It is Friday March 2nd 2018 and from my office in the UK I am watching heavy snow falling over the prematurely hopeful snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils. Although hard to turn our thoughts to sailing in Greek waters we do have considerable planning to do this year as we are wanting to go further afield to explore the Gulf of Corinth, the Corinth Canal and the east coast of the Peloponnese.

We were fortunate to have taken a trip out to Greece in January to check up on Deja Vu and to take some gear out. We landed in Athens and drove along the southern side of the Gulf of Corinth, over the magnificent bridge spanning the Gulf, and then north west to Preveza. It was a beautiful drive with the sun shining in a bright blue sky although the air temperature was struggling to get into double figures. The water looked lively and the mountains looked resplendent with their peaks capped in glistening snow. It was a useful preview of some of the area we hope to sail through and a forewarning of the propensity for wind acceleration in the Gulf and the rather scant facilities at the ports we intend to call into! I have no doubt it will all look more inviting in the early Summer and we are looking forward to it.

Before we left Corfu we were thrilled to meet up with friends Colin and Sandra Baxter in Corfu old town, where they were spending a couple of nights before a week’s holiday in a villa further up the island. We had a great lunch and tried to put the world to right, but there was not enough time before we had to head back to the Marina on the bus.

We wanted to make our trip from Corfu to Lefkas last as long as possible as we were on countdown for going home and our last week was looking settled. We spent a couple of hot, windless days anchored off Petriti on the south coast of Corfu and with the promise of wind we set off towards Lefkas planning to stop over at one of the bays on the mainland coast. We fetched up in Two Rock Bay quite late in the day and the pretty bay was quite busy with anchored boats. A catamaran obligingly decided to leave creating a useful space for us to drop our anchor. The hard sand was not the best of holding but we had a calm night ahead. We spent most of the next morning exploring the bay in the dinghy to discover a nice beach, interesting rock formations and a surprisingly small sandy anchorage area. In line with the rocks that gave the bay its name was a seriously rocky bottom not at all suitable for an anchor, and we were rather shocked to see a charter boat drop in that area. Wonder if they ever got away!

A brisk afternoon sail got us to Preveza and we spent the next couple of days enjoying the inner sea behind Preveza which is the Gulf of Amvrakia. It is a vast area of water with the towns of Vonitsa, Loutraki, Amfilokhia and Meidhion flanking its shores over its 20 mile length.  Unfortunately for sailors there are lots of fish farms occupying great swathes of coastline both to the north and the south and they move around all the time, limiting the places to go and explore. We did enjoy visiting Vonitsa and spent one night in a delightful anchorage behind an island in the bay of Vonitsa and another night in the harbour at Vonitsa.

This mainland town was surprisingly quiet and we took advantage of an empty carpark adjacent to the harbour wall to fold up and pack the foresail we had to remove as part of our closing down preparations. Sadly these had to continue in Preveza Marina where unusually hot temperatures in the mid thirties, made the work a real chore.

As I write the wind is howling and forecast to continue with vengeance through tomorrow which is our lift out day. Assuming we do lift out, it looks like we will be lacing up Deja Vu’s cover during Monday or Tuesday night which seems to be the only time when there will be a lull in the wind!

All  being well we will be home on July 5^th and Nigel will be having his hip revision operation towards the end of the month. This marks an early end to our sailing season for this year. We have sailed 600 miles in Ionian waters, travelling twice to and from Corfu to Lefkas, but we have enjoyed our visitors and exploring some new places. With Nigel all fixed up we hope to pick up where we leave off next May for some more adventures.

On our trip south last year we had some rather alarming creaks coming from the boat. We had been in conversation with the company about this and Manfred Schoechl said he would come and fix it. Manfred designed, builds and sails the sunbeam range (he also owns the company) so if anyone was going to sort a problem it is him! He was due to arrive the morning of the 20^th but we waited and waited but no Manfred. We eventually heard that they had missed their flight from Munich due to roadworks (at 4am) on the way to the airport.

He arrived with Hannes, one of the retired Sunbeam boatbuilders and they immediately set to identifying noises and rectify them. It was amazing that a couple of pieces of trim rubbing together could make such a load and worrying noise. The main creak was tracked down to slight movement on an internal partition which was then glued into place. All done in a day.

Manfred was delightful company we enjoyed several happy hours chatting over a beer or two about boats and what his company is up to.

