March 2012
After four and half months back home in the UK, visiting lots of family and friends, David and I arrived back on board Alhambra, for another season of sailing. Yes, I said sailing. Our plan is to spend the season just sailing around the islands of the Ionian Sea in Greece, just meandering from one island to the next, stopping for as long as we want to explore, not being fixed to any timescale or long sailing passages that takes days…well that’s the plan.
To get back to Greece, we decided to take in a European driving adventure on our way, which would also allow us to have a car based in Greece for the season, so with our usual attention to detail we planned our ‘road trip’.
We would start with a week’s skiing holiday in one of David’s favourite resorts; Soll in Austria – with lots of snow this year it was sure to be a great week. We left home at 2am, car fully loaded and headed for Dover, ferry across to Dunkirk and headed for Soll, and arrived at 8pm that night.
The hotel was good and the snow perfect, it was the church bells that range 27 times, three times in a row at 6am that was the problem, and not just on Sunday’s but every single day we were there. On top of that, having arrived in mainland Europe we had to move our clocks forward an hour, and then on the Sunday morning of our holiday, EU Summertime began, so we had to put our clocks forward another hour, so we lost two hours in one day. However, we had a great time.
But – here it comes – the PPS. On the Friday afternoon, we received a phone call from our Greek travel agent informing us that the ferry from Venice, leaving on Monday evening, had been cancelled. In fact, the ferry company had cancelled all the ferries from Venice until June 15th. So much for two days in Venice sightseeing! She would call us in the morning with our options.
So, after a week in Austria, we loaded the car with more cheap wine and set off over the mountains towards Italy and Venice, waiting for our phone call. It came – we could either take a ferry from Venice the following day (Sunday) with another ferry company or drive another 200 miles and go from another port with the same company; but they didn’t have any cabins on the day we wanted so we would have to go on the following day or Tuesday and miss out Venice entirely…decisions, decisions. We opted for the ferry from Venice with another company the following day – we were told it left at 6pm and she would e-mail us all the details.
To be fair we did the ‘tourist’ bits and look forward to coming back at some point to really see Venice.
We had dinner, went back to the hotel and passed out, setting the alarm for 7am to make sure we got the ferry.
First thing Sunday morning we phoned the ferry company (still no e-mail from our travel agent) to see if we were booked in (best Italian accent now), “no madam, your name ees not on thee leest, but weee don’t get the leest unteel ten o’clock, you phone back then.
But eef your name eees on the leeest then you need to be eer for ten o’clock to check eeen.” We loaded the car, checked out of the hotel and drove to the ferry port, by the time we arrived, “our name eeees on the leeeest, eere are your teeckeets.” – Phew!
First thing Sunday morning we phoned the ferry company (still no e-mail from our travel agent) to see if we were booked in (best Italian accent now), “no madam, your name ees not on thee leest, but weee don’t get the leest unteel ten o’clock, you phone back then.
But eef your name eees on the leeest then you need to be eer for ten o’clock to check eeen.” We loaded the car, checked out of the hotel and drove to the ferry port, by the time we arrived, “our name eeees on the leeeest, eere are your teeckeets.” – Phew!
Twenty-six hours later we drove off the ferry and onto the Greek mainland, where our satnav doesn’t work! (Apparently, Greece is part of Europe as far as our satnav is concerned). 
So, armed with a 1996 European road atlas we headed off for the hundred-mile drive across the mountains and down to Messolonghi, arriving at 8pm. We parked the car, off loaded the cases, and immediately got invited to a friend’s boat for a bottle of wine. A couple of hours later, and many glasses of wine and no food, we went to bed and didn’t wake until 9am the next morning.
So there we were back on board, the boat was OK, if a little dusty and a few cobwebs, but nothing a good hose down won’t fix. Nothing much has changed in the marina, the second shower block is still not finished and the mosquitoes are out in force if the wind isn’t blowing, but it is warm and the sky is blue – for today that is; apparently, the weather is changing at the weekend. But we don’t mind.April 30th, my birthday, (thanks for all your best wishes)
I have spent the last two weeks making a new cover for our dinghy, Little Al, which has been made, patchwork style, from our original bimini canopy which we kept once we had a replacement made back in 2007 in Trinidad. And this is why we have three cabins, so we can keep everything – just in case we need it!
