Next episode: Cyclades, E20 Kythnos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzZPabX8u6w
This episode: Cyclades, E19 from Santorini we sail to Schinoussa and to Amorgos with the meltemi. Schinoussa lies south of the island of Naxos, The population was 256 inhabitants at the 2011 census, since the 11th century the island has been the property of the Hozoviotissa Monastery on the nearby island of Amorgos. It owes its name to the mastic tree shrub that grows all over the island.The landscape has low green hills and small valleys between them, with many sandy beaches with turquoise water sparkling under the hot sun. Livadi Beach is located on the southwestern coast of the island and is just 850m from the town of Chora.
Throughout history, Amorgos was also known as Yperia, Patagy, or Platagy, Pagali, Psichia and Karkisia. It features a lot of remnants of ancient civilizations. . Amorgos is distinguished by the size and quality of the walls surrounding the city of Arkesini, by the ancient towers whose remains are scattered all over the island, by the ancient tombs, the stone tools, the inscriptions, the vases and by other antiquities. The island was featured in Luc Besson's film The Big Blue. Agia Anna and the monastery of Panagia Hozoviotissa can be seen in the film. Katapola, one of Amorgos' two harbours, is a small, vibrant community, drenched in the cycladic sun. Its waterfront is lined with cafes, tavernas and moorings for fishing boats and visiting sailing boats. On the hill above Katapola, the excavations of the ancient city of Minoa are of great interest to the visitor as they provide the thread to a continuous 3000 year existence. Next to Katapola, you find the small hamlet of Rahidi, dominated by the large church of Agios Georgios. The most picturesque part of the bay is the hamlet of Ksilokeratidi, opposite Katapola, with its pretty narrow streets and its traditional tavernas.
The Meltemi are the strong, dry north winds of the Aegean Sea, which blow from about mid-May to mid-September.They are at their strongest in the afternoon and often die down at night, but sometimes meltemi winds last for days without a break. . These winds are dangerous to sailors because they can come up in clear weather without warning and can blow at 7-8 Beaufort. Some yachts and most inter island ferries cannot sail under such conditions. The Cyclades comprise about 220 islands, the major ones being Amorgos, Anafi, Andros, Antiparos, Delos, Eschati, Ios, Kea, Kimolos,Kythnos, Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Folegandros, Serifos, Sifnos, Sikinos, Syros, Tinos, and Thira or Santoríni. The name "Cyclades" refers to the islands forming a circle ("circular islands") around the sacred island of Delos. Most of the smaller islands are uninhabited.