This month is Wildfires, World Cup, the Weather and Wobbly Anchorages and Saints!

July 2018 

I will start on a sombre note, relaying as we all have, our thoughts and prayers to those who have suffered this month in what seems to be a never-ending stream of reports of disasters from around the world. As the world gets smaller and news reaches us faster, every day we seem to be reading reports of another disaster; heat waves in the UK and Europe, heat waves and floods in Japan and floods in Myanmar, earthquakes in Lombok, wildfires in California and Sweden and even the UK.

Sitting here in Greece and reading local Greek news reports of those who have lost everything in the devastating fires that took hold in the towns of Mati and Rafina, north of Athens, brings it that little bit closer to home. Local reports as of today, confirm the number of those who lost their lives stands at 86, with people still missing. This, along with massive flooding in Athens and the north of the country (which experts blamed on a weather system dubbed Nefeli - evoking the name of a cloud nymph from Greek mythology), and multiple earthquakes, makes it feel as though Greece has suffered an unfair share of natural disasters in July alone.

Onto our more daily routine and the World Cup, the Weather and Wobbly Anchorages

Back at the end of June, we left Lakka under a veil of early morning fog and mist, only to be treated to a very pleasant motor up to Corfu and the little town of Petriti. Having spent eight days on the quay in Lakka, waiting out the strong north westerly winds (take note of these words as they will become familiar!), we decided to spend a few nights at anchor. We visited Petriti back in 2012, but only stayed one night, so never really got to enjoy the merits of this small, traditional Greek fishing village. 

However, after one night ‘on the hook’, the boat was sent rolling from one side to the other from the passing ferry traffic- a very wobbly anchorage. This is fine if it is one passing boat, but this particular anchorage is on the main route from two of Greece’s major ferry routes south, so the wobbling and rocking was constant all through the night. Having discussed our options over breakfast, we made a speedy retreat to the town quay.

Petriti – touristy bit. https://www.greeka.com/ionian/corfu/corfu-villages/corfu-petriti.htm

The charming village of Petriti is idyllically located on the eastern coast of Corfu. In the ancient times, this village was popularly referred to as Egrypos. The word Egrypos is derived from the Greek word Evrous that literally means a good river. Today, Petriti village is sparsely populated with just 700 permanent residents most of whom are engaged in fishing.

Having secured a good spot on the quay, we headed off to explore the village. It is very similar to Debden (our home village) in its feel, differing slightly in that Corfu’s second largest fishing fleet is based here! It has a village shop, it has a couple of bars/restaurants and hotels, one in particular that has a lovely pool, which they let you use if you buy a drink or lunch. This particular hotel was also showing the World Cup Football matches. 

Now as many of you are aware, football is neither mine, nor David’s favourite sport, but like many other people, every four years we become experts when it involves England playing. My grasp of the off side rule and unfair tackles becomes second to none when our boys are involved. It seems, the hotel manager had put a fairly hefty bet on England winning before the tournament started, so he was always going to be on our side.

As it turns out, the forecasted weather for the next week  was showing increased and strong north west winds (there are those words again), and we decided that we should stay put in Petriti. After all, fishing fleets don’t tend to base themselves in harbours that are not safe. As the F6-7 blew through, Alhambra did not move; the protection is this harbour is fantastic.

And so it was, that we watched numerous world cup matches, not just England, around the pool bar. Along with people from Greece, France, Germany, Italy, Uruguay, Sweden and Japan (to be fair this was just one lady who was half Swedish, half Japanese and was married to a guy from Uruguay, who was rooting for England after they were knocked out), and a Brit who only likes rugby! It was an interesting few days. Finally, they have the cutest kittens.

However, after nine days in Petriti it was time to move north. Our plan is to visit some of the smaller islands off the northern coast of Corfu – the Diapondia islands which include Erikousa, Mathraki and Othoni. We planned to stop at these islands on our way to Corfu from Italy back in 2011, but as with all things sailing, we changed our plans at the last minute and went direct to Corfu, arriving at 3am.

On 11^th July, we head north to Corfu Town, where we have booked into one of the Corfu Sailing Clubs marinas, Mandraki for two nights. It’s not a cheap place to stay (€40 per night), but we have stayed before, and its setting is one of the most beautiful around. Situated directly beneath the Old Venetian Castle, you have to walk through the old ruins to reach Corfu Town. Unlike the last time we visited, where we had a nice spot on the main dock, as it is height of summer, we are now on the outside wall, where we have to moor ‘bows to’ as there is ballasting and shallow water up close to the quay.

