake is a speciality here. Had a Canarian lunch via Google translate. Very heavy and weird. Island is very green compared to other islands. Stopped at a visitors centre in the NP and learned about the Gomeran whistling language which was used to communicate in the hills between villages. It helped to find missing goats or communicate local news.  Also the Asti, a stick which is used to jump over rough terrain. Views of La Palma the island with recent volcanic eruptions and evacuations. This is as close as we will get. Then ferry and taxi back to the boat.
17 Nov 2021, Wednesday: Plasito Blanca to Marina San Miguel/Amarilla. 57nm
Soni and Martin took the first watch and raised the anchor whilst we were still in bed. Bit of a strange experience which you can’t sleep through.  Motoring at first until we got out of the shadow of the island and into the acceleration zone. Nasty cross swell at first so a bit uncomfortable but then from behind so better. Got up to 20+kts of breeze, goosewing genoa, 1 reef in main, 2 in genoa. Lucky to get in to marina as they got our email just as someone else cancelled. Decided to stay for 10 days and use this as our staging point for the crossing.
16 Nov 2021: Tour de Gran Canaria Day 2
An easier day on the road as we just head along the coast westwards. There are some really heavily developed areas with some very ordinary looking resorts. Once bay has a cement factory. We finally get to Mogan after a detour/double back thanks to a road closure, and stop for coffee and cake. Next we are back towards our home base for a supermarket shop, drop the stuff at the boat and then on to Maspalomas for a quick bite. The wind direction has changed and strengthened so Keith and I head back to the boat while Soni and Martin take the car back. It’s a very bouncy RIB ride for all of us!
15 Nov 2021: Tour de Gran Canaria Day 1
Picked up the car at Playa Ingleses and headed into the hills. Scenery is quite spectacular. Morning tea at Fataga on a terrace overlooking the volcanic hills. Still very dry in this area. We head further north along the winding roads, stopping at a few viewing points for photos and gasps. Next stop is Roque Nublo which is a 20min walk up to a plateau to see these amazing vertical rock formations. The view is fantastic and we can see all the way across to Tenerife and its highest peak. The road is incredibly windy and we stop for lunch at Tejeda. Again fantastic views of peaks and rocks, and looking back to Roque Nublo where we have just been. So many cyclists taking on these steep hills and winding roads. From here we start heading towards the coast, but first via Pico las Nieves which is the highest point on the island. There is an observatory here, or maybe a military installation and again spectacular views. We continue to wind our way downhill and can see Las Palmas and the airport in the distance. We finally get to the freeway and decide to head straight back to the boat.
​14 Nov 2021:
Managed to organise a car for tomorrow. Had a lazy morning aboard then Keith and I went for a walk to find some lunch. Made the mistake of walking up to the top of the cliffs and trying to skirt along the edge of the golf course to get to the beach, but it was all fenced off so we had to double back and walk along the rocks. Saw Martin and Soni in the RIB, they were looking for Martin’s thong which fell off the boat. Had tapas at the ‘80s beach resort and wandered along to Maspalomas where there are more restaurants and resorts. Had afternoon tea and got chatting to a Scottish couple who had crossed the Atlantic on a star clipper. They gave us a few tips on Caribbean.
13 Nov 2021: Las Palmas Gran Canaria to Plasito Blanco Gran Canaria; 33nm
Left early to head south. Put the main up but not enough wind to get anything out of it, so down it went after driving me crazy flogging. Breeze picked up later as we got further south and we were able to raise the main and unfurl the gennaker. Mostly goose-winged and up to 20kts true. Anchored between the marina entrance and a 1980s beach resort, overlooked by a golf course.
12 Nov 2021: Las Palmas, Gran Canaria
Wandered around the Centro Historico today with a visit to the Cathedral and the Casa Colon (Columbus Museum). An indulgent day with pastries for morning tea and a 3 course "Menu Dia" with the best fondant chocolate muffin ever! Massive team effort at the HyperDino supermarket too! We are slowly stocking up for a serious passage! 
11 Nov 2021: Las Palmas Gran Canaria
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10 Nov 2021: Morro Jabel to Las Palmas Gran Canaria, 47nm
Had to motor all the way as the breeze was too light. Watermaking, washing and gerneying along the way. We are anchored in the port overlooking a container terminal and between 2 marinas. Odd, noisy but sheltered and calm. Good base for exploring and provisioning tomorrow.
9 Nov 2021 Morro Jabel
Its my birthday! We are going ashore. I do yoga on the foredeck while Keith tries to do a boat job in the dinghy. Still very bouncy. The dinghy is tied off at the back but it decides it wants to go ashore without us. This time at least the SUP is already pumped up so Keith goes chasing after it. He fell of the SUP and hurt his shoulder in the process but managed to retrieve the dinghy without incident. Took the dinghy into the marina and parked it under a gangway. Its a reasonable walk over the headland to the town to the north. Had a lovely lunch ashore, too much food so we got some take away. Did a supermarket run and then hiked back up the hill. A bit bouncy getting back to the boat but we did well and didn’t lose any shopping overboard. We were all too full for dinner. It was even rollier tonight that the previous night, but had settled by the morning.
8 Nov 2021: Caleta de la Rasca to Morro Jabel 57nm
Left early after a very rolly night. Gennaker only at first, then as we turned the corner we could change to the kite. 15-20kts most of the way, a few gybes as we got to the corner, just north of Gran Tarajal. The northern part of the coast has a large area of sand dunes, but the rest of the landscape is volcanic, much as we have seen before. We anchor off the town, north of the marina. Again it is very rolly and gets worse as the breeze drops overnight.
7 Nov 2021: Play del Pozo to Caleta de la Rasca (Lobos) 7nm
A strong NE is still blowing, but just a short distance to go. Good holding but very bouncy. We try to go to visit a lagoon area on the south east corner of this tiny island but too exposed, so we cross the bar on the NE corner and bring the RIB up onto the beach. Walk around the southern end of the island. It is rocks, rocks and more rocks. Not a blade of grass in sight. There is a small restaurant and beach but not much else.
 6 November: Playa del Pozo
​A walk ashore today from our anchorage. One of the most famous beaches in The Canary Islands. the landscape is seriously dry. Not a blade of grass to be had anywhere!
5 November: Rubicon to Playa del Pozo; 3nm
A short trip ashore for a few provisions and then we head east away from the noisy town anchorage to a beach anchorage. We are expecting some strong northerlies. Its definitely winter weather now, cloudy and cool. Water temperature is 23C although it's not that tempting to go in. 

​4 November: Playa Concha to Rubicon, via Marina Lanzarote; 18nm
Left the anchorage at 8am to get to the fuel dock. Soni and Martin have rented a motor bike to tour the island. We get to the fuel dock and Keith stays on board while we go and check in at the passport office. This involves a taxi ride around to the other side of the port. Meanwhile the fuel pump breaks down so Keith also jumps in a taxi and comes over to the passport control. That was handy, very quick and no dramas at all, even with my obvious Schengen overstay. The pump is still not fixed so I walk up to the supermarket. By the time I get back the pump is fixed and Keith has been booted off the dock so we do a radical "touch and go" on the end of the dock, helped by a friendly local without a word of English! We head south under gennaker to a protected bay to wait for the intrepid travellers. The weather is quite unsettled and we get some rain squalls. 
3 November: Playa Francesca, La Graciosa to Playa Concha, Lanzarote; 23nm
The boys tried again to fit the anode but still no luck. We went for a short walk ashore to check out the volcano then headed to Lanzarote. Intended to anchor outside the marina but the anchorage was dodgy. Further south to our second choice and we were waved away by an enthusiastic police woman. Hmm, running out of options we go a little further south and anchor of the beach. Its a reasonable spot and a calm night.


