By the time we’re up and out and walking to the harbour in Agios Nikolaus the breeze has stiffened, raking the sea into choppy waves. It’s cooler. Knowing we’d be blown about on a ferry, we’ve packed fleece tops into our rucksacks but we’re still in shorts. We descend to the quayside and get our tickets at the booth, then follow others up and on to the boat, choosing seats on the middle deck, which has a roof but is open at the sides.

The boat is full, though not bursting at the seams and gets underway at the stated time of 12.30pm, reversing out of its berth and setting off out of harbour.

Once out of the shelter of the harbour it’s breezier still. We get intermittent snatches of commentary from a guide who is clearly as ‘end of season’ as everything else. He points out a few things along the coast- the ‘most expensive’ hotel and one or two of the islands. The woman opposite us hands out snacks to her two children and drapes them in towels to warm them up.

After about half an hour the boat pulls into a bay and shudders to a halt some metres from the shore. This is a stop for people to dive off the boat for a swim. Regular readers will know that swimming is not a favourite activity of mine and I’m only tempted into water if the outside temperature is so hot as to necessitate cooling. I’m even less inclined nowadays, since modifications to my physical self have occurred [but that is another story]. And by now, it’s cool- far too cool for cold water!

We descend to the lower deck, where a handful of braver souls are shedding their outer wear and plunging off the back [sorry- stern] of the boat with abandon, then swimming off into the lively waves. On this lower deck we can get coffee, which we do. Outside on the sea I watch as a flat cap bobs jauntily past, its confused owner patting his head to note its absence.

Coffee done and the swimmers return, clambering up the gangplank and dripping puddles on the deck. We return to our upstairs seats and the ferry resumes its travel towards Spinalonga and I succumb to an extra layer as by now the wind is cold, blowing across the decks and causing the boat to rock and roll. I’m grateful at this point for not suffering from sea-sickness- a condition I’ve only experienced twice [in spite of having made countless boat and ferry trips].

But I do want to get some photos, which means getting around to different points on the deck and this is tricky, involving hanging on to various fixed items with one hand while gripping my camera in the other. Yikes!

A little further and the tiny outcrop of rock that is Spinalonga Island comes into view. We almost circle it and then we’re pulling in towards a minute beach and the crew lower the gangplank- which rocks and slides, making disembarking a dodgy feat- although we manage better than some! We step off on to the shingle to wait for our alleged guide- now where can they be?

Novels by Jane Deans [Grace]: The Year of Familiar Strangers and The Conways at Earthsend. Visit my website: janedeans.com