ADVENTURE AUTUMN IN THE CYCLADES

Thanks to COVID-19 restrictions it had been a frustrating summer. None of our plans for sailing in Greece, Norway or Scotland had worked out. To make up for it, instead of our usual short autumn cruise in Greece, we decided to head off for several weeks from mid-October.

Aleko’s Nicholson 32 Beduin, is moored in Valtoudi Bay in the Pagasetic Gulf, so our normal cruising grounds are the Sporades and northern Aegean. This seemed a good time to head south to the Cyclades, maybe even Santorini, and visit this popular island group out of season. There was another reason to head south; Aleko was hoping to meet up with his son Leo. Leo and his girlfriend Pernille had spent the summer sailing from Denmark to the Med in their Hallberg Rassy 352 Dory Man and were now approaching Greece.

After leaving the Gulf it took us three days to get down the east coast of Evia. The second largest island in Greece, Evia is 90 miles long and there are few harbours on the east side, so we were glad of the fresh northerlies that had romping along, logging 52 miles one day. In the north of the island it was shocking to see the vast areas of burnt trees after the forest fires of the summer. The