However, in this case it was worth it, we were quoted a huge amount to have a cover made. We’ve yet to test it in the water - that will happen in a couple of weeks. We will stay in the marina for a week or two more, taking our time to finish all the varnishing and woodwork jobs that David wants to finish and then Ionian here we come.
Oh! and I fell off the boat and broke my collar bone...
So, as I say, the next few days holds more cleaning, scrubbing, varnishing, and teaking, but at least the weather has finally broken – 32 degrees today and no clouds and we have good internet.
May 2012- At anchor at last!
After weeks of being stuck in Messolonghi marina for a variety of reasons, mainly weather and boat jobs, we finally left on May 20th, along with four other boats (Fritha, Sea Dragon, Isabelle and Tashinga). We all headed for the same spot, Petalas, an isolated and very secluded bay on the mainland of Greece, just 25 miles from the marina.
However, as always we encountered problems just outside the marina, the mainsail would not come out of the mast, but after a lot of tugging and pulling out it came but, as to be expected any wind around was of course ‘on our nose’, or none at all, so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. In any case we wanted to give the engine a ‘run’ to check all was OK – we still haven’t sorted the vibration that David can feel when under power.
After weeks of being stuck in Messolonghi marina for a variety of reasons, mainly weather and boat jobs, we finally left on May 20th, along with four other boats (Fritha, Sea Dragon, Isabelle and Tashinga). We all headed for the same spot, Petalas, an isolated and very secluded bay on the mainland of Greece, just 25 miles from the marina.
However, as always we encountered problems just outside the marina, the mainsail would not come out of the mast, but after a lot of tugging and pulling out it came but, as to be expected any wind around was of course ‘on our nose’, or none at all, so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. In any case we wanted to give the engine a ‘run’ to check all was OK – we still haven’t sorted the vibration that David can feel when under power.
As the afternoon passed by, the wind started to increase just as the entrance to the bay came into view. We navigated our way in, right to the head of the bay and dropped the hook (as they say in boat speak). By 3pm all five boats were at anchor and then we heard that one of them had a problem, Sea Dragon was taking on water and decided to head back to Messolonghi, serious problems mean serious solutions, his boat will need to be hauled out to see what is wrong.
We’d been invited over to Fritha for ‘early evening drinks’ and for them to give us all their knowledge on the Ionian, as they have been sailing the area for ten years. However, the wind was really picking up now and the thought of trying to put the outboard on the dinghy in such changing, gusting winds, and with only one arm, we decided to give it a miss and watch a movie instead. Next thing we get a call from Isobelle who are also ‘taking up the hook’ and moving somewhere else as there is no-where to get ashore in the bay to take their dog for a ‘walk’ and they want to get to another island in daylight. So our band of merry boats was down to three.
We’d been invited over to Fritha for ‘early evening drinks’ and for them to give us all their knowledge on the Ionian, as they have been sailing the area for ten years. However, the wind was really picking up now and the thought of trying to put the outboard on the dinghy in such changing, gusting winds, and with only one arm, we decided to give it a miss and watch a movie instead. Next thing we get a call from Isobelle who are also ‘taking up the hook’ and moving somewhere else as there is no-where to get ashore in the bay to take their dog for a ‘walk’ and they want to get to another island in daylight. So our band of merry boats was down to three.
Port Atheni is a really beautiful spot, with a treacherous reef if you are not aware of it at the entrance, and only one other boat in the bay. We anchored, went out in the dinghy to investigate the reef. It will be a stunning reef to snorkel on when the sea warms up in a couple of weeks’ time. We went ashore for a sun-downer in a lovely little bar overlooking the bay and then back to the boat for dinner and an early night.
