Kitnos

We spent about 3 days in the bay at Kea, it’s the only one, before moving on to Kitnos (which is also spelt as ‘Kithnos’ and ‘KIThNOS, not at all confusing). We stayed first in Fikiadha, where a sandbar makes a very sheltered bay. Just above on what could be called the “half-island” were ancient remains, interesting stone walls and I have the photos to prove it (must get out more) and goats. Like so many other Greek islands there was also a well tended church, although this on was locked we could still see lamps burning inside. On the other side of the island was Loutra, where at one time a burgeoning spa and health resort was based on the hot spring there. We anchored around the corner, where the settlement was only a dozen dwellings and a taverna (and a church, of course). It is always good to be able to see the anchor, and the water here was crystal clear.

While we sat in the taverna, we watched a lad learning to fish. He must have had an unusual concept, because twice he through the weight, bait, hook and all the line in! Perhaps he enjoyed paddling to get it back. We stayed one night, because a bit of a swell rolled in overnight.

We headed S to Ag Ionnis and Ag Stefanos to get better shelter from the meltemi, which was trying hard to attract our attention. We failed to get a decent grip with the anchor 3 or 4 times in Ag Stefanos, which had a few facilities, so went back to Ag Ionnis where we thought that all the buildings were deserted until we saw a few lights from one cottage at night. The next day we saw, and eventually had lunch with Kostas, who looked after the church and had a smallholding just up the valley. He gave us lunch and would not consider taking any payment for the food, or for the wine he insisted on giving us. Since there was a total language barrier, We thought that we could “sign” that we would like to buy one of his melons. The melon was given to us, and payment would be offensive – we had just compounded our error! The following day, We baked a cake, and we took that and a cocktail of whatever drink we had on board, as a gift. He was delighted – Sam got a kiss on the cheek, and Tim got one on the lips!! (Well if you been that long alone with a donkey…..). Kostas was a lovely simple man, and his Greek hospitality was fulsome. We also took our spare atlas over to him, and were finally able to show him where we come from, and where we had been. We left the atlas with him, we hope he enjoys it.