Nearly End of the Season

Our sailing season is fast coming to an end we have said
goodbye to the beautiful Greek Ionian Islands, made our way back to Siracusa in
Italy and then on to Malta where we have met up with several friends from Ragusa.

During our last few weeks in the Ionian Isles we met up with
Kevin’s brother and family, they were staying in a villa in Lourdos bay on the
south coast of Cephalonia, unfortunately there were no safe anchorages where we
could leave the boat to visit their villa, and so we moored alongside the town
quay in Argostoli. On our first night there we were visited by a young surly
gentleman from the port police, we were requested to take our passports and
papers to the office within the hour which we duly did. However I can’t say our
experience with them was that pleasant, which was a change from previous
encounters with the port police in Greece who had all been very friendly and
welcoming. To top it all in Argostoli the port police charge from 12 midnight
to 12 midnight the following day meaning we had to pay for two days for a
single overnight stay, mind you it was only 7 euros a night so not expensive.

It was in Argastoli where we saw several Loggerhead Turtles
close up, apparently in the bay there are supposed to be 25 in total and at
times they swim passed the back of the boat. We saw more turtles here than in
Turtle bay in Zante where their breeding ground is claimed to be.

The day after Kevin’s brother arrived we caught the bus and
headed off to Lourdos bay for the day, or possibly two, their villa was set on
the hillside overlooking the bay with an infinity pool that was just so
inviting, even if it was a little cooler than the sea.

On a couple of occasions Steve Madeline, Sophie and Harry
visited us in Argostoli where we took them out for a sail, the first sail was
to the top of the bay north of Argostoli there Steve and the kids swam ashore whilst Kevin took Madeline in the dingy.
Back on board Kevin set up the main halyard so that Sophie and Harry could
swing off the boat, Kevin decided to have a practice run first to make sure it
was ok, however it was not possible to get a good run of the boat and so he
couldn’t swing far enough away before he started swinging back towards the
boat, the look on his face was a picture.

Our second sailing day took us to the bay just south of
Argostoli, where those of us who had been nominated to undertake the ALS ice
bucket challenge completed our task. Unfortunately we didn’t have access to any
ice and had to settle for a huge bucket of sea water, the bucket was that big
and heavy it took both Kevin and Steve to lift it. Have to say Madeline’s
challenge was the best as the force of the water nearly de-frocked her.

We also tried our hand at synchronised swimming, however it
soon became apparent that none of us could follow the instructions as we
all  ended up all taking on different
poses.

During Steve and Madeline’s second week, they hired a car
and so we arranged to meet them in Sami on the east coast of Cephalonia, we had
heard that a front was coming in and so here was the best place to take
shelter. When we arrived around 1530 it looked as if we had managed to get the
last spot on the inside pontoon. However not long after we arrived there was a
steady stream of boats arriving all trying to get a safe haven, to the point
some boats ended up rafting three abreast. Then at 1700 a large wooden sailing
boat arrived and we thought no chance would that get in, but by moving a few
boats around the port police managed to get it in and moored up.

The following day the predicted rain and thunder storm
arrived, which meant most of the day was spent on board, before going out for a
meal in the evening sporting our wet weather gear and brolli’s.

On the Wednesday we headed up to Fiskardo where again we
were to meet Steve, Madeline, Sophie and Harry, who arrived just as we were
mooring up, after which we met them ashore for lunch.

Back on board in the afternoon the kids got back to doing
what they liked best jumping of the front of the boat, Harry in particular, who
was very rarely out of the water.

It was great to have them all stay over on the boat as the
following day was to be our last day with them before they headed back home.
Unfortunately though the weather took a turn for the worse whilst we had our
breakfast ashore and so we ended up spending most of our morning at the café
taking shelter.

However not long after the rain stopped the sun came out and
we were able to enjoy the rest of our time together swimming off the back of
the boat before we had to say our goodbyes.

After Steve and Madeline left we stayed a few more days in
Fiskardo before heading back to Lefkas, then to Preveza and then back to Lefkas
we then decide to take the next weather window back to Sicily and then on to
Malta which hadn’t originally been on our agenda.

We said goodbye to the Ionian Islands and left for Siacusa,
Sicily  at 0600 hrs on the 16^th
September, which would take us two days. At first the wind was quite fickle one
minute we had wind the next we didn’t so it took us a bit longer than
anticipated before we passed the headland and were out in open water. On our
first day we managed to sail averaging 6.5knts until 1900hrs before the wind
died on us and we had to take the sails down and motor. The second day we
managed to sail using the cruising chute but our speed was nowhere as fast as
the previous day, but still we were sailing and the sea conditions were great.

During the crossing we were visited by the occasional
dolphin, one of which made sure we saw him by jumping high out of the water
just by the boat before landing in the water on his back, winking at me as he
went. Our second visitor was most unexpected, a small bird who landed on deck
just by Kevin’s feet, as I went below to get the camera he (the bird that is
not Kevin) decided to take a peek inside to see what I was up to, a very
friendly chap.

We arrived back in Siracusa at 1218 on the 18^th
September, the sun was shining and it was great to see land again. Our plan was
to move on to Malta as soon as we got the next weather window, however that
proved to be some time away.  On the Sunday
after our arrival in Siracusa we were joined by Jane and Brett of S/Y Amble, it
was great to see them again and for us to swap stories of our trip around the
Ionian. Later Pete of S/Y Arganauta also arrived.

On the Wednesday it looked like we had the weather window we
were waiting for, as we were going to do the trip in one go, and as we did not
wish to arrive in Malta in the dark we decided to leave around 1900 aiming to
get to Malta mid afternoon the following day. However as we sailed out of the
bay the wind was much stronger than forecast, and not in the direction
forecast, and as we cleared the headland the wind speed picked up to 23knt
gusting to 25knt and so we made the decision to turn back as in past
experience, the weather could get worse. We arrived back in the bay and hour
and a half after we left it, just as we entered the bay the wind died
completely, so in this case the weather improved, but it would have meant us
motoring all the way to Malta had we of kept going.  