​2 November: Playa Francesca, La Graciosa
Spent the day recovering on the boat. The boys tried to fit the anode but no luck again. Seems it needs some modifications. The water is not that warm here so there is a limit to how much time they can spend in the water. Its exhausting work.

28 October to 1 November: La Linea, Spain to Playa Francesca, La Graciosa (Canary Islands) 584nm
Great shakedown for ITIKI and the crew. I will write this one up in more detail soon!
27 October: Queensway Quay Marina, Gibraltar to La Linea, Spain; 3nm
Great to finally get the all clear on the electrics and leave the marina. A very short trip across the border to the anchorage at La Linea, Spain. When we were here last time we stayed in the marina to sort out the problems with our Genset. This time we are anchored outside the marina. It was so good to be away from the creaking, groaning and jerking of mooring lines and we all slept so much better. 
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​7 October to 27 October: Queensway Quay Marina, Gibraltar
Our longest stretch in a marina in ITIKI since leaving Tunisia. We spent our days exploring Gibralter, scoping out supermarkets and provisioning with a few nights out. The work to upgrade to Lithium batteries started on Tuesday 12th and went all the way through to the afternoon of the 27th when the final software glitch was solved and we could get underway. One of the biggest pains was deconstructing the bed every morning and reconstructing it every evening, as the batteries were installed in the space underneath it. Not everything went quite to plan and it was a bit stressful. I will write more about the electrical changes we have done soon, but so far so good.
6 October: Playa Calaiza to Gibraltar; 91nm
Spent the morning fart-arsing around, swimming (our last in Med!)and exploring the shoreline in the RIB. Went to say hi to the Canadians on the Helia and got invited aboard. Great to see some of their modifications, including solving the leaking shower problem.They came over for a reciprocal inspection later in the day after walking up the hill. Left around 5pm expecting to have a great kite run all the way but the breeze was just that bit lighter than expected. Had about 6 hrs motoring and 11 sailing with the Parasailor. A reasonable amount of traffic overnight and the closer we got to Gib the more big cargo ships we saw. Dropped the kite just to the east of Gibraltar, right in front of a huge cargo ship which was either at anchor or just drifting. This is the second time we have come into Gib under kite, the first one was from the other direction of course. We fill up on duty free fuel and head into the Marina where we are tied up on a wall. There is a 1m tide so this should be interesting!

5 October: Marina Aguadulce to Playa de Calaiza; 63nm
Early morning start 7am out of the marina. Motored all the way. The coastline is quite dramatic and craggy. I feel like I am always taking pictures of rocks. There is another Helia here, we swing by but they dont seem to interested. Will go and have a chat in the morning. 
2-5 October, Marina Aquadulce
There are not too many well protected anchorages along the southern coast of Spain and with a strong Westerly coming we decided to spend a few days in a Marina. With winter rates now applicable, this one was quite reasonable. Only problem was that they squeezed us stern-to on the end of a T next to a Lagoon. Our port hull was hanging over the end and there was a powerboat on the side of the arm whose anchor was a little too close for comfort. We made do but it was not the most comfortable place once it started blowing from the west and the Lagoon was pushing us further off the edge of the quay. We chilled out on the boat, walked around the local area and then took a bus to nearby Almeria on Monday. The Moorish fort and cathedral were closed but it was lovely to walk around the town anyway.
2 October Cala San Pedro to Marina Aguadulce; 36nm
Slept like babies despite an afternoon nap yesterday. Had a lazy morning swimming and got underway mid morning. Managed to sail under gennaker for the last hour and safely moored by 5pm. Not the best spot in the marina, but good value and well protected from the incoming Westerlies over the next couple of days.
30 September / 1 October, Cala d’horts, Ibiza to Cala San Pedro, Costa Blanca; 202nm
The forecast was for excellent reaching conditions so we left early without topping up the fuel tanks. Needless to say the forecast was lighter airs and further aft than anticipated so we motored a lot. The fuel warning light came on. Spent a couple of hours sailing at low speed just to make a bit of progress without burning diesel. We knew we could refuel at Cartagena and fortunately we had phone signal to check the fuel station. It's 24hrs & remarkably I remembered exactly where it was in the marina. We pulled in around 4am! It was no longer self service but the Marinero came pretty quickly and we were in and out in  20 mins, although the whole exercise cost us 1 hour of time. We decide to head for Cala San Pedro, rather than trying to push another 60nm on to our marina, arriving at around 2:30pm. We have been to this bay before and loved it. Beautiful water, a fort overlooking the bay and lots of hippies. This may be our last swim in the Med.

​29 September - Portinatx, Ibiza to Cala d’horts, Ibiza; 23nm
We go ashore for a wander and to pick up a bit of fruit and some fresh bread then its off. The bay is dominated by holiday beach resorts and  hotels and not much else. We head south to another anchorage that I enjoyed on a previous visit. Quite busy but we manage to snag a spot. After all we have seen, it doesn’t seem so special this time around. We did have rain here last time, and this time as well, but at least it was clean. The water is beautiful and clear, but the odd jelly blubber.


​28 September - Soller, Mallorca to Portinatx, Ibiza; 71nm
Another early start, I sound like a stuck record on that score. This is definitely a “passage” or “delivery” now. After an initial failed attempt to sail we did manage to get the main and gennaker out for a few hours and arrived at Portinatx around 6pm. We have been here before with Pam and Messo, 3 years ago. Think we might have had dinner ashore and drank too much…
27 September - Soller, Mallorca
Caught the vintage tram to Soller at 8:30am to meet the vintage train, which goes to Palma. Not so much because we want to go to Palma, but just to see a bit of the inland of the island, which is very mountainous. The train is quite rattly but gets along at a fair old lick and would put the XPT to shame. Went through quite a long tunnel so we didn’t see as much as we expected. Wandered around Mallorca and probably took the same photos as last time we were here. I went to the tea shop and stocked up and we had a lovely lunch at a funky café. Decided to take a bus back rather than wait for the train at 5:30pm. Had planned to get off in the town of Soller but missed the stop and ended up back in the port.


25 September - Cala Teleura, Menorca to Cala Formentor Mallorca, 62nm
Up anchored 7:10, a bit bouncy coming out of the port as easteriy swell still coming in. Motored to the corner and around onto course, which was pretty much due west. Had wind from every direction and up to 24kts! It settled in from the east and we put the kite up for a few hours before changing over to the main and gennaker. Had to drop this about 10nm out and motor the rest of the way. Checked out Cala Murta but too narrow, so we ended up at Cala formentor.

26 September - Cala Formentor, Mallorca, to Soller, Mallorca; 62nm
Very early morning start to get around to Soller. Spectacular coastline, very rugged and wild. Not much in the way of protected anchorages along the coast here, but still a few yachts tucked in here and there. No breeze so we motored all of the way. Soller is a large bay with marinas on the north side but we find a spot to tuck in close to a commercial boat on a fore-aft mooring. We put up the boxing kangaroo and ITIKI flag and true to form a couple swim over on there way to the beach to get an ice cream. They are Kiwi but hail from Manly in Sydney! Had dinner ashore, our first Paella in Spain.
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​24 September – Cala Teleura, Menorca
Took the Dinghy into Menorca town for a walk around, lunch and shopping. Can’t remember it very well from our previous visit. Must have been a Sunday that we were here before. Very lively today, must be a cruise ship in town. Afternoon tour of Fort Isabella, absolutely huge and very impressive. Huge Vickers guns that we saw as we arrived at the coast. Quite overcast and cool breeze, so pleasant for walking around.
