The following morning we woke refreshed, had a swim at the lovely sandy beach in the bay and watched the comings and goings on the town quay.
It really is a charming place and one that we would like to return to but the only way to get to the island (if you don't sail there yourself) is by ferry from either Athens, 3 times per week or from Naxos and Amorgos, on a small local ferry line which operates daily (except Sunday) in the summer months. One for the future perhaps....
Next stop was Levitha, 34nm away, a passage of about 6 hours. Only one family live on the island. They run a taverna above the bay and have installed a dozen buoys in the eastern part. We had read on Navily that the buoys are very popular and are often fully occupied by early afternoon so we left Donousa promptly to try to secure one.
Once into the open sea, it was still pretty windy but, being a northerly, good for our direction of travel. We raised the mainsail with one reef and and sailed at a stready 7 knots for much of the way.
We saw hardly any other boats during the trip and, having made very good progress arrived at Levitha at about 14.30.
There were already two sailing boats in the bay so we took our pick of the remaining 10 buoys and were soon securely attached.
We then spent the rest of the day, swimming off the boat, reading and watching the bay fill up with boats until dusk when all the buoys were taken.
There was a fabulous sunset and, at nightfall, the sky was filled with the brightest of stars, perfect for some stargazing.
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