September 5, 2016

Greece 2016: The Ionian Sea

The Ionion Sea and west coast of Greece

Ithaka, Greece 22 – 25 July

Mesolongion à Vathi, Ithaka (40 miles) – 22 July – Next stop is the Ionian Sea and islands on the west coast of Greece! I’ve heard a lot about how nice (though supposedly over-crowded) these islands are during June-August. It did seem like there was quite some traffic and once we arrived in Vathi on Ithaka island, we found ourselves in a full bay, though large. It was very picturesque and we were glad to be there to explore and relax.

We moved after the first night and again there was a little disharmony aboard as Heinz asked where we should anchor. I said there, Adam said over this way, and Heinz wanted consensus. And so it went with the three of us more often than not. The following day ashore we all just went our separate ways. I was ready for a little time on my own to just browse the shops and area, and not to have to coordinate with anyone else.

Sivota 25 – 28 July

Vathi, Ithaka à Sivota, Levkada (17 miles) – 25 July – A short sail (yes indeed, we sailed some!!!) north from Ithaka to Levkada island. The little bay at Sivota is a major stop-over for charter flotillas, and it was amazing to see just how packed a place could be. We discussed whether or not we should put out fenders as we watched clueless charter boats drag by or park a mere few feet away from boats already anchored. One boat tried for well over an hour to set their anchor unsuccessfully. We lucked out with our spot having arrived early and just when a large motor boat was pulling out. Most boats wanted to tie up to the quay, which had lots of space when we arrived and then was packed full within a few hours. There were hundreds of boats and you could almost walk from boat to boat anchored in the bay. It was a scenic little place, but I think the popularity had more to do with general location (southernmost point of Levkada Island) than anything there to speak of.

Levkas 28 July – 10 August

Sivota, Levkada à Levkas, Levkada (17 miles) – 25 July – After a few days we were ready to push on and head up to Levkas Marina. It was Wednesday and Adam’s flight out was Saturday. We wanted to have enough time to get settled and for Adam to pack up without hurry.

We were going to be in Levkas for a while, until Heinz could find our next accompanying skipper. We decided to anchor next to the marina (why pay for an extra two nights?) and then go in on Friday. We took the dinghy over to the marina dock and went into the office to make a reservation. Heinz was confident that we could negotiate a good deal by letting them know we hadn’t yet decided where we would stay. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. They said they didn’t have any room for us to stay a month. It seems that the marina caters mostly to charter boats and although we could stay from Monday to Thursday, Friday through Sunday was packed with charter boats coming back in then changing over and going back out. Oops! What to do? We decided to tie up to the Levkas Town Quay, which was only about 7 Euros a day. No showers, no bathrooms, and no electricity. We did tank up on water though, as the location was very enclosed and the water not clear enough to use the water maker. We had a nice little spot backed up to the quay directly behind a carousel, though there was a lot of action and a lot of noise. We met up with cruising friends Duncan and Ria for dinner one evening when they came back to Levkas, which was really nice.

While we were there, a fire broke out in the old town of Levkas. It was very serious and took hours to get under control. Heinz helped move some church relics to safety and got some “up close and personal” pictures of the fire and helicopter working to douse it from above.

Preveza 10 August – 2 September

Levkas, Levkada à Preveza (17 miles) – 10 August – Heinz and I decided to travel the 8 miles or so up to Preveza. We tied up to the very end of the outer-most pier alongside, which seemed like the perfect place… no one would be walking past the boat, we had a good breeze, and a great view across to the Preveza quay and town. However, the Preveza marina was a complete construction site – the office, bathrooms, and showers were temporary trailers, and it was a bit of a hike to get to the office and then town. Still, I really liked it there and the little town appealed to me much more than the full-on tourist feeling of Levkas.

There were two distinct sections of town – the waterfront area, which was full of restaurants and shops for tourists, then the “real” Preveza, which had local shops and services. I enjoyed walking along the alleys in both parts of town. There was a mini amusement park just outside the marina area, and at night we’d watch the carousel and enjoy the colorful lights. One night there was a concert along the quay and we climbed up on top of the boat to watch and listen. The first half hour was nice but then it got cold and all the songs sort of sounded the same. By about 2AM we were wishing they’d wrap up and all go home!