The next weather window didn’t materialise until Monday 29^th
September nearly two weeks after we arrived in Siracusa. This time we decided
to do the trip over two days calling in Porto Pollo on the South East of Sicly
before heading to Malta the following day, this time we were to be joined by
Jane and Brett who were also making the trip to Malta.

The pilot book did not give a very good write up in relation
to Porto Pollo and so we were pleasantly surprised how nice it was, just shows
you need to check places out yourself and not rely on other people’s
perceptions.

The following day we left Porto Pollo at 0530 and headed off
to Malta, followed by Jane and Brett an hour later. There was insufficient wind
to sail and so we had to motor sail all the way, with the swell coming up
behind us which meant we were rocking and rolling the whole trip. We arrived in
Malta at 1700 and anchored in a bay on Comino a small island between Gozo and
Malta, there we were met by Helen and Marcel who had invited us all over for
dinner. A great evening was had by all but I think its fair to say we all had a
little too much grape juice, and as we said our goodbyes and got into the dingy
Kevin took an unexpected dip, on surfacing the expression on his face was
priceless.

The next day we had a leisurely few hours in the morning,
with Marcel doing his impression of Rodin’s The Thinker, or was he just cutting
his finger nails.

Before we set off to explore the caves in the bay, Marcel,
Helen, Brett and Jane in Kayaks, and Kevin and I in the dingy, we don’t have
room on board for a Kayak.

The following day we headed to Mgar to get provisions and
sort out internet access before moving to another bay on Comino, we weren’t too
keen on this particular anchorage as it was over rock and so made the decision
we would move somewhere else the next day.

The next day Marcel, Helen, Kevin and I sailed to Mellieha
Bay whilst Jane and Brett headed to St Julian Bay. We spent three nights here
and on our last day Kevin and Marcel took themselves off to go diving, leaving
at 10:30 and not getting back until 17:00, when they got back they both looked
like the cat that had all the cream.

Each night we had been in Mellieha  bay we had we were treated to an electrical
storm with skies being continually lit up, along with the sound of thunder, but
worse to come had been predicted and so after three days in the bay we headed
down to Rinella Creek just inside the entrance to Grand Harbour. We had a good
sail down, at one point however we had a large motor boat heading straight for
us, Kevin tried on several occasions to turn so that we would go Port side him,
but each time the motor boat turned in our direction and didn’t veer away until
he was nearly upon us causing us to have to turn into the swell he created. It
was obvious his manoeuvring had been deliberate as he watched us in his swell as
he went past. We arrived in Rinella Creek without further problems, several of
our friends were already here including Helen and Marcel, we dropped anchor but
were not happy with the position and so we lifted it back up and dropped it a
second time. Before we got chance to check the hold it was like a switch had
been flicked there was thunder and lightening all around, torrential rain, and
winds up to force 8, at that point Kevin shouted we have a hold, unfortunately
several others around us did not and so those boats lifted anchor and tried to
re-set others moved further out of the bay and just sat the storm out before
re-anchoring.

The storm lasted some time, before abating after which we
were treated to a spectacular sunset.

During the night we were subjected to more rain and thunder
storms but nothing on a par with the earlier storm, and in the morning we awoke
to blue skies and sunshine. We plan to spend a few more nights here before
moving on and tonight we are all going over to Mobilae  for a bring your own meal, really looking
forward to that.

Ithaca, Cephalonia & Zante

I can’t believe it is just two weeks since our last blog, we
seemed to have moved about quite a bit. From Sivota we retraced our steps and
headed back for a night in Menganisi and then up to Lefkas town where we
anchored just of the town key then headed into town to pick up several litres
of our favourite wine (very important not to run out) before heading back down
to Nidri.

The following morning we headed of south again to Ithaca, the first
part of the journey was quite tranquil with very little wind but we did manage
to sail most of the way down between the island of Menganisi and Lefkas. However
as we came out of the shelter of the channel between the two islands the wind
picked up along with the swell. We decided to cut our journey short and head
for Sivota, and it seemed everyone else had the same idea, as several other
boats were also heading in that direction as well. As we approached though we
noticed the boats ahead of us all did a complete u-turn and headed back out of
the bay. We soon found out why as we entered the bay, the wind was howling down
between the mountains causing a huge swell in the bay making it untenable to
stay there, so we to did a u-turn and headed back out. We decided to head for
Kalamos another small island as the wind was right behind us which meant we
should get a good sail, we hauled the head sail and set of reaching 7 knots,
then all of a sudden the wind just stopped. As Kalaomos was the same distance
as Ithaca and we had to motor either way we decided to go back to plan A and
head for Ithaca. It was not long however before the wind picked up again, talk
about the lull before the storm, and so we quickly reefed in both main sail and
head sail as there was no turning back now.

As we approached Ay Nikolaos on the North East coast of Ithaca
the winds had reached 30 knots, I was so glad to get into the bay and find some
shelter, it wasn’t over yet though, there were several other boats in the bay
and there was no swinging room and so we had to moor with the anchor down and
two lines to shore. As soon as the anchor was down I was in the water swimming
with the shore line to attach it to one of the rocks, the problem was there was
very little foot hold as it was quite deep right up to the rocks, plus the
water was much colder here. I finally managed to secure the line, swim back for
the second and secure that, then it was time for a well-earned G&T, after a
shower of course.

I can’t say I was particularly enamoured with the bay, it
looked cold and oppressive and was very windy and so the following day we set
of for Kioni, which is an attractive if not small town with a few cafes and
tavernas. It is however popular with flotillas and charter boats as well as
live aboards, making it quite a noisy place

We spent one night here before heading further down the
coast to Vathi, which is quite a large bay where you can moor alongside the
town quay or at anchor, we chose to anchor hoping to get a quieter night. This
was not to be though as the winds picked up again and howled all night, it felt
as if the boat was being swung about like a hammer thrower swings his hammer.
By morning the winds had died down to a more acceptable level and we took the
dingy ashore to have a look around. On first impressions it looked like a big
town but once ashore we found that this was not the case, but it was still
quite quaint. Back on board the winds again picked up but thankfully not to the
level they had been the day before, by evening more and more boats were coming
into the bay for shelter and as people tried to anchor tempers were getting
fraid, and you could hear sailors shouting at one another to move away as a
boat was to close or crossing their anchor, it certainly kept Kevin
entertained.