The next day we went five miles over to Lefkas and into Nidri. Nidri is the entrance to a very long bay which has many anchorages and quays for you to use – it is a main base for many charter companies and when their boats are out you can use their docks, which we did. A lovely spot with a hotel and a swimming pool and bar. We investigated the town – which is exactly what I was expecting, loads of Greek bars and restaurants, shops and spectacular scenery, we love it. We had dinner on Fritha and then in the morning were all moved off the dock because a flotilla of boats (who own the dock) were heading in. As I say you can use their docks as long as their boats aren’t in. So we all had to leave before 11:30 and go and anchor. Not a problem. Off came the outboard and we went for an exploration. Well we would have done had the outboard not started smoking. We limped back to the boat where David stripped down the outboard to no avail.
We are now back at the dock, they had a space for us, where he is changing all the fuel and trying to solve the problem of the outboard. Ho hum, boat life!
For the past couple of weeks we have been ‘up north’ to a couple of places on the mainland, and an island just off Corfu. We left Nidri, with our friends on Fritha and headed up the coast of Lefkas and went through the 1pm bridge, which is in fact an old car ferry which swings open to let the boats through.
The bridge opens every hour and you have to go through a 2 mile canal first and then a narrow passage once through the bridge.
This all went well, and once through to the open sea we decided to sail to Preveza, about 8 miles north, but alas to no avail – we still had problems with our mainsail coming out of the mast (we think it’s fixed now). So we motored, again, into Preveza and spent a pleasant evening on the town quay. The next day we found out that Fritha had gone to a place called, ‘Two Rock Bay’.
Yes, you’ve guessed it; it has two rocks in it and nothing else.
We had a very nice BBQ on their boat and the following day headed over to the island of Paxos and Lakka Bay, and there we stayed for a week.
Lakka is a tiny village at the north end of Paxos, set in the olive and pine filled hillsides, with beautiful cream coloured buildings with terracotta roofs. It’s mainly restaurants, boutique shops and little hotels. The water is crystal clear and turquoise. It’s not very busy; it fills up a bit during the day with tourists on the bus from Gaios (the main town on Lakka 5 miles south) and with boats arriving all day.
It’s quite fun to watch the charter and flotilla boats arrive as they try to find a space on the town quay. On one day we became a floating roundabout as the flotilla boats circled us waiting for their ‘lead’ boat to help them all dock safely – it’s quite a spectacle watching as they squeeze just one more boat in. We spent a couple of days walking through the forests and looking out over the mainland and finding tiny coves and beaches, but eventually it was time to leave this quiet haven and head back to Nidri on Lefkas - Nidri appears to becoming our base.
It’s sort of in the middle of everywhere we want to go and has everything we need, including a place to rent a motorcycle, which we did whilst waiting for a new anchor chain to arrive. The first chain that was delivered had a fault in it – which of course we only found once David had spent hours splicing the new one to the rode (line) which holds it to the anchor locker. A new one was sent from Athens and would take two days to get here, which gave us time to explore.
The island of Lefkas (locally known as Lefkada) is only ten miles long and 1,150m (3,500ft in ‘old money’) high. However we must have travelled about 30 miles on the hairpin bends, switching back and forth to reach the top, the views from which were amazing. We could see right across to the mainland to the east and south, up to the Lefkas canal and beyond to Preveza on the mainland to the north.
The landscape in the mountains was a surprise, it is all cultivated fields set within dry stone walls, which have obviously been there for centuries, some of the fields were strewn with reds, yellows and purples of wild flowers. The roads, again to our surprise, were in very good condition (EU money no doubt) and our decent back down was an exhilarating ride, along more hairpin bends with the wind in our faces (yes we did have crash helmets on, but they were open faced).
We stopped in a little taverna, overlooking Sivota Bay on the south of the island before heading back to Nidri, and a well earned dip in one of the hotel pools.
The new chain arrived, David fitted it and we have been out and tested it, having spent a night on Meganisi. But on our way we still had problems with our mainsail. So when we arrived we spent two hours (David up the mast in 30 degrees) fixing the problem, we hope…
…and tomorrow my mother arrives for her first visit to Alhambra. We will spend today making sure everything is ‘ship shape and Bristol fashion’ for her arrival, when we hope to take her to all the little coves and beautiful places we have found, if not we will all sit by a pool for a week and do nothing but relax
We are now back at the dock, they had a space for us, where he is changing all the fuel and trying to solve the problem of the outboard. Ho hum, boat life!
