We had left Syros before breakfast and again moored off this little island for a swim stop. This time we were there for about 4 hours and swam into the beach then went out in the kayak. There was a small hot pool just along the beach a bit and Barbara hiked up to the top of the overlooking hill. There were 2 or 3 other smaller but very nice boats also moored to rocks along the bay. Later in the morning the young honeymoon couple kayaked back to the hot pool and reported that Paul McCartney was sitting in it when they got there. He had come off one of the boats just along from us.

We left at about 1pm, had lunch on board and then slowly sailed along the coast looking at various historic sites atop the cliffs.

It has been a very relaxing way to end the cruise although it is extremely hot today. We also got to have a tour of the bridge and the Captain explained the various controls and navigational devices.

We arrived at Pyraeus at about 6pm and it was flat calm. Very different from when we arrived. We got an additional buffet meal which was unexpected although people were free to disembark and dine near the marina.

Joseph gave his final briefing before dinner. “You must leave the boat in the morning by 8.30am. You cannot stay!” They have a very tight turn around with the entire boat having to be cleaned, maintained and provisioned for the next cruise to leave at 4pm.

They gave us a copy of the route that we took. It was different than originally planned due to the high winds at the start.

There were goodbyes with the various groupings that formed and it was a much later night for many. We sorted out how much we would tip. You don’t tip the crew as you go. Instead you get an envelope at the end and the tip goes into a box and is shared between them all. Not sure if it’s equal sharing but that does seem fairer. We gave €50 each as the staff tip and then a further €80 in total for Joseph as he is not treated as part of the crew. They work every day for 8 months with about 2 hours off in the day or evening each day. Joseph had to go ashore during our dinner time as he had to go to the dentist and can only do that on a Thursday night. It’s a relentless life but the rewards are good. We worked out that he probably gets about €60,000 annually without tax in addition to his salary which includes full board and food. He has been doing it for 9 years. I’m not sure if any of the crew have families but 8 months is a long time to be working. There were about 5 Ukrainians, at least one Egyptian and one from Mauritius. They all have to speak Greek as well as at least rudimentary English. Again we felt very provincial with our lack of other languages.