A Visit to Kea

Sunday, January 7th, 2018

Weather on the Med can be unpredictable and difficult and in the winter that is even more likely.  When we originally planned Megan’s visit, we had hoped to take the boat to Santorini and Crete over the Christmas break, and never quite made that happen.

Instead we planned the trip to Cairo, Egypt and we acknowledged that the weather was going to be a factor, uncontrolled and travel to these locations was going to take away some significant time.

Over the past few days it has become clear that Megan was disappointed about not spending time visiting surrounding islands, and so we are making sure to get out on the water in these last few days before Jinhee and her return home.

Today we got up early, fired up the engine and started off to Kea; one of the closest islands to Athens, approximately 40 nm to the East. The weather is perfect.   The only waves we saw were from the odd passing boat (the water was completely flat), there was virtually no wind and the sun was shining down on an otherwise chilly day.   Sorry Canada, that seems flippant as you suffer more -30C weather, but it was colder than usual in the Athens area.

This post is being prepared very late in the evening and I don’t have access to the photos on the Nikon yet, so please forgive the lack of photos, but come back to see the Temple.

As we approached the end of the mainland it was apparent there was a large building atop the last peak, but as I pulled out the binoculars, it became clear that there, looking out…standing guard over the bay, was yet another ancient temple.   Of course we couldn’t see it well from the boat, a few hundred feet below and a half mile off shore, but it looked to be in good condition.  It will be a good bike ride from the boat to get there and explore another day after the ladies have left.   I will provide some pictures another time, I promise.

Moving along, we cruised slowly to Kea and arrived around 3pm, tying up to the public docks for the night.   We don’t have any electricity on these docks, but there are no fees and the town is empty.   I say empty, but as we pulled up to town, there were five or six fast dinghies tied to the wall, and the local eateries had a few people eating lunch.   I had the pleasure of speaking with a couple of the locals for a while and they admired Home Free and shared their interest in doing what we are doing.    [Guys, if your reading this, do it.  If you can make it happen, just go!].  After learning about some local islands that would be worth a visit, I joined Jinhee and Megan on the flybridge for an afternoon drink.   A few minutes later my new friends sent up some treats from the local bakery for us to enjoy.   They were delicious and greatly appreciated.  The people of Greece grow on you very quickly.

We enjoyed a walk in the town, some relaxation on the boat and dinner at one of the local restaurants (two minutes from the boat if you walk slowly).   Now, back on the boat we are turning in for a deep sleep before moving on tomorrow and trying to find more beaches for Megan.

Come back for pictures tomorrow!