Nísos Kíthnos

Approaching Loutrá

It was a surprisingly grey day when we left the anchorage under Cape Sounion on Friday 14 August and the high level cloud never really cleared but we still had a good sail for the 25nm across to Loutrá on the east coast of Kíthnos. For the most part the wind blew at a steady 12-15knots from the north which gave us decent slightly broad reaching conditions. We lost the wind for half an hour or so as we passed south of Kéa but once we were out of the island’s shadow the wind came back – and then some! We even had to drop a reef into the main and take a couple of rolls in the genoa.

Loutrá

We arrived at Loutrá at about 1430 and were lucky to get one of the last moorings on the inside of the little harbour (the benefit of a relatively early start). As the afternoon progressed, more and more yachts arrived and moored stern-to to the outside of the harbour walls. They seemed to be reasonably well placed but at about 2130 waves, presumably wash from a distant passing ferry, caused all the yachts on the outside of the quay to roll violently, with some clashing their rigging. It was a salutory reminder of the importance of deconflicting masts and rigging from those of adjacent boats, and of keeping pulled well off the quay. We saw the same forceful wash hit the following night so it wasn’t a one-off event, though the man controlling the mooring didn’t seem to warn people about it. Tucked inside the harbour we were not affected at all.

Loutrá’s beach with the hot spring and, now closed, spa    

We swam from BV across to the beach opposite the harbour where, at the southern end, there is an outflow from a really hot spring. The spring rises to the surface in the grounds of the now closed spa complex and then runs along the side of the road to the edge of the beach and into the sea. A horseshoe-shaped construction of boulders helps to keep the hot water in a large pool where we spent 15mins or so luxuriating in the hot bath effect.

The following day was a holiday in Greece (15^th August, Assumption Day) and from our reading of the bus timetable notices it seemed that the only bus from Loutrá to the chora was at 0745. So we were up bright and early for the bus up the hill, expecting to walk back later, only to be told by the driver when we reached the town that this was an extra bus and that all the return buses would be as per normal days!

The bus dropped us in the centre of the chora and we wandered through the very quiet lanes (still a bit early in the morning), enjoying the white-painted cuboid houses which are so typical of the Cyclades. It soon became clear why the early bus had been laid on as the Assumption Day service at the church outside the chora was broadcast on loudspeakers, sounding much like the call to prayer from a mosque.

We followed the newly white-painted route out of the town and up towards the church. Like the route we had travelled on the bus from Loutrá, just outside the chora the scenery suddenly became very rural. Donkeys grazed, there were a very few cars (mostly quite old) and goats traipsed across villa patios. With the service apparently in full swing, we didn’t go into the church.

View back to the Chora from the church on the hill

We returned to the chora against a constant trickle of people, mostly quite elderly, up to the church – perhaps what we had thought was an amplified service was, in fact, the equivalent of a call to prayer.

Back in the town we admired the artistic flair of the locals. As is usual in Greek villages, the streets’ paving slabs are outlined in white but here they are also decorated with painted flowers, fish and other characters.

The cafes and restuarants provide bright oases of colour, along with the abundant bougainvillea.

And we saw more traditional displays of artictic capability from the resident potter.

House paintings in the Chora

But what really stood out to us was the way that the houses have become canvases for bright, predominently flowery, paintings.

On most Greek islands there are numerous small chapels scattered around. Kíthnos is no exception though here, as is traditional in the Cyclades, the roofs of the chapels are painted blue.

After a morning of sightseeing, we returned to Loutrá for a lazy afternoon.

By fluke, late in the afternoon, Neil’s helicopter tasking route went right over the top of us. We waved madly at him and he later claimed to have managed to pick out BV from the yachts packed like sardines into the harbour.

All in all we felt that Loutrá and the chora had a really nice relaxed atmosphere. Safely tucked up inside the harbour we had no worries about our mooring and it was a very pleasant place to spend a couple of days.

Loutrá on Nísos Kíthnos, Greece