The next leg of our journey was over to Fiskardo on
Cephalonia, another very popular place for Flotillas and charter boats, and so
we left early in the morning with the aim of getting there around 11:00 in the
hope of finding a mooring. This was based on it being a Sunday so hopefully
Flotillas and Charter boats would be back in their base and most people leave a
mooring between 10:00 and 11:00, and this assumption had worked for us before,
not in this case though, however we did manage to find a spot, again it was
drop anchor and swim ashore with the stern lines.

I have to say I was not sure what I expected in regards to
Fiskardo, although I had been to Cephalonia a couple of times on holiday I had
never been to Fiskardo, I had heard how beautiful it was, and I was a little
concerned that my expectations would not be met, I could not have been more
wrong, I fell in love with the place, not I hasten to add because it had some
great cloths shops as Kevin suggests. It had a real buzz about the place
without losing any of its charm.

Whilst here we went on a couple of walks, the first one was
10K so we got up early in the morning and set off, the walk took us up and over
the top of the Island before circling round to head back towards Fiskardo, the
walk was mainly through the forest and so you couldn’t see a great deal other
than the trees but we did came across a couple of lovely bays though.

The second walk which we took the following day was 5K long,
this was called the Cyprus tree walk and so we expected it to be amongst the
trees again, this was not the case, it started in the trees but was soon
without shelter, but it was a much more interesting walk and took us past Foki
beach which looked lovely.

Sadly we had to leave Fiskardo, I could have stayed a lot
longer, we started off by doing a detour around the north coast of the island
to Myrtos beach supposedly the best beach on the island, and being famous for
one of the scenes in Catain Correlli’s Mandolin. The waters were clear blue,
and the beach was full of people topping up their tan, so after lunch Kevin
decided to take a swim ashore.

From Myrtos beach we travelled back around the north coast
to a small bay just south of Fiskardo called Dhaskahio, we had several attempts
at anchoring before we managed to get a secure holding, with both anchor and shore
line. There was only one other boat in the bay besides ourselves and the
occupants invited us over for happy hour, they were two Israeli couples on a
five week holiday, we ended up staying for dinner as well. We had a very
enjoyable evening but in the morning neither Kevin nor I could remember their
names as they were so obscure.

From Dhaskahio it was a sail across the bay to Porto Polis
on the east coast of Ithaca, again a really beautiful bay which had several
boats already moored up. We anchored with a shore line and sat down to relax
but the anchor dragged in the weed and so we had to re-set it, this time we put
60m of chain out just to make sure, especially as the bay was quite deep in the
middle, which shelved quickly toward the edges. It was so nice we decided to
stay here for two nights, make some water and get the washing done.

On the second night, the winds picked up again and the
anchors of the two other boats in the bay beside us,( the others having all
gone) started to drag, they tried many times into the night to get a secure
hold to no avail. We were concerned that as they dragged they may inadvertently
catch our anchor and drag it with them and so we kept watch until the early
hours of the morning, about 02:00 one of the boats gave in and moved of out of
the bay, the other continued to persevere, in the end we went to bed. In the
morning the other boat had gone.

Our intention was to move south and anchor in Katlios a bay
on the south east coast of Cephalonia, we had a great sail down the channel
between Ithaca and Cephalonia, but as we rounded the headland the winds whipped
up and we were now head to wind. As we entered the small harbour of Katlios we
quickly realised we could not stay here, for one it was too shallow and for
another there was nowhere to moor, and so we had to do an about turn and head
back into the rather rough sea state. Again we looked at our options, did we go
back to where we had just come from, which meant we would be head to wind going
back up the channel, or did we go to Argostoli again it would mean we would be
head to wind or did we head across to Zante where we would at least have the wind
in our favour meaning we could sail across. We chose Zante, we set of on a
reefed headsail only, then we noticed the dingy which we had been towing had
flipped over and so we had to hoist it onto the boat and secure it before we
could get going again. The winds continued to rise along with the swell, with
the wave’s broad side on, which meant that Kevin had to frequently turn the
boat into them to prevent them breaking on the side of the boat. One wave
however got the better of us, it broke on the starboard side near to the stern
causing the boat to heel right over so that the guard rails were in the water I
thought we were going to totally roll the boat, but as luck had it we remained
upright.

I was so glad to get into Ay Nikolaos and moor up along-side
the harbour wall, unfortunately though there was quite a lot of swell in the
bay and all the boats were bouncing about and banging against the harbour wall,
by morning our fender covers were ruined despite having a plank between them
and the wall, but that said it was better than being out at sea.

Before we had managed to finish securing our lines though an
old Greek gentleman came along on his little tractor selling his wares, I
bought some lovely tasting olive oil but passed on the wine, it tasted like
vinegar.

That evening we treated ourselves to a meal out, I really was
not in the mood for cooking. The town is quite small with a couple of taverna’s
and shops, apparently one family owns a tavern, one of the two supermarkets (if
you can call them that) and some of the tourist boats.

In the morning we were woken suddenly with a big bang on the
bow of the boat, we rushed out of bed to find one of the local Greeks had
crashed his tourist boat into ours, there was no apology, he basically made out
it was our own fault as we had secured one of our lines across the steps of the
harbour wall. I have to say this is the first time we have come across anything
like this the whole time we have been in Greece. Luckily he had hit the bow
sprit so had not caused any damage to our boat.

We decided to move on and head south to the town of
Zakinthos, we had a great sail all the way to our destination, the contrast
from the day before couldn’t have been more different.

The harbour of Zakinthos is quite busy with several ferries
coming in and out during the day and night, after mooring up we took a stroll
into town, unfortunately all the shops were closed, so we found a nice bar and
had a couple of beers before heading back to the boat.

We spent the evening on board watching the locals and
holiday makers strolling along the harbour and several of them sat and watched
us eat our dinner, at times I felt a bit like a monkey in the zoo.