Still May 2012
For the past couple of weeks we have been ‘up north’ to a couple of places on the mainland, and an island just off Corfu. We left Nidri, with our friends on Fritha and headed up the coast of Lefkas and went through the 1pm bridge, which is in fact an old car ferry which swings open to let the boats through. 
The bridge opens every hour and you have to go through a 2 mile canal first and then a narrow passage once through the bridge.
This all went well, and once through to the open sea we decided to sail to Preveza, about 8 miles north, but alas to no avail – we still had problems with our mainsail coming out of the mast (we think it’s fixed now). So we motored, again, into Preveza and spent a pleasant evening on the town quay. The next day we found out that Fritha had gone to a place called, ‘Two Rock Bay’.
Yes, you’ve guessed it; it has two rocks in it and nothing else.
We had a very nice BBQ on their boat and the following day headed over to the island of Paxos and Lakka Bay, and there we stayed for a week.
Lakka is a tiny village at the north end of Paxos, set in the olive and pine filled hillsides, with beautiful cream coloured buildings with terracotta roofs. It’s mainly restaurants, boutique shops and little hotels. The water is crystal clear and turquoise. It’s not very busy; it fills up a bit during the day with tourists on the bus from Gaios (the main town on Lakka 5 miles south) and with boats arriving all day.
It’s quite fun to watch the charter and flotilla boats arrive as they try to find a space on the town quay. On one day we became a floating roundabout as the flotilla boats circled us waiting for their ‘lead’ boat to help them all dock safely – it’s quite a spectacle watching as they squeeze just one more boat in. We spent a couple of days walking through the forests and looking out over the mainland and finding tiny coves and beaches, but eventually it was time to leave this quiet haven and head back to Nidri on Lefkas - Nidri appears to becoming our base.
It’s sort of in the middle of everywhere we want to go and has everything we need, including a place to rent a motorcycle, which we did whilst waiting for a new anchor chain to arrive. The first chain that was delivered had a fault in it – which of course we only found once David had spent hours splicing the new one to the rode (line) which holds it to the anchor locker. A new one was sent from Athens and would take two days to get here, which gave us time to explore.
The island of Lefkas (locally known as Lefkada) is only ten miles long and 1,150m (3,500ft in ‘old money’) high. However we must have travelled about 30 miles on the hairpin bends, switching back and forth to reach the top, the views from which were amazing. We could see right across to the mainland to the east and south, up to the Lefkas canal and beyond to Preveza on the mainland to the north.
The landscape in the mountains was a surprise, it is all cultivated fields set within dry stone walls, which have obviously been there for centuries, some of the fields were strewn with reds, yellows and purples of wild flowers. The roads, again to our surprise, were in very good condition (EU money no doubt) and our decent back down was an exhilarating ride, along more hairpin bends with the wind in our faces (yes we did have crash helmets on, but they were open faced).
We stopped in a little taverna, overlooking Sivota Bay on the south of the island before heading back to Nidri, and a well earned dip in one of the hotel pools.
The new chain arrived, David fitted it and we have been out and tested it, having spent a night on Meganisi. But on our way we still had problems with our mainsail. So when we arrived we spent two hours (David up the mast in 30 degrees) fixing the problem, we hope…
…and tomorrow my mother arrives for her first visit to Alhambra. We will spend today making sure everything is ‘ship shape and Bristol fashion’ for her arrival, when we hope to take her to all the little coves and beautiful places we have found, if not we will all sit by a pool for a week and do nothing but relax
June 2012 - Mum's visit
Sunday 17th June am – up early, I couldn’t sleep knowing that it was mum’s first time flying on her own, but knowing that my brother was driving her to the airport made me less apprehensive. They had arrived with lots of time to spare and a very nice lady at the airport led her through to the front of the security queue so she could spend more time shopping in duty free – she had instructions to bring GIN, without this there is no entry onto the boat. After a couple more phone calls we watched the live Gatwick departures webpage and saw her flight depart, only 8 minutes late.