The next day we took the boat out to ensure the noises were fixed. Sadly it was flat calm and we were only able to motor until the wind came up at 3pm. Manfred then set to tuning up the boat which responded by sailing faster than it had ever done and looking great.

That evening we all dined together along with Damian Raffell who had just arrived in his Sunbeam 44 from Croatia via Italy.

The following morning we decided to change the anchor chain for heavier grade and Manfred and Hannes, who now had a spare day, were enlisted to help. It was great to have such expert help and more pairs of hands to complete what turned out to be a difficult job.

We were grateful to Manfred and Sunbeam for their excellent service and great company and help and were left pleased with our choice of boat and a feeling of confidence in the boat and the people that made it.

Time to explore further south so we once more headed down through the Lefkas canal where last years’ dredging has hugely improved the depth and brand new, brightly coloured buoys clearly mark the channel. We spent a couple of days in Vliho Bay from where we were able to visit the excellent chandlers in Nidri and the unaltered, uncared for, cluttered quayside in Vliho itself, complete with sunken boats still attached to quay. We also enjoyed the excellent tavernas on the east side of the bay, all only a short dinghy ride away. The all round shelter afforded in Vliho Bay lulls one into a false sense of the weather, and for a while, it is very relaxing, but we were ready with newly purchased sea shoes and a useful reeled long line, to set off for Kefalonia.

Some 20 miles to go, we found a good wind just south of the Nidri channel. Needless to say it was on the nose, so we beat all the way to Fiscardo, having to put a reef in the main and the headsail. The sun was shining and the sea ahead was an amazing azure blue with a clear demarcation between that and the usual dark blue sea. One would normally associate this with shallow sand ahead, but the charts were clear to show deep water, so on we went, quite bemused as to what was causing the lovely colour.

As we were approaching the north coast of Kefalonia, still reefed and sailing well at over 6 knots, and with the tall dark steep sides of Ithaca framing us, we were photographed by the very enterprising and talented Kevin from Fiscardo, who was performing great feats with his rib and cameras! Unfortunately it was all over before we realised it had begun, so not much in the way of waving and smiles from us crew, but the boat looks splendid carving her way through the beautiful blue seas. Needless to say we visited Kevin’s studio on board his wee boat in the harbour to purchase this lovely record and we are thrilled with the results, some of which you can see below.

Once in the harbour we anchored and long-lined back to the north shore, creating a swimming triangle behind the boat. We were both struck by how small Fiscardo was, having heard so much hype about it, we had expected a expected a much larger bay. The quay was full, but has very little space in the base case. Ferries came and went with monotonous regularity and the north shore was the only viable place to stop. The town has put some rings into the rocks to which you can tie back long lines. After we had moored, in the process clobbering (not very hard) the French boat that was alongside us we observed a German couple come in and do a textbook moor, her off attaching shorelines whilst he casually waited in the boat. When she was ready he backed gently up to the line she was holding out from the dinghy. No drama, very cool. We live and learn!

The town was picture book pretty with a raft of restaurants all touting for business. Kevin pointed us in the direction of one good Greek tavern and we enjoyed a nice meal ashore on our first night.

It was perhaps a bad decision to stay another day as although the weather forecasts posed no contra indications, we endured a lively and unexpected 16knot headwind and a large incoming sea, all the ingredients for not wanting to be on the north shore! With night falling, there was nowhere to go other than out to sea, so we made full preparations to leave should the mooring become completely untenable, and kept full watch to ride it out. Thankfully our 50m of chain and anchor kept us moored safely and by 1am the worst was over. We are told this is not an uncommon occurrence and almost certainly a feature of all the high ground of both Kefalonia and Ithaca and the narrow channel between the two.

It was here that we finally found out we needed to go back to Corfu by 20^th June to meet the Sunbeam team. Instead of going further south, we needed to begin a trip north once again.

A great stopover in Sivota on Stavros’ pontoon enabled us to recharge and fill with water.

We then sailed north east to Kalamos for a night in the main town. Kalamos is a practically deserted island, with visiting yachts providing the mainstay of the economy for the surviving residents. We arrived at 3pm and only just in time to get the last mooring space on the quay and the inimitable ‘George’ guided us in and saw us safely tied up. Thereafter vast numbers of boats arrived seeking safe places for the night. George shoe horned in as many as possible, the charter boats looked after themselves and for a while in the strong katabatic afternoon winds, it was chaos and manic in the small harbour. Peace eventually reigned supreme, with the latecomers anchored outside of the entrance, and almost everyone converged on George’s tavern for supper. George has the place sewn up and has put paid to any likely competition, as the other establishments were bars only. The village above the harbour was like a ghost town, so sad to see such dereliction.  An interesting stopover, but not one we will rush back to!