As we had access to water here which cost us 5 euro a day we
gave the boat a good wash down to try and get rid of all the salt that had
accumulated from the breaking waves during, our crossing over to Zante,
including all the outside cushions.

During the afternoon whilst chilling out we acquired a new
neighbour one of the biggest yet.

Usually the ferries dock on the other side of the harbour
and cause quite a bit of swell, this one however manoeuvred very gently into
position causing no swell at all, most unexpected. Kevin was rewarded with yet
more entertainment when several would be passengers trying to board were turned
away, arguments broke out and one poor girl started crying, however after about
45 minutes everyone bar one was aloud on board and the ferry set off for Sami.

That evening we went into town and what a contrast from the
day before, all the shops were open the bars and restaurants were heaving and
in the square there were hundreds of kids driving around in  little motorised cars all over the place, it
was real hustle and bustle.

From Zakinthos we have moved further south to Lagana Bay
where we are presently at anchor, it is here that the loggerhead Turtles have
their breeding grounds and so a large part of the bay has restrictions in
relation to anchoring or moving at speeds greater than 6 knots but I don’t
think anybody has told the locals this.

From here we will head back to Cephalonia where we plan to
meet up with Kevin’s brother and his family for a few days whilst they are out
here on holiday, before heading off to who knows where as we haven’t planned
that far ahead yet.

Total miles travelled this season 1117

Total cumulative miles 3455

Lefkas

Two weeks on from leaving Corfu and Paxos we have not sailed
that far south, we spent three nights in Ormas Vathi Preveza before sailing
across the bay to Vonista. We anchored just outside the outer mole, the holding
here was good and we had a great view of the Venetian Fort built on the
hillside, which we planned to visit the following day.

The town itself looked very peaceful and so we decided to
stay here for two or three nights, that however was until 12 midnight when the
local disco started and carried on all night until 0600, neither of us got much
sleep. We decided one night of Greek disco music was sufficient, and therefore
planned to move on after we had visited the Venetian Fort, but alas that was
not to be, when we got there we were told it was closed for cleaning to remove
fire hazard debris and snakes, so it was back down the hill, for a well-earned
coffee, before going back to Miss Lilly.

Back on board we set off for Ormos Koprainia a bay in the
north east of the inland sea, when we arrived we were the only sail boat there,
ashore there were a couple of houses and that was all. The pilot book indicated
that this was a magical spot where we could do a bit of bird watching and be
visited by dolphins, which was not the case. We were however visited by one of
the local lads who had decided to swim out to our boat, but found it was a bit
far and looked to be in difficulty, and so Kevin invited him on board to have a
drink and get his breath back, he spoke no English and as we speak no Greek,
conversation was limited. Soon there was another Greek lad swimming out to the
boat, he however was a better swimmer and once round the boat was off back to
shore, our visitor decided to join his friend, thanked us for the drink and
waved good bye before doing a near belly flop into the water.

That evening we were once again treated to one of Mother
Nature’s spectacular sunsets, they never cease to amaze us.

Our night here was very peaceful and so we were able to
catch up on the lost sleep from the previous night. In the morning the stronger
swimmer of the two Greek lads was once again swimming towards the boat, after
doing two laps we thought we ought to swim to shore and back ourselves.
Unfortunately the water was very murky and as we neared the shore we were
virtually swimming in weed, with shoals of fish around us and so we decided to
head back to the boat.

It was then back to Preveza in order to get some provisions
and catch up on a few chores, when we arrived there were several boats still
there that had been there the first time we arrived, it is a good anchorage,
though not so good if you need to make water.

On Tuesday 22^nd July we set off at 0700 to Lefkas
intending to get there in time for the floating bridge to open at 0900 in order
for us to make our way down the Lefkas canal. The forecast had predicted strong
southerly winds around 1000 and so the intention was to be down the canal
before they started. As is our luck they started not long after we left the
channel from Preveza, and so we motored all the way arriving at the canal
entrance 15 minutes before the bridge opened. As the bridge opened and we made
our way through there was only one other boat besides us going south, however
going north it was like a mass exodus, the winds howled all the way down
reaching 23 knots at times, it was great to get out at the other end.

Our original plan once through the canal was to anchor of
Ligia which is situated at the south entrance to the canal, but as the wind was
a strong southerly we would not have any protection there, we also needed to
make water and as the water here looked murky we decided to keep going.

After consulting the pilot book for a good place to anchor
where we could get both protection and make water we headed off to the Island
of Meganisi and Ormos Abelike, here I had entered paradise, although there were
several other boats already there the water was crystal clear and very calm.

The following day we headed on foot to Vathi, a small town which
is the nominal capitol of the island, here you can berth stern to alongside the
town quay for free, apparently according to the locals it’s better to visit in
September when it is not so busy so who knows we may do just that.

Whilst around Lefkas we decide to get our life raft serviced
by Ionian Marine Safety Services as they are approved by Sego, which is the
make of our life raft. So on Thursday 24^th July we set off for
Lefkas marina, where we had arranged for the life raft to be picked up, on arrival
the marina staff were there to meet us and help us moor up, then within half an
hour the chap from Marine Safety Services turned up, it was all going rather
well for a change. Kevin asked if it was possible for him to see the life raft
opened, this was ok’d and off he went. On return he indicated how impressed he
was with the setup, the work shop was clean and well organised and each life
raft being serviced had its own work station. Once our life raft was opened
Kevin was able to have a look inside and take some pictures.

Whilst in Lefkas we had an evening out, the town was very
busy with both Greeks and holiday makers, there was a real buzz about the
place. However I wasn’t so impressed with the marina facilities, the showers
cost 50 cents to use and then I only got a trickle of water, and I had been so
looking forward to a power shower. I certainly won’t moan about showering of
the back of the boat again. Also to do the laundry here is expensive at 10
Euros a load and that’s just for a wash, its 20 Euros if you want it washed and
dried. I was later told there is somewhere cheaper in the town, I suppose I had
been spoilt in Ragusa where a load is 3Euro 50.