Sunday 17th June pm and evening – we were very fortunate to have sailing friends who also had visitors arriving the same day and we had organised a car, so once we collected a very relaxed mum from the airport she told us all about ‘the very nice young couple she was sitting next to who were going on a sailing holiday’. (We bumped into them later in the week, so I could thank them for looking after her). We arrived in Nidri around 3pm and got mum on board straight away – she did not look perplexed or worried as David guided her across the passarelle (gang plank to those who don’t know), down the companionway (stairway into the interior of the boat) and shown to her cabin (bedroom) and heads (bathroom). Again no look of panic or surprise. She unpacked and we marched her off to a very nice hotel pool bar and restaurant for a bite to eat, followed by a snooze before showering and out for dinner. We chose a restaurant on the main street – Mama Mia – typically authentic Greek cuisine, name and style. The food however was fabulous, lamb kleftico (which for those who don’t know translates as ‘stolen lamb’ or ‘lamb under cover’ ie as long as the lamb is cooked under a cover of some description it can be called kleftico). 
Monday 18th June – shopping – mum was in desperate need of a hat to give relief from the very hot sun (mid to high 90s all week, one day it reached 98, we were working in ‘old money’ temperatures while mum was on board). We found a fabulous white, Joan Collins look-i-likie hat, which you will have no doubt seen in the photos on flickr. After a light lunch we headed to another hotel pool where we sat in the Jacuzzi, swam, read, slept, had a beer…back to the boat, quick shower then pre-dinner drinks at The Treebar (named because they have made a circular bar around a tree…), after one too many Malibu and sprites it was back to the boat for dinner on board and off to bed.
Tuesday 19th June – sail to Sivota, southern end of Lefkas island – well the wind came up and the sails came out, the wind dropped and the sails went in, it picked up, the sails came out, the wind died and the water became so calm you could see your reflection so we gave up. We arrived in Sivota, parked the boat on the town quay and took a walk around the little town – David told us we could come back in the morning to look in the shops – so we found a lovely little bar on a first floor terrace and watched the 3pm anchor dance. This is when all the charter/flotilla boats arrive and don’t really know what they are doing – anchor chains everywhere, dragging each others up, getting caught round someone’s chain, not putting enough chain out, putting too much out, floating away…and we watched it all from the pleasure of our afternoon spot. Back to the boat for a snooze, a spot of dinner and ended the evening in a bar watching England in the play offs.
Wednesday 20th June – sail to Kioni, east side of Ithaca (home of Homer and Odysseus etc etc). This is one of our favour little spots (mainly because there is a bar that sells Carib beer – the only place we’ve found outside the Caribbean). However, the water here is also crystal clear, warm and the afternoon’s anchor dance can be enjoyed from the cockpit of your boat with a G&T – and we had a good few dances all around our boat – a catamaran with only one engine, a group of Dutch who took ages to get sorted and a boat of german’s who we had to go out in the dinghy to help take their lines ashore before they hit us. Mind you, before they all arrived we’d had problems too getting our anchor to set, but no-one was there to see us.
Now all we had to do was get mum in the dinghy so we could go ashore for dinner. She was fine, no worries, one small step for mumkind, one giant hand of David to hold onto. We had a lovely dinner ashore in a restaurant on the edge of the quay (mum and David had a delicious Hunter’s chicken and I had the best mousakka I’ve had anywhere in Greece). Final Carib in the bar before heading back to the boat in the dinghy in the dark. Again, no worries, apart from of course this mode of transport messed up her hair, but everything on a boat messes up your hair, that’s why I don’t bother on the boat!
It didn’t matter what David did we could not get the boat to sail, the wind would puff then fluff, we would have had to sail at 90 degrees to the direction we wanted to go and it would have taken hours – sails come in, engine went on, we arrived in the bay and went on the town quay, drinks in the bar, dinner on board and tried out a new game of wasp tennis. Meganisi is known as wasp island…so 5 points if you get a direct hit with the electric tennis bats, 10 if you see him go overboard and 100 if you get them to spark as you hit them with the racquet.