By contrast we stopped on our last night in the inland sea on the north coast of Meganissi in the bay of Abelike. We found a sheltered spot and long lined back. Typically Mo swims ashore with the ropes after anchoring to secure them to shore. We are improving the technique each time.

A night in Preveza was followed by a long 50mile day sail to Platarias, on the Greek mainland opposite the middle of Corfu, where we have visited a few times before. With a moderate wind on the beam we averaged 6.5knots for the first two hours  and again a fast sprint for the last three hours, unfortunately a beat which was quite lively,  We arrived around 4pm on Friday 16^th June and were amazed and delighted to get a place on the quay, where we had chosen to be for the bad weather forecast for Sunday. On Saturday the harbour filled up with charter boats and others seeking refuge. Sunday dawned benignly, but by 2pm the northwest winds increased to 25 -30knots and the harbour was lashed by a relentless sea. The harbour wall design left much to be desired as, instead of providing a safe barrier, the tunnels through it allowed the sea to penetrate the harbour and roll the boats in a very uncomfortable and dangerous way!

We made a few new friends whilst fending off the boats and watched many unlucky boats arrive and depart in the ugly sea.  The next day calm was restored and we continued our journey up to Gouvia. We decided on arrival to anchor outside of the marina for the night as it was so hot we would be able to swim off the boat. The Sunbeam team were expected the next morning so we up anchored and headed in mid morning of the 20^th. What happened next is another chapter!

On Saturday evening, 27^th May, Bill and Cheryl, our American friends from Montana and California, (their two homes they share their time between) surprised us by arriving early to Gouvia Marina in Corfu and we had to bid a hasty retreat from our neighbour’s boat, AirWaves, where we had been ensconced with Chris and Eileen putting the world to right over a beer or two, having spent the day preparing Deja Vu to receive our visitors.

Bill and Cheryl were on a multi destination trip in Europe, with us the penultimate stopover and their luggage did present an immediate challenge, which, we are pleased to say, Gouvia Marina solved by storing two suitcases of unwanted gear for their week sailing. They had joined us before on our older boat, have sailed off the Californian coast and learned the ropes, and we were looking forward to spending a week together.

After boat familiarisation and a trip into Corfu town, we set off from the Marina and enjoyed some great sailing heading always for the blue skies which took us away from mainland Greece, besieged with dark stormy clouds and rain, to the southern tip of Corfu and the anchorage at Petriti. Our planned BBQ did not materialise as the rolling sea and stiff breeze put paid to it, but Bill worked wonders on the beef, with a red wine marinade and with seasoning from many of Mo’s store cupboard herbs and spices.

Our week sailing of good fair winds took us to Paxos, where we spent a night at Gaios and then an overnight stay in Lakka Bay, which turned out to be a firm favourite. Fortunately the main charter fleet seemed to have left the anchorage to return boats to Corfu, and it was unusually empty and civilised in the Bay.

A week is not long on a boat and their time was quickly running out. Our return trip took us to the anchorage off the town of Platarius on the mainland, then swathed in sunshine, before a windless motor on our last day back to Gouvia Marina.

We enjoyed a great week with Bill and Cheryl, chewed the fat on many a subject, political and other. I am not sure if we are any the wiser about Donald Trump other than the alternative was deemed to be unacceptable. The news we receive and absorb from the States is, apparently, very different from reality and the truth, if anyone knows what that is!

Time to re-vital, fill up with water, bid farewell to Bill and Cheryl and for us to head back south, which we did via Petriti again and Paxos. We went ashore in Petriti for a sundowner in a nice bar on the waterfront. In the shallow water off the bar a small octopus was sighted moving around with wonderful grace. However it has sadly tempted fate too much and one of the locals grabbed a fishing spear and put an end to its short life.   The reality behind the seafood we enjoy was all too apparent.

We tried a new bay at the bottom of the island of Paxos, Mongonissi, a delightful inlet where we were proud of ourselves to long line successfully in a very pretty spot in the bay which sported both a bar and restaurant. We went ashore for a recce and will have to save the restaurant for another time. We left Mongonissi late morning to wait for the afternoon wind to sail down to Preveza, a 30 mile trip. After 3 hours of motoring, we were well rewarded with a fast broad reach in 14knots of wind, feeling very pleased that we were not going the other way.