The following day the life raft was returned so we left
Lefkas and headed back down the canal to Nidri, the pilot book indicates that
whilst the canal is dredged to a minimum depth of 6m but outside of the canal
markers the depths are variable and care should be taken to not go outside the
markers. The reason for this became very obvious as we passed by a sail boat
who had done just that and gone aground requiring assistance in getting of the
sand. The southern entrance of the canal is buoyed but the further north you go
the canal is marked with poles with red or green triangles on top which may or
may not be present.

At Nidri we had arranged to meet up with our friends Sally
and John who we had met whilst wintering in Cartagena in Spain at the end of
our first years sailing. They had sailed round the Ionian last year and
wintered in Lefkas. They liked the area so much they have no plans to move on
for some time and intend to stay in Lefkas this winter as well.

It was great to catch up with them again and hear about
their experiences of sailing around the Ionian over a few beers, in the evening
we went ashore for a wander around the town some more beverages and a meal,
which was one of the cheapest and best meals we have had in long time.

We had intended staying only one night in Nidri but when we
went ashore we came across some Quad bikes for hire which I fancied having a go
on, and so we hired one for the following day. We picked the bike up at 0900
and were told we had to have it back by 2200 that day.

Our first destination was the Nidri Waterfalls a couple of
miles outside of the town, however when we got there, there was not a lot of
water falling, I suppose it was too much to expect.

Don’t know who the two random guys are who decided to get in
on the picture.

From the waterfalls we called in at Vasiliki, before heading
up into the hills for Petros, there was not a lot there so we carried onto
Sivros where the caves of Karouxa were situated, again there was not a lot to
look at and so we moved on to the highest point of the Island where you have a
360 degree view of the island.

It was then off to the highest village on the island where
we planned to have lunch, again we were disappointed the only lunch we could
get was a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, as we were both hungry by now we
settled for that. The next village on route was Karia, this was a lovely little
place with several taverna’s, we should have stopped here for lunch, but as we
had just eaten we carried on. We then toured down the West side of the coast
and called in at Gialos Beach, which was beautiful but not a good place to
anchor as its exposed and there was quite a lot of swell. Whilst here we
stopped off for an ice cream and of course mine had to be chocolate.

From here we started to head back to Nidri, calling in at
Sivota on route, another little town which we decided we would call in at on
our way to Cephalonia. It was 1900 by the time we arrived back in Nidri by now
I was ready to hand the bike back before my legs set in a permeant straddled
position.

The following day it was back to Maganisi, this time to Port
Atheni, again a lovely bay with plenty of space to anchor with a shore line, we
have now made new rat deterrents, and we just hope these work. We stayed two
nights here, just chilling out and swimming. On the morning we were due to
leave it rained and so Kevin decided to make use of the free water and clean
the decks, before we headed off to Sivota where we plan to spend a couple of
nights.

Its quite busy here in Sivota in with Flotillas and charter
boats, Kevin is keeping a careful watch to ensure people don’t anchor to close
to us or anchor over our chain, whilst down below writing the blog I have
already heard a few choice words and it’s early yet.

Whilst we have been in the Ionian we have noticed that
around every ten days we get unsettled weather accompanied by the occasional
thunder storm, presently it is very windy and Miss Lilly is swinging in all
directions on the anchor, so sitting down below whilst writing the blog the
view is constantly changing.

We certainly seem to be doing a lot more sailing than
motoring which is a change from last year, however as usual although the
predominate winds are North Westerly’s we seem to always be sailing into wind
as we head south, obviously we are not picking the best time to sail.

After here we will continue to head south over to Ithaca and
Cephalonia, can’t believe we already half way through the season.

Mileage 934

Cumulative Mileage 3471.78

Present Location: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/SIVOTA+%CE%A3%CE%8E%CE%92%CE%9F%CE%A4%CE%91//@38.6265251,20.6893658,14z/data=!4m8!4m7!1m5!1m1!1s0x135db7bc1ca466b3:0x49f0c070b1e86a83!2m2!1d20.6814698!2d38.6236468!1m0?hl=en

Goodbye Corfu & Paxos

We have now left Corfu and Paxos behind and have arrived in
Preveza, mainland Greece, our last two weeks in Corfu were spent revisiting
visiting our favourite places and determining where we would take our friends
Rachel and Matt when they came to stay with us in July for a week.

On the Saturday before Rachel and Matt were due out we met
up with our friends Russell and Sharon who were staying in a hotel in the next
bay to where we were moored in Gouvia. We took them out for a sail just up the
coast to a bay we had not been to before and moored stern too on a pontoon
immediately outside a restaurant.

Our meal there was great if not on the little expensive side,
and the service was slow, however we weren’t in a hurry, and the meal was
delicious. After our meal it was back on board and a gentle sail back to Gouvia
with a detour into the bay where Russell and Sharon were staying so they could
take photo’s of their hotel from the sea, with Sharon at the helm, must say it
didn’t take her long to get the hang of it.

That evening we stayed on the boat chilling out and having a
few drinks, all to soon it was time for Kevin to take them back to shore where
they could get a taxi back to their hotel, as they left in the dingy all I
could hear was Sharon giggling away, the wine had been free flowing.

The following day we headed off to Corfu where we had
arranged to pick up Matt and Rachel, we anchored in the bay and headed off to
shore in the dingy. We decided to surprise them and meet them at the airport
instead of in the town centre, surprisingly the walk to the airport took less
time than had we walked into the town itself.  Sure enough as they came through the arrivals
gate they were taken aback to see us standing there, I tried to take a photo as
they came through but as I clicked the camera somebody moved in front and so
spoilt the shot, how  typical is that, however
one kind gentleman offered to take a photo of us all together.

It was great to see them again and whilst Matt and Kevin
took the bags back to Miss Lilly, Rachel and I took the opportunity to catch up
at one of the nearby bars and partake in a well-earned glass of cold white wine
whilst waiting for Matt and Kevin to come back. It was then off to Corfu town
for a look round the shops (most of them were closed) and something to eat
before heading back to the boat and then off to Gouvia, as this provided us
with good all round shelter  and a little
more peace and quiet, that is after the water skiers finished for the day.

