I know, I know, what a terrible place to be “stuck”. Summer winds can be very strong in the Aegean and Ionian Seas. While we were in Greece they were actually gale force, and even without the mechanical problems our ship experienced we still wouldn’t have been able to go as far south as Crete and get back to Athens on our tour’s timeline. Additionally, the port authority in Mykonos made our captain move position. In a Med-Moor situation the anchor is dropped as the boat backs into the dock, cheek by jowl with neighboring boats. Because of the repositioning in strong winds our anchor wrapped around a block on the bottom, and to add insult to injury the next ship into port dropped anchor on top of ours. We weren’t going anywhere. Cousin George was happy for the delay; he enjoyed the nightlife on this party island and crawled back to the ship around 5 AM. Ah, youth.

The labyrinth of streets was to confuse the pirates if they did make it ashore; hard to ask directions when you’re laden with booty.

The benefit of a small ship is that it can dock in most ports, which allows passengers to come and go as they please. The downside is that the boat doesn’t swing with the wind so many open areas on the ship were buffeted by these winds. Mykonos port is one of the few that were built on the north side of the island, from whence the prevailing winds blow. It was to keep the pirates at bay. Well, that, and the labyrinth of streets to confuse them if they did make it ashore; hard to ask directions when you’re laden with booty. If the winds were high (and they were) it was not comfortable for sitting. So we’d head to a café in port with free Wi-Fi when we were tired of touring. I’m a fan of Greek frappes: coffee, sugar, milk and ice whipped to a froth that taste like melted coffee ice cream. Yum.

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We did get a chance, while wandering, to meet Petros the pelican, a celebrity in Mykonos, and obviously a well fed resident. He is out and about, like the rest of us, in Mykonos’ labyrinth of streets, watching out for pirates.

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The second day our guide arranged for a bus trip to the other side of Mykonos, where we could swim and see a different part of the island. The beach was hopping but the town nearby was much quieter than the port. And swimming in the blue-green Aegean was a treat.

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When we returned we were told the anchor problem would need to be remedied by more divers and equipment – from Athens – so, another night in Mykonos. So our guide arranged a trip by ferry to the island of Tinos for the next day…

Stay tuned!

Deborah