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​23 September – arrival at Menorca, Spain 14h10
Dropped the kite about 4nm out in 25kts and motored into the bau. Very protected anchorage Cala Teleura, overlooked by Fort Isabella and another fort as well. Very calm. Lazy afternoon and great night sleep.


22 September – La Pelosa, Sardinia, Italy to Menorca, Ballearics, Spain 193nm
Away at 7:45am chasing a Lagoon 70, easterly breeze but fairly light, put the kite up but it is slow going. Motors on for a while also tried the main and gennaker goosewinged but very frustrating with the breeze flickly through 20-30 degrees. Relaunched the kite at 6am in the dark and breeze built to 24 kts, much better speeds. Held the kite well despite rolly conditions. Seemed the swell was coming from 3 different directions. Beautiful moonrise and full moon so very light for the crossing.
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​21 September – Giardinelli Island to La Pelosa 66nm
Early morning start, navigating around the rocks in the dark. Starboard marker not lit. Bumpy at first as we head into the westerly but a bit smoother as it settles. Tried a few times to sail but mostly motoring. Arrival at the NW tip of Sardinia not really knowing what the anchorages would have to offer given the easterly conditions that had developed as we were transiting. Checked out one anchorage but very shallow, must have been close to the bottom as reading -0.4m! Second anchorage also shallow but sandy. Quite exposed to the east and very rolly. Not the best night sleep but adequate.
19-20 September – Giardinelli Island
Strong westerlies so we are holed up here for a couple of days. I go ashore shopping. Next day we both go ashore shopping. Quick look over at Cala Garibaldi on Isla Caprera, here is an old club Med from the '50s. I finally finish the curtains and a few more sewing jobs.
18 September – Budelli to Cala Santa Maria (Santa Maria Island) to Giardinelli Island – 11nm
After breakfast we jumped in the RIB and went over to see the Spiaggia Rosa (or pink beach). You can’t walk on it, swim in it or take the RIB ashore so we park nearby and walk over to it. It really doesn’t look very pink. We get some drone shots as well. After morning tea we up anchor and motor across to Santa Maria island where there is a reasonably popular beach anchorage. The larger tourist boats disgorge the seething masses here. Took the RIB onto the beach and walked up to an old lighthouse (described back on the beach as “rotten”). Nice view across the island group but the lighthouse was in ruins, as was the scaffolding holding it up. Got back to our RIB and as we were pushing off from the beach we were told off by the lifeguard for leaving it there. Oh well. Back to ITIKI for lunch and then on to the next stop. Checked out a couple of possible bays but they were rejected and we headed to Giardinelli island. Water here is more of a greenish colour. The bay is full of power boats and RIBs but by 5:30, magically they are all gone and we have the bay to ourselves.
17 September – Cala Ferrigno to Budelli East (Budelli Island) 4nm
Left our dock relatively early to head across to Budelli. This is another popular daytime spot so we wanted to get in before the day trippers. Found a nice spot and chilled for the day, watching the many comings and goings. Took a RIB tour of the area in the afternoon but it is very choppy thanks to the westerly.
16 September – Porto Stagnali to Cala di Villamarina (Santo Stefano Island) to Cala Ferrigno (Spargi Island) 9nm
We have westerly winds kicked in now for the next 4 days, not really strong but enough to keep us on the eastern side of the islands. That rules out a couple of places we would have liked to go but there are plenty more to explore. We go around to the southern end of Santa Stefano island where there is a lovely bay. I walk up to what looks like a disused quarry, lots of rusting equipment, piles of stones and randomly a statue overlooking the bay. After lunch we headed over to Spargi island, checked out a couple of anchorages before deciding on Cala Ferrigno. Initially anchored and tied to a rock (didn't think I would be doing that again after leaving Greece) but then another boat left the small granite dock and we tied alongside. I went for a walk up into the hills to an abandoned farmhouse, with great views across the channel. Got chatting to the lovely couple on the other yacht here, an Italian guy with an American wife who live in Singapore. We joined them for drinks later in the evening.
15 September – Cala Coticcio to Porto Palma to Porto Stagnali (Caprera Island) 9nm
Once the craziness of the day starts again we up anchor and head around to the bottom end of the island. Here we can see lots of sailing school boats which is really lovely. We stop here for lunch. Its well protected but nothing special. From there we head around to the western side of the island. We find a bay with one other boat, an FP Astrea and immediately like the vibe of it so here we stay. We go ashore and walk up to the Garibaldi House (Garibaldi is the father of modern Italy). When we return the Astrea is gone, and we have the bay to ourselves briefly, before some French in a cat come and anchor right in front of us. No big deal.
14 September, Olbia to La Maddalenas (Cala Coticcio, Caprera Island) 25nm
We are up reasonably early and head out of Olbia Port and motor up the coast. Again a couple of attempts to sail but mostly motoring. We arrive at Cala Coticcio and it is already quite busy. We anchor in amongst the throngs, thinking we probably wont stay the night here. The comings and goings are incredible, an entire fleet of charter boats comes in and just drop anchor anywhere, professional skippers and the only stay for a couple of hourse so not a huge drama. Its all a bit crazy and stressful though. We do manage to go for a SUP around the bay once the bulk of the charter fleet leave. The water is an incredible blue and it really does deserve its reputation as the “Tahiti of the Maddelenas”. Places like this just get loved to death though. A handful of boats stay the night.
13 September 2021, Olbia and surrounds
We hired a car for the day to explore inland a little; We visit Porto Cervo, playground of the rich and famous, at the heart of the Costa Smerelda where the well known yacht club is. It is basically just one big resort/coastal strip mall with every high end brand name represented. Next stop, some history (AKA piles of stones) the Giants’ Grave and Nurhage La Prisgiona, a ruined village dating to the 14th century BC. We visit a couple of villages in the hills, which feel somewhat deserted apart from the odd clutches of men sitting in cafes watching the world go by. Then on to Tempio Pausiana, through narrow streets only a Fiat Panda could manage. This place is quite remarkable, really a place that time has forgotten. Its all stone, buildings, facades and roads, something there is no shortage of in the hills of Sardinia. Next we find a winery, well actually a coop, but no tasting because of the “pandemico” so after a brief description from the manageress we buy a few bottles on spec. That’s it for the day, we head back to Olbia, via Lidl of course, and take our loot back to the boat in the RIB. We have dinner ashore finally having a wander around Olbia which is quite lively and animated. Plenty of tourists and locals out and about.
​12 September 2021, Arbatax to Olbia, 74nm
We up anchor and motor around to the fuel dock, arriving at 7:30, fortunately just beating a big powerboat in. We refuel quickly and we are on our way. We manage a little bit of sailing with the main and gennaker along the way, but again mostly motoring as the breeze is just too light. At least we are not flogging into it. We arrive at Olbia late afternoon and anchor off in front of the town quay. We are too tired to go ashore.

​11 September 2021, Arbatax
I head ashore in the afternoon for a reccie. Keith has to drop me off on the rocks as there is nowhere to land the dinghy. I walk across the spit to the main town which is unremarkable, supermarkets limited, but the fuel dock is what we need and it opens at 7:30am tomorrow. I walk back and head up to the fort on the point overlooking our anchorage. Its in ruins but remarkably there is a ladder to climb up into it (no such thing as OHS). Getting picked up from the slippery rocks is pretty challenging too but Keith nudges the RIB into a gap between waves and I leap aboard.
