Scott's Renewable Energy Studies in Europe: Sailing in the Cyclades

I returned a week ago from my first-ever sailing trip. A group of six of us – skippered by an Italian wind energy classmate named Filippo – sailed for 7 days in the Aegean Sea. The trip was during our 12-day Greek Orthodox Easter vacation. We visited – some to a greater degree than others – seven islands in the circular chain of islands called the Cyclades to the southeast of Athens. Except for the first two days (cold, overcast, rainy), the weather was mostly warm, beautiful, and sunny… But there wasn’t always lots of wind for blowing the sails, so several of our traversals were only made possible by the boat’s diesel engine. The boat was equipped with four sleeping cabins, two toilets, a kitchen/common area below the deck, and a seating area aboveboard.
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As I mentioned, Filippo was our captain – he’s been sailing since he was a wee lad. Nora (Filippo’s Irish wife) has been sailing with Fil for several years. Thanos (our only Greek) earned his sailing license a couple of years ago. Fernando (Spanish) and Carlos (Mexican) had each been sailing a few times but not overnight or on a boat as large as the one we'd rented. So I was the only complete novice in the group. I’d drifted up the Nile in Egypt on a 4-day “felucca” trip four years ago… and our boat had been equipped with basic sails, but they were rarely used… and when they were, they were operated completely by our Nubian guides. Needless to say, I had lots to learn about the somewhat complicated art & science of sailing. I can’t yet say I’m a sailor, but I definitely picked up some basic techniques… and whetted my appetite for more.

Our route through the Cyclades is shown below, with each circled number representing a day:

Here’s a brief summary of our itinerary in words:

April 26 – Sailed from Piraeus (SW Athens) port to Kea (Vourkari port); overnight in Vourkari
April 27 – Spent day in Kea (due to weather concerns); visited famous Kea lion; overnight in Vourkari
April 28 – Sailed to Syros (Finikas port); hiked/climbed rock cliffs lining sea; overnight in Finikas
April 29 – Sailed to Delos; swam in bay at Delos (brrrr!); sailed onward to Mykonos (new port in Mykonos town); danced late into the morning; overnight in Mykonos
April 30 – Sailed to Delos & visited archaeological site; sailed onward to Paros; overnight in a cove near Paros
May 1 – Hiked in the morning; sailed to Serifos (Livadi port); swam at Livadi beach; onboard opera concert in evening; overnight in Livadi port
May 2 – Sailed to Kythnos; swam in bay; sailed onward to Sounion bay, just beside Poseidon’s Temple
May 3 – Woke at 5am to sail back to Athens/Piraeus for 9am boat drop-off

And here come the photos. Sorry if you prefer short, sweet posts, 'cause this one's a whopper -- just too many images I wanna share from our odyssey...

Day 1: Our boat, “Valassia”, waiting for us in Piraeus port

Day 1: Cap’n Filippo steering us into the wind (photo by F.Santodomingo-Llamas)

Day 1: Carlos enjoys a turn at the wheel

Day 2: Entering town of Loulida in search of Kea Lion (photo by C.Godard)

Day 2: Interesting Easter bunnies in a Loulida shop window

Day 2: Carlos & Fernando meet the Kea Lion (carved in 7th century BC). Legend has it that the lion wears a smug smile, because he successfully chased off the "nymphs" who were killing local women.

Day 2: Vourkari port (Kea) sunset

Day 3: Arriving at Syros port (hey look: wind turbines!)

Day 4: Mykonos beach

Day 4: Central Mykonos

Day 4: Mykonos from above

Day 4: Catch-o-the-day

Day 4: Famous Mykonos windmills (non-functioning, I think)

Day 4: Mykonos port by night

Day 4: Boogie down, Filippo!

Day 4: Crazy tourists (Thanos, Carlos, & Filippo)

Day 5: Delos archaeological site from the mountaintop

Day 5: Ancient cistern at Delos

Day 5: Mosaic floor at Delos

Day 5: Dropping the anchor in cove near Paros (photo by C. Godard)

Day 6: Hiking on Paros

Day 6: Made it to the top (Paros)

Day 6: Churches, churches everywhere (actually this one’s apparently a lighthouse)

Day 6: Lonely Valassia (our boat) in a cove near Paros

Day 6: Onboard breakfast

Day 6: Arrival in Serifos (Finikas port)

Day 6: Opera concert on neighboring boat (random, huh?). Actually, this Swiss guy -- Hans Peter -- is singing lieder [German poetry set to vocal music, not opera] from Schubert. We got invited to the concert because the Irish man on the singer's boat befriended Nora when we arrived and he heard her Irish brogue.