I completely forgot to mention in the last blog that we saw a seal for the first time in the Mediterranean!  We were not quick enough to get a photo, but it was a memorable sight to behold, snuffling as it swam casually towards the beach late in the day.  We had been just leaving the anchorage on Ithaca and there she was rolling on the waves heading into shore.  Having investigated ‘Mediterranean seals’ this sighting was almost certainly of a female Monk seal, being brown grey in colour. The males are black.  These seals were once found regularly throughout the Med, but now are quite rare. The Greeks, however, do pride themselves on having been successful at protecting the species and removing them from the ‘critically endangered’ world marine animals list. Ancient Greeks apparently treasured the seals even believing they were protected by gods Poseidon and Apollo because of their love for the sea and their seeming worship of the sun!

Back to our itinerary, we sailed up the steep sided channel between Ithaca and Kefalonia passing many tiny bays indented on the Kefalonia East coast. We called into one of the uncharted bays, found some sand and dropped the anchor for a swim.  It was absolutely beautiful, deserted, apart from a couple of goats tripping along under the pine trees that stood behind the olive grove at the back of the beach.  Peering through the binoculars at the beach I found a sign declaring this to be a site used in the famous film Captain Corelli’s Mandolin! We may have to watch the film again to see if we can spot it!

The weather was on the change; the week ahead was looking unsettled, cloudier, cooler and windier. From Kefalonia we arrived in Vliho Bay late in the day so we anchored and had supper ashore in Dimitri’s Taverna. We had been sole visitors earlier in the season and this occasion was not much different.

A good sail across the top of Meganissi took us to Port Atheni, a favourite anchorage and here we contemplated sitting out the F6 north westerly’s promised for the next day. In the end we decided against that idea and headed back to the safe anchorage of Vliho where the mud sucks the anchor fast. Good job as we stayed on board and clocked a regular 30knots over the deck.

Our last night in the Inland Sea had to be Varko Bay and after the windy night in Vliho Bay came a bright and warmer day. We had a good sail across to Varko, anchored swam and enjoyed a magical evening with boat lights, distant town lights and stars above twinkling all around us.

We are now in Preveza doing the jobs; engine has been serviced; decks have been treated with preservative and fungicide; the jib is down and bagged up; the cleaning underway. We have explored the town a bit more, walked to the local sandy beach adjacent to the town quay and enjoyed the days. Unfortunately the nightlife on the quay has been far too noisy for us; we had to decamp to the front berth to get any sleep!

September 26^th is a Big Day. Nigel celebrates and commiserates his big O birthday. We did manage a couple of hours on the beach and had a very welcome swim.

 Then tomorrow on Monday 27^th we lift out, pack up, winterize the engine, cover Déjà Vu and fly home on Thursday 30^th.

 I have calculated that we have travelled 741 miles this year all around the Ionian from Corfu to the Gulf of Corinth and much in between. It’s been great, memorably hot and noticeably more busy as September has drawn to a close. Where next in 2022?

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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.

The plan had been to spend a full week with Faye, Guy and the girls on board, 28th August – 5th September, but Nigel had been laid low with a virus at home and we had to delay our departure to allow him as full a recovery as possible. In the event the family travelled ahead of us and secured a very nice apartment in the centre of Preveza town for the three nights it took us to get to Déjà Vu, prepare the boat and get her launched. By Tuesday 31st August, we were ready to welcome everyone on board.

We set off from Preveza down to the Lefkas bridge and canal and visited Vathi and then Port Atheni on Megannissi, Sivota and Vliho Bay on Lefkas before returning to Lefkas Marina where the family had to depart.

Our very special time together was quite predictably child centric and we had a wonderful few days sailing, swimming, rowing, messing about, eating and sleeping.  It was action packed with Nigel and I hardly remembering where the time went to! On board the girls had to learn how to move around the boat safely and make up their very popular pirate beds. They rewarded us with full night sleeps, such was their level of exhaustion! And ours!

Each day we sailed and anchored, launched the dinghy for trips to the beach and we all enjoyed much hilarity swimming in the sea with buoyancy aids and noodles. Nigel devised some important tasks for the girls to do whilst on board to earn a sailing certificate from Grandpa’s Academy of Sailing. Martha successfully learned to manage the steps down into the cabin from the cockpit and she learned some boating terms, notably bow and stern. Rose managed to tie a bowline, helm, use the winch handle and more! They both took turns to help drop the anchor.

We did have a couple of boat concerns along the way which required some troubleshooting and remedial action. Nigel was extremely grateful for Guy’s help at sourcing problems and then helping, hands on, to rectify them. Ah, the joys of boating life, it is not all romantic!