Like all boats, Alhambra can moor stern or bows to the quay, however, she is not really designed for ‘bows to’ when the quay is very low and we have to attach a wooden plank to get off. All fine and dandy, apart from the quay itself is a very ancient and rocky structure, which has had cement poured into the cracks over the years and is not very flat or stable. Added to that, when we looked at the power supply stations, they were all wrapped in plastic – why we wondered? 

The answer became very clear as one of the numerous ferries left Corfu town and its wake sprayed 2-3 feet into the air, over the wall, over the electricity stations, and over you if you are walking past. It also does not really quell the swell from any passing boats, which makes its way into the marina, making it a quite uncomfortable spot to stay. But hey, we’re only here for two nights to see the sights of Corfu town – oh and watch England in their final game in the world cup (well done lads for getting as far as you did). 

Here is a little insight into Corfu Town.

Corfu Old Town lies between the Esplanade Square and the new fortress. The square of the Esplanade (also called Spianada) is the central square of Corfu Town and the largest square in the Balkans. It became a public square during the French occupation and was designed according to the French garden architecture; with many organised trees and flowerpots. It is surrounded by sumptuous buildings, imposing monuments and an old Venetian fortress, which marks the beginning of the modern town. 

One of the most beautiful buildings bordering the square, is the Liston building and was built during the French occupation. Its superb arched terrace was inspired by the architectural style of the Rue de Rivoli, in Paris.

One evening an entire parade of different dancers filled the promenade in front of the Liston building.

Many other interesting monuments adorn Corfu Town, such as the Old and the New Venetian Fortresses, the Town Hall Square, the Square of the Saints, the Ionian Academy and the Palace of Saint Michael and Saint Georges: This impressive neoclassical building is situated at the centre of Spianada square. It was built during the British occupation in 1824. It was first used as the official residence of the commissioner.

Square of the Saint: Around this square are located three of the most important churches of Corfu. These are the church of Saint Spyridon, the church of the Blessed Virgin of the Strangers and the church of Saint John.

Saint Spryidon - Patron saint of Corfu - Spyridon is the patron saint of potters (from the purported miracle of the potsherd) and the island of Corfu where he is called: "Saint Spyridon, the Keeper of the City" for the miracle of expelling the plague from the island. It is believed by the faithful that the plague, on its way out of the island, scratched one of the fortification stones of the old citadel (Palaio Frourio) to indicate its fury for being expelled. This scratch is still shown to visitors.

St. Spyridon is also believed to have saved the island at the second great siege of Corfu which took place in 1716. At that time the Turkish army and naval force led by the great Sultan Achmet III appeared in Butrinto opposite Corfu. On July 8 the Turkish fleet carrying 33,000 men sailed to Corfu from Butrinto and established a beachhead in Ipsos. The same day the Venetian fleet encountered the Turkish fleet off the channel of Corfu and defeated it in the ensuing naval battle. On July 19 the Turkish army reached the hills of the town and laid siege to the city. After repeated failed attempts and heavy fighting, the Turks were forced to raise the siege which had lasted 22 days.

There were also rumours spreading among the Turks that some of their soldiers saw St. Spyridon as a monk threatening them with a lit torch and that helped increase their panic. This victory over the Ottomans, therefore, was attributed not only to the leadership of Count Schulenburg who commanded the stubborn defence of the island against the Ottomas but also to the miraculous intervention of St. Spyridon.Source: www.greeka.com

Bearing in mind all these wonderful things St Spyridon did for Corfu, one surprising thing about him, is that he never actually went to Corfu until after his death and his remains were taken there - When the Arabs took Cyprus, Spyridon's body was disinterred and taken to Constantinople. The relics were found to be incorrupt, and contained a sprig of basil, the "royal plant," both of which were taken as a sign of divine confirmation of his sanctity. When, in 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, Spyridon's relics were removed again; this time, to the island of Corfu by a Corfiote monk called Kalohairetis, where they remain to this day, in Saint Spyridon Church. Source: www.greeka.com

NB:  Ipsos is still frequented by thousands of people during the summer months and is known as one of the party resorts of Corfu... perhaps the Turkish fleet knew something back then?

