Ios Island is our last port of call before returning to Santorini and we all go our seperate ways. This trip has been an amazing experience and I love my new "backpack", a 50 foot sailing yacht. I could get used to this. Unfortunately, the return to Santorini will put me back in true backpacker mode. The boat will sail again tomorrow with a new group of travelers and I will be moving on to a new and exciting destination that will be 100% different from where I a...

Leaving Mykonos Island rewarded us with the perfect sailing conditions. The same wind and waves that battered us yesterday while motoring north to Mykonos were now exactly in our favor as we sailed south to Paros Island, one of my favorite stops. Our anchorage was a beautiful, protected cove where we could jump off the boat and swim at will. We were surrounded by other yachts and sailboats at anchor enjoying the same peaceful setting we were. The small village o...

Since the 1960s, Mykonos has been famous for its gay scene, decadent parties, and nice beaches. Not that much has changed since then except that the heterosexual crowd decided that the gays were having way too much fun and invaded their turf; the bars and daytime beach clubs. It seems to be a mixed crowd these days with a whatever you like attitude as long as your having fun and drinking the $13 dollar beers (seems Greece knows how they are going to pay back Ger...

Naxos is great! This is the biggest island in the Cyclades island group and has some ancient ruins that are accessible by car including the cave where the Greek god Zeus was raised and the Temple of Demeter. And the main town at the port has an almost maze like layout so wandering aimlessly and getting lost is fun. All good stuff I suppose. There are some drawbacks to the sailing life now that we are a few days into the trip. The biggest of these is that my ban...

First of all, it should be said what the Greek Islands are NOT versus what I thought they would be. They do not have much white sand or palm tree lined beaches. The islands are actually quite rocky and barren, appearing almost desert like. There are very few birds and the sea life you see while snorkeling is of the rather dull and colorless variety. The water is also cooler than the Caribbean Sea which is what I'm used to. In my ignorance, I wasn't aware of any o...