10 September 2021 - Villisimius (Carbonara West) to Arbatax (Porto Frailis), 50nm
Weather remains unsettled and the anchorage is rolly overnight. There are some strong northerlies coming so we decide to head north while its lighter and find a protected bay to wait it out. Heading into the strengthening northerly as we arrive. The weather was a bit of a mixed bag along the way, we managed to dodge the rain showers though. The anchorage has a camping resort on one side with a beach club and around there are plenty of restaurants. The swell wraps around the point and waves are breaking onto the beach. We have a good spot in the south east and less rolly than neighbouring boats.
 9 September 2021 - Villisimius (Carbonara West) 10nm
Keith spends the morning working on the boat whilst I go ashore and take a look around the lagoon that lies between the eastern and western sides of the spit. The easterly is blowing quite strongly so it is not pleasant in yesterday’s anchorage or on the beach. There is a ruined Spanish tower on the eastern point but it’s a bit of a goat track to get there so I walk around to the old fort on the western side of the point and then back to the boat. Later in the day we catch the bus up to town and I go for my haircut. This is an interesting experience in itself not least due to the language barrier, but the salon “Perruchia di Linda” had attracted my attention for obvious reasons. There are two other clients in the salon the loud, animated and uninterrupted discussions in expressive Italian keep me amused and in fear of my eyesight as scissors and other sharp objects flail around in the air in tempo with the conversation. I make it out alive and with a pretty good, and economical, haircut but need a drink! We have dinner in town and then try to figure out the bus timetable for our return.
8 September 2021 - Villisimius (Carbonara East) to Villisimius (Carbonara West) 10nm
We have a slow start with breakfast and swimming in the beautiful clear waters. We can see the anchor from the foredeck very clearly and well dug in! With some easterly weather on the way we decide to head around to the other side of the Cape Carbonara and anchor in the bay outside the marina. We pull out the gennaker, put the water maker and washing machine on and take a long, slow turn around the islands off the cape. This is another wide, sandy anchorage and the anchor digs in well. In the afternoon we walk up to the main town of Villisimius in search of supermarkets. It’s a 2.5k hike and with all our supplies a long walk back. We find out later there is an hourly bus service, which we will take tomorrow when we come back for dinner and a haircut!
7 September 2021 - Arrival at Villisimius (Carbonara East) 17h30
A last attempt at sailing this afternoon as we were in sight of land. As we arrive the sun goes behind a massive cloud and the place doesn’t look as welcoming as it did in the pictures. Still we know it is a wide sandy beach with good holding so we find a spot in the middle and settle in. We are the only yacht anchored. Its late in the day but still a few people on the beach and a few smaller boats moving about and after a long passage we sleep very well.
6 September 2021 - Santa Marina, Salina to Carbonara East (Villisimius), Sardinia; 253nm W
Very rolly night at anchor so we were up and away just before 4am, 1 hour earlier than planned. A little bouncy until we turned the corner at the top of the island and start heading west and it was a very dark night. As expected we motored a lot of the way initially as there wasn’t enough breeze. Went past Alicudi and Filicudi and much later in the evening Ustica, which is a nature reserve. The night was uneventful with very little boat traffic and the skies cleared to reveal a fantastic star scape. Impossible to photograph this but without the light pollution of the towns there are so many stars and galaxies to see, its a very special sight. We had the main up and got something out of it and tried to unfurl the gennaker several times, keeping it up as long as we could get good boatspeed and stay on a reasonable course. We were keen to arrive in daylight. There is a beam on swell knocking off our speed and wind just a bit further aft and a bit too light than would be ideal, so we end up burning a fair amount of diesel.
5 September 2021 - Santa Marina, Salina & Lipari Town
We go for a Sunday morning walk around Salina, which is pretty quiet. I also started baking bread on board thinking we wouldn't be doing much today. Instead we decide to take the hydrofoil over to Lipari Town for a couple of hours rather than move ITIKI to a crummy anchorage for the night. We have lunch in town and walk through the streets of the old town, up to the castle. Museums are closed but wander into the church, have a gelato and head back on the hydrofoil again. A much better way to see Lipari town and luck we didn't move as there are now 10 boats in our anchorage (including the guy from the mono at Lipari who recommended it!) and we would have lost our spot! 
4 September 2021 - Punta di Levanti, Lipari to Lipari town, to Santa Marina, Salina 15nm
Overnight we had a couple of storms pass through. Winds were not strong but they brought some rain and we had to bring all of the cocktail deck cushions in. Early morning brought a strong (unforecast) westerly with a big swell and backwash from the cliffs saw waves going over the transom. It was raining too! We beat a hasty retreat in big seas around to Lipari with me holding the crockery drawer closed until we turned the corner around the south of the island. Anchored on the southern part of the bay around the town of Lipari town on the east coset, a bit too close to another mono. Not a great anchorage, very rolly, too deep, probably rocks and weed. We chat to the guy on the mono and he recommends an anchorage on Salina which is protected from Westerlies of which more is coming. As we head north past the white sand beach on the north east of Lipari we see a Saba 50, Double Shot. This is Andy and Mel and their kids who were on the dock with us at La Rochelle and came to our baptism. We have a quick chat but by now its blowing strongly from the north, so we head across to Salina. The anchorage outside the Marina seemed unimpressive at first, and a little deeper than desirable, but we have it to ourselves and we dig in pretty well. There is a lot of traffic coming into the port, particularly high speed hydrofoils. I go ashore for 1 hr for a wander, its a lovely town but not much to it. We were expecting storms overnight but nothing eventuates and we have a calm night.
3 September 2021 - Porto di Ponenti, Volcano to Punta di Levanti, Lipari; 3nm
Went ashore early and walked up the volcano to the rim of the crater and around a bit. Lots of acrid sulphur on one side. Looking down into the crater it was a heart shape. Spectacular views from the top, down to the bay and across to Lipari. Can even see as far as Stromboli, a more active volcano. Walked around the small town and did some shopping. The police came by all the boats in the bay and told them to move on. The weather is lovely and calm so we pick up an anchorage on Lipari west coast, one of the rare white sand “beaches” although still a bit on the deep side. Boats come and go all day, fishermen come by to sell fish. Bit of a lazy day otherwise. 
2 September 2021 - Galicio Marina to Bala di Ponente, Volcano Island (Aeolians); 48nm
A very calm night after the excitement of our arrival yesterday. Got away around 8:30 and motored north up the straights hugging the starboard shore. Not as busy with shipping as we expected, that said a car ferry decided to leave just as we were passing by and we had cruise and cargo ships both overtake us at the norther end. We radioed VTS for permission to cross the channel and in no time we were turning the corner and pointing towards Volcano at the south end of the Aeolian Island group. The wind gods are feeling good today after giving us a beating yesterday and we get the parasailor up. The angles are a bit flukey and the 10 min rule is applied multiple times, but as we get further from the coast its more consistent. About 2:30pm we change to the gennaker to get a better angle to our destination. Even without the main we get along at great speeds and better angles. We head along the south coast and up the west coast of the island past spectacular cliffs and caves. The anchorage here is absolutely packed but we squeeze in and hopefully our anchor is not in rock. The bottom is black volcanic sand so really hard to tell what you are dropping it in.
