And So to Bed, 17th October 2016 We left the Cyclades and made our way back to the Dodecanese, stopping at a couple of favourite places for a last taste of swimming in clear water in stunning scenery. En-route we watched goats playing "king of the castle" on cliff tops, a gull taking a rest on a bit of flotsam (or a new form of pallet surfing - see pic) and met up with boats we had encountered before. For once we had it easy - no trying to beat the weather, or ...

A Whistle-stop tour of the Minor Cyclades Saturday, 8th October We have wanted to visit these smaller islands for some time. Our previous trips through the Cyclades have been en-route to or from somewhere and we have been to all of the larger islands except Andros & Tinos. The minor Cyclades are bounded by Naxos & Paros to the north, Santorini to the south and Milos to the SW. Now we meandered our way around Schinoussa, Ios, Sikinos, Folegandros, Iraklia...

Monday 26th September, Wildlife and the 3 A's It's been a fortnight of variety - we have again been as far east as you can go without bumping into Turkey and are now back in the central Aegean. A note on recent wildlife: A bright blue kingfisher perched on our guardrail whilst at anchor in Levitha, unusual in saltwater Big bottlenose dolphins (not the little commons) between 1/3rd and ½ our boat length Big shy turtles with their heads just breaking the w...

Icarius's Ikaria, Sunday, 11th SeptemberA quick postscript to the last entry from July. The morning before we left Myrica in Leros boatyard, we heard a loud bang or crack and suddenly the hillside behind out boat was ablaze. Strong winds fanned the flames and soon the whole area was a furnace of burning heather, eucalyptus and scrub, threatening a few houses and billowing smoke over the little airport and the boatyard. The yard staff did what they could to create...

Of Meltemi and shrines, dentists and archipelagos - and being defect free Sunday, 10th July 2016 The Meltemi is upon us, meaning there are continuous, strong north-westerly winds. These can last from a few days to a fortnight at a time. We did well to work our way north and west first, some good if a bit gung-ho sailing to get us to Patmos island via a lovely spot on the south side of Lipsi island.Here we anchored in the bay around the point from the main port. ...