The boat was rough during the night. It felt like I was on the end of a dog wagging his tail as the boat slammed into the little fishing boat next to us repeatedly. I took a Gravol so I could sleep as I was feeling slightly sea sick and ended up sleeping in which was a nice surprise. First time I’ve missed the sunrise since I’ve been here. We have a leisurely breakfast before heading to Ios for our swim stop.
The sea is a rougher than we’ve had the entire trip but it’s still relatively calm. We even manage to sail with no motor for a few hours and listen to Spotify’s “sailing mix” and sing along to the oldies.
The wind is still chilly despite the warm temperature so I opt to forgo the swim this time but Gwyn, Alex and Sam brave the cold and jump in. While we’re anchored in the bay on the south side of Ios, Fotis goes below for a nap. All of a sudden, Alex looks behind us and realizes that the boat hasn’t anchored properly and we’ve been moving backwards towards the rocks! She bangs on Fotis’s door and yells at him to come up to the deck and he sleepily emerges. He takes one look at where we are and we can see the panic in his face. The situation is immediately rectified but Fotis appears shaken. He says Alex saves him and the boat as we were within one metre of hitting the rocks. Phew! Fotis has been working non-stop since June with three trips left and he’s exhausted. He says he wasn’t paying attention like he should’ve been so we’re lucky Alex was on the ball.
We arrive in Thirasia which is a small island beside Santorini and this is where we’ll spend the night as Santorini doesn’t have a large port for sailboats to dock. We have our last dinner together seaside and we present Fotis with a thank you note and a generous tip. We’re all a bit sad the week is over but everyone is looking forward to a proper shower and bed.