1 September 2021: Rocella Ionica to Galicio Marina; 64nm
This was one of those days we went from Plan A to Plan B to Plan C - which was actually the initial Plan A that was discarded. Initially we were going to anchor at a spot called Bova Marina (not a marina but that is just what they call coastal towns), on the south western end of the toe. We were still getting Southerlies at this stage and although we had a nice time sailing on a broad reach whilst I made banana bread. The anchorage we earmarked was quite exposed though and as the forecast showed light northerly coming out of the Messina Straits, we decided to head across to Taormina on the Sicilian side and make our transit from there. As we got to the very tip of the toe another change of plans. As the northerly in the strait was only meant to be 5kts, we decided to head up to Reggio di Calabrio on the eastern side of the channel. There is an anchorage just north of the (€220 per night!) Marina that looks ok. Well the forecast of 5kts from the north turned out to be BS. More like 20-22 and awful short chop. We persisted with it, covering our recently cleaned boat with salt yet again. It’s amazing how 17kts feels like a relief. It backed off further to 14kts by the time we anchored and dropped to nothing from then on. Thanks Hughey! We had a very calm night, albeit listening to 80s music from the beach club ashore – that would have been ok except for someone yelling in Italian over the top of it. There were also local fishermen coming and going all night in small dinghies around us.
a​31 August 2021 - Rocella Ionica, Italy
We start to see the lights of Italy about 40nm out. We have made better time than we expected and should be in mid-morning. Once we get to 10nm out we see the sorry sight of a Bavaria 50 very low in the water. The main is up and strapped on. As we get closer we can see it has been trashed. Ransacked and windows stove in. Likely scuttled. We call in a Securite and wait for the coast guard, who seems to know about it already. We find out later that they took some migrants off it and probably just left it there, which is a shame. There is a collection of these stolen boats in the marina itself and they probably didn’t want any more of them. We spend some time cleaning the boat, doing loads of washing and resting in the afternoon before venturing to a “nearby” supermarket, arriving 10mins before closing. Dinner is pizza and past (of course!) at the local restaurant in the marina.
​30 August 2021: Kounapetra, Cephalonia to Marina Rocella Ionica, Italy; 186nm
An early morning departure 0600 for a 186nm journey across to the sole of Italy. We started with one reef in the main and the genoa. Seas were  very lumpy initially and we didn’t get a lot of breeze until we got away from the island. We made good speeds and shared watches throughout the day. About 3pm Keith noticed that our reefline (the new Dynalite one) had chafed through the outer sheath at the (very smooth) cringle. It looks like it will hold though. Once it comes to shake it out we will need to be careful that it doesn’t peel the core like a banana. As evening approaches the breeze drops (as forecast) and we opt for the gennaker. We then need to go to full main and one engine. We keep that configuration through the night and the next morning. We try again to sail as we get a bit of breeze but it doesn’t last and is taking us off course so motors back on.
​29 August 2021: Spartia, Cephalonia to Argostoli, Cephalonia to Kounapetra, Cephalonia; 20nm
We leave our anchorage and head towards Argostoli mid-morning as we need to refuel and also check out of Greece. The town is halfway up a long narrow bay. We tie up outside the Port Police office and get told we cant stay due to it being a commercial boat’s berth. We manage to arrange fuel but have to move to the cruise ship terminal to meet a tanker. Not a great set up for a “small” fibreglass boat but the Captain manages very well! I walk back to the Port Police and check out and we are off to our final anchorage in Greece ready for an early morning start. It is a calm night and the spot we chose is quite spectacular.
28 August 2021: Fiskardo, Cephalonia to Spartia, Cephalonia; 38nm
We farewell team Argonauts, helping them release their lines which is a bit challenging as another yacht has put their line around the same rock and overlapped with theirs. They are eventually away with Kylie frantically paddling on the SUP to get back to the mothership as it pulls away. It was really lovely “2-boating” with them, just a shame we did way more motoring than sailing! We go for a wander around the point up to a Venetian light house, the ruins of a Christian church and then loop back into the main town. It’s a pretty and colourful place, jam packed with restaurants and tourist shops. Plenty of charter boats here too, lining the quays. We head off late morning, try to sail for a bit but we are making slow progress down the east coast of the island. As we turn the corner the wind shifts onto our nose and seems our target anchorage is not well protected so we end up heading to  our first anchorage on Cephalonia, completing our 90nm circumnavigation. One more night in Greece and then we cross to Italy.
27 August 2021: Assos, Cephalonia to Fiskardo, Cephalonia; 11nm
Woke at 3am to the sound of thunder and lightning. Got up to move the outdoor cushions inside and then went back to bed. There was a bit of rain but no wind. Late-ish start to the morning, cleaning the dirty rain off the boat. Went into the village and had a wander around. There was quite some damage during the ’53 earthquake and not all of it has been rebuilt. We walk up the hill to the Venetian fort for stunning views. ITIKI looks so small down in the bay below. We leave mid morning to head around to the north east tip of the island for our last evening with Team Argonauts. Fiskardo is another “cute” touristy town. We have to do our first tie back of the season. Drop anchor 40m out and I swim the lines ashore like a pro. We settle in pretty quickly to help Team Argonauts who are relatively new to this. Once we get settled it seems to have gone beer o’clock so we have a very late lunch on ITIKI and then head into town for a quick look. Dinner ashore tonight will be the last supper!
​26 August 2021: 
​Spartia, Cephalonia to Fteri & Myrto Beaches, to Assos, Cephalonia; 40nm
An early start as we have a long way to go today. We have a great sail up the west coast of Cephalonia. We goose-wing the gennaker and Argonauts has their code 0 up. Their angles are a different to ours and they head in closer to the coast. Well they are a bigger boat but to be fair they have the Hammamet green beard on their hulls and Rob is onto his 2nd board meeting of the day. Our lunch stop is a stunning beach called Fteri, but it’s a tricky anchorage so we leave Argonauts to it and head across the bay to another stunning beach called Myrto. We have our lunch there, do a quick drone shoot and head off to Assos.
25 August 2021:
​Agios Nicholas, Zakynthos to Navagio (Shipwreck beach), Zakynthos to Spartia, Cephalonia; 24nm
A very early start as we push off at 6:15 to head around to Shipwreck beach. This is an inconic location and very popular with day trippers so we are keen to get there before they do. Last time we were here it was mid-morning and the place was a zoo with tour boats charging in and disgorging hundreds onto the beach. Not so this time, there are a few boats anchored in the bay and not a soul on the beach. We drop anchor and get the paddle boards in the water and we are the first on the beach with team Argonauts. Fantastic to experience it! Keith puts the drone up for a few photos before we start to see the first of the tour boats arriving just after 9. Time for us to move on. We head north up to the southern end of Cephalonia and anchor off a beach. The colour of the water is just stunning and we settle in for the rest of the day and evening.
24 August 2021
Mavratzis Beach, Zakynthos to Xigia, Zakynthos to Agios Nicholas, Zakynthos; 19nm
Woke to a beautiful sunrise. Morning tea on our boat ITIKI and then headed north along the east coast of Zakynthos to Xigia beach. There are sulphur springs here but its not too smelly and the water is crystal clear and turquoise. We explore some caves on the SUPs. Get into our anchorage fairly late and it's very full. We can't get a spot at the quay because there is a ferry due in at 7:30 but Costas in his RIB comes to the rescue and brings us in to a fore and aft mooring very close to the shore. Its the best place for us he says as its going to be very sheltered and calm tonight. Argonauts rafts up next to us and we head out for dinner at Costas’ sisters restaurant. Everything has its price but it is a nice meal and not too expensive, and who can fault the company?!