I digress. Not wanting to spend too much money in a marina that was uncomfortable, we took the advice of a friend and moved to what is known by sailors as ‘Airport Bay (Garitsa Bay for the non sailors among you), as yes you’ve guessed it, strong north west winds were forecast to blow. The advice given was ‘anchor under the castle in north west winds, and in the south of the bay in southerlies. 

My advice to sailors is don’t bother with anchoring under the castle, it gets too much wake and swell from passing traffic and makes for a very wobbly anchorage! We finally moved to the southern part of the bay (still wobbly, but nowhere near as bad) to meet up with friends and watch the world cup final.

...and then we found some really cute kittens...

As I stated earlier, our plan was to go north to the islands – change of plan. More strong north west winds forecast (F7, possibly F8). We’re not playing that game anymore and are going back to Petriti to ride them out in the safety of the harbour. 

Once back there, our friend Steve joined us, and all three of us took pleasure in watching the local fishermen catch numerous sea bream off the end of the quay with just a hand line. We enjoyed gyros round the pool bar, and generally had a pleasant time while the strong north west winds blew around the island.

Having left Petriti, we spent a night in Mongonisi – a lovely little spot on the south of Paxos, before heading to the mainland and Preveza on route to Vonitsa in the Gulf.  We stayed a few days in a new, old marina! Preveza town marina has been taken over recently by one of the larger boat yards in the area and they are redeveloping it. To stay is cheap (€20 per night), due mainly to the fact that you are in the middle of a building site. However, it is safe and a ten minute walk to Preveza Town. (Unfortunately on our return they have hiked the prices massively and wanted to charge us €51 per  night, negotiated down to €46 – we will not be returning).

Another of the areas we wanted to spend more time in is the Gulf of Amvraki on the mainland. The gulf takes its name from the ancient city of Ambracia located nearby. Its alternative name comes from the medieval city of Arta, located in the same place as ancient Ambracia – if that makes any sense!

Vonitsa, another place we visited here many years ago, and this time, on the advice of friends, we anchored behind the island known as Koukoumitsas, which houses a pine forest and the chapel of Agios Nektarios. The island is attached to the mainland by a very impressive, recent addition of a Japanese style bridge. Before this was built, locals used to have to walk through the sea to get to the chapel. 

https://en.iaitoloakarnania.gr/2016/06/gnoriste-thn-grafiki-vonitsa/

Touristy bit - Amvrakikos Gulf is one of the biggest wetlands in Greece, both in size and importance. A wetland of big aesthetic and ecological value. The Gulf covers an area of 400 km2 and it is an enclosed sea that is consisted of many smaller wetlands. The rivers of Louros and Arachthos empty into Amvrakikos gulf, carrying great and important amounts of debris, contributing this way to the development of an extremely complicated and unique, for Greece, wetland ecosystem.One of the last healthy bottlenose dolphin populations of the Mediterranean Sea lives in the waters of Amvrakikos gulf. As stated in the “New Scientist” magazine, their population seems to be stable, approximately at 150 dolphins.

You will also see Caretta Caretta turtles in the waters of Amvrakikos gulf, while at the swamps, shaped by the rivers’ delta, hundreds of rare birds and mammals live there. 291 species of birds have been recorded, 75 of which are endangered or threatened. Herds of water buffalos live on the shores. Source http://discoverpreveza.gr/landmarks-en/tourist-sites-en/amvrakikos-gulf/?lang=en

We spent a week in Vonitsa which is a sleepy tourist town, which lets life pass by under the watchful eye of its Venetian castle, (yes another Venetian castle, those Venetians got everywhere back in their day! On our second night, we were once again visited by enormous thunderstorms. Fortunately, our anchor was set securely and we could sleep safe at night. We even had a film night on board!

The following night, in order to ‘get off the boat’ we headed into town early evening for a cheap night out of a beer and gyros (costing €4 large beer, €2.50 gyros, I really can be a cheap date). Whilst watching the world go by, a procession of church leaders, dignitaries, towns’ folk, and the school brass band, came down the main street, with all manner of saintly icon paraphernalia. After turning onto the main road, they stopped and a reasonably short sermon was delivered by the head of the church. We asked the waitress “is it the Vonitsa Saint’s day?” her reply was unexpected, “well one of them, we seemed to have loads, they just bring them out when they fancy it”.

The procession seemed to break up and we went for our gyros. Whilst enjoying this local delicacy, we noticed that very low clouds had descended over the gulf and the sky had turned a very nasty shade of black – time to go back to the boat. This was also the night of the full, blood, eclipse moon, which of course we didn’t get to see, due to the thick black clouds!

