One of the excursions we made from Preveza was in the free boat taxi across to Cleopatra Marina where we checked out their facilities and confirmed our lift out arrangements with them. What we saw was quite impressive; well organised marina and boat yard with clean buildings, a well equipped chandlery, a pleasant cafe and plenty of room around.
We really enjoyed the town of Preveza with its long clean promenade, winding back streets, plenty of tavernas filling the passages, designer clothes shops and a reasonable supermarket. We found a delightful art cafe in the evening which played the best music; we were after their playlist! We will definitely return next time we visit.
We loosed our lines and motored off through the narrow channel and sailed down to the top of the Lefkas canal. This journey needs to be timed to the minute as the swing bridge opens on the hour every hour and waits for no man.
A fascinating motor through the 3km long canal afforded interesting views of the islands ahead, Lefkas town and marina and evidence of the constant dredging operation which keeps the canal navigable at about 5m depths.
The next couple of days continued to be settled and we started to discover a few bays and anchorages, having a go a long lining in Abelike bay on the north coast of Meganissi. We witnessed our first, and I am sure not our last, spectacle of two other boats getting anchors crossed. It did take about an hour of discussion and agreed maneuvering to disentangle them before all was well.
The watch on the weather ahead revealed storms on the radar (oh no not again!) for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, so we played safe and booked into a small marina in the tiny port of Vathi on the north coast of Meganissi which looked to be well sheltered from the southerlies to come.
It turned out that this was an astute move, because as the storm duly arrived with considerable ferocity; massive lightning strikes, ear splitting thunder bolts and monsoon rain, many boats were entering the harbour seeking a sheltered mooring, all of which were taken. It is crowded in these waters with enough space when the weather is fine, but not enough safe moorings when not. Planning ahead is essential for peace of mind. Everyone was wandering about in wet gear, almost like fish out of water, but we found plenty to do, including the laundry!
We met some really interesting people, some of whom come from parts of the UK we know well, some had shared the same Marina as us in Croatia, others lifting out in the same Marina here and getting a same day flight back to UK. It is a small world and sharing adventure stories passed the time we spent under grey and black skies most enjoyably.
We decided to dust off the bikes and explore the northern end of the island, cycling firstly around the coast to the next harbour of Spartakhori where we stopped at the Taverna Spilia for a beer and to investigate mooring options which were good. We then climbed to the hilltop village of Spartakhori itself to enjoy the fabulous views of the inland sea. The road then led up and down along a ridge to the main village of Katameri before a pleasant descent back into Vathi. It had been intermittently cloudy most of the day, ideal for the unfamiliar burst of aerobic exercise on the bike! Photos below taken en route.
Now are back on board, perhaps fitter, I am not sure, preparing to set sail again tomorrow Wednesday 21st September.
Deja Vu 
You must be logged in to post a comment.