There are a few turtles who live in the general vicinity of the marina, and we were delighted at each and every sighting. We kept a keen eye out for any ripples in the water or a small head protruding above the surface. We also were happy to hear the “cleaning committee” – fish who came each morning and munched on whatever was growing on the hulls.

Our time in Preveza was marked in part, for me at least, by my ongoing computer crisis. It started in Prescott in June with the replacement of the mother board on my relatively new computer. It continued in Syros with the replacement of the mother board (again) and then a third since the second was DOA. The problem continued to get worse. By the time we had reached Preveza, Dell had ordered yet another mother board, then a new 1TB SSD hard drive, and sent several people out to test, replace, re-test everything. No go. Finally, they decided that they would, in fact, replace the entire system since they couldn’t figure out what the “blue screen of death” problem was, but would only deliver it to the US. I thought I had everything backed up properly, but the system image couldn’t be used (they recommended I install from scratch), and I missed some files during the last back-ups. ☹

Computer bugs then turned to other (live) vermin, when we discovered that rats can and do in fact swim. The catamaran is a perfect boarding platform for said critters, and Heinz discovered a rat on the port transom step one night. Since our windows are at about dock level, we slept with all hatches closed from then on. Having rodents or roaches aboard is no joke – they cause a huge amount of damage.

Aside from technology woes and being preoccupied by the possibility of uninvited visitors, much of the month we spent in Preveza was dedicated to searching for the next accompanying skipper. I started to help Heinz sort through the possibilities on Find-a-Crew for skippers who had the correct (offshore) license. The Swiss authorities require the open ocean license, and most people in EU have the coastal license but sail wherever they want. Many with loads of experience, but not the correct paperwork.

Antipaxos 2 – 3 September

Preveza à Emerald Cove, Antipaxos (29 miles) – 2 September – We got a late start out of Preveza as we needed to recheck the insurance we had for a special rider for Greek waters. That set us back to about 10-ish, but then we were on our way! We got to Antipaxos and skirted our way up the coast checking out a possible cove before deciding to anchor at Emerald Cove with the 100 other (or so) boats already there. It seems that this is the hot-spot for day tripper boats from Levkada island and several big tourist boats were parked stern-to having disgorged dozens of pink sunburned tourists into the emerald waters. Since it was late in the afternoon, we found a place to anchor on the outskirts and immediately hopped into the water for a swim. We didn’t have the swim ladder down and it was a bit tricky to get back up on board. Luca is a big guy and it was a bit challenging, but he made it. Too bad Michele wasn’t arriving until the following day in Corfu, as it was just lovely in this little spot.

Corfu 3 – 4 September

Emerald Cove, Antipaxos à Kerkira (old town), Corfu (32 miles) – 3 September – Along the way to the old town and main port of Corfu, we sailed up the east coast of the island and saw in the distance a group of dolphins surfacing and leaping. I have never seen a dolphin jump so high in a natural environment (Sea World of course doesn’t count.) Unfortunately, they were too far away to get any good photos, and even if we could, I was riveted in place just watching them and didn’t want to miss a nano-second going below for the camera. It seemed as though they were circling around fish, so I’m not sure how the jumping played in to that, but it was a joy to see!

We arrived at the small marina which is located just below a castle and archeological site. It was by far the most impressive view from a marina we’ve seen to date. We arrived at about 2PM which gave me plenty of time to get situated and then find a taxi to go meet my friend Michele at the airport. Michele would sail with us the next two weeks. Unfortunately, although her flight was on time, she couldn’t find her bag and so it took us an extra hour before we could make our way back to the boat for dinner. We went to the restaurant at the marina and enjoyed a very nice light first dinner together.

North Orthonoi 4 – 5 September

Kerkira (old town), Corfu à N. Othonoi (?? miles) – 4 September – We considered staying an extra day so we’d have time to see a little bit of Corfu, but watching the weather forecast, we thought it better to continue on toward Italy. We motored much of the way, but it was a pleasant journey and Michele and I got to catch up and chatted the entire trip. We stopped overnight at Othonoi, a little island NW of Corfu. That would give us only 45 miles the following day to Otranto, which we could easily do in daylight. The little anchorage was tight and the depths were less than 15 feet all around, but we had a good hold in sand and enjoyed the evening sitting outside.

Otranto, Italy! 5 – 9 September

N. Othonoi, Greece à Otranto (44 miles) – 5 September – We sailed out of Greece today and into Italy.