The wall we docked on our first trip to Mykonos was completely occupied by power boats this time and we were required to dock on the yachting side that hadn’t been finished when we went through the first time. There were plenty of open spaces, but we soon found out that the open spaces didn’t actually have mooring lines to accompany them. When we had visited in October, a sailboat had dropped anchor and when it was trying to leave the next morning the anchor came up wrapped in mooring lines and chain. It took a crew of full grown men about 15 minutes to get untangled while the sailboat floated very close to the boats around it. The sand bottom of Mykonos is a mess. There are cement blocks with a web of mooring lines spreading from them that are supposed to serve as the bow or stern security for a boat. When we realized our only choice was to drop anchor I got it ready, went to the bow of the boat and looked for the clearest place to drop. I could see where the mooring lines began and we dropped about a foot out from that spot. Docking was surprising easy and there were plenty of boaters willing to help.
At first we couldn’t figure out why some of the spaces had lines while others did not. After sitting on deck for awhile though we saw three different cases of sailboats that had gotten the mooring lines caught in the propeller. There were people in the water trying to cut the props loose and in the process would cut the mooring line making it useless for anyone else.
There was no power or water on the dock, but it was also free to stay there so we had no complaints. The one major problem right off the bat was that summer had arrived and it was hot. The engine had been running down below with all of the windows closed for 28 hours and the temperature outside had to of been in the upper 80s. We opened everything up, had a coke drink on deck, and then decided to make our way into town.
The first time we went to the island it was considered the “down season”. The streets were almost empty and the island had a civilized, but calming effect. This time there were 6 cruise ships either anchored out or docked by our boat in addition to all of the privately owned yachts that filled up the harbors. It was packed.
If you look at the town below me you can see the crowds of people who are gathering to watch the sun set. Little Venice is very much like Mallory Square in Key West. The sun set is the main attraction. We had told Mom that she had to visit Mykonos because it’s one of the must see islands of Greece. The first night, she was not impressed.
This was one of the spots I had seen a number of pink pelicans walking around. We searched high and low to find one since Mom is a pelican fanatic, but came to the conclusion that there were too many people walking the streets so the pelicans had called it quits early that night.
Dad and I knew we wanted to get to the windmills, but of course got lost on the way there. It turned out being a fun walk up a series of streets and neighborhoods and we did eventually find them which was good. No pelicans here either.
We stopped at Zorba’s for a cold beer and to watch the sun set. We had gone back to the hole in the wall gyro place for dinner that we ate at before and while it was good, it wasn’t as great as I remembered. I think the absence of the Popeye looking fisherman may have had something to do with it.
We all slept surprisingly well considering the oppressive heat down below. Mom and I decided to take a trip into the town the next day while Dad stayed on board to fix the anchor winch. The outboard motor had actually shifted during the rough sail that brought us to Mykonos and it had shorted out the remote for the winch. I was able to drop the anchor, but when Dad went to adjust it nothing happened.
The second day in town was so much better. There was only one cruise ship left in port and the streets were empty and inviting. Mom understood at this point why people say they “love” Mykonos. We were able to do some window shopping which was a lot of fun and purchased a relic/evil eye good luck charm for the boat.
We made our way back up to the windmills in search of a pink pelican, but Mom never got to see one in person. While we were there a group of six girls were posing for a photo and a seventh, who was clearly part of their group, was taking the photo. I of course offered to take a group photo since there wasn’t another soul in sight. They in return took one for us and I had that good deed feeling afterwards.
Mom took this photo of Little Venice from the windmills and I just really liked the composition and thought it was a pretty photo.
The rest of the afternoon was spent reading on deck and enjoying a breeze that had come out of nowhere.
Mom and I had stumbled over a ticket office that sold ferry tickets to Tinos. I had originally wanted to stop in Tinos but because of weather and other factors we weren’t taking the boat in there. So we booked three tickets for the next day and make a day trip into Tinos. (Next post)
Our last night in Mykonos we had one of a few celebrations for Mom’s birthday and it was the 4th of July. We ate at a place called The Restaurant Matthew. The best part of the entire meal was dessert, which was fresh apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Dad and I broke out into a loud “Happy Birthday” and there were enough English speakers around us that we had a little chorus going.
I know Mom and Dad are too backlit to be seen in the photo but the view behind them is spectacular. You can see the marina and behind that is Mykonos town.
That night was the most eventful and it was clearly time to leave the tourist town the next day. We were sitting on the deck enjoying a breeze and letting the boat cool off a little down below when an Australian boat across from ours starts to play some music. They play everything ranging from “It’s Getting Hot in Here” to the “Halleluiah Chorus”. The people on board are clearly on vacation and make sure everyone around knows they are so and that they are consuming a large quantity of alcohol. Another boat had just come in with, we think Americans, but aren’t sure because it was dark and we couldn’t find a flag on the boat. They were upset that there was no power or water and decided to turn on every light they had – spreader lights, mast lights, lights down below, and they came up with headbands that had lights on them. We think something may have been wrong with the boat and they were trying to see to fix it, but didn’t have a lot of time to figure that out before the group of 6 either teens or early 20 year old boys came walking down the dock. They weren’t boaters and one of them was stripped down to his boxers. They stopped right in front of our boat on the dock and were talking in a language we couldn’t quite figure out. There was a space between the two boats across from us and the boys decided it would be a good place to go swimming. So they did. It started with one and then one by one they all stripped down to their boxer briefs and jumped into the water. There was a designated beach area literally at the end of the dock and to the right, but apparently that wasn’t good enough. It was one of the most random things. The Americans on the lights boat turned on Elvis to compete with the music from the other boat and were trying to ask the boys not to swim next to their boat but this just seemed to encourage them to jump in two or three at a time instead. The boys eventually gathered their clothes and walked away. We just sat on the boat watching the weird world go by and decided that leaving in the morning was a good idea.
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