Back on board, the thick black clouds where clinging to the mountain behind us, nearly to the ground, it was a very eerie night. Looking back toward the town, we could see a bright white light being directed straight up into the sky and clouds, we the heard the priest start another wailing ceremony and we wondered if we would see the ‘Saint’ rising up towards the heavens! Now at this time, we still didn’t know the name of the Saint, but further Googling for ‘Greek Saint Days, 27 July’ gave us Story of Saint Panteleimon, who didn't have a great time of it, it has to be said!

St. Panteleimon The Holy and Great Martyr Panteleimon was born in Nicomedia of a Christian mother, Eubula, and a pagan father Eustorgius. He studied medicine as a young man. The priest Hermolaus befriended him, instructed him in the Christian faith and baptized him. Panteleimon miraculously healed a blind man who other doctors had treated in vain; he healed him by the name of Christ and baptized him. From jealousy, the doctors denounced Panteleimon as a Christian, and he went before the Emperor Maximilian for judgment. He stood before the earthly ruler in the body, but in his mind he stood before the Heavenly King. He freely declared himself to be a Christian before the Emperor, and in front of his eyes, healed a paralytic of a long infirmity. This miracle brought many of the pagans to the Christian faith. The Emperor put him to torture. When he would not abandon Christ for the idols, he was stretched across a rack and burned with candles. Then he was thrown into a pit of fire and then to wild beasts. He was thrown into a river with a large stone tied to him, but it floated. When he was retrieved, he was sentenced to beheading. Condemned to death, St. Panteleimon knelt in prayer. At that, the executioner gave him a blow on the neck with his sword, and the sword broke as if made of wax. The executioner could not kill him until he had finished his prayer and had himself given the word to behead him. Panteleimon was beheaded under an olive tree, which after that became laden with fruit. "Panteleimon" means all-merciful. God the all-merciful received his righteous soul and glorified him among His greatest saints. His relics remained incorrupt. This wonderful martyr suffered with honour as a youth for Christ on July 27th, 304, when he was 29 years old. Source http://www.panteleimon.org/pante.htm

Again, I digress. Having been kept awake by the St Pants (as we know refer to him) party, which went on until 06:30am, we decided to stay another day in this peaceful(?) anchorage. After a couple of hours sleep, we woke to see the clouds still clinging to the mountain behind us...no point moving today.

However, Sunday in the Hungarian Grand Prix, we know just the bar that has it showing back in Preveza and we motored into unforecasted (there’s a surprise) strong north west winds, into a pleasant anchorage just outside town. The winds died down, we had lunch, the race starts at 4pm, we’ll head into town at 3:30pm. All was well, coffee ordered, race under way and then looking outside I could see boats on the town quay start to rock, I went outside only to see the sky over the anchorage was black, and wealding yet another thunderstorm – 8 laps in and we have to run back to the boat. We missed the rain by minutes, but sat as the strong north west winds blew, and blew and blew. The storm eventually passed and all was calm again. We finally managed a night in Preveza town on Monday, it did rain early on, but thankfully no thunderstorm!

We are now sitting back in the ‘what was cheap but is now expensive’ unfinished marina. Please pass on to any sailors that they have put the prices up 150% and today we have sat here with no power or water, just waiting to fill our tanks... not happy people.

Hopefully we will head south and back into the familiar territory of Lefkas, Nidri, Meganisi and other favourite spots.

Lets hope August brings the Greek summer!

When is a forecast not a forecast... when it becomes a reality!

June 2018 Zante to Lakka

Last time I wrote we were moored nicely on the Hotel Iris Pontoon in Nidri awaiting some strong southerly winds. What I had not told you was about our journey from Zante to Nidri. 

We left Zante Town Harbour, not expecting much in the way of sailing, but for once, we were greeted with winds and strength all in the right direction and speed. We had a lovely sail for the first the two hours, and a very pleasurable motor sail for the final one and a half hours. 

We arrived back in Poros, Cephalonia, to be greeted by Fonda, the dock master’s, smiling face again, ready to take our lines. The people on the boat on our port side were an English couple, relatively new to the Ionian who had many questions to ask. Best we take them to the bar set in the rocks!

Just as a small aside, many years ago sailing friends told us of a book friends of theirs had written about sailing in the Mediterranean, its called 'On The Nose' by Bob Cooper. In that book he describes eloquently the three different winds you get in the Med. 