The next day we headed south to Petitri where we anchored to
the south of the village directly opposite Taverna Panarama, from the boat the
place looked lovely and so we decided to take the dingy and go ashore. With an
extra pair of strong hands on board Matt offered to assist Kevin in getting the
dingy of the front deck into the water. The next minute I heard a shout and
looked up to see that Matt had almost fallen over board, he was hanging on for
grim death with the guard rail in the crook of his knees and the dingy perched
on top of him. I shouted to Rachel to let her know and to bring the camera so
that we could capture the moment for posterity, but she just shouted back ok,
not really aware on what I had said re Matts predicament. We eventually managed
to get him back on board but he ended up with a very nasty bruise where the
guard rail had dug into his skin.

Catastrophe averted we headed ashore, the taverna was even
better than it looked from the boat, the gardens were full of varying kinds of
flowers, and there were small hideaway places for you to sit and chill or swing
in one of the many hammocks hanging from the trees, Rachel even tried to sample
a grape from one of the hanging vines.

The following day we headed off to Lakka on the island of
Paxos, where thankfully we had an uneventful day, other than the bay was packed
with boats and so we had to anchor near the shore and fasten off with a shore
line. It was then time for a dip in the sea which was lovely and warm before
heading to shore for a look round and a few drinks.

The next morning as we were having breakfast we were visited
by the coast guard who asked us to move as the restaurant owner was not happy
about us being moored so near the beach, and so after breakfast we headed off
to Gaios a few miles down the coast. On arrival we moored in our usual place in
the North Channel with a shore line to the small island and applied our home
made rat deterrents, then we headed ashore. Whilst Rachel and I hit the shops
Matt and Kevin found a nice bar, where we would meet them later. After we had decide
what we wanted to purchase when we came back that evening we met up with the
men, and after a few drinks headed back to the boat.

Back on board Miss Lilly Kevin set up “The Plank” as a
diving board, where both men tried to show us their prowess at diving, in the
end the award went to Matt for his sideways dive into the water.

That evening we decided to eat out and so we put our glad
rags on and hit the town, where Rachel and I completed our retail therapy
before finding somewhere to eat, after which we then found a bar with a big
television screen to watch the world cup semi-final. By the time the match had
ended it was past 2am, so headed back to Miss Lilly, as the dingy neared the
boat Matt shouted that he could see a rat running along the shore line in the
torch light, as soon as it saw us though it turned tail and ran back to shore,
a close shave we thought, as rats on board can cause havoc with the wiring.

As it was late we went straight to bed, however it wasn’t
long before Rachel was knocking on our cabin door to inform us there was
something scratching in their bedroom. It was soon obvious that a rat had
managed to get into their cabin and hide behind the back of the wardrobe. We
tried all different ways to try and coax it out to no avail, and so we decide
to let Rachel and Matt sleep in our Cabin, Kevin would sleep in the back cabin
and I would sleep on the sofa in the salon. Before Kevin went to bed however he
filled a pop bottle with some nuts and sultanas in an attempt to try and trap
the rat, which in some part did the trick as the rat eventually came out of its
hiding place, however instead of going into the pop bottle it made its escape off
the boat after hearing Kevin move to catch it.

Due to our late night and rat catching activities at four in
the morning we all slept in, and so by the time we left Gouvia it was nearly
lunch time. We decided to head to Emerald Bay on Anti Paxos, it was a place
that Kevin and I had not been to before, however when we got there every man
and his dog was there. Although the bay lived up to its name it was just so
busy with motor boats and tourist boats coming and going all the time creating
huge amounts of swell that we decided to stay for lunch and then start heading
back north to Petitri, where we spent a couple of nights before heading back to
Corfu.

All too soon it was Rachel and Matts last night with us, the
week had flown by, that night we went ashore to have one last meal with them,
not before Rachel completed her retail therapy though, whilst the men took
refuge in one of the bars, shopping completed in very quick time, only three
shops visited, we headed off to the bar to meet the men.

Although it had been a late night we were up at 7am the
following morning to make sure Rachel and Matt got to the airport in time,
after a tearful goodbye we headed back to Miss Lilly and then onto Gouvia in
order to get the washing done purchase some provisions. We used the launderette
on the main road and I have to say I was very disappointed when I got the
washing back to the boat as it looked like all the soap hadn’t been rinsed out,
so would not recommend the place.

Before leaving Gouvia we met up with Sharon and Russell
again, it was their last night in Corfu before catching their flight back home.
On the way back to the marina we bumped into Cathy, John and Dennis, friends we
had made in Ragusa, it was a surprise to see them as we thought we were the
last of the Ragusa crowd still cruising around Corfu.

As we headed south to Preveza we called in one last time to
Gaios, Kevin was adamant we were not anchoring in rat ally as he now called the
North Channel, and so we managed to moor up along the town quay, right in front
of the noisiest bar in Gaios, which we felt was far better than having a rat on
board. We were however a little shocked to be informed we had to pay 15 euros
mooring fee as all our friends who had moored on the town quay previously told
us it was free, but apparently from the 27^th June they start
charging.

The next morning we needed to have left our mooring before
10:00 as we were moored where the big tourist boats moor, as we started to
leave everyone decided to do the same and so it was a little chaotic, a French
boat had somehow managed to get its anchor stuck and was blocking the channel
making difficult for us to get out. Several boats exited using the south
entrance but as the water was shallow there and we have a draught of 2 metres
we didn’t dare risk going out that way, and so we eventually passed the French
boat on the inside, between him and a catamaran.

For the first three hours to Preveza there was very little
wind and so we had to motor, then as the winds picked up we were able to sail
the remainder of the six hour journey. I am not sure what we expected to see on
our arrival, but the town looked very different to other places we have visited
around Corfu and Paxos. We anchored in Ormos Vathi, which is very peaceful, no
charter boats just mainly live-a-boards with lots of space.

After a very peaceful night we went ashore and changed our
initial opinion of Preveza, on first impressions it looked a sleepy town with
very little activity, but once ashore, there are shops a plenty along with
cafes, tavernas and restaurants. So we plan to spend another night here before
setting of to explore the inland sea of Amvrakikos Kolpos, then moving on to
Lefkas.

