Finikas, Nisos Siros

22 September 08
Anchored off the small town of Finikas on the west coast of Siros, many
of the charter boats also here attempting to anchor and tie back to the
outer quay wall. Unfortunately some of them forget the bit about
dropping the anchor, which kind of messes up the plan when reversing
onto the quay. One boat dropped his anchor at the right time, but it
jammed and only got as far as the waterline, where it dangled uselessly,
however they still continued to tie up ignorant of the lack of grip at
the front of the boat. Linda and Martin (Marlin) have coined a phrase
for charter boats - the 'Oh my God's' - which is what they are often
saying as they cock-up their parking procedure. Well the Oh my Gods here
in the Cyclades are the worst we've seen in Greece to date. The German
skipper in Kithnos told us that it is impossible to fail your practical
yachtmaster in Germany (as it probably is in UK) as the training centres
are financially driven and examiners are discouraged from failing the
incompetents. That, and a lack of experience aside from 2 weeks
chartering per year, leads to some spectacular cock-ups, especially when
they don't have to fix the dents and scratches themselves, although they
do lose up to €1000 deposit, and many charter companies employ a diver
to check the underwater surface of the yacht on its return to base.
Feeling quite safe away from the quay wall, at anchor away from the
oh-my-gods, we left Matador to take the bus to the other side of the
island to Ermoupolis. This lovely old town is in 2 parts, the orthodox
settlement on one hill, and the catholic settlement on another. Of
course this meant a steep climb to the church at the top twice over -
neither of which were open in typical Greek fashion.
However it was fun just to wander through the back streets around the
neo-classical buildings and shipowner mansions in various states of
collapse or repair.
Back on board the forecast was gloomy for southeasterlies - the
direction we want to go, but there are so many islands around that we
decided to head out in the morning and point the boat for the best
sailing and then see where we would end up .