Fri 19 Jul – Day in Ios

Being in a little cove all by ourselves I couldn’t pass up on an opportunity to take some photos with the drone. I dragged poor Tom out of bed before the wind picked up and we were out on deck snapping away by 08:00. It was totally worth it as we got a couple of nice ones. 

Although Bini would probably have been fine in the bay we didn’t feel too confortable leaving her alone, so with the drone packed away and a few boat jobs finishedwe re-anchored off the main beach, which was a bit more gusty but much bigger. After a swim and coffee we took the dinghy ashore and walked the 3 or so kilometres into the town. We seemed to be the only ones going in that direction as we passed many small herds of very hungover looking twenty-somethings staggering bleary eyed towards the beach clutching water and crisps.

We stocked up on a Gyros each before walking up to the highest church in the Chora, the Panagia Gremiotissa, whose name in Greek means Virgin Mary of the Steep Cliff. We heard from some friends the walk was worth it and we weren’t disappointed, the view was amazing.

We walked down to the port to enquire whether we could bring Bini around to pick up some water. We were on our 2nd tank already and weren’t sure when we’d next get the opportunity. As we were walking along the waterfront Tom noticed a German boat and instantly recognised the family, we’d met them last year in Olbia! We went aboard for a chat and as if meeting them wasn’t coincidence enough, it turns out they’d bought their boat from a mutual acquaintance in Barcelona and we’d been moored about 2 pontoons away – what a small world! We chatted about our sailing seasons so far and shared the story of how Bini got damaged in Finikas. He said the ferries create a massive swell on their quay (the water changes by about 70cm!) so they’d put their dinghy between their boat and the wall – a very clever idea.

We said our goodbyes and went to ask about water. There was a pontoon we could moor along-side, buy a 5 EUR key and fill up. Sounded easy enough but we’d been pretty spooked by our friends ferry-wash story and started to worry about sustaining more damage. What to do? We got the bus back to the beach and decided to be brave and go fill up. We upped anchor and as we were heading around the corner two big ferries came steaming towards the harbour. The timing may have been perfect as by the time we got there, hopefully they’d have been and gone. As we were coming down the channel, sure enough they were on their way out, yippee!

Trouble now though was that we had 15 knots of side wind, which would make getting on the pontoon easy, but getting off a little tricky. We moored up safely and started filling up and with one tank done we went to fill the other. It was then we found out our hose was 2 meters too short! We ran around trying to find another one but to no avail so we had to resort to filling up our 15 litre water bladders and emptying them into the tank one by one, all the while praying that no bloody ferries would come in. With the tank almost full and our water bladders filled we made a hasty exit, we’d empty them into the tanks later. Phew!

In the evening we re-anchored off the beach and went ashore to a Mexican restaurant which two of our friends had recommended. The meal was delicious and a welcome change to chicken souvlaki. 🙂