Mileage 808

Cumulative Mileage 3346.43

Present Location: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@38.9654733,20.720364,13z

Corfu Adventure

Having spent just over a week on hard standing we are now
back on the move having left Crotone to sail around the Ionian Islands. We
enjoyed our time in Crotone and met up with some friends from Ragusa, Mark and
Marta on Por Dos and Marjolein and Maarten of Mobilae, who very kindly donated us
a washing machine, which is great.

We were also very pleased with the work undertaken by Elio
and his team, and will certainly be looking to go back next year for our annual
Haul out. Elio certainly knows how to handle a mobile crane, we were packed
quite tightly in the yard and when it came to being hoisted up to be put back
in the water I haven’t seen a boat lifted so high.

Our first stop after leaving Crotone was Othoni, a small
island just north of Corfu, and anchored in the bay Ormos Ammou, we arrived
around 0600, dropped anchor and headed to bed to catch up on some well-deserved
sleep, it had taken us 22 hours to sail the 123 miles across from Italy. The
bottom in the bay is mainly rock and so when we woke up we decided to move over
to  the next island of Erikoussa,
unfortunately as we lifted the anchor our chain had wrapped itself around a
rock, it took an awful lot of manoeuvring and brute force to untangle ourselves
before we could set off.

On arrival in Erikoussa I instantly fell in love with the
place, we anchored in Port Erikoussa, here the bottom was sand, so no problems
with the anchor, and we had good shelter from the prevailing North Westerly
winds. The place itself can get quite busy during the day with day trippers but
by night it is peaceful. We stayed there for three nights, I could have stayed
longer, on our last day we had a walk round the island which took us
approximately two hours, the people of the island were really friendly and made
us feel very welcome, it is a place we will go back to.

Our next stop was a bay just south of Ak Vavaro, and only
accessible by boat, another beautiful place, there was only one other boat in
the bay so when they left we had it all to ourselves. The water was lovely and
clear and so inviting that I couldn’t resist and although a little cold at
first it was great to have a leisurely swim across the bay and back.

Again we spent three nights here, on the second day we took
a trip into Kassiopi by dingy which is about a mile up the coast. The village
is small and quite charming, but apparently gets very busy in the high
season,  I visited the place in the
nineties and can vouch for that, so at first I wasn’t that bothered about going
but I am glad I did as I saw a different side to the village from my memory of
it.

It was then onto Gouvia, where we anchored in Ormos Kammeno,
we anchored over mud and so had good holding and shelter from the prevailing
winds. Another yacht was already there which turned out to be Michel and
Danielle’s boat Nyctea, another set of friends we had made in Ragusa, so Kevin
invited them over for drinks, it was great to see them again especially as it
was so unexpected.

The following day we visited the Marina and the Port Police to
register our entry into Greece, we had heard so many stories about how
difficult and long winded the process could be, but we found it extremely
efficient even though it’s not computerised. It was then off to Corfu town to
try and arrange internet access, we caught the number 7 bus which dropped us in
the square just opposite the Vodafone store, which meant we didn’t have to
wander about looking for the place as has often happened.

Internet sorted we then set of for a tour of the town, the
place was heaving, and again it was a somewhere I was not to bothered about
visiting, as I had heard so many negative things about the place, but once
again I was glad I did. It just goes to show you shouldn’t always go on other
people’s opinions of a place, the old town although touristy was lovely, it
even has a Marks and Spencer’s although we didn’t go in, but on our next visit
there Kevin won’t be able to keep me out.

From Gouvia we motored round to anchor on the south side of
Corfu Town, again the holding was good, along with the shelter from the
prevailing winds, we only stayed here one night as we wanted to check the
anchorage in readiness for picking our friends Rachel and Matt who will be
staying with us early July.

The next day we headed north for Stefanos, on arrival there
were several other yachts there including Por Dos,and  Mobilae who were just leaving. We anchored
slightly out of the bay and had lunch, but Kevin was not happy with our
anchorage position and so we tried to move further into the bay. Por Dos was
also moving further in along with another boat, which was tearing around at top
speed coming close to us on several occasions, I think the skipper was making
damned sure we didn’t anchor before him thus getting a better spot, in the end
we decided to give up and move further down the coast to another bay.

This time we tried Kalami, but once again we were foiled,
just as we were entering the bay a French boat came in at great speed, sped
past us dropped his anchor, thus preventing us getting in. so it was off to the
bay we had first gone to on Corfu, and once again we had it all to ourselves.

The following day we set of for Palaiokastrita on the west
coast of Corfu, at first we tried anchoring in the bay, but there were so many
low lying rocks we decided to go and moor up stern too in the town harbour. No
sooner had we got settled when a charter boat with an English crew came tearing
into the harbour, by now the wind had picked up, the skipper lost control
almost collided with two other boats. The skipper kept seated the whole time
and just shouted at his crew in a very posh southern accent to “fender off,
fender off” it was obvious that most of the crew had very little experience,
they certainly kept us entertained whilst they tried to get the boat under
control and moor up. I have to say though I am glad it wasn’t us trying to moor
up in the strong winds.

Along the harbour wall it looked as though at some point
electricity was being installed, but as with a lot of things in Greece it never
got finished, well we don’t think it was finished.

Palaiokastrita is a beautiful place, and due to the
predicted strong winds which were forecast to last three days we stayed here
for three nights, on one of the days we visited the monastery at the top of the
hill which we had been told was not to be missed. As I had only shorts and a vest
top on I was not allowed to enter until I had donned the skirt and shawl loaned
to me, must say I looked a right sight.

It was in Palaiokastrita that we had our first meal out in
Greece and neither of us thought it up to much, and the wine was awful.

