Our next port of call was Hydra Island.  We anchored in a secluded bay just along from Hydra town and were nearly the only ones there.  The following morning I was outside preparing the cushions and I heard a bleeting noise coming from the island next to us and looked up to see a goat running down the rocks!   After breakfast, we moved the yacht and anchored nearer the town so that a water taxi could pick them up and take them in to have a look round.  Hydra town is full of grand mansions scattered around the hill overlooking the small harbour.  It’s a beautiful place to sail past and I’m sure a wonderful place to explore too although neither of us had the opportunity.  The island has no cars so transport is by donkey and boat.  We had a quick swim instead in the very warm waters (27 degrees) which was very nice if a little too warm!

Hydra Town

We anchored off for the night on the next door island called Dhokos which is a really pretty anchorage but seemed to be fairly busy.  The following day was a quick motor down to Spetses Island, another little gem.  This time I was able to go ashore for a quick shop for provisions.  It’s a lovely little town with narrow pedestrianised cobbled streets lined with smart boutique shops and very busy tavernas.  The guests arrived back with a gorgeous array of flowers for my birthday which they then put into a beautiful arrangement for the saloon.

After having anchored nearby for the night with Enigma as our neighbour (Larry Ellison’s previous yacht and one of the 100 largest in the world) we had a very breezy beat with the sails up and the birthday girl was even given the helm!  The guests looked slightly uneasy in their seats so we weren’t quite as powered up as we could have been (thank goodness otherwise my galley starts flying around!) but once the wind hit 35 knots, the sails had to come back down again and we sheltered on Dhokos again for lunch whilst waiting for the winds to calm a little.  After a trip to Ermioni that night on the mainland and a lack of sleep (combination of bouncing music till 3am and then a huge swell after that) we made our way back to lovely Poros for our final night anchored off a little beach along the coast from the town.

Clare