1) Surlenez - On the Nose. 
2) Intrafundamentale - Up the Chuff/from behind. 
3) Nofuchinaventi - Buggerall wind. 

And these are the only three winds you will encounter.

The following day, we planned to take the ten-mile trip up to Ay Eufemia, a small harbour we had checked out in the car. Having left later than planned (helping the new neighbours with their engine issues), we motored into strong winds, straight on the nose (Surlenez), but not a problem, we’re only going ten miles. As we rounded the headland into the large bay, at which Ay Eufemia sits at the head, the wind continued to increase, fortunately with no fetch. 

We readied the boat, for what looked like would be a difficult stern-to mooring, in a cross wind, only to be told by the harbour master “we are full, there is no room”, even though the quay was empty. Clearly, you have to phone ahead a book a place on the town quay now!

At this point, we had two options, (three if you include hindsight and we’d stayed in Poros). We could turn south for two miles, and go into Sami (probably not a great place with the wind in this direction), or north for twenty miles and go into Sivota (excellent protection in these conditions, when we get there). I had one stipulation to going north, we only go if I can phone one of the restaurants who have a spot on their pontoon and I don’t have to cook dinner! Our ten mile, two hour trip was now turning into thirty three miles and six hours, with nothing prepared for lunch or dinner. 

Fortunately, Stavros had a spot, and north we went. The first part of the journey was through the channel between Cephalonia and Ithica, where the wind is funnelled and we were head on into Force 6-7 winds, again with little fetch, fortunately. As with all things Perrett, we fully expected the wind to die when we reached the open sea and would have to motor the entire twenty miles (Nofuchinaventi). But no! We had the most perfect sail across from Cephalonia to Lefkas, a beautiful two hours, with only one other boat in channel (it was now 4pm and most boats are tucked up for the day by this time). So, into Sivota Bay we went, tied up on the pontoon and had a lovely meal ashore, after G&Ts of course.

The following day we motor-sailed up to Abelike, on Meganisi, where ours friends had been sensibly sitting out the strong northwesterly winds for the past few days. It was good being in welcoming company again. However, more bad weather was forecast, and one of our friends was heading home for a few days, so a safe spot was needed for his boat. We all left Abelike and headed for Vlicho Bay, a well-protected bay, but does have its issues in certain conditions. However, we opted to put ourselves back on the Iris Pontoon (having checked they had space), and our friends made their way down to Vlicho. We stayed three nights, while the strong winds passed. Everyone was safe.

This was the first of the three weeks of forecasted weather... that became a reality.

Another of our problems whilst sailing around for the summer, is where to watch the F1 and Qualifying! We know of certain places who guarantee to show both events, and so we and Steve headed over to Alex's Pontoon on Meganisi again, hoping we could get to stay for two days, but to no avail, Alex’s was fully booked for Sunday, but we managed to watch qualify in comfort in her bar. But where to watch the actual F1. 

We know Iris is always booked on a Sunday, as this is changeover day for Sailing Holidays on the pontoon. We also knew that the next batch of bad weather was heading our way and we need a safe haven. So, off we went again, back to Vlicho. We can anchor safely in the northerlies, and watch the F1 at the Yacht Club. However, as David and I passed the Iris Pontoon, I spied two empty spaces. A quick couple of phone calls later, revealed they were ours for the taking – horray! We can watch F1, and if they don’t have a flotilla in tomorrow, we can stay safe on the pontoon in the bad weather. 

And my goodness was it bad weather.In the words of our friend Steve, it was biblical.

Weather warnings were issued by the Athens Met Office, torrential rain, storm after storm after storm. But thankfully, both us and Steve were safe. Now this is a first for us, and our friend, Steve. In September, there is always a storm (as there is in May), and in September, the storm always comes in the third week, from the south, and always, always at 3am! Here we are in June, and the, admittedly forecasted, but not normal, storms are arriving during the day, allowing us to sleep at night, and be rested for the storm the following day. 

In all, we stayed eight nights on the Iris pontoon, only being asked to leave when two flotillas were arriving. A very pleasant place to stay when the weather turns nasty.

The weather for Monday looked promising, in fact sailable! This is becoming a bit of a habit for us; this will be our fourth sail, that’s normally our annual quota!  

As agreed with Steve, we would head up to Preveza, catching the 1pm bridge through the Lekfas Canal, so we could stop and pay our deposit for our winter boatyard in Preveza. And, as forecast, the weather became a reality, and we sailed from the bridge up to Preveza, even down the channel into the bay. 

