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Sunday 3 October 2010

Greece - The Ionian

Our crossing from Croatia to Corfu took 40 hours, bypassing Montenegro (unfortunately we didn't have enough time to visit here, it is apparently beautiful) and Albania (deliberately as apparently they are not quite ready for tourism yet). The conditions were very calm and we spotted two turtles on the way, one of which appeared to be mounting an inflatable swimming ring! We were 30 miles offshore and the water was 31C so we took the engines out of gear for a quick swim - a very quick swim as all the movie scenes of what could happen next sprung to mind! At one stage we were overrun with flies even though we were so far from land. The fly swat earned its place on the boat that day. On our second night we were engulfed in a thick fog which reduced visibility to just past the bow navigation lights, and spent tense hours watching blobs on the radar screen moving around us (lots of blobs as there are lots of ferries go between Italy and Greece).

We arrived into Gouvia marina to complete our arrival procedures as recommended in the Greek pilot guide (written by Rod Heikell aka Rod the God to many sailors for writing the first ever pilot books, and Rod the Cod to us). However this is Greece and the bureaucracy was not as joined up as it could be. We couldn't get our cruising permit on a Saturday so had to visit the port police again on Monday, then take a taxi to the local tax office to pay a small fee (in company with the population of Corfu paying their taxes) and then return with the receipt to get the last forms completed! No other country we have visited makes it so difficult to pay your money on entry, espcially such a token amount. No wonder the economy is in such strife.

We then anchored in Garitsas Bay, Corfu Town for most of the next week and enjoyed some family time with a reunion of the Sing/Scotters - Louise's Mum and Dad, brother Jon, and Uncle Paul and Aunt Jan, who moved to Corfu before the girls were born. Grandma enjoyed celebrating her birthday with everyone and treated the girls to oversized balloons which they loved. The holding in this bay is good so long as you find a suitable patch of sand - our anchor had held well through weed for the first 3 days but then unexpectedly dragged as for the first time on our trip. And unfortunately with no one on board. We were exceedingly fortunate that Skyran gently nudged a German boat called 'Escaped' (yes, we know, the irony wasn't lost on us either, our boat escaped, theirs didn't) lying downwind, whose owners tied her alongside. The lesson we learned that day is that an anchor can drag even after you have felt secure for several days.


Family gathering at Paul and Jan's

A balloon almost bigger than Maggie

Garitsas Bay

View of Garitsas Bay from the fort

After that we made certain our anchor was in the middle of a big sand patch, and it's just as well we did, for our last night spent here was rough but our anchor held, unlike some of the other boats around us. The forecast was for strong winds from the south in which case the bay would have been protected, but instead it came round to the east with Force 5 gusting 6 winds blowing straight in and giving us our most uncomfortable night at anchor yet. It was completely open and each time as the bows crashed into the oncoming waves we felt like our anchor would be pulled free. Several boats around us were dragging and resetting in the dark. One boat thoughtfully anchored just meters in front of us (in the dark), which was bad enough, but then their anchor light promptly went out giving us even more cause for concern! Once the morning light came we upped anchor and moved round to the marina at Gouvia for some shelter, rest, and to service the engines. At Gouvia we met another sailing family, a couple and their two sons on a 32' trimaran who had spent the summer travelling round the Pelopponese. Shame we only met them an hour before we left the marina, this keeps happening to us!

Before leaving Corfu we stopped in at Benitses, a few kms south of Corfu Town to check out the free marina - one of several built in recent years which are not officially up and running - no power or water but no charge either. Paul and Jan keep their boat here and showed us around, including the impressive 80' converted racing yacht they are caretaking while their friends who own her are back in the UK.


M is for Mmmm chocolate mousse

From Corfu we headed south towards the Gulf of Patras making stops at Paxos and Antipaxos (stunning turquoise waters and sandy beach here - we were the first to arrive, within half and hour we were surrounded by boats!), Preveza, Lefkas, Ithaca and Kefallonia. The weather was a bit mixed and it really began to feel like autumn on the cloudy days, although there was still a lot of heat on the sunny days.

Preveza was ok, the noisy nightlife and bouncy town quay were fine for a night. From here we set off for Lefkas. There is a swing bridge which opens on the hour at the entrance to Lefkas and we left it a bit late leaving to reach it, so had an exciting motor sail down in a stregthening Force 5 wind racing towards the bridge and arriving just as it opened, slightly later than it should have, perfect! We couldn't get tied up on the town quay in Lefkas Town, the local liveaboard community closed ranks and tied ropes between boats blocking any spaces, claiming it to be a private quay (not sure how British yachties can own a Greek town quay). Along with a few other boats we anchored off to go shopping and then had a good downwind sail to Vlikho Bay near Niddri. Niddri will never win any prizes for being the prettiest town but the bay is incredibly well protected. We anchored in the gooey mud with many others and sat out a couple of days of wet windy weather. Hiring a car for the day was a good distraction.


The bridge at Lefkas

Antipaxos


From Lefkas we headed to Ithaca, admiring all the pretty islands on the way such as Meganisi, noting good anchorages for possible future trips but not stopping now as we wanted to head for the Corinth canal and possibly the Aegean. It was a windy afternoon spent travelling down to Ithaca, the wind gusts strongly off the high islands we were travelling between. Our anchorage on Ithaca that night was not very comfortable so we headed off early to Fiskardo on Kefallonia, which Rod the Cod said was protected from all winds. We arrived early and had the pick of the town quay for mooring. It's lucky we did as within half an hour the place was full, mostly with flotilla charter boats. This was a great place to relax after the previous long day at sea, it's a small village and life revolves around the harbour. The pavements are lined with cafes, so close to the edge that our passerelle (gangplank) was under a table! We took advantage of this by booking that table and going out for dinner once the girls were in bed - for the first time since we'd left Edinburgh we were out by ourselves! We were lucky too that by chance we had parked up by the most popular restaurant in town and the food was lovely.


Fiskardo harbour



Next morning we waited for the flotillas to untangle their anchors before heading off once again. We left it a bit late to find an anchorage on the south of Ithaca, the best looking bay from the chart was full, but fortunately we found good holding instead in a tiny little inlet by the SE corner of the island. We took lines ashore and had our own small private beach for our last night in the Ionian.

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