23 August 2021
Proti Island to Mavratzis Beach, Zakynthos 50nm
A 5:30am start to leave our island anchorage. Lucky we did not take lines ashore. We are motoring all the way with a main up for a bit. The last hour it is on the nose, this is why we got up early! Spot Argonauts on AIS and they arrive at the anchorage (Mavratzis Beach) on the south east tip of Zakynthos. Great to see them and we have a lovely dinner and way too much wine on board later on, swapping war stories.
​22 August 2021
Methoni to Pylos to Proti Island; 24nm
We set out mid-morning intending just to head to Pylos for the night and meet the Argonauts team. We stopped by the town to provision and then went to the north anchorage. Here we decided it would be better for us to keep heading north rather than for them to head south and turn around and go north again. We thought to anchor back in the south of the bay but instead turned the corner and headed north to Proti Island, arriving just before 8. It’s a small anchorage and there are a couple of boats tied back here. We manage to free anchor on 2nd attempt and settle in for the night. It is Sunday and there is a church on the island with a service going on, as we can hear the chanting. A small boat is shuttling people back and forth from the mainland until quite late and a blood moon rises. Magic!
Saturday 21st August: Porto Kagio to Methoni; 50nm
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Friday 20th August: Kaspali, Kythera to Porto Kagio; 37nm
The walk up to the chora is strenuous but well worth it. Great views of the anchorage from here and we also visit the nearby town for a coffee and a bakery treat to replenish our sugar levels and support the local economy. The town is picture postcard, although a little touristy but the walk down the hill is much easier. A quick visit to the mini market to grab some bread, tissues and tonic and then we will be off. I should mention that there was a slight mishap with Mr Logan slipping as he went to grab the RIB. He turned his ankle and managed to dip his lower half (yes iPhone in pocket) as well as the contents of the supermarket bag, into the drink! We managed to get him back on dry land before complete immersion and quickly whipped out the phone to dry it off (all good!) The bread didnt come out too badly either and as far as the tissues go, time will tell... Oh and Keith is fine, a little rattled and some minor swelling on the ankle. Nothing a gin and tonic wont fix later on. Oh anyway we head out of port with good breeze, one reef in the main and 1 in jib. Cop some strong gusts along the south of the island but this settles into a steady 18-22kts and we make good progress. The swell on the beam is not great though. The breeze starts to drop into the low teens and after applying the 5 min rule (plus GST) we shake out the reef. Immediately the breeze is back up to high teens - can you believe it!? We reach land in great time but our first tqo choices of anchorages (narrow bays) are occupied and so we head to Porto Kagio which we know is safe. Its crowded and rolly but everything settles overnight.
Thursday 19th August: Kliftiko, Milos to Kaspali, Kythira; 73nm
Early morning SUP around the caves again to see the coves without hoards of tourist. 2 little powerboats had spent the night inside the cove but everyone else had left. The light was beautiful. From there we had a great sail under gennaker and full main most of the way to our destination until the breeze dropped too low to keep us moving. Quite a busy anchorage but we find a space near some Kiwis in a 52' Grainger cat and go and say hi before heading out to dinner. They had brought the boat from Brisbane through Thailand and the Suez to get to the Med. They were very curious to know how we had escaped Prison Australia! Apparently Oz has quite the reputation now. Anyway dinner ashore was a real treat as we haven't had goat for a while! We decide to tackle the Chora up on the hill by foot tomorrow before we leave.
Wednesday 18th August, Adamantus to Kastanas Beach to Kliftiko, Milos; 22nm
Essentially we have done a clockwise tour of the island. The coastline is spectacular although in places marred by evidence of quarrying and mining. The colours of the cliffs vary significantly and the main mountain dominates the landscape on the western end. We stop for the night at some incredible caves. These are very popular with tourist boats and the inlets are full of action. We find a spot to the west with a couple of other boats and contemplate moving into one of the coves and picking up a mooring once the tour boats leave but decide against it. We feel it spoils the ambience of the place for others and it will be nice to see it empty in the morning. We spend the afternoon exploring on SUPs and in the RIB.
Tuesday 17th August, Elafolumano, Evia to Adamantus, Milos; 89nm
With a couple of days grace in the weather before the Meltemi started blowing again we decided to bite the bullet and head south to escape it. The wind was too light to sail so sadly we had to motor all the way but that was not enough to put us in a bad mood. Milos is a spectacular island, a volcano crater open to the north. We anchor off the town, inside the NE corner of the crater. Its a late arrival but we go ashore and walk up to the church on the hill and wander the town. Its very crowded and touristy but lively and attractive. Its a relief to be here!
Monday 16th August, Agios Dimitrious, Evia to Elafolimano, Evia, 22nm
The forecast looks strong but ok-ish so we decide to take a small hop south to another anchorage to make tomorrow's planned journey a little shorter. Put the main up with 1 reef and unfurled the headsail to 2nd reef. Needless to say the gusts were 10kts stronger than predicted and they don't seem to have any gaps between them. Saw up to 35 kts but at least it was a quick trip down and I didn't burn the bread. The anchorage here is great holding but not the least bit protected from the breeze. There was one mono already anchored here, but the brave soul has already left by the time we get settled. Only hope he is going south and has a strong stomach!

Sunday 15th August, Agios Dimitrious, Evia
Not a great night sleep for me as a bit too much adrenalin on board and I fixate on the creaking of the bridle as the gusts push us around. Anchor holds well though and Keith tells me I should be reassured by this creaking sound. OK then. We have a very lazy day today, go over to the local beach bar for a relaxing lunch, followed by an afternoon nap and later a RIB tour of the area. 
Saturday 14th August
Chalkis, Evia to Agios Dimitrious, Evia 34nm
We get up late-ish by our standards and head over to the town. There is a castle up on the hill and we get a glimpse of some of the rich history of this town. The Ottomans had dominated at one stage, fortifying the castle against the Venetians. We walk across the old bridge that we passed through last night and manage to find someone at the closed ticket office, who has an uncle living in Sydney, so we can pay our bill. A quick grocery stop and then a visit to by the fuel tanker and we are off again. We motor under the new “high” bridge, past the derelict factory and further into the Evia canal. We put up the main and genoa but the breeze builds and we are soon reefing, then of course the breeze drops and the reef comes out, and it promptly builds again and reef goes back in. Reefed the genoa and then furled it. 2nd reef in the main. One motor on. We have seen gusts of up to 32.4kts and this builds as we get closer to land. There have been fires in Evia and we start to see some smoke in the distance. Next thing there are water bombers passing overhead to take on water in the bay nearby. In this kind of breeze that is no mean feat! We get around the corner to the bay where we will anchor and there is not too much relief from the Meltemi yet. Here is where the Elvis helicopters are picking up water. There are at least 3 of them coming in quick succession. We try to get a grip in one bay, unsuccessfully before anchoring off a small beach club. Holding is much better but still subject to gusts. Looks like we might be here for a while but we need some time to catch our breath.
Friday 13th August
Siferi, Skiathos to Koukounosis, Skiathos to Chalkis South, Evia 86nm
Looks like the breeze is going to be blowing in the direction we want to go. Yee ha, I smell a kite run! No hurry though so go and anchor off a lovely beach for breakfast. Lagoon behind it but we can't take the RIB. Nice walk on the beach, real sand, wall to wall deckchairs. Get away about 11am and get set up for the kite. Great run for about 4 hrs before the breeze dies. We enter Evia canal and try to find an anchorage for the night but not much luck. We then finally make contact with the Chalki port authorities about the old bridge opening and find out that if we don’t go through tonight it would be Monday night before we can! So we hot foot it to Chalki, burning some serious fossil fuel and make it at 10:30pm. The old bridge joins Evia island to the mainland and only opens on the slack tide usually between midnight and 2am. We manage to convince them to let us through even though we haven’t paid. We get through just after midnight and anchor in the south bay quite exhausted. Not quite the day we had planned!
