Under cloudy sky in a thundery mood, we leave the harbour of Psara and set course for Chios. On the west coast, after a beautiful day of sailing with plenty of wind, we moor in the harbour of Limia/Volissos.
Homer is said to have come from the island of Chios - he is said to have taught children here, but nothing more precise has been related. The island has been inhabited for 5,000 years and experienced several periods of prosperity under the Greeks, but also under the Venetians and Turks, until in 1824, when Chios joined the Greek liberation struggle, the Turks killed 40,000 inhabitants and sold 25,000 into slavery........Chios itself is historically said to have had the first slave market, but under Greek rule.
In the northern part of the island there are not only high, barren mountains, but also wonderfully green and fertile valleys.
In the small harbour of Limia/Volissos, there are usually a maximum of three boats - but now another 15 came to take part in a regatta from Athens to Chios and back. The second event on the Greek Whitsunday was 20 horsemen who rode into the bay with their horses and held a feast. Most of them looked quite wild with their black and white neck- and headscarves and leather boots. Are these the cowboys of Chios?
Volissos is a beautiful little medieval town, 2 km from the harbour on the hillside, with a Frankish (here the collective term for crusaders) castle from the 11th century. Steep winding streets, partly dilapidated, partly very nicely restored houses, lead up to the castle, from which one has a wide view of the many bays and the entire coast.
After three days, we set off in the direction of the southern part of the island, in the meantime the Meltemi announced itself with a strong north wind. There is a lot of wind and waves. On the way to Ikaria we stay for one (restless) night in a small anchorage in the southern part of Chios, as the only boat, far and wide no house, no artificial light, very lonely and very impressive. The southern part of Chios is rather barren, rocky, with little vegetation, not as lushly green as some valleys in the north - in any case, a very varied island.
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