We had decide to leave Andros early. Rick was up really early, like 5 am. I woke up about 6:30 because he was lashing the dinghy to the deck over our cabin (normally we tow the dinghy but because of rough seas here in the Mediterranean, everyone lashes it to the deck.) We started pulling up the anchor by 6:45. It was going smoothly until we got to the end. The windless, the motor that pulls the anchor up, was really straining and the chain attached to the anchor wasn’t moving. There was a huge chain, probably 3” in diameter, lying on the bottom. The anchor was hooked under the chain. We were in about 17ft of water and luckily the water was clear enough that we could see the anchor fluke stuck under the chain. The windless was no match for the chain. We spent awhile letting the anchor chain out and pulling it in and trying to swing the boat around. Eventually we got it lose (still not sure how we managed that) and we were on our way. Next stop the main town on the island of Tinos, the island right next to Andros. The town is also called Tinos. Our trip took about 4 hours, part of the time we sailed and part of the time we motored.
We planned to moor on the quay. In the Mediterranean, boats moor with their stern to the quay and the bow, or nose pointed out. Lines hold the stern of the boat to the quay and the anchor holds it forward, ensuring the boat doesn’t float back into the cement quay. It’s called a Mediterranean mooring. It is a tricky maneuver and it was our first time doing this so Rick was a little nervous. We motored around to scope out the situation. A guy on the land who helps boats moor for a tip saw us and came to our aid. It went pretty smoothly and our first Mediterranean mooring was behind us.
We got situated, attached to shore power and refilled our water tank. Then we relaxed a little before having a late lunch on the boat. In the afternoon some of us walked up to the main Tinos church, our Lady of Tinos. It is a cute town with lots of little shops, many of which had 6 ft tall candles which you could buy and lite in the church. We didn’t buy any candles. There was carpet along the street so people crawl up to the church. We saw women crawling up the stairs to the church. The church complex is built around a miraculous icon which according to tradition was found after the Virgin appeared to the nun Pelagia and revealed to her the place where the icon was buried. The icon is widely believed to be the source of numerous miracles. Here are some pictures.
On the way back we investigated ferries to Mykonos and renting a car to go around the island. Options for tomorrow.
We returned to the boat to learn that Rick had hurt his knee getting onto the boat. We also learned that the meltemi, a very strong wind that blows in the Aegean Sea in the summer, is beginning tomorrow and will be blowing until Tuesday, so we are staying put. In addition to being concerned that it would be rough sailing we are concerned that we would go to harbor and there won’t be room for us because no one wants to brave the meltemi.
After several of our crew members took a shower we went to the supermarket. We topped off our supplies.
Then we returned to the boat, put away the groceries, picked up the rest of our crew and went to dinner. We had seen a gyros restaurant on the way to the church. I think we had enough of big dinners and wanted something more casual. We had a great dinner with too much food, we brought about a 1/3 of it back to the boat. This evening no dominoes. Some of us played a little uno.
Unfortunately that evening we learn that our friend, Otto Tatar, died. Rest In Peace Otto, we love you. 💕😢😘🙏