“Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale
a tale of a fateful trip,
that started from this tropic port,
aboard this tiny ship.”
Let me describe the SS Minnow, registered in France as Vivaldi. It’s a 58 foot, mono hull, single masted yacht. 2 aft double rooms with triangular beds and a bathroom between them. A saloon midships which doubles as the galley and eating area. 2 narrow rooms comprising double bunks forward of the saloon, and a master bedroom in the bow for the captain, with two more bathrooms between them.
The bathrooms haven’t got a bath anywhere in sight of course. They contain porta potties with a sink, and the sink tap is actually a retractable hose which doubles as a shower if you stand close enough to the toilet.
That means that there is room for a captain and 8 crew on board. Another couple of a similar age to us from Canada were already on board, having joined earlier in Athens, and two single girls from Switzerland and Canada came on board with us. The two older couples were afforded the privilege of not having to climb into bunks (thanks Brendan), so we are in the stern with the engine between us, and the younger 4 are forward.
We got assigned a small hatch for our food, and a small crate in the fridge for our perishables, and everything else goes in our cabin – on the bed during the day, and on the floor during the night. Power only when in port, and no wifi.
The theory was that we would leave at eight in the morning, so we got up at 6, negotiated the bathrooms, and at 7 o’clock were sitting having breakfast when the engine started, and Marco headed out to sea. Scramble. Our room wasn’t secure, our breakfast things were on the table, the dishes weren’t done, we needed to don lifejackets, take sea sickness pills. Yoiks! Breakfast was abandoned, and everything madly secured. Marco had read the weather forecast, and wisely decided that we should leave early – it just would have been nice to be told so that we could hurry.
The reason became apparent quickly. 30 knots winds and 10 metre waves, a 28 metre boat, and it was our first day. That old north wind was still pulling stunts. We basically surfed under a tiny jib for three hours, south to Naxos, arriving before 11am. Not everybody arrived unscathed, but Mandy and I made it in one piece, though our balance was a bit tenuous for the rest of the day. Took one wave on board over the stern, broke a number of cups and glasses, but eventually made it.
Spent the afternoon wandering around the old town, climbing up to the castle, and trying to work out if we felt like anything to eat. Naxos is a reasonably big island, but has nowhere near the number of visitors that Mykonos has. The best indicator is that you can find spare car parking spots around the town. The prices are also much cheaper for tourist things like rooms, meals and tours. I guess everybody wants to see Mykonos for a day, but Naxos is much better value.
At sunset, we went up to Apollo’s Gate, a structure from the 5th century B.C. dedicated to Apollo, and which formed the inspiration for the National Geographic symbol. Like Uluru, everybody wanted to stand in the same spot to see the sun go down through the arch, but it was a lovely sight.
Dinner with the group at a local Greek restaurant – Meltemi.
Our Boat
Naxos
Naxos
Apollo’s Gate
Apollo’s Gate
Apollo’s Gate
Naxos
Naxos
Naxos
Naxos