We hope  the ensuing photos tell the story of our busy half a week. Plenty of happy faces describe very accurately our holiday together. Thanks to both Faye and Guy for supplying most of the excellent photos! We hope everyone had as brilliant a time as we did. We miss you, come again soon.

On Friday 23rd July we anchored off the end of the Lefkas Canal at Lygia, primarily for a swim before heading into the Marina ready to meet friend Peter. However there was a yearning for sardines, so we jumped into the dinghy and went ashore for a Greek salad and a plate of delicious grilled sardines. As we delayed our entry to the marina as long as possible to avoid the busyness and the heat, we watched an incredible exodus of yachts from the Inland sea. It was Friday and the end of the charter yachting week! We lost count of the dozens of catamarans converging on the canal like wasps to a honey pot; they all seemed to be racing to be first. When we eventually joined in and arrived at the marina, we understood why. Each boat needed to refuel before handing it back and the fuel jetty was manic with boats jostling for the next space. Fortunately, having booked our berth for the night, we went straight into our allotted place and got tied up without any problems.

It was great to welcome Peter from his late landing flight from Gatwick. He arrived in the relative cool of the evening, so began his acclimatisation the easy way. He came bearing bubbles, most welcome! various boat parts Nigel has ordered from the UK, and very importantly Peter gifted us a new red ensign. The previous one, faded like the status of the UK in the EU, was quickly replaced by this bright new one. Thank you Peter!

We were all anxious to depart Lefkas, so after essential housekeeping chores which included filling with water, we set off soon after 10am the next morning. The week was set fair with light winds and plenty of heat, so it became a mission to set the itinerary to find some afternoon wind. On day one, our destination being Sivota, 20 miles south of Lefkas town, we found far too much of it on the nose, (where else?) south of Meganissi. Our usual stopover in Sivota is Stavros’ pontoon. It was 5pm and we fetched up as only one of two boats on it; having never seen the place so empty. We concluded it was too soon for the charter boats, but later that evening several catamarans tied up, so the restaurant was full. We enjoyed a superb fish between the three of us and slept happy.

Other stops included Vathi North Quay on Ithaca, where once again we had a very agressive afternoon wind that made for lively approaches and mooring up.

Ithaca to Kastos via the island of Atacos, half way between the two and on which we had planned a lunchtime stopover. It was not to be; the small anchorage available was full to bursting, so we sailed on to find an anchorage spot off the entrance at Kastos. It took over an hour to get the anchor set as the holding was very patchy, but we , like the many other boats doing the same thing, achieved it eventually. It is noticeably busier. Many more charter boats are out and many European owned boats are all vying for the same spaces. This was a reminder of why we usually spend mid July to end August in UK. That and the increasing heat with daytime temperatures once again climbing towards 40, 41 degrees. Much too hot. We enjoyed Margeritas at the cocktail bar on Kastos followed by a very enterprising BBQ aboard.

Port Atheni next where Peter had to fix up the internet access for their AAA investment club meeting, followed by a night of star gazing from Varko Bay where there is little light pollution. We all saw an amazing shooting star which veritably ‘exploded and cascaded’ before our eyes.

Peter was great crew and took all his duties very seriously; giving Mo some time off from time to time! Peter swims like a fish and enjoyed daily swims of marathon proportions which put Nigel and Mo’s daily efforts to shame!

The need to go to Preveza for Covid PCR tests came all too soon, but we were rewarded with a great sail north from Lefkas before hitting the heat of the town. With the tests behind us but with the risks of Covid from packed bars an ever present possibility, we enjoyed the backstreet cafes of Preveza, choosing to sit only in the least crowded places.

Once again a trip round to Vonitsa to fill time before Deja Vu was lifted out, the laundry was done and a sort out and clear out completed. We left Cleopatra Marina at 7pm and flew home on a half full Easy Jet flight getting back to Gatwick around 11pm local time. We were glad to find our beds and adjust to new temperatures.

At the end of the first week of July and we decided to head north to revisit some places we had got to know three or four years back. With a light wind we sailed and motored our way from Preveza and decided to stop over in Parga for the night. Parga is a pretty mainland holiday town, opposite the island of Paxos, set high on cliff tops with quaint houses and restaurants set into the cliff. The town straddles a headland with an old castle and fortification. We anchored off the busy umbrella clad beach and were royally rocked about all afternoon until gone 7pm with holidaymakers enjoying high speed thrills on inflatables, water skis and paragliders.