Friday 22nd June – sail – oh let’s not beat about the bush – motored to Nidri via Scorpios to take a good look at the Onnasis family hideaway. The Greek shipping tycoon bought this island back in the 40s and used it is as a hideaway.
Now that most of them have passed away it is maintained on a daily basis by a staff of (some say) 10-12 people, tending the gardens and stopping people coming ashore.
You can anchor off and swim around, but you can’t go ashore (no-one in Greece is allowed to own anything below the waterline anywhere in Greece…)
It is a very pretty island, but I can’t see how it would have been a hideaway, not with all us nosey boaters looking on everyday. Anyway, the only one left is his granddaughter and she wants nothing to do with the island (apparently). We sailed passed and then headed back into our dock. Back round the pool and Jacuzzi before drinks at the Treebar and dinner on board.
Saturday 23rd June – shopping – mum had to spend the remains of her euros presents for family back home so we wandered aimlessly around looking at all the touristy shops (something I don’t get to do with David, so I enjoyed it as much as mum).
Now that most of them have passed away it is maintained on a daily basis by a staff of (some say) 10-12 people, tending the gardens and stopping people coming ashore.
You can anchor off and swim around, but you can’t go ashore (no-one in Greece is allowed to own anything below the waterline anywhere in Greece…)
It is a very pretty island, but I can’t see how it would have been a hideaway, not with all us nosey boaters looking on everyday. Anyway, the only one left is his granddaughter and she wants nothing to do with the island (apparently). We sailed passed and then headed back into our dock. Back round the pool and Jacuzzi before drinks at the Treebar and dinner on board.
Saturday 23rd June – shopping – mum had to spend the remains of her euros presents for family back home so we wandered aimlessly around looking at all the touristy shops (something I don’t get to do with David, so I enjoyed it as much as mum).
In the afternoon we hired a car and took a drive up into the mountains we visited last week and then down to Vasaliki and Sivota to see them from above. Back to the boat, showered and changed for a final farewell dinner at the Panorama restaurant (apparently one of the oldest in Nidri) before finishing at the Treebar where they have live music on a Saturday night. A good end to anyone’s holiday.Sunday 24th June – home time – we had a lazy morning as we didn’t need to leave for the airport until 10:45. The airport was packed with holidaymakers all on their way home. It was a sad farewell , but I know mum enjoyed herself here and wants to come again – it is always good to know you’ve helped someone have a lovely time that they want to repeat (its got nothing to do with me being her daughter…..). She arrived home safely and was greeted by my brother and his family and then a four lane pile up on the M25 – welcome home mum!
We are now preparing to head south for a couple of weeks while the Italians arrive to overrun the islands and I will write again when we have visted Cephalonia (home of Captain Correlli’s Mandoline fame) and Zante, home of endangered turtles…
August 2012 – Great Northern Exposure Tour
...So why haven’t I written I hear you cry! Well there have been a couple of reasons, the main one being that throughout July we didn’t do anything – well nothing worthy of writing to you about, and that’s because for most of July the temperatures were just too hot to do anything. The average daily temperatures were about 36C going up to 40C (that’s 96.8F-104F in ‘old money’). So we decided to stay in and around Nidri, going out for day sails to little bays so we could go for a dip in the water (by this time it was now hot as a bath and didn’t give you any relief) or we just stayed in the bay or go on one of the little docks and use one of the many hotel pools that are open to the public. So as I say, nothing really to write home about.
However, August is a time when many, many Italians arrive in their mega power yachts and we were advised to go north as there are not normally as many up that way...so on the 1st August ‘The Great Northern Exposure Tour’ began.
With a long sail ahead of us we had an early start, well it’s 8 miles to the Lefkas canal bridge (which opens hourly) and then a further 8 miles to Preveza and then a further 8 miles to Vonitsa where we were heading, so we left Nidri at 12.30 having had a bite to eat for lunch!
