The following day, we looked at the forecast for the week ahead and saw that there was some bad weather coming in on Friday. Our original plan was to be sailing between Kalymnos and Kos at that time which, with the wind strength and direction predicted, would not have been pleasant.
We looked at all the options and decided that it would be best to take two stops out of the schedule which would see us arriving in Kos on Thursday afternoon leaving just a short hop north to our new marina in Turgutreis on Friday.
Our next stop was now Donousa some 50nm to the south east with a journey time of about 9 hours. Having formed the new plan, we wanted to leave Loutra as soon as we could so, having picked up a few provisions, exited the quay snd were on our way.
Once out of the bay, it was pretty windy so decided to start off with one reef in the mainsail and a full genoa. Our first main stretch was to the north point of Naxos and the winds were in a good direction for a very pleasant morning's sail.
En route, the wind died a little so we opted to shake out the reef and put up the mainsail fully to give us a bit more power and speed.
We were making good time so at about 15.00, we rounded the tip of Naxos giving us another 15nm to our destination.
It was then that the wind really picked up to 30 knots, much stronger than forecast and there were big waves pushing us along.
We were doing a steady 9knots and even topped 10 knots when surfing down a wave. Probably the fastest we have ever sailed on Arcturus. We could see Donousa ahead of us and just wanted to get there and to find some shelter. The winds continued to blow so we wound in the genoa to slow us down a bit and give more control.
When we reached Donousa, there were two mooring options, one stern to the new quay at the little town of Stavros or round the corner in a bay called Dendro. The wind was gusting in the bay and there were already two boats at anchor, limiting the space available for us so we decided to go for the town quay.
It was much more sheltered here but still windy so we dropped the anchor laying out the maximum amount of chain whilst reversing back to the quay where one boat was already moored. Someone from this boat came to help with our stem lines and whilst it was rather rolly due to the swell coming into the harbour, we were firmly tied up and very pleased to be there.
Stavros proved to be a charming place with a number of cafes and restaurants along the harbour plus a small mini market and excellent bakery.
We were in need of a drink so headed to one of the restaurants with a lovely view of the bay.
The menu looked so good that we returned there for dinner before turning in for some much needed sleep.
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