Despite having spent quite a long time there in the end, of all the islands we have visited, Kythnos is the one we feel we have seen least of and perhaps feel most ambivalent about. But I am jumping ahead of myself.
Friends from Landshut were due to join us somewhere and we were pretty pleased with ourselves when we hit on the plan to meet up in Kythnos: we could get there by boat and they could reach us from Lavrion (south of Athens) in less than 2 hours by ferry. In retrospect our smugness should have alerted us to potential imminent spanners in the works, as everyone knows that pride comes before a fall. However we remained blissfully ignorant of future flies in the ointment, and other metaphors that might befall us. Admittedly we would have to make our way over to the island a good ten days before our friends were due to arrive, to avoid a forecasted very long period of strong northerly winds. But we thought we could take advantage of the extra time to tour the island and check out all the good bays, beaches and sights worthy of seeing, in preparation for a roaringly successful time with our friends.
It's always nice to set off to a new place so we waved a fond au revoir to Syros and off we went to Kolona beach on Kythnos, a journey of about 34 nautical miles. Any brochures or articles about Kythnos are always illustrated with a picture of scenic Kolona which has become emblematic of this island of 98 beaches. It is a pretty, sandy beach linking Kythnos to a small islet, thus forming two bays, each with its own water temperature and waves. In addition to spectacular sunsets, more importantly it promised us good protection from the expected gales, and a good holding for the anchor.
This was to be our home for quite a while, so we invested a lot of time and energy in the first few days trying different anchorages and different mooring solutions, including tying up the stern of the boat to the rocks on the shore. We were inspired to try this out by our new neighbours on day 3 who arrived in a huge posh motor yacht and proceeded to anchor and then attach lines from the stern, Mrs Sporty swimming out to attach the lines to the rocks in what looked like a well practiced manoeuvre. Very impressed, Ralph asked them for advice on how we might do the same. In the end a) they managed the whole operation for us, telling us where to anchor, and fixing the ropes to the rocks b) it transpired that our loops for this purpose were too small c) in the end with the prevailing wind we were actually in danger of banging into them if ever one of our loops became detached d) after having helped us so extensively they decided to leave – presumably because of the risk of being bashed into – which meant that e) we felt pretty bad. After that Ralph spent several hours replacing the loops – which were not only too small, but also likely to chafe – with chains from the anchors, the last 6m of which were sacrificed to this end, cut off by Ralph with an anglegrinder. In the end, a day or so later, the lines to shore turned out to be unsuitable for the prevailing conditions so we had to remove them and re-anchor. Phew and double phew.
The anchor proved to be holding really well despite the often very strong winds while we were in Kolona. However, leaving the boat was often not an option since many boats were coming in or leaving (OK to leave if you were sailing southwards) and our anchor could get pulled up. So we sat and waited. Just the two of us. Sometimes it was too rough even to go swimming. Sometimes the wind drove sheets of sand up on the lovely beach. Several days the taxi boat did not come to bring people from town to the beach. Sometimes we got bored and frustrated as other boats came and went. In the evenings we watched the marvelous sunsets with the daytime beachgoers and their dogs silhouetted against the sky along the thin strip of sand. And we looked forward to our friends arriving; thirsty for a change of scene and an injection of new company!
We did manage a few short excursions in between bouts of strong wind. On the first day we walked up to the little church on the islet and enjoyed the fabulous views over both bays. Another day Ralph dropped me by stand-up paddle on the shore and I walked to the next bay, a very steep walk up and down. The road was unpaved and therefore very dusty and with potholes you could sink a shotput in, and so steep that some cars started rolling backwards. One day we got the taxi boat to the harbour town Merichas two bays up and had the best fish lunch we have had since we have been in Greece – at a restaurant run by the same family as the taxiboat. We enjoyed a few morning OJs at the beach bar, served to us by a nice chap from Mexico City. And one night we met a Greek couple our age, who were very impressed with our new life adventure. (People of our age are often impressed by our story – you can see them asking themselves whether they could do something similar. At that particular moment though I was feeling as though it’s not all quite as romantic and adventurous as people fondly imagine.)
Having seen the harbour at Merichas, where the boats were badly affected by a strong swell, we decided to welcome our friends in Loutra marina, a nice protected place for our visitors to get used to being on the boat. On the Thursday, happy finally to be able to move on, albeit from this most scenic of locations, we arrived in Loutra plenty early to bag a spot in the marina.