Our night on Preveza quay was very disappointing when we found the motor boat adjacent to us, Queen of Hearts, insisted on running its generator all night despite the fact it was directly opposite a power supply. Nigel was incensed and did not spare his tongue when venting his fury at the boat’s owner who apparently could not survive the night without his air conditioning and television. We were pleased we interrupted their film viewing but we did have to decamp to our forward cabin to get away from the noise and the diesel fumes of his generator. Enough said. We were pleased to depart the quay. You just never know who you are going to meet or moor beside. The world is full of very strange and some very selfish people.

We have just heard the election results and are marvelling at the idiocy of our politicians. Tom sent us an hilarious email: ‘Did no-one see the enormous elephant jumping in the room? The Europeans must be bemused (amused?) as we fall from grace, repeatedly shooting ourselves in the foot, which also happens to be the national mouth.’ Pleased to say we are relaxing in Vliho Bay for 2 or 3 days and getting ahead with our reading, which for the benefit of our sanity, is all fiction.

We landed in Preveza on Wednesday May 10^th and on Saturday May 13^th we launched Deja Vu from Cleopatra Marina’s boatyard. Those three days were really hard work, firstly removing the winter cover, then preparing the bottom of the boat for antifouling, actually painting on the antifouling and finally polishing the hull. Although exhausted we were pleased with our combined efforts as Deja Vu was gleaming!

We tied up for a few days in Preveza Marina whilst we got ourselves ready for sailing and waited for a storm or two to pass through. The topsides thoroughly cleaned (the amount of accumulated dust and dirt was incredible), the jib was hoisted and furled and the shopping was done. It was great to have a car to carry water, beer and other of life’s essentials from the out of town supermarkets to Deja Vu’s store lockers.

Our maiden sail of the year was Friday 19^th May and we headed down the Lefkas canal and decided to overnight in Spartakahori, on the north side of Meganissi at Porto Spilla, the dominion of the much feared proprietor Babis. We definitely did the right thing to call ahead and ask if we could moor up and we hope we made a good impression as it seems that Babis only extends the hand of welcome to those he likes!

From there we had a great sail across to mainland Greece and back, a 15 mile round trip just for the joy of sailing as it was a beam reach.

A couple of nights in Vathi followed whilst some bad weather went through and then a calm night at anchor in Vliho Bay.

Nigel went to the assistance of a lovely couple aboard a Halberg Rassy, who in their efforts to up anchor and depart, pulled up a heaving mass of tackle from the seabed and they were well and truly in a fix. Nigel and David battled all afternoon and finally got free of the mess. The joyful outcome was that we spent a very pleasant evening in the company of Liz and David, who entertained us with tales of their many years sailing in the area and their imminent plans to move to Queenstown in New Zealand. One nice much loved old boat is now for sale!

Time to go north again so we headed back through the Lefkas Canal and sailed north to the island of Paxos where we planned to brave the “chaos in Gaios”. It was pretty busy with other yachts and annoyingly we did find small fishing boats occupying large swathes of deep water quayside. This coupled with the recently established tripper boat quayside areas is reducing space for yachts, but it does free up after 5pm when the tripper boats leave and is fine as long as you are away by 10am the next morning!

A steady sail averaging 5 knots over 7 hours took us from Paxos to Corfu where we arrived on Thursday 25^th May and anchored just outside Gouvia Marina.

We are now in the Marina awaiting the arrival of our American friends Bill and Cheryl Sanderson who arrive tonight to spend a week with us. We are hoping for fair winds and a bit more settled warm sunshine so that we can enjoy good sailing, good anchorages and hear all about the joys or otherwise of their new president.

We had a taste of hot weather in February this year, with a very pleasant sailing trip in the BVI’s aboard yacht Pipistrelle with our good friends Bob and Elaine. We caught up with them for a week prior to their trans Atlantic trip planned for May. Now back in the cold UK we have started to look forward to warmer Mediterranean climes aboard Deja Vu. We have just started to pack all the boat bits we need to take down to Greece in about 3 weeks time. The cover will come off, the  anti fouling will be done, and, if time, a little polishing too, before we launch on May 13th. We will then set about provisioning her whilst we still have the use of a car to carry all the supplies!

