After almost 6 weeks on the town quay in Chios, it was time to make a change. As sailors know, the wind and weather sometimes dictate where you can easily go. We wanted to move, we wanted a change so given that the wind was southerly for the next few days, we decided to head a few miles north to the island of Inousses. We had heard it was nice, we even had a friend that had been there and recommended it, boasting of the incredible hospitality they received when pulling up to the dock…so off we went.
Skipper India
The iconic white and blue of Greece. As this was our first venture away from Chios, excitement filled the air as we saw the small church at the point of the island and entrance to the bay. The harbour on the south side of Inousses is very sheltered from winds of all directions. As this was the beginning of April and very early for the sailboat cruising season, there was only one other sailboat in the harbour, and of course…we met them.
Its always nice to be tied up side on and here in Inousses we got it! Easy to walk on, easy to walk off. No hesitation when asking the question…”should we go for coffee”…or…”how about some shopping for dinner”. Its always an easy answer when tied up. AND of course when India and Nina want to go for a scooter ride or to the playground, its easy to step off the boat and have some fun.
Who wouldn’t want to sit here, read a book, play some games or just have a coffee (or fanta).
Lets walk like a duck
India and Nina are really what made my summer the best to date. They are two little girls that always seem to smile and laugh. So when we went for a walk up the hill to find the church, it goes without saying that we would have to have some smiles and laughter along the way.
We kept walking and kept climbing and made it up the hill. Pretty good for those little legs and feet to climb so high. Even Dad had to catch his breath from time to time. It’s great exercise for a dad to have a couple of kids that need to be carried.
We ventured up the hill, and made it to the church. When we got there, no one was around but the door was open slightly as a church door should be, so we went in. This was a greek orthodox church and the inside was art in itself. The girls and I sat in the front row and looked forward, left, right, up and down and marvelled at everything around us. I think it was the first time India and Nina had been in a church that was so gloriously finished inside. I could see in their little eyes sheer amazement. They stopped being 3 and 4 year olds for a few minutes. The desire to run around, be loud and uncontrolled just stopped. Now maybe God had something to do with this, but I also attribute it to the inside of the church and having us be somewhere that they had never seen before.
The beach
Now what would a Greek island be without a stop at the beach? Later we would find out, and you will find out from reading other INDININI blogs, that the ultimate goal of our sailing summer adventure through the Greek Island was to scout out and find beaches for India and Nina.
Now the sand on the Inousses beach may not have been top-notch, but this beach had something that others did not…Karin and Nea as their teachers. This was not just any old picnic next to the water. It was an educational picnic that exposed the girls to their first anatomy lesson ON A GOAT! Yes, that’s right a goat. Nea who had recently completed his master’s in biology went hiking in the hills an hour before and collected skeletal bones from goats. They started reconstructing the bones on the beach and when I came to see them, India pointed at one and said: “Hey Dad, here’s the goat’s femur”. I’m not sure how many 4 year old know what a femur looks like, but my little India sure did.
A Party?
And remember that other sailboat that I mentioned was in the harbour, well as it turns out, it belongs to a French guy that settled here. We met him and he invited us up to his home that night. He said he was sailing one day past this island, he looked up, saw a house and said that is where he wanted to live. So he did! It was really amazing what he had done with the renovations. He would sail over to Turkey, load his sailboat up with marble tiles, sail back and drop them off. He would do this for nearly a year until he had enough material to finish what he wanted to finish. The girls played, we laugh and had a fantastic night. Just amazing the warmth of the people you meet along the journey of life.