We managed to arrange a spot for both boats on the quay, and then it rained again, with thunderstorms going on around us in the mountains.

The following day, the weather conditions would not be comfortable to stay in Lakka; more strong north westerly winds forecast. They unfortunately come straight in the bay and can cause a horrible swell. A new plan was greed, we would head up the mainland and spend the night in Two Rock Bay, a bay, fifteen miles away, noted for its, yes you’ve guessed it, its two rocks. Although there are in fact quite a lot of rocks, but two predominant ones, hence its name. We had a good sail (yes, again), albeit we had some sail difficulties to contend with on route. 

However, upon our arrival at Two Rock Bay, we could see that the swell was making its way in to the bay, and it would be a very uncomfortably night. Change of plan. Right we will go up to Fanari Bay. This is a bay we visited back in 2013, when we went up the River Armounia (which supposedly leads to the River Stix, and the Ferry Man). 

Both boats find favourable anchor spots, and a BBQ is planned on Steve’s boat that evening... until of course the rain came and the thunderstorms appears, and it gets cold and I have to find my slippers, and then Steve reports he has a leak! It just keeps getting better. At least the sunset after the storm was worthy of a photo!

The night was tenable, if not a bit rolly, and Wednesday saw David and I motor over to Lakka, and Steve go all the way back to Preveza to get his leak fixed, he would join us when he could, were his parting words.

Lakka, on the island of Paxos is glorious, delightful, beautiful, and every other superfluous descriptive word you can find to describe it, when the weather’s good! We anchored in a reasonable spot, knowing we would move when a more suitably comfortably spot became available as people moved on. We knew we would be here a while as Steve has friends visiting on holiday. 



Lakka’s problem is its popularity, due to its beauty, and amazingly clear blue water, therefore everyone one comes here – wait til July and August when it get really busy! 

Having watched the local Port Police charge a large catamaran for taking lines ashore to the beach, and moving other boats away from the swimming area, and having had two boats get very close to us in the anchorage we decided to move to a better place the following morning. We then spent two hours driving around, dropping and picking up the anchor when we realised our chosen spot was not suitable. 


And then, as luck would have it, a boat departed from one of the most perfect spots for taking lines ashore. Quick as you like, we were in. Perfect. The next day Steve arrived with his leak fixed and we popped him along side us. Excellent. Now we can sit and watch the forecast and hope that the strong force 7’s and thunderstorms don’t become a reality...

Saturday morning, two spots on the town quay became available. Without hesitation, Steve grabs the first, and we grab the second. The positions are slightly awkward, and not very deep, so we leave Alhambra off the dock by a dinghy width and will use it to get ashore. We’re in, and we’re not going anywhere while the winds are forecast. 

Unfortunately, from Sunday through to Tuesday the forecast became a reality, and the rain fell, the wind blew, and the swell came in and we bounced and swung, and got rained on, and watched the lightening on https://www.lightningmaps.org. 

In these conditions, you don’t leave the boat, or don't go very far, you are constantly on watch and it is very stressful. Other boats are always trying to find a spot on the quay that doesn’t exist and ram their way in between boats (a boat along from us had a scratch all the way down one side from an ignorant Polish boat shoving its way in a space too small for it). It is at times like these when the words ‘living the dream’ are definitely not a reality. 

However, the beauty of Lakka shines through when the weather departs...

It is now Sunday, 1^st July and the weather has finally let up. We’re staying til Monday, so we can watch the Austrian F1 today, and then we will head up to Corfu. The forecast for the next five days is unbroken sunshine, but unfortunately no wind, so we won’t be sailing any time soon.

Everyone we have spoken to this season, sailors and locals, have all agree that June in Greece 2018 has not been normal. 

The Athens Met office put out a Red alert earlier this week, a state of emergency was declared in the northern part of Greece as the torrential rains have swept through villages and towns, agricultural lands have been flooded and are ruined for this year, and I have seen reports of at least three people killed who have been struck by lightning. When you read reports like this, you realise that although we had a stormy June, we have not had it as bad as some, and our livelihoods have not been ruined by nature. 

However, as we leave Lakka for Petriti on Corfu, we are greeted by a first in weather sights in our time in Greece - fog!

Let’s hope this is an unusual year, and not the way of things to come. Let’s hope this reality remains a forecast!

When is a plan not a plan... when it involves a boat and sailing!

