Ormos Manganari, Nisos Ios to Santorini and back again.

The Rough Guide has a bit of a downer on Ios as an island, all
backpackers, clubbers, nudists and troublesome sorts. We anchored in the
bay at the far south of the island in a wide sandy bay, well protected
from the wind and seas that are blowing down the sides of the island.
There are no naked ladies here, much to Stuart's disappointment - its a
little chilly for that. There was a charter boat with 8 naked Poles, I
mean Polish men, so that was alright entertainment. There are no
nightclubs here, just sand beach, blue clear sea, 2 tavernas (closed),
and a lot of peace and quiet.
As we could see the famous island of Santorini (Nisos Thira) from the
anchorage, 12 miles away, it would be a shame not to go there on this trip.
So we set off downwind this morning in a F5-6, with the Captain weeping
about how much ground we would be losing by going south, but a jolly
nice sail we had. Unfortunately, since Thira is a volcano with a sunken
central caldera (crater), this means it is 300m deep virtually up to the
shoreline, meaning that anchoring and mooring options are limited. The
central island has a little port and quay but is apparently home to big
bold rats that don't think twice about coming on board. So we thought it
would be a jolly idea, to sail around the caldera for the lark, take
pictures, avoid the tourists - most of whom had arrived on one of the
five cruise ships moored in the bay, and sail back to Ios for the night,
as it is the next closest island. Well it all went to plan until I lost
my hat overboard. In trying to retrieve it before it sank, we gybed and
broke a part of the mainsheet traveller, not a vital safety part, but
does help to facilitate good sailing trim, and broke a sail slider too.
But the wind and sea had got up to F6 gusting 7 and we want to go
directly upwind and arrive in Ios before dark, to the unlit anchorage.
Well we sailed, shook, rattled, rolled, and pitched 20miles through the
water to make just 12 miles upwind over the ground. It was long and
tedious slog, made worse with the Captain moaning 'Why did we come here?
I knew this would happen!' Anyway we are safe and sound back at Ios,
and there are no other boats, tourists or naked people. It is chilly and
windy outside, but 21 degrees inside the boat with a hot chilli con
carne on the stove to warm us up after a long day.