Vonitsa sits in the south west corner of the Gulf of Amvrakia, which is a landlocked gulf which you enter through a channel via Preveza, it is low lying and supposedly a good area for flat fish that you don’t get elsewhere. It is also famous for its fish farms and the wonderful smell they produce, so not an area you would want to take a dip if it gets too hot.
We had a pleasant motor to the canal, a wonderful sail (yes sail, ie without the engine on and both the white flappy sail thingies up), all the way up to Preveza, through the channel and into the Gulf, at which point the wind dropped and so we dropped our mainsail and just kept the headsail out. Good job too, just as quickly as the wind dropped it picked up again and we could see thunder and lightning in the distance. We decided that as we had not been to Vonitsa before and were unsure of the protection it afforded we would go back and stay on the town quay at Preveza. The wind rose as did the seas and a bouncy evening was had by everyone who wasn’t tucked in somewhere safe (we were, we’d found a spot right in the corner of the town quay). To our delight, later that evening a huge (and I mean enormous) turtle popped his head out of the water right next to the boat, he bobbed up and down a few times (I was unable to get a photograph), and then he was gone – a real treat for us.
We left the following morning and went to Vonitsa and got a spot behind the sea wall – we stayed for two days. Vonitsa is a sleepy, quiet place with a wonderfully preserved castle, (guide book stuff now - red bricks indicate that a Byzantine castle stood on the site. In 1294 Vonitsa, together with Angelokastro (on the mainland), Eulochos and Naupaktos, formed part of the dowry of Thamar (daughter of the Despot of Epirus) when she married Philip, prince of Taranto. It was inherited by Duchess Fransisca in 1429 on the death of Carlo I Tocco.
From Vonitsa we headed north(ish) along the mainland to a little harbour called Ligia – our
Friends have told us to ignore the sailing guide and go anyway as it is a really nice place, which is exactly what it is. It is a brand new harbour (clearly EU money), it has free water and electricity for boats, there is enough space for a few of you to get in, even if you are over 40ft (like us).
There is no-one to help take your lines, but that doesn’t matter because it is so calm inside the boat doesn’t move. 
We took a walk into the town up the hill – nothing really there – but had a lovely meal at a fish restaurant in the harbour. It is also the only place we have been to in Greece that has an open vista west, so we could watch the sunset – which we did.
We left the next day.
The bay’s beach had a mass of people from one end to the other, no space in between, high speed tripper boats in and out all day, jet ski’s, paragliding, banana boats, rubber ring boats, all going around your boat constantly until 8pm. The boat rocked and rolled all day and then at night, when the wind died, we lay beam on to the swell. We will not be going back!
The following day we headed to Mourtos, a town on the mainland surrounded by the Sivota Islands (three of them). On route we had a pod of dolphins for about twenty minutes, which are just wonderful to see wherever you are. We anchored and took a line ashore (this is a new technique for us this year which we have now sort of perfected.
You find your spot, making sure there is somewhere on the shore to tie two lines to, creating a triangle between the two lines and your anchor. 
David lines the boat up to go stern to the shore and at the appropriate time I drop the anchor ensuring that it has ‘dug in’, when we are happy that we are at the right space off from the shore David then dives into the water with the first of our shore lines (making sure he has his diving boots on for standing on the rocks at the other side), he ties the line to a tree or a rock, swims back to the boat and does the same with the second line. We spend twenty minutes tightening lines and anchor to make sure we are secure). 
The town of Mourtos is a quiet seaside place with a promenade of bars, restaurants and shops along the front from where you can watch the boats coming and going and it was from here that we threw a glass of beer of the netbook....another reason we have not written for a while....However David has worked his magic and it only requires a new keyboard – phew! Lucky I have a David. We stayed two nights.
Next was Corfu Town.
I will not bore you with the altercation we had with a French flagged catamaran on the way, but needless to say that photos were taken of his dangerous behaviour and David now knows that he can swear in perfect French, even though it turned into a bit of Italian at the end of his barrage.
We knew that you could anchor under the old castle, but had also been told that one of the marinas was not too expensive, so we opted for that – to our great expense when we found out it was €40 for the night (we are so used to paying €10 down in Nidri). Anyhow, it was so hot that we left it til 5pm before heading up to the Old Town.