May 2018 

As with all things boating, plans change. We were due to be launched into the water on Wednesday 9^th May, but we were no-where near ready. After a number of long debates and procrastination, we postponed our launch date, three times in fact. Finally, we ready, we launched on Monday 14^th May. 

For those who have never seen a boat launch before, I attempted to make a video to give you some idea, and show what the interior of our boatyard looks like.

Before Alhambra was (very professionally I must say) lowered into the water in the slipway, we had arranged to stay on the quay owned by the boatyard. This was quite handy really, because as soon as David started everything up, we found that we had no depth gauge... 

This can be a bit of an issue on a boat! It was also a bit of an issue as David had just fitted new instruments and was now not sure if they were faulty or it was just the depth gauge. 

We had fully intended to stay a night, maybe two, on the quay, but who knows how long it will be now...at least the sunsets are good.

As with all things boats and David, he went through every possible reason why the depth gauge was not reading. Nothing seemed to be the problem. The only practical reason could be was that the transducer was faulty (clearly, these are David’s words and not my own). The only problem with it being the transducer is that there is no way of testing whether it is faulty, apart from taking it off, and putting a new one on.

Fortunately, we found a Raymarine supplier in Lefkas and our friends, Steve and Bob, have a car with them and were up for a trip to Lefkas (and a Lidl supermarket run could be incorporated into the trip, always a good thing). Off we all trundled, finding the shop very quickly, David went in to see if they could help. Steve, Bob and I stayed in the car, waiting anxiously, well chatting and watching the world go by is more like it. David appeared about ten minutes later with a bag of goodies, and highly recommending the shop. (For the sailors among you who might want to know, the shop is called Metronix).

Back on board, David plugs in the new transducer, hangs it over the side, holds his breath, and watches the depth gauge as it sparked into life. Success. All we have to do now is run the new cable all the way through the boat, from the bilge in our cabin, all the way up to the helm. What could be more fun! Living the dream, as they say.

Having finally made sure that all was ready, we had our last suppers in the very nice restaurant near the boatyard, said our farewells, and left Preveza on Saturday 19^th May. 

We made our way through the channel markers and to our delight there was wind, in the right direction, at the right strength allowing us to sail nicely down to the Lefkas Canal in time for the 2pm bridge. Bob had left earlier that day in his boat, and Steve was driving their car to Vlicho to meet us that afternoon. (Steve isn’t ready to launch his boat yet). 

Once in Vlicho Bay we found a nice spot, just off the port side of Bob’s boat, and duly joined them at the Yacht Club for a sundowner.

The following night was to be a belated birthday treat at my favourite restaurant – The Seaside 

(http://www.seaside-lefkada.com/ ).  

Unfortunately, the wind started to pick up and the clouds closed in, so we postponed until the following night. It was, as always, a wonderful evening. 

The following morning, we headed up to the pontoon on the Iris Hotel, for what turned out to be four nights, as we spent the days and nights fixing final things on the boat and visiting old friends as the season starts up.

This year’s plan is to go around the Peloponnese. We circumnavigated this area back in 2015, but this time have decided to head east and visit some of the islands. The problem is the Meltemi Wind (for further reading http://www.sailingissues.com/meltemi.html ). This wind blows stronger than in the Ionian, but also for longer, up to ten days at a time. You therefore have the chance of being ‘stuck’ in an anchorage for a long period of time. But hey, we have another 4-5 months, who’s counting...

Our first port of call will be Poros, on Cephalonia 

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalonia). We have not been to Poros before, and the sailing guide does not give it the nicest of reviews. Yes, the harbour is a major ferry port, there can be a swell inside the harbour wall, and it’s not very picturesque. On the up side, not many sailing boats visit. We are only planning one night, so not a problem. We will visit Kioni on Ithaca on the way.

We left Little Vathi on Meganisi on Monday 28^th May, heading for Kioni. It’s Monday, not may charter boats should be around, and if we get there before 2pm, we should be OK to get on the town quay... well maybe not the town quay, but the little quay on the opposite side. Which we did. Unfortunately, as we sat watching everyone else arriving late, our anchor tripped out. However, a very nice couple on a Dutch Flotilla lead boat helped David take up the anchor, drop the whole lot in the dinghy, take it out and drop it again... still not holding. Repeat procedure. This time it held. However, it is very frustrating and hard work. 

Next time we will stick to our favourite spot further out of the bay. The reward however is the view from a little cocktail bar above a restaurant.