 

Settled weather at last! We are slowly finding out how things work down here by talking to fellow sailors we are meeting.

There are a lot of elderly sailors, many of whom are Brits, who spend long times in each place, often blocking quays and berths for the sailors on a journey and just passing through. There are also lots of abandoned and neglected boats littering quaysides. We even saw a couple that had sunk at the quayside. The locals tell us Greek law prevents their removal as it is the owner’s responsibility. Often the said owner has long since passed away, and there seems no way can such property be ‘moved on’. Consequently some quays, notably the west side of Vlikho Bay and parts of Lefkas Town Quay are spoilt, rendered unusable and the investment made in developing a nice promenade, wasted through neglect. Oh for a harbour master to sort it all out!

In spite of the fact we had a week of benign weather with precious little wind, we heard many horror tales of sailing in these waters. The most famous perhaps, that is well documented, was the Vlikho storm of September 2011. An extreme weather event that is quite rare in the Med, hit Vlikho Bay in the early evening and sent a hurricane force squall to cause chaos both on land and water. Boats were flattened, one capsized and a great deal of damage was done in the ten minute carnage. It had been a combination of weather runes aligning to trigger this very local effect; preceding strong southerly winds, abnormally high sea temperatures providing hot moist air to feed the thunderstorm, cold torrential rain typical of a downdraught from a thunderstorm cell; the whole event gave rise to a new weather term of ‘microburst’. Horrific and terrifying at the time of course, but many people will not go to Vlikho Bay now, even though paradoxically is had earned a reputation of being a ‘hurricane hole’ providing all round shelter!

We heard other tales of crowds in certain ports, nowhere to moor up unless you arrived by 11am, poor shelter, bad anchoring. Perhaps we were being warned off to leave the space for themselves!

This makes life very difficult if you want to sail, as the breeze doesn’t normally get going until after lunch!

On the other hand we met enough optimistic sailors who painted quite a different picture to restore our faith in sailing here. They were enthusiastic with refreshingly reassuring and inspirational tales of their own.

We enjoyed a couple of days in Sivota on the south eastern side of Lefkas where we tied up on Stavros’ pontoon. The deal was that Stavros provided the berth, water and power, and showers, we only had to eat in his taverna. Food was good and very reasonable, so that was no hardship.

Vlikho Bay was a must on our itinerary to bury the myth and we had a very peaceful couple of days exploring here. Big downside of the Bay though was the proliferation of jellyfish which rather curtailed ambitious swimming activity. Instead we did jobs on the boat, polishing the rails and cleaning up down below.

Nigel celebrated a birthday on September 26^th, waking up on anchor in Atheni Bay on Meganissi and having a very pleasant time snorkelling. We then sailed back over to Lefkas and tied up on the IBA pontoon in Nidri and spent a very pleasant evening in the busy tourist town. We discovered the delights of Nik the Greek’s tavern and retired that night very happily sated!

As we headed north again, we stopped off in Varko Bay which was featured in our last blog, with Nigel walking along the shore beside the sunshades, beds and bar. Here is a shot of the same shore, with all trace of the ‘pop up’ bar and facilities gone!

We renegotiated the Lefkas canal stopping off for one night in Lefkas Marina before going past the swing bridge at 11am and back out into open water to the north. It was quite a shock to get 20knots of wind but we had a fast sail back up to Preveza, and a pleasant anchorage behind the town marina.

Countdown to the lift out which proved to be a well organised operation and now Deja Vu is safely ashore. There has been plenty of work to do to winterise her, not least wrestling with her winter cover, but she is now buttoned up and battened down for any weather the winter may present.

It is crazily busy here at Cleopatra Marina, we have never seen so many boats ashore. Apparently the most in one place in Europe.

We have met up with friends we have made in the islands and will share a farewell supper tonight at Panos Taverna with Dave and Dee from Australia, Mandy and Bob from Hampshire. We have also met up with Ian and Glynis from Saddleworth, north of Manchester,  who kindly offered us a lift to the airport in their hire car. We are hoping to keep in touch with everyone and meet again next year.

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 21^st September.

Sunday September 4^th we returned to Gouvia on Corfu very late at night to find Deja Vu just as we had left her. Joining us for a week were John and Ada Roberts, friends from Farnham, who were looking forward to the plan of sailing with us to Kefalonia.

However we had known before we left home that storms forecast would