It is a place to meander around at your leisure, it is not filled with note worthy monuments, but does have some interesting places and buildings, one in particular is the Royal Palace which looks like an English Georgian country house – you can imaging the masked balls that were held here, the ladies laughing behind fans in the courtyard etc etc etc. 
It was built in 1819 to house a series of British high commissioners who considered themselves high enough to require a throne room (of the royal variety not the convenience). It now houses a collection of bronze and porcelain statues. It does however have a wonderful view of the sea. (photos of Corfu town on the website).
Corfu does however have some interesting shopping in the summer!From Corfu we went ten miles south to a lovely little village called Petitri – nothing much to say about the place other than it was pleasant and we stayed two days having met friends from Messolonghi.
We finished our ‘Grand Northern Exposure Tour’ with a visit to Lakka (of which I wrote earlier in the year) and then down to Mongonis which is a tiny bay at the end of Paxos. Again nothing much to say about the place other than the swimming was wonderful and there’s not a lot there – apart from staying up late to watch the meteor shower that night (of which we saw a dozen or so).
Our Great Northern Exposure Tour’ took us on a round trip of 175 miles over a period of just under two weeks – we have to have a rest now.
We are back in Nidri, fixing some jobs as usual, cleaning the boat and waiting for my mum to visit us again on 2nd September when we shall take her to some new and exciting places (that we will check out before she arrives). And hoping that the rain disappears...
October 2012
So here we are, the last two weeks of our time in Greece for 2012.
We are now back in Messolonghi, our winter marina and are busy with the final jobs we need to do to Alhambra in order to get her ready for winter...sails down, engines 'pre'd', running rigging down, dinghy and outboard stowed and everything cleaned from top to bottom...just some of the things we'll be busy with over the coming two weeks.
Our season this year has been, what can only be described as leisurely, which was exactly our plan. After our previous sailing seasons, whereby we have completed nearly 2,500 miles each season, this year we have managed to do the grand total of 680 miles.
However we have seen some wonderful places, beautiful towns, stunning scenery, playful wildlife and lovely people, and of course met with friends, old and new. The weather has been fabulous, if not a little too hot in July and August (+40 degs for two month), and even September and into October it has not really cooled down. 
The locals tell us that this is very unusual, but was the same last year, so we are told. From May to October we have seen two, maybe three, days of rain.
The down side to all this, is that there has very rarely been any wind to sail on.
Up in the north - Corfu way- there has nearly always been a good breeze and the sailing was wonderful, but down in the South - Nidri way- there has been very little, but at least the sea is flat calm and my mum liked it that way.
She visited twice this year, and apparently is already looking to book her tickets for next year, it's a good job she is a good crew member.
She has now mastered boat toilets, so next year we'll get her doing some knots or hauling sails - that's if there's any wind. She also mastered the dinghy first time round, which was more than I did, it took me months to work out the best way in and out!
This was our first 'proper' visit to Greece and I can honestly say it has been a wonderful experience, there really isn't very much not to like.
OK we were in mainly touristy areas and islands, most of which do not let themselves get affected by what's happening in 'the real world of greece', but if you dig deep you will find out what the locals truly think - and I will let them keep that to themselves.
Wherever we went we were met by friendly, smiling, happy people (apart from 'Miserable George' who runs a shop in Nidri, and hasn't got his nickname because he welcomes you with a warm and happy personality). The backdrop scenery is spectacularly mountainous, with a foreground of warm, crystal clear blue water and lush green hillsides.
The colour of the flowers throughout the season gives the Caribbean a run for its money. The food, although a little 'samey' is good, tasty and normally homemade. The wines have surprised me, in that most of the time they are excellent, with one or two exceptions. The price of food and drink is acceptable, sometimes low, sometimes high, but then we are visiting islands where most of it has to be shipped to. So generally a really good impression of a country I would definetly recommend, and will be visiting again.
So, that's about it, time to clean something else on the boat before it gets too hot again.
Amazing detail and a good path to follow! Wish we were there to sail? with you!!
ReplyDelete