Off to Paxos for a nostalic visit to Lakka Bay on the northern tip of the island. It is still jaw droppingly beautiful with ice blue water and of course, still a magnet for every sailor to visit. We anchored for a couple of nights, enjoyed lots of swims, a walk and even the Euro Cup final late on the Sunday night in a Greek taverna where funnily enough most support seemed to be for the Italians! We had retreated before the bitter end of penalty shoot outs so did not have to contend with jubilant Italians. It was noticeable there are very few British sailors about and now European holiday season has arrived, there are lots of Italians, French, Dutch, Scandinavians and more. Thank goodness for our flag spotting book, we have used it extensively to identify more obscure flags; Bahrain even!

Next stop Petriti, a very good anchorage on the south west coast of Corfu which used to be very quiet. It has been discovered which is good for the on shore tavernas, but now a crowded anchorage; 50 boats instead of 10! We did visit an excellent new taverna, Limanaki, which also had accommodation and we got chatting to the owner. A tale of hard times and his quest to get a pontoon established to encourage yacht crews to visit his restaurant. He needed luck and about 10-20k euros!

We took the dinghy along the coast to the south and discovered a couple of holiday resorts, one of which, called Panorama, was a fascinating mix of wooded paths, tiny coves, sunbeds in the trees, hammocks along the way, occasional bars serving food and way up, the main building. It looked a bit hedonistic, everyone looking cool and chilled! We stopped for a beer and encountered a wide array of flying insects, so were quite glad to retreat back to the safety of the sea!

North past Corfu old town, still a stunning sight. There were cruise liners moored up in the commercial port busy going nowhere. We had booked a couple of nights in Gouvia marina and were disappointed to find the Marina suffering from a fairly large diesel spill. We insisted on relocating to minimize the smell, but it seems the marina has a problem that is is not actively dealing with. A chance to get the laundry done, but more importantly some electrical engineers came on board to replace the connectors on our solar panels. We had been unhappy for a while that we were not getting consistent power output from them and knew the connectors were unstable. We are determined to get more solar capacity for next season and will be investigating the various options available to us.

From Corfu we crossed to the mainland to revisit a quiet anchorage at Valtou, not so charming this time as the fish farming had encroached and tainted the water; it was a bit smelly and not inviting for swimming. On to Platarius where we found they were working on rebuilding the harbour wall so there was limited mooring capacity for boats. We fortunately took one of two berths and enjoyed a secure stay as the fresh sea breeze in the afternoon made the beach anchorage very bumpy. It was good to walk around the small seaside town and be recognised and welcomed by the couple of cafes and restaurant we had supported on our previous visits. They told us of hard times with few visitors so we had to stay for one more beer!

With more westerly winds forecast, our last night on Corfu had to be back in Petriti. Lovely swimming and a meal on board; off to an early start to go south, unfortunately in Southerly winds! We headed again for Parga, this time going ashore to re-aquaint with the superb Italian restaurant, Filomila, we had found in 2017. Still good, but we were uncomfortable in the crowds of this busy place and soon returned to the boat anchored off the beach.

South again to Preveza, we had a cracking sail once the afternoon breeze kicked in around 1pm. It was a beam reach, could not be better and we clocked up 8 knots surfing down the waves, reaching Preveza Quay by 4pm in time for a cup of tea.

That night we tried out a new restaurant in town, very Greek and most hospitable. Outside there was a profusion of flower baskets and pots along with a wide selection of good, home cooked Greek food.

With 10 days ahead before we return home, we went south to be ready to meet Peter in Lefkas. Peter is joining us for a week around the inland sea. More on that in the next blog.

We were delighted to welcome Bob and Elaine onto Deja Vu towards the end of June for what we hoped would be a fun tour of the Ionian, starting in Preveza and ending up in Kefalonia. We collected them in Lefkas Marina in temperatures approaching 40 degrees C, truly uncomfortable, and it was with great relief that we left the heat of the marina for the relative cool anchorage of Varga as soon as possible. A few swims later restored some equilibrium and the holiday could begin. The forecast was for typical hot and calm weather with afternoon sea breezes, but we ended up with less sailing and more motoring over the week ahead.

Unfortunately Bob and Elaine went down with a virus 3 days into the trip which necessitated a change of itinerary, so we rescheduled to tour the northern part of the Ionian planning a return to Preveza. We visted Kastos, Sivota, Kalamos, Meganissi, Vliho Bay and Vonitsa, all evidenced below. Bob and Elaine did well to cope in the warm temperatures as they were not feeling at their best. Just to add to the excitement during a fresh sail, the main outhaul rather spectacularly parted company with the mainsail! Hauling away the mainsail, we continued our journey to Sivota under jib alone. In Sivota Nigel visited the adjacent ‘Sunny Sailing’ flotilla to enquire about any known local sailmaker to discover that one was due to visit them that same evening! We were very lucky, Spiros the sailmaker came to our rescue, took the sail and effected a speedy repair.

