31 st May..Hydra.....Beautiful, sooooo clean and tidy, wonderful having no cars or bikes at all in the town, such peace, though boat noise and church bells, soon broke the quiet! Such a lovely place though. Little alleyways of whitewashed walls and shiny worn paving stones, slippery underfoot.

 1^st June....we left Hydra, and had an extremely rock and roll motor sail to Kythnos, around 10 hours. We did see dolphins though, about three different pods of them leaping high out of the water, always such a thrill, but still hope to see some swim beside our bow sometime. Merichas...not to be recommended, a very dirty beach and water, the main port for Kythnos, our intention had just been a quick stop then on to the sand bar bay around the corner, but we sort of stayed as a lot of boats came in and they said there were also a lot of boats in the bay at anchor, it was still pretty windy so we stuck it out there.

2^nd June.....left Merichas early this morning, to just go North and up around the coast of Kythnos and down to Loutra on the other side. The sea was exhilarating, big waves crashing and rolling, and a deep azure blue colour. Once round the other side it calmed, and we had a lovely sail almost into the bay of Loutra itself. Loutra is very pretty, and as promised the boiling hot spring water enters the sea on the south side of the beach. I will go and swim from there I think, later today, or early tomorrow morning, and also see if I can get Jesse to come in a bit deeper too.

Took a lovely walk with the dogs, up and around the coast, the rock formations here really are extraordinary, layer upon layer, year upon year. The weather has taken a small turn for the worst, cloudy and not too warm, so hot springs or not, I am foregoing my swim, also seems like we are in for a lot of wind tomorrow...wrong wind! So may stay here another day as Wednesday looks more promising for a sail to Syros. Had a delicious salad in a lovely restaurant on the water's edge, Sofrano, different menu, interesting food, lovely people, and the owner/chef Yiannis is very nice. Highly amused by a darling interior designer/painter arranging, and painting finishing touches to the restaurant next door, I had to laugh, as he did that thing ( that I know I have been guilty of) of walking three paces back and cocking his head to one side to look at his latest arrangement, only to go back to it and move it a “millicentimetre” to the left or right, and all with his hands on his hips. He had splattered paint on his top...there is no way he got that through painting, not there, he had “designed” it , and turquoise was obviously his signature colour as his little jauntily placed peaked cap was a certain hue, that matched the baskets he was “placing” and the paint touches he was artily adding to a metal archway. All in all an entertaining evening. Ronja did her usual party piece of catching her Frisbee, and so entertained everyone else. Ahhhh, the Frisbee I may add...I think I bought her at least eight from Jumbo in Corfu before we left, and she now, after only two weeks has two left!!!! So we are definitely rationing her to Frisbee time, and being more vigilant.

So two weeks have passed since we left and everyday is a new adventure, will I tire of this...no...I think not.