Saying Goodbye to Santorini at 9 am - the Island surprised us positively in every respect
The Meltemi next week will be far stronger than we anticipated last week. By Tuesday, 6th of September, it will blow with 45 knots over the Cyclades. We better get out of the way. Our sailboat is a Goulet designed for leisurely sailing but not for stormy waters. Instead of returning to Piraeus via the islands which provided ancient Athens with the silver that made it powerful, we now take a more westerly route. Our interim destination for today is the island of Milos. After a swimming break and dinner, we continue to sail through the night to Monemvassia where we expect to arrive by 2 am on Sunday morning. This keeps us safe.
The Meltemi will reach it peak on Tuesday, 6 Sept
We always knew that Meltemis occur frequently during the months of July and August. For precisely this reason we reversed the route and sail from Istanbul to Athens. Better to be with the wind. But we did not believe that it could be so strong so late in the season. Makes me wonder how the ancient mariners coped with it. Their vessels were not sturdier than ours. I guess they hopped from island to island when they crossed the Aegean just as we did last week to minimize the risk and then followed the less windy coast of Asia Minor to sail up to the Bosporus. This would perfectly explain the high number of ports on the west coast of Anatolia – a fact that always puzzled me. In ancient times, nobody sailed a straight line over open water. Mariners preferred the shelter of the coast.
The South Coast of Milos was also a surprise - in the back there are Mining Operations
Whilst the change of itinerary will make us miss the silver mines of Sifnos, we will get the chance to see Monemvassia again, which was once called the Gibraltar of the East. We visited it in 2017 the day before we sailed – unknowingly – into our first Meltemi. Further north is Navplion, once a Venetian fortress and first capital of independent Greece. One hour inland lies Mycenae, home to King Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaean coalition against Troy. Definitely a must for a visit. Finally, we can visit the islands of Spetses and Hydra, where pirates and merchants formed the Greece’s first navy with their little flotillas.
With other Volcano, Milos forms the 2nd Ring - all due to the Subduction of the African Plate
Our interim destination is Milos, another volcanic islands in the Aegean and part of the 2nd volcanic ring that also includes Santorini. The Milos volcano is older though. The last underwater eruption happened 90’000 years ago. The last land eruption dates back to 738’000 years (wonder how geology can be so precise). Thanks to its volcano and lava fields, Milos is rich in minerals. There is a lot of mining activity on the island. Its bentonite is impermeable to water and used in waste landfills to prevent waste products seeping into ground water. Perlite is used as an addition to turf and helps plants growing. There are many more useful byproducts of the volcanic activity several hundred thousand years ago.
Obsidian was one of them. Before the Bronze Age, Milos was the main supplier of obsidian, a glassy stone ideal for making knives and tools, spear and arrow heads. It was traded throughout the eastern Mediterranean. The western part of the Mediterranean was supplied from the Aeolian Island which we visited last year.
Exhibition of Obsidian Tools in the Archeological Museum of Milos
Obsidian was used way into the Bronze Age. It stayed sharp longer than bronze and was easy to make. Bronze was also more expensive. Tin was coming from as far as Afghanistan. Only Royals and soldiers could afford it. This only changed when the Phoenicians developed the tin route to Cornwall and founded the city of Gadir (today Cadiz). Seems that production of a commodity never bestows long-term wealth. When obsidian by cheap iron, Milos fell back into a doldrum – there was not much more the island had to offer. Seems the principle still holds today. Commodity producers get rich for a short time but are often unable to create long-term wealth.
Obsidian from Milos was sold in the entire Middle East but I could not find a Map
After dinner, we lift anchor again and sail to the old Byzantine and Venetian town of Monemvassia. It will take us five or six hours to get there. But then we will be out reach for the Meltemi and outsailed it.
We should reach Monemvassia in 5 to 6 hours