South to the Gulf of Corinth

It took a couple of days to refresh from the family visit; do the laundry, recalibrate and decide where to go. We stayed an extra couple of days in the marina at Lefkas to sit out some strong winds and in this time we did some new exploring. We put our bikes together and cycled out to the beach one day and explored, more thoroughly, the backstreets of the town itself. We found the most enchanting Cuban bar and took one of the few remaining pavement tables. The hostess was dressed in Cuban style and was even seen smoking a rather large Havana cigar when she finally sat down for a break! At 9.30pm live music erupted from inside the bar and the colourful performer sang Caribbean songs brilliantly, made very mysterious by the fact that we could not actually see her! Nigel stepped inside to peek a view.

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Finally leaving Lefkas we made a pit stop in Sivota, another in Vathi on Ithaca then in a lone anchorage at Limin Petalis on the mainland coast before heading east into the Gulf of Corinth. Bad weather was forecast, so we headed up to the Marina in Messolongi, some 20 miles into the Gulf , lying amongst the salt marshes on the north side. We had been here before when we did the trip through the Corinth Canal, but at that time the Marina was closed due to administrative difficulties and we anchored at the head of the Messolongi canal for the night. This time we had the Marina to afford shelter and to serve as a base for exploring the town.

The approach to Messolongi is through a canal that has some interesting fishermen’s houses, called Pelades, standing on stilts in the shallow water, looking like something out of SE Asia. The huts are now mostly used as holiday homes.

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In the event we were located in the most exposed place in the Marina, in spite of our protestations and we endured a very uncomfortable time running extra lines to secure the boat! Apart from that we found the Marina and restaurant staff all very friendly.

We took a bike ride into the town and enjoyed a coffee in the Square, Nigel had a haircut at a local barber and we visited the Garden of Heroes.  We saw some interesting churches and a mixture of architectural styles with the old being replaced by the new in most places. The garden of Heroes was particularly peaceful and reflective with dozens of statues scattered amid tall trees with country flags flying, presumably to acknowledge the ‘heroes’ connections. Unfortunately there was not a word of English anywhere, so we had to be content with the visual and only imagine the information! We searched for Byron, who actually died in this place, but we are not sure if he was represented there.

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We had a fun evening exploring the waterside of Mesolonghi, see below.

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Much as we wanted to continue into the Gulf and revisit Trezonia and Galaxidi, time eluded us as we have only 2 weeks remaining. The distances east are long and fine with a following wind, but we had to be mindful of the uphill sailing required to return, so the plan was canned and we headed back west and enjoyed a cracking sail.

Another night in the anchorage of Limin Petalis where there is nothing but sea and sky, we decided to visit the town of Astakos on the mainland coast, a town we had not ever visited before. We tied up to the town quay getting beaten around by the strong afternoon sea breeze.  We enjoyed a pleasant evening in the company of an Englishman and a Frenchman, both sailing solo, who had many tales to tell. Peter and Paul were great company and phone numbers were exchanged!

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Next day we had a windless day and motored to Ithaca, but our trip to Kefalonia the next day was all under sail, although it did take a long time! We had time to stop off for a swim on the coast of Ithaca.

We were thrilled to arrive in Efemia  on Kefalonia to be greeted by the old harbour master Makis, who has been brought out of retirement to manage the harbour once again. He really is an old school gem and we all feel much safer with him around. He reminded us that this day 17^th September last year was the day the medicane hit. The harbour wall took 9m waves, boats were sunk and he declared that in all his life, he had never experienced anything like it before.

Southerly winds are promised for a few days which means light rain and much cloud. We are due to go north so that is the good news, but it looks like we will miss out on the blue skies. Thoughts are turning to going home – we have one more week to go.