Thursday 12 August
Kira Panagia to Loutraki, Skopelos to Siferi, Skiathos 40nm
We get away early again and make it out of the narrow entrance. We put up the main and genoa and we are initially making good speeds, however the wind eases and goes behind us. We goose-wing for a while and also use the gennaker but the breeze is eventually too light and as we get close to our destination the engines have to go on. It’s very choppy and the main is driving us mad. We get around the corner down the western side of Skopelos and get a bit more motor sailing in before dropping the main. Sadly there is no room in the harbour to anchor or moor and it doesn’t look so nice anyway. We decide to head across to a small island between Skopelos and Skiathos so unfurl the gennaker. Bang! Gennaker comes partway down. The halyard casing shredded and the sail is stuck halfway down. This is the new Dyneema halyard we put in at Leros. It was very challenging to get it onto the boat and Keith got a whack in the head with the tension rope. We were unable to save the halyard so had to cut it and lose it completely. Bugger. That put a dampner on things. No anchorage on the small island either so we head to the beach anchorage just south of Skiathos harbour. We pack up have lunch and rest up then take the RIB a shore to walk around the town. Very touristy but we walk up to the church and clocktower at the top of the hill. The beach is a bit noisy during the day but it gets quiet and calm night and we have a great sleep.
Wednesday 11 August
Myrina, Lemnos to Planitis, Kira Panagia 58nm.
We leave Lemnos at dawn and unfortunately have to motor the whole way which also puts us in a bad mood. Dolphins are not interested in us when we have motors on. We see a tuna or marlin jumping, something must have been chasing him. The anchorage has a narrow entrance (80m) and opens up in to a large Y-shaped bay. We try the western side but that has too many big brown jelly blubbers so we head to the eastern end. There is no phone reception here whatsoever so we can't even get a weather forecast for tomorrow. Apparently in a northerly it can be fun surfing into the bay and likewise hard getting out! Lots of charter boats here but still fairly peaceful.
A small midnight storm (15kts) and pyjama dance amongst the charter boats. Motor yacht with professional crew who came in late and tied back between us and another swinging mono causes a few issues but we eventually get to sleep about 1am.
Tuesday 10 August
Asprokavos, Lemnos to Myrina, Lemnos - 18nm
​Tour de Lemnos by Citroen C3
Another early start, I do enjoy them, to get around to Myrina. What a charming town. A wide and sheltered bay with a small town quay (full) so we anchored in the bay. The town is dominated by a large rock formation and overlooked by Myrina Castle on one side, and a blue and white church on the other side. We pick up our hire car and tour the island. The cave church was the highlight. The walk up to it was hot and dusty but the scenery is spectacular, with some amazing rock formations and caves. The church itself is quite tiny and the cave forms its roof. We head through a couple of traditional Greek villages, even though the streets are so narrow there are still cafes with tables and chairs lining them and you feel like you are going to drive over the patrons’ feet! We stopped for coffee in one tiny town (Portianou) and then head on to a lovely lunch by the water on Moudros Bay. We continue our drive through the spectacular countryside, sadly the archaeological sites on the island are closed on Tuesdays… We drop in to the war cemetery at Moudros where many of those who fought at Gallipolli and were evacuated and hospitalised on Lemnos, including Australian and NZ soldiers, are buried. We visited a roadside produce stall before heading back to the boat. After a rest we visited the church overlooking the bay and took the car back before walking back through this lovely, although a little touristy, town.
​Monday 9 August
Sigri, Lesvos to Moudros, Lemnos - 51nm
Early start from Sigri, put the main up as soon as we left the anchorage, not thinking we would get much out of it, the breeze clocked NE and we were heading NW so we had a 2 sail reach most of the way across to Lemnos. Motors on about 2 hours out as the breeze dropped right out and it was a mill pond when we arrived. Took a spot alongside in the town port, but sadly this town is not quite what we had hoped for. A couple of tavernas and not much else, and nowhere to rent a car as we had planned. We decided to go across to Myrina, the main town, early the next morning so rather than stay overnight in the marina we went and anchored off a small beach resort called Chill in the bay of Asprokavos. The music was not too loud and it was a very still, calm night.
Sunday 8 August
Plomari, Lesvos to Sigri, Lesvos - 31nm
Easy day today, went up to the bakery again but George’s friend was at a baptism. They gave us a loaf of bread anyway and it was still warm! Went down to Taverna Psaros and had coffee and a swim and then lunch. Fresh rotisserie chicken, octopus and Greek salad (Village salad). Even had a reasonable bottle of wine. Once we had polished that off we decided to depart for Sigri on the western end of the island, the conditions were good and it would buy us another day and we would have a better chance of a good night’s sleep! We managed to spot George’s house from the water, as well as the “Hidden church” – glad we didn’t try to get to that in the rental car!
Saturday 7 August
Tour of Lesvos
We start off looking for a monastery, couldn’t find it. Found an aqueduct in the small town of Moira. Headed down to Mytilini for morning tea and to get lost in the back streets. Mytilini castle is well worth a visit, its very large and boasts extensive “cisterns”. We head on to a monastery. Then on to a cute town looking for lunch, find nothing (do people not eat lunch here?) then another monastery and found lunch there.
Visited a skala (bay) in the north, lots of lunch places! Took a dirt road along the north coast, saw a shipwreck, checked out a few more costal towns but northerly is blowing now so no good for swimming. Headed up to the castle near Petra – closed 10 mins ago - bugger.
We head back the long and winding way through the forest and town where George the Pilot’s friend has a bakery. zfurther on we found the tavern at Melinta that was recommended but too tired to go out for dinner so had dinner on board. Woke at 2am with all of the noise on the quay, a group of lads was daring each other to jump on our boat. Just as one lad grabbed the passarelle he got an earful from me and they ran off to the park.
6 August 2021
Oinoussa to Plomari, Lesvos, 34nm 
We awake to see we have swung 180 degrees in our anchorage and there is a very light southerly blowing. YES! We head off at 9ish and true to form the forecast is stronger than expected and there is a bit more west in it. We have some excellent reaching conditions followed by some goosewing action with the Genoa. The new tweakers come in handy as well. We top up the water tanks and knock over a couple of loads of washing for good measure. We took a shortcut through Turkish waters but nobody came after us. Also spotted the strange sight of an oil rig being towed at about 2 knots, heading towards Turkey. Had a bit of trouble furling the genoa as the line had a few overrides and needed some manual intervention before we could get the sail in. 
We have been messaging our friend George the Pilot who is back in Oz and gutted that he is not here to show us around his hometown (Melinta) near Plomari, but he has recommended this port as a great place to explore the island by car and the harbour is well sheltered and seems quite safe. We tie back to the quay and spend the usual 2 hours adjusting our lines and setting up the passarelle before heading out for a walk around town and to organise a rental car. The port police come around at 7:30 to say hi and ask us to drop in to the office with the paperwork. We have decided to stay for 3 nights, and after much tapping of the calculator a figure of Euro21 is announced! Power and water extra, but we don't need it. Very noisy on the quay, it’s a main thoroughfare so traffic all night and nobody has a muffler on their scooter! What are kids doing playing in the park at 1am FFS?!