Next day, we wait to see if anyone has crossed anchors, no one had, and we were away by 11:00 for the 20-mile trip to Poros. We arrived at 2pm, to find four other boats in the harbour. After a short while Fonda, the harbour master arrived. He charged us €15 for the first night, and informs us the second night is half price, and the water is free. Looking around the harbour, the hillsides are sprinkled with beautiful villas, and the rainbow colours of bougainvillea. What’s not to like.

Big dangling flying bug wasp things. That’s not what to like.

One flew into the cockpit. David duly goes to find the electric bat, meanwhile I run around like a girl waving my arms around stupidly and then... throw my phone in the water. Yes, let me repeat that, my phone slipped out of my hand and straight over the side and into the sea. David, my hero, runs, gets his snorkel and mask, jumps in (yes in the harbour water – yuck), dives down and amazingly, finds it! 

Unfortunately, as it is in my hand I can feel it getting very very hot. We quickly take the SIM out and do everything that Google tells you to do. But alas my phone is an ex phone (yes it was an iPhone, no thebag of rice didn’t work. I believe the fact it was switched on, and in salt water may have been its demise). Fortunately, I brought a spare phone with me, and the SIM is fine...and fortunately, I had backed everything up, so only a couple of photos missing.

A short walk from the harbour we found a great little bar, actually built into the cliff face, perfect view out of the coast. “I think we should stay another day and get a car out.” I suggested. We asked Fonda if he could arrange a car. “Of course”. To be delivered to the boat the following morning for €30 (all in). 

As the day drew to a close, more boats arrived until the last one arrived at 9pm, and I think we counted nearly 30 boats in the harbour. No-one goes to Poros!

Our day driving around Cephalonia was excellent. The island is mountainous, green in places, barren in others, but what superb roads – Jeremy Clarkson and the team need to come to Cephalonia and drive around in something sporty, not a Nissan Micra! 

However, David was in his element the whole day. Most of the islands we have driven around have great views and windy roads, but the quality of the roads are normally very poor. It is earthquake central after all! However, Cephalonia  roads are in great condition, twisty and winding, the camber in the right direction, smooth and lots of hairpin bends.

On our way out, we drove to Eufemia, a harbour on the east side of Cephalonia. We have not sailed there, so just wanted to check it out for future reference. It looks nice. We continued further on and drove over to the west coast of the island and down a very steep hill (could easily have been a black run for the skiers among you), to one of the most beautiful bays we’ve seen. Only when we arrived at the bottom did we see a Finnish film crew were filming a TV ad and there were marquees and transit vans everywhere. We decided to have lunch back up the hill in the village.

We then drove to to Argostoli, the main town on Cephalonia. It has a stylish promenade along the quay, a nice pedestrian shopping street, and bridge that creates a lagoon. 

Apparently, it is a sanctuary for turtles, including the large one having a bite to eat as we walked along the bridge. 

Next stop Lidl. This is the main thing you do when you have a car for the day, you provision like there’s no tomorrow! Back at the Poros harbour, we check the weather and plan our route down to Zante and onto the Peloponnese.

Thursday, 31^st May and we head to Zante Town. We’ve been here before and have a telephone number for the harbour master, so we book our place. 

We arrive around 2pm and find the fees have increased since our last visit. €15 per night, plus €5 for water and €5 for electricity. Well, we only plan a night, maybe two. 

After a brief wander around the town, we decided to eat out and found the same restaurant a last time, which although has the same Greek food, they also have live music all evening. It was a good night out.

The following day we decide to stay another night and found a very chilled out cocktail bar,

with prices to match. Well, they need to pay for the gold pineapples...

Which then becomes another night.

So, when is a plan, not a plan...

Finally, after long discussions, David and I are in agreement that we’re not really up for a trip around the Peloponnese this season. Alhambra has been out of the water for two years. Getting her ready in the boat yard was a month of very hard work, and we’ve not finished yet. Did we really want to spend three weeks on long sails, only to visit places we’ve already seen, to then go to an area where we may be held up by the Meltemi... So after many hours of deep thought and reasoning, we have decided to retrace our tracks and stay in the Ionian this season. We will head up to Corfu and visit places we’ve not seen before, or been to in a long while, and will take the season slowly and in a relaxed fashion.

So here I am, sitting on Iris Hotel pontoon, (about to go for a dip in the pool), watching the weather forecasts, as some southerlies are due tomorrow, deciding where to go next.