We headed back to Preveza quay where Bob and Elaine took their leave to return to a cooler UK. Equipped with PCR tests and passenger locator forms, only 26 passengers boarded their BA flight back to Heathrow. Tourism is still very shaky in this Covid world, but the Greeks are pleased to welcome us respectfully.

On our own again, we are planning to go north to Paxos and Corfu for a couple of weeks. More next time.

It seems an aeon ago, but it was just under two weeks that we took an empty train to London, taxied across from Waterloo to Liverpool Street and then took another empty train to Stansted. Arriving early evening we had a cheap hotel booking for the night as we had a mid morning flight on Sunday 13th June.

Take a look at Stansted airport, never seen it so empty but there were still plenty of shops open vying for our trade in these very difficult economic times for the travel industry. The Ryanair flight had only 65 passengers bound for Preveza, barely a third of capacity ad we gazed out of the window as we taxied off to the runway aghast at the number of parked planes in whichever direction one looked. The flight left ahead of schedule and arrived earlier than planned around 5pm local time. The Greeks checked our double vaccination certificates and passenger locator forms and gave us a genuine warm welcome from behind their Covid masks.

We rented a car for a few days so drove the short distance to find the boat just as we had left her. Apart from the dirt and dust that had accumulated in the short while since we had organised for her cover to be taken off just prior to our arrival, she was in good shape and it was good to be back. It did feel like our second home, especially when the manager at the marina restaurant welcomed us back as if it had been yesterday that we had left.

The next four days were full on hard work. We dressed in our zombie suits to rub down, wash and antifoul the bottom; rented a useful scaffolding to enable us to clean and polish the hull; shopped to fill the empty food cupboards; did work on the anchor and chain as well as many other essential chores that all boat owners will understand. It was exhausting and we were glad to finally launch at 1300 on Thursday 17th June, as we were ready to start some sailing.

More routine admin, sorting out the data we would need to access the internet, and making enquiries about the PCR tests we would need for our eventual return to the UK, took up another day. Finally we set off south, through the Lefkas Canal and we anchored in Varga Bay on the mainland coast opposite the island of Meganissi. It was as if we had arrived in heaven. A quiet anchorage below, lovely beach, perfect blue water to swim in, calm sunsets and quiet nights once the katabatic winds had tested that the anchor was holding!

It was soon after this that we discovered we had battery problems; notably the engine starting battery and the front battery to power the anchor windlass and bow thruster. Neither problem was good and it was clear we needed to replace them. After much research made especially difficult by the Greeks having a four day bank holiday weekend, we managed to find a service company in Lefkas to get some suitable batteries shipped over from Athens by the end of the week. To manage our time until we could effect the replacements we spent three days in the anchorage as there was no wind and then one night chez Babis in Porto Spilla, Spartachori on Megannissey. We met a delightful American couple, Matt and Valerie sailing aboard Valleycat, and enjoyed exchanging stories over a nightcap.

Our one night stop in Vliho Bay was breathless, no place to be, although supper was good. Sadly we were the only people in this restaurant. The proprietor was so grateful for our custom, it made it all worthwhile, and we did have a brilliant moussaka.

Finally before going north to Lefkas Marina we opted for a windy anchorage and enjoyed a lively stop at Ligia at the bottom of the Levkas channel. At least we had the breeze.

Every day the temperatures have been rising and as I write from Lefkas Marina, it is tipping 40degrees C. A stiff afternoon northwesterly is blowing which is some small respite from the relentless sun; but the good news is that 2 new batteries were delivered to the boat and Nigel has fitted them both!

We are here to welcome friends for a sailing holiday. Bob and Elaine fly in tomorrow and we are looking forward to setting off south with them for some sailing adventures.

It is June 9th, 2021 and Greece is an ‘amber’ destination according to the UK government foreign travel traffic light system. This means that it is legal to travel there, but not recommended according to the host country’s pandemic credentials. Many islands have been fully vaccinated and are deemed safe enough but there are still areas of infection mostly on the mainland around Athens and Thessalonika.

We are fortunate to have both been fully vaccinated against Covid 19, enough to be allowed into Greece, so we are hopefully flying out this coming Sunday 13th June.

Our plan this trip is to service and check out the boat, then launch for 5 weeks sailing in and around the Ionian. We hope to be joined by friends and family if conditions permit, but we shall see what the next few weeks hold for us. Life is very unpredictable during this spurious pandemic and we plan to exercise extreme caution and care with the decisions we make and the directions we go in. All being well we shall return home on 30th July, perhaps with a hope of revisiting in September. Our fortunes will unravel!