The Cyclades Chronicles Part II

Santorini proved to be a highlight, sailing through the crater of an active volcano was definitely a surreal experience. The following day found us in a former pirate hideaway, a sandstone cove with plenty of caves to hide treasures in. The crystal clear, turquoise waters and network of cave tunnels through which to swim quickly sold us on staying for the night rather than the couple of hours that we had originally planned. We lucked out with the most scenic and private anchorage in the bay right next to the cliffs. We were a little unnerved when we witnessed a large chunk of sandstone crumbling away and landing within a couple of metres of another boat but luckily we made it through the night unscathed. Onwards we sailed to the main harbour of Milos, birthplace of the lovely Venus di Milo. Nat and Jen decided to buy some fresh fish from the neighbouring fishing boat which proved too small and tedious to clean with the boats inadequate utensils so the fish were relegated to dolphin bait. Natalie took us by rental car on a roller coaster ride to the beaches and towns around Milos. This involved squeezing down narrow streets, many hand brake starts and careening around numerous blind corners. Our wild ride took us to a beach that resembled a lunar landscape (see photo) and our other beach excursion found us amply exfoliated due to the small sandstorm stirred up by the wind. We returned to discover our boat dwarfed in the shadow of the “Mother-Ship”, a super-luxury motor yacht named” Siren”. Further research revealed it to be the #77 on the biggest, baddest, luxury yacht in the world list. Yours for only US$600,000 per week!! We kept an eye out for Oprah or Elton but only saw a couple well preserved octogenarians disembarking.
After Milos came the “baiting of the dolphins” or perhaps more accurately “torturing of the dead fish”. Nat and Jen had hatched an elaborate scheme of luring the dolphins to the “Jen and Nat academy of Dolphin Acrobatics”. The thought of living in a dinghy full of water must not have appealed to our flippered friends because strangely enough we didn’t attract any in spite of the disembowelled fish dragging along behind our boat.
The following day was off leisurely start, we even began the lofty undertaking of personal grooming. With Natalie half-naked and Martin half-shaved, there was an abrupt call to all hands-on-deck. The wind had shifted and caused us to drag anchor towards some nasty looking rocks. Our personal hygiene was delayed for yet another day as we quickly pulled up anchor and set our course for the day. The dolphins finally showed up again but Martin’s childhood “Flipper” dreams went unfulfilled despite his best efforts to get the dolphins to frolic with him in the water. A couple nights later found us in the legendary party island of Mykinos. We spent a couple days exploring the white washed village and visiting beaches with names such as “Paradise” and “Superparadise”. Perhaps Fabulous and Superfabulous would have been better names given the teensy white speedos and fantastic drag shows that got started as the sun set on the beach. The evenings were spent gallivanting around town and getting our last dose of the Cyclades night-life before heading back to Syros to return Ionia to her home base.