Unfortunately here is where things got tricky. One of the engines stopped revving properly and eventually stopped altogether. To steer a catamaran (eg into a harbour) you need 2 engines. So this was not ideal. At this point I have a confession. I admit it – it was me! I tempted fate. I am a very persuasive temptress it seems. A mermaid. I jinxed it. I jinxed it by having dared to say, over the weeks, that we were lucky that x or y had not happened; I jinxed it by expressing my relief that the [insert difficulty] must soon be over. Sometimes over the last few days, if we have said "ah, now it looks calmer out there" it has felt inevitable that soon afterwards the Meltemi would rise up from his nap and begin to blow again vigourously. And in my last entry I mentioned that the Belgian guys in Syros had had engine failure and that would have been much worse than the anchor winch failing temporarily. So you see, it was me!
One step at a time though, jinxed or not. Stavros the Loutra harbourmaster balanced the steering of the starboard engine, by pushing us with his dinghy. We got moored safely and then turned our attention to troubleshooting the engine problem. It turned out that Stavros is not only The Loutra Harbourmaster and generally A Nice Guy but also The Boat Mechanic on Loutra, Here was the silver lining to this particular cloud. He said he would come and look at the engine later. In the meantime Ralph spoke to our trusted mechanic in Kos who advised him on what to look at (check the filters and so on), as it could be a blockage in the pipes. Ralph did what he could. At about 6pm Stavros turned up as promised and he and Ralph did some further troubleshooting and cleaning together. It seemed the tank had some gunk in it that had been shaken up by the bumpy ride over from Kolona. After 2 hours the pipes were all clean again and the engine ran happily for the 20 minutes we tested it. Phew! Our guests were due to arrive the next day and we still had to finish getting the boat ready for them. A minor inconvenience was that the pump to flush the port side toilet with seawater, gave up the ghost. Ralph spent most of the following morning trying to get it to work but in the end we had to change back to freshwater flushing. This does have a significant impact on water consumption, although since we were in a harbour and could refill with water any time, it was not an immediate concern. So we were nearly ready for our guests! There was just time to wash the boat down and sluice ourselves at the pier. In fact we and the boat were still a bit damp when they arrived, laden with groceries according to a big list I had sent them.
On that first afternoon in the cute wee town of Loutra with its cute wee marina, a little beach and some thermal springs, we switched into holiday mode again. We had some drinks, some dinner, we played cards, and enjoyed the company. Overnight everyone managed to get some sleep although the mooring lines were sometimes squeaky, and it was quite hot. (I realise that I have largely got used to some level of discomfort occasionally but I feel bad about visitors having to experience it. On the other hand you could say this is part of the authentic experience. This was a line I was to use to myself on several occasions in the following days).
On the next day the weather was not suitable for first-time sailing so we all hopped into our friends’ hire car and went on a tour of the island, taking in the main town, and randomly sampling delicacies including some lovely squishy Greek delight and some pastries. We also visited the fascinating caves of Katafiki, that had played a significant role in the daily life of villagers of Driopida. In Driopida itself we had a fabulous lunch, and then made our way down some quite hairy roads to the beach of Agios Stefanos to check it out as possible overnight anchorage destination with our friends, and then back home for dinner and cards.
We had hoped to leave on Sunday after lunch and prepared the boat accordingly but suddenly the harbour started to fill up with boat after boat, the captains wiping their troubled brows and the crews stepping out of their lifejackets and oilskins. OK that is an exaggeration but when Ralph went to help some of them with their mooring he found out it was quite rough out there... so we decided not to leave that evening. We re-opened all the windows and re-inserted the mosquito screens, and went out for a meal!
Finally on Monday we felt it was ok to leave. Because of a change in weather we would not head for the bay we had checked out on the east coast: instead we would sail southwards down the east coast and then motor back up the west coast close to Kolona. This was a much longer route than originally planned but we hoped our visitors would cope ok. The 2nd engine fired up so Ralph was able to manouevre Opua out of the harbour and then we were off! Conditions were quite favourable so for the first little while we got some good sailing in. But it was quite a long journey for our guests and one by one they all fell asleep, which is sometimes the only sensible response on a long passage when you are not needed as crew. Eventually though after 5 or 6 hours we arrived in Apokrisi Bay and dropped the anchor. Ralph started the second engine to straighten up the boat and drive in the anchor, but alas! The engine failed again.
