We’ve been out of the US for almost four weeks and we’ve been living aboard our sailboat for almost three. We know nothing more definitive today regarding how specific countries or even certain islands within a country will respond to increased risk of community spread of Covid-19 than we knew a month ago. We have come to believe the only thing that is certain is uncertainty. As tourism and summer vacation travel have increased in Europe, we have observed the implementation of new or adjusted restrictions. Because of this, we recently decided to extend the time we would sail in Greece before transiting to another country in the Mediterranean. We would re-evaluate regularly.
Our next big decision was where, in Greece, did we want to explore? We thought about going north toward the Saronic islands. We had spent a little time there after passing through the Corinth Canal but we had to move along into the Cyclades at that time. The main challenge with this option was fighting heavy winds. To get to the island of Hydra, for instance, we would need to head northwest into a region known for very strong and pretty much non-stop north winds, especially during the month of August, which we just crossed into! I suggested Crete; it had never been on our itinerary because of the limited time we had thought we would be in Greek waters. However, now that we have extra time and we were eager to take a break from the relentless winds in the Cyclades, we planned our passage toward the middle of Crete’s long northern coast, to Iraklion specifically.
