Ia, Folegandros, Sikinos, Ios + Sikinos again

One last picture postcard perfect photo of the crater, taken from the norther town of Ia on Santorini...

...where crowds gather to view from a different perspective of...

...yes, another sunset!

Next day, we had a brisk beat then up to the small island of Folegandros, NW of Santorini. Here the centuries old terracing lays unused, most likely due to tourism and the lack of water.

But the main village (the Hora) is one of the most perfectly beautiful we have seen in the Aegean.

The down side was the terribly uncomfortable anchorage at the small port of Folegandros. This huge ship had squeezed past us somehow in our awful night; in fact, we found out days later it's the water tanker!

Next, stop for 3 days on the island recommended by another Andy, a skipper friend of mine - Sikinos.

Really great, with friendly people, a nice little port and adjacent sandy beach...

... with great walks, though we lost our way rather.

The tiny village of Chorio at the top has no road running through it, so the traditional transport is still used.

We hiked to this amazing old church, Episkopi, which 'ingeniously incorporates' parts of a Roman mausoleum.

At dusk, the football team, plus friends and family, departs for the next island.

The common sport for big men is to shoot small birds. Very brave.

Our only shot of the next island east, Ios; the touts greeting the dwindling number of ferry passenger arrivals. We never really got to like Ios for some reason.

Back the 6 nm to Sikinos to get water (eventually), which felt a bit like going home. We were then pinned down for 2 days by strong northerly Meltemi wind, but at least I got to windsurf in the harbour both days! (hmmm, need weight a bit further forward in that gybe!). The wind subsides and we head east for Folegandros.