We tried to stay unperturbed by this new event although without the second engine we could not drive in the anchor properly. For that night it might be ok as the forecast was for no wind. Later in the week it could become a real problem. We were happy that our friends could experience boat life anchored in a bay. They took the dinghy and toured the bay; went on some trips with the stand-up paddle, and enjoyed some time on the beach. Eventually we all went on land to have dinner overlooking the bay, which is also somehow on the Genuine Cruising Experience checklist.
Despite being so tantalizingly close to Kolona which we had wanted to show to our friends, given the weather and the impossibility of steering the boat with one engine not responding, we had no choice but to moor in Merichas harbour. We contacted the harbour master to request assistance entering the harbour, and when we arrived there he was, gesturing us to moor longside. Oh and look, some other friends were there – the Port Police! They greeted us most warmly, and very kindly took all of our paperwork and IDs. They informed us very cheerfully that we would get our boat papers back when the boat was fully functional again. Ralph’s contacts in Kos told us the German embassy and a surveyor might even need to be involved, which would be a lengthy and costly process. Despite our collective positive outlook it did seem as though the jinxing was holding, and things were going from bad to worse.
Our friends took a taxi to Loutra, from whence we had sailed only the day before, to pick up their hire car. I stayed with Ralph while he spent some time looking at the tank again and speaking to several people about possible next steps. One solution was to enable both engines to be fed by a single tank, but for this we would need some additional parts. We investigated taking the ferry to Athens to source the necessary parts, but Stavros, the mechanic at Loutra said he could order them via a courier and they should arrive the next day or so. At some point having exhausted our investigations we had a beer and then lunch at the cafe opposite the boat. And felt much better.
At least the longside berth was quite quiet inspite of the unforecasted south winds causing an unfortunate swell in the rest of the harbour. In the morning Werner and I, the early risers of the crew, we were shocked to see the other boats, moored stern-to, bobbing, jigging and rocking quite violently. I even videoed them and felt quite smug. Fatal mistake! Reminder to self: please avoid smugness at all costs. At 8am the harbour master arrived to tell us to move the boat as the ferry was due to moor there. All hands on deck! It was so windy! And one engine not working! We all jumped to and took position while Ralph used the wind, and engaged the help of the very competent skipper on the big Lithuanian catamaran, to guide us in to the stern-to position next to all the other boats.
It seemed that the engine problem might take a while to fix so our friends booked their passage back to Athens for the next day. It was a good decision because by Thursday the swell had worsened and the boat was rocking so violently it became difficult to stay on it without getting sick. We waved a reluctant farewell to our friends as they hopped onto the ferry and headed back to Athens. We were still stuck here, possibly for a while.
It transpired that by chance we were also in the Broken Boats Corner of the harbour. Here we were one of three limping boats. One poor boat had an engine that would only go in reverse. Another had a broken anchor winch. Both of these boats experienced various problems during their stay in the harbour, providing chaotic scenes which we watched with fascination and horror as we waited for a resolution to our own problem.
On Friday the parts had still not arrived with the courier and who knew when they might ever turn up. Stavros, the single boat engine mechanic on the whole island was pushed for time and unenthusiastic about our tank issues. Ralph decided to cut the crap and take matters entirely into his on hands. After consultation with our trusted mechanic in Kos, at the garage we bought 2 canisters and had them filled with diesel. One was spare and Ralph fitted the other in the engine bay directly next to the engine, and changed all the pipes in and out, to enable the engine to be fed from the canister, bypassing the full infected tank. And so it was! By 4pm or so Ralph was able to test the engine and it ran like a charm. What an achievement! Stavros talked to the Port Police and we tootled off to collect our papers. Visions of being stuck for weeks in Kythnos on a violently rocking boat, unable to leave the boat unsupervised, and unable to leave the island, receded. We were finally free to leave. We were euphoric. On Saturday at first light we left Merichas harbour and motor-sailed away from Kythnos as fast as our little boat-legs could carry us, heading in the general direction of Kos to resolve the tank issues.
We very much appreciated having friends to visit. I enjoyed having crew to share my duties with - the raising and lowering of the main sail; unfurling and furling of the sails, the flurry with fenders and the lines on entering a harbour or marina. Our friends had remained unfailingly good tempered and uncomplaining about the challenges. We really wished we could have offered them a less eventful, and smoother time on board. But then, how authentic would that have been? Their visit highlighted for me some of the aspects of a sailing life that we have already come to expect or take for granted. Including the power of inadvertent jinxing. On the boat tt is unlikely you will be able to pull off your perfect plan.
Translated to German with DeepL (free version): DeepL.com, with some tweaks.
English 
German