On the fourth day we decided to head south for Paxos and
Lakka Bay. Kevin didn’t think we would get in but on arrival the bay was much
bigger than we thought it would be, we found a nice spot over sand and dropped
the anchor. There were several charter yachts in the bay including a Flotilla
from Neilsons, but we seemed to have plenty of room, that was until a charter
boat with several Latvian chaps anchored just in front of us. That night we
kept a careful watch and at one time had to get up to fend off from the Latvian
boat, however our biggest problem was a Hanse 57 which at first appeared to be
anchored far away from us but as the winds picked up and the boats all swung in
different directions it was soon clear that they had masses of chain out, which
meant at times they were swinging close to us. At 0500 we were woken by the
women on the Hanse shouting at us to get up, she was still shouting for us to
get up once we were up, it did cross my mind to ask her if she was blind but
thought better of it.

Kevin stayed on deck whilst I went back to bed, we didn’t
have any further problems, although we did move position later in the morning,
however once again we were surrounded by charter boats many of whom seem to
drop anchor and just hope for the best.

The small town of Lakka however is very pretty with several taverna’s
along the water front, and a place where we plan to bring our friends Rachel
and Matt.

From Lakka it was onto Gaios a few miles down the coast, it
was here that we had arranged to take our PADI Open Water Diving Certificate,
we anchored in the North Canal taking a stern line ashore onto the small
island. We appeared to have good holding, but needed to put out rat guards onto
the stern line as we had heard they were a problem here.

On our first day in Gaios we took a walk along the coast to
Mongonisi, a very picturesque place but the holding did not look good and so
not a place we will visit by boat.

On the way back we bumped into Brett and Jane of Amble some
more friends from Ragusa and again very unexpected, that night we met them for
drinks, and  Brett and I sampled the
Chocolate Soup, yes really Chocolate Soup.

On the Monday we were woken at 0700 by a charter boat trying
to moor up next to us, somehow they had lost control of the back end of their
boat and were heading into us, Kevin got up and lent a hand for which they
supplied us with a bottle of red wine, the going currency for yachties.

That morning we started our scuba diving course with Babis
at Water Planet, at first I was apprehensive which surprised me as out of the
two of us I am the better swimmer, but Kevin took to it like a duck to water.

Later in the afternoon the skies darkened, the winds picked
up and a thunderstorm blew in, to the point that it was pushing us up against
the charter boat, so Kevin put the kedge anchor out to try and keep us off,
then took up some anchor chain to move us further forward the plan was to take
it up and reposition but it was caught on some chain which was lying across the
sea bed, so he had to dive down to secure a rope on the anchor so that we could
free ourselves. This achieved we pulled in the kedge anchor and moved further up
the channel and re-anchored. It had been our turn to provide the evening’s
entertainment.

After a few days of scuba training we were ready for our
first proper dive, unfortunately I had problems with my ears and so the dive
was ended, we had only made it to five meters, I think Kevin was a little
miffed.

Our second dive went much better and we achieved eight
meters and the dive lasted forty minutes, at one point I held a beautiful
brightly coloured star fish it was great. Our last dive was to have taken place
on the west coast of the island where we were to swim out and dive to ten
metres and look over what is called the wall where the depth drops suddenly to
sixty meters, but the winds were strong and we ended up back at the previous
days dive site. During this dive we had to take of our BCD’s which is the
jacket that the cylinder, weights and regulators are attached to, once again
Kevin managed this brilliantly however for me as soon as I took the jacket of
my legs shot upwards whilst I hung on to the jacket and Babis was trying to
hold me down. I did manage it though and both of us successfully completed the
course, that evening we met Babis for our final theory lesson.

For anyone considering diving we can recommend Babis at
Water Planet: www.waterplanet.gr

Whilst in Gaios we met we met up with Julie and Dave off
Carla Christina, and as usual when we have an evening with them we drink
copious amounts of wine and stay up to all hours. On the Tuesday we waved them
goodbye as we went our separate ways and we headed off to Praga over on the
mainland.

We had a great sail across and I took the helm for a change,
on arrival in the bay we noticed Brett and Jane’s boat Amble and so anchored alongside
them over sand, the place was supposed to be very touristy but we liked the
look of it and planned to spend a few days there. Once again it was pre dinner
drinks on Amble but by the time we left it had started to rain, this time there
was no wind. That night we were once again woken by a charter boat who had
dragged and was getting very close to us, the biggest problem though was the
swell coming into the bay, the boat was rocking and rolling all over the place
and by 0500 we decided we had had enough, raised the anchor and set off for
Sivota further up the coast and so missed watching Australia V Holland football
match with Brett, Jane, Maarten and Marjolein.

We arrived at 0800, dropped the anchor and went to catch up
on some well-earned sleep, at 1000 we decided we didn’t like where we were,
next to a night club and in shallow water so headed back over to Corfu and a
place called Pitriti.

We really liked the bay and decided to stay for a few days,
the following day we went for a walk along the coast to the next anchorage site
and stopped off for a drink the view was lovely.

On the way back we called in to another watering hole just
by the beach and were undecided whether to just have a drink or stay and have a
meal. The weather decided it for us, the sky got blacker and blacker so we
headed back to the boat, but on route the rain started, we could hear thunder
in the distance but after a time it looked as if we would miss it. This was not
to be the case, in the early hours of the morning we were treated to a pyro-technique
show curtsey of nature itself. Not only that we had to keep a vigil through the
night as once again we had a charter boat dragging its way towards us, after
some persuasion we convinced them to move.

From Petriti we headed back to Govia to get some provisions,
this time round the bay was really busy, but we managed to find the same spot
as last time and dropped anchor. En route Bev manages some chill-put time.

The next day we headed off to Stefanos, hoping that as it
was charter change over day there might not be so many boats there, as we
entered the bay there was only one boat but this was leaving so we had it all
to ourselves, our theory had paid off. However by the end of the day there were
eleven boats in the bay, that evening we went ashore and treated ourselves to a
lovely Greek meal, and decided to spend a few days here.

Whilst we have been here we have a regular visitor to the
boat, he chats away constantly but we can’t understand a word he is saying, but
he is entertaining, however not so this morning when he arrived at 0500 and
kept chirping for a good half hour before flying off.

Total miles this season: 559 Nm

Cumulative miles: 3098 Nm

Our present position:

Links:  

www.waterplanet.gr