5 August 2021
Khios Town to Oinoussa, 10nm
A joyful morning as we get the news our gas bottle is full and ready for collection. Although there are Byzantine monasteries and amazing Mastic Museums here, we are going to forego these pleasures, pick up our gas bottle and head north while the weather allows it. We walk into town as we need the exercise and its not too hot yet. Our gas man is true to his word and he even organises his offsider to drop us back to the boat. I make a pit stop at the supermarket and we are away. Just a short hop north to the tiny island of Oinoussa. We are greeted by a mermaid at the entrance to the port and find a small bay to the east of the town to anchor. We have it to ourselves. We take the RIB for a tour around past the tiny town and smaller islands close to the entrance, and a closer look at the mermaid. It's lovely not to have the strong north winds blowing and some lower temperatures. We spend the afternoon doing a few odd jobs, I have almost finished the curtains, and swimming to cool off. After sunset we take the RIB out again to see if the mermaid is lit up, which she is. A beautiful sight and a lovely calm evening.
4 August 2021 
​Komi Beach to Khios Town, 15nm
A chilly 28C for our departure to Khios Town today, but we are not complaining! Motoring north we notice a NATO warship on our charplotter. Apparently its "Sleeping" doing 14kts! No doubt patrolling the maritime border between Turkey and Greece as we are pretty close here. We do a hot lap of the main port of Khios Town to check it out, quite a wide bay and room for visiting yachts along the south quay but it would be pretty noisy. We continue a couple of miles north and find Khios Marina, which is another incomplete project. We take a spot alongside on the easter mole. A few other yachts there and a giant barge that looks like it has been there for a few years. We have made contact with the gas man and Keith drops the RIB in the water and takes our empty cylinder around to Khios town and drops it off. We can pick it up tomorrow morning and then head off. We spend the afternoon on board doing some more work between dips to cool down. We walk into Khios town for a bit of exercise, catch up with the nightlife and get a bite to eat. Its a bustling place with plenty of tourists coming and going.
3 August 2021
​Agios Kirikos, Ikara to Komi Beach Chios - 42nm 
It was much debated over a game of Rummikub last night as to whether to believe the forecast of 9-11kts from the north. This is August in Greece after all and we have seen some forecasting discrepancies. In the end we agreed to wake early, head out and give ourselves 2 hours to evaluate and head back to Samos if it was shite. Turned out the forecast was spot on and we were able to "2 Volvo reach" across to the southern end of Chios island. Also able to make some adjustments to the main along the way and top off the water tanks. We are anchored off a popular beach on the south eastern end. Had a few gusts but the anchor is dug in well and we have enjoyed a restful afternoon. This puts us in a good position to push further north and hopefully make Lemnos island before heading west.
2 August 2021
Limnionas Beach, Samos to Agios Kirikos, Ikara - 18nm
Forecast of 15-18kts from the north and we are wanting to head west. Got a tip off on filling our gas bottle so we headed over to Ikara. Great reach with 1 reef in the main (must put that 2nd one in...) saw gusts of up to 32kts coming past the top of Fourni island! Got the last spot in the "new" marina, no electricity or water and no charge. Very hot again today, we drag ourselves around the small village and find some lunch before an afternoon nap. Sadly the gas tip off turned out to be a bum steer). Took a paddle board out of the marina, into the wind, to a small cave  for a dip to cool down. The water is warmer here though because of hot upwellings/springs around the island.

1 August 2021
Marathokampos to Limnionas Beach, Samos - 3.2nm (ish..) 
Great conditions so we decided to head west, but first lets go for a sail! We need to get in to deeper, cleaner water to make water. We also need to get the main sorted with the new halyard and first reef which are now Dyneema. Turned out to be a great shake down hitting 11.4kts of boatspeed. Its great to be a sail boat again! Our anchorage is only 3.2nm from our last port of call however we have our water tanks 3/4 full and a load of washing done as well. We settle in for the night and have a visit from the crew of Vivere, an Aussie catamaran who have been cruising for 3 years already. 
31 July 2021 – Tour de Samos by Suzuki Swift
Based on the advice of last night’s visitors we hired a car and did the tour de Samos. We took our empty gas bottle with us in case and managed to turn up at a servo about 1 minute before the local gas guy arrived. Not good news though as the gas factory is closed on Saturday and Sunday and it seems our French gas bottle is ever so slightly different from the fittings in Greece. This may not be easy. Anyway we continued our tour visiting a lovely little mountain village called Manolates. Enjoyed morning tea and a wander around before heading on towards Samos town and through the hills to Mitilinii, another traditional hillside village with winding narrow streets. We had lunch here but the 45oC heat defeated us and our walk was very short. We made for Pythagorio on the coast and visited the amazing Eupalinus Tunnel. Built in the mid-6th C BC, this double mouthed tunnel was an incredible feat of engineering and mathematics. Built to carry water through a clay pipe from the springs on one side of the mountain down to the town on the other, it stretches 890m. Construction took place from both ends of the tunnel with workers meeting in the middle and despite some turns and fall to facilitate water flow they were only 40cm out of alignment when they met up! Not bad considering the engineering tools available at the time. And the big bonus was a cool 25oC inside! After a short and accidentally drive through the charming, narrow and touristy streets of Pythagorio we head down to the coast. There is a long stretch of “beach” here – all stones of course – and we are straight into the water to cool off. 
The water is a refreshing 22oC but you are dry and hot again before you even get back to the car. Its been a long day so we head back to ITIKI, again taking a scenic route through “Upper Marathokampos”. A restful day is in order tomorrow.
30 July 2021 – Captain sparrow fart strikes!
Arki to Marathokampos, Samos - 23nm
Well actually it was my idea so I can’t blame Keith. We were both lying awake at 4am and looking at the forecast again it was only 15kts, so we decided to up anchor and head north. Big mistake, as we copped 10kts more than that. The short chop was awful though and we diverted to Samos and did our first med mooring of the season at a partially build marina at Marathokampos on the south coast. Its sheltered but still quite gusty, but good enough for breakfast, a catch up nap for the skipper and to re-evaluate our plans. We arrived pretty early around 8:40am so had an easy morning, hosed the salt of the boat and went out for lunch. A bit more cleaning and setting up main, including reefs, and genoa in after a nap. Then off for a swim at a nearby beach. Its low 40s here so very hot and everything is a struggle. We decide to stay the night rather than rush off and the price is right, its free! We wander around the small town at sunset as it has cooled down to low 30s by now. That evening a Belgian couple who have been cruising for 16 years, drop by to say hi! They gave us some good advice and lots of tips about crossing the Atlantic and cruising the Caribbean and it was great chatting. Every time we talk to someone it seems we want to change our plans, its good to be flexible. 
Day 1 – 29 July 2021 - Launch day, Season 2021
Partheni, Leros to Lipsi to Arki
Well we really couldn’t sleep in today, too excited. A few last minutes jobs to do and hoping we remember how everything works. Importantly we have to pay the bills before the let us go. Our launch time is 10:30am and there is one boat hauling out before us. It seems to take an age to do their pressure wash and then its time for smoko. It is closer to 11:30 when they start lining us up. As soon as we are lifted off the blocks the antifoul guy is there to go over the areas we were resting on. Time for another smoko while that “dries”. All too quickly we are in the water. The mask on ITIKI got a few laughs from the workers. Back on board all engines started, throttles and gears tested, genset started, air con works and importantly no water coming into any of the bilges!
 
We are off! As its only blowing 15kts from the north we decide to make for Lipsi. Our water tanks are close to empty so we need to make water. It was a bit of a bouncy ride and unfortunately the watermaker would not cooperate, so we anchored at Lipsi and changed over the impeller. That did the trick, so no we need to go out again and make water. So off we go to Arki where we bimble around looking at every anchorage, before settling on an unremarkable one for the night.
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