Sailing in Mykonos, Greece: The Island of Winds

“There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.”~ Homer, The Odyssey

Back in high school, I studied ancient Greek, translating numerous texts of Homer’s epic poems, the Illiad and the Odyssey. Although I became proficient in reading his works, there were many concepts which slipped by my young mind. In wanting time to move faster and to advance to the next stage in my life, I constantly lived in the future, ignoring the little past I had, and completely missing out on my present. I constantly had the words of my grandfather floating around in my head, “there is plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead”. Today, I am writing this article while sitting on a sailboat in the middle of one of Greece’s most famous islands, Mykonos. The words Homer so eloquently wrote millennia’s ago now seem to denote a greater significance in my life where I am thoroughly savoring not only my present for the first time in my life, but also my sleep time!

Although Mykonos is a dry island, the fuchsia-colored flowers on a turquoise background is always breathtaking,

Traditional Church in Mykonos Old Town

Sunset over Paradise Beach

The amazing Aegean Sea

My treasure from diving: the noble pen shell or fan mussel.

This summer I decided to move to Mykonos, Greece, also known as the Island of Winds, where my home became a 51 foot white, fiberglass sailboat. The first things you notice upon arriving in Mykonos besides the unusually bumpy plane landing, are the sandy, sienna-colored terrain, spotted with fuchsia tinted flowers climbing up whitewashed houses accented with blue shutters. Clumps of bright red Poppy flowers speckle the ground as all parts of the earth eventually fall into the turquoise Aegean Sea. Mykonos is captivating from the moment you set foot on land and is an island for all the senses. Your nose is introduced to the sweet and intoxicating air with notes of warm honey coalescing with the tangy sea salt. Visually, Mykonos boasts some of the most unparalleled beaches around, where the northern parts of the island contain wild beauty, unspoiled by tourists and built-up beach bars. From all parts of the island the Meltemi can be heard rushing and howling past the rocks and through small shrubberies, rarely letting up all the while keeping the island cool under the scorching sun of the Aegean.

Uninhabited Rineia island

The colours of Mykonos: fuchsia and turquoise

Fokos Beach

Mykonos Old town

The turquoise sea around Rineia Island.

The windmills of Mykonos

Enjoying the sunset by the windmills

Average days in Mykonos include 25 knot winds and 3-4m (10-13 feet) waves, and on bad days the North wind called the Meltemi whips the sea with 60 knots creating swells over 6m (20 feet). Due to these zephyrs, Mykonos is a world class sailing destination, being the home to some of the best captains and seamen around.

By New Port in the city of Tourlos, white sailboats dock and boast their international flags hoisted high upon the masts, while goliath cruise ships anchor just outside the marina. Here is where we dock our boat, the Gib’sea, who I learned after just living on her for only a short while, is very special. Although growing up on the East coast and having continuous access to various bodies of water like rivers, lakes, and the ocean, I had never sailed before (a few times sailing on the Charles river in Boston doesn’t really count, and besides, I wasn’t the one doing the sailing). Upon arriving I could barely remember which side was Port and Starboard of a ship, let alone the names for anything else pertaining to sailing. To make the situation even more interesting, the captain could barely speak english and I knew roughly 3 words in Greek. Yet, somehow we were able to find some common ground of communication, but my sailing knowledge know consists of random terms in either Greek, English, or Italian.

An old boat on Delos Island

My boat where I lived and worked for the summer.

Sunset Sailing

Sailing in Mykonos, Greece: The Island of Winds

Just like the Italian island of Sardinia, Mykonos is one of the most unique and diverse places for adventure although being just 13km²! Off-road bike trips, seaside horse rides, all day sailing expeditions, ancient ruin tours, kayaking excursions, and of course the famous windsurfing and kitesurfing brings tourists from every corner of the globe.

Horseback riding on Fokos Beach

Kitesurfing near Rineia Island

Diving into the pristine waters near Rineia Island.

My ride: the little, yellow “canary”

Very friendly donkeys at Vioma Farm, a little Organic farm.

Roaming around the property at Vioma Organic Farm.

Most sailing companies offer day tours from Mykonos to the nearby uninhabited islands of Rineia and Delos. Rineia island is a wonderful destination for a relaxing day on the sea or an adventurous one with combination tours of sailing and kitesurfing. For a bit of an historical immersion, tours allow exploration of ancient ruins on Delos dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE where over 30,000 people at one point inhabited the 5km long island. Today, both Delos and Rineia are uninhabited except for 11 people who live full-time on Delos as guardians of the island as it is the largest archaeological site in all of Greece and holds immense significance. Delos was both a religious and commercial hub for the Mediterranean where during the 8th and 7th BCE, Delos dominated trade in the Cyclades being the first tax-free port. Rineia island was used as a quarantine for boats wanting to trade on Delos leading to it being nicknamed Quarantina and then later being used as a leper colony. Being scientifically proven as the sunniest spot in the whole Mediterranean as well as being the physical center of the Aegean, Delos was thought to be the birthplace of Apollo, the god of sunlight. The most iconic landmark of Delos is the Terrace of the Lions, 7 marble lions dedicated to Apollo in 600 BCE by the people of Naxos. Replicas of the monuments stand in the original place of excavation preserving the original lions in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Besides day cruises, ferry boats leave from the Old Port of Mykonos and transport tourists to the island where they can join tours of the site led by local archaeologists.

Archaeological site of Delos

Sunset over the Aegean Sea near Mykonos

Delos Island

A few weeks into living in Mykonos I met a couple who for the last 14 years travelled to Mykonos for 6 weeks every year with every trip being a new experience and adventure. Despite being the typical party island with Paradise Beach or Scorpios, Mykonos attracts people over and over to its beauty and spirit, and most importantly, its wind. My last day in Mykonos, I struggled what to get as a souvenir to remember my experience by, but I was reminded that I had the greatest souvenir one could take away from any place: a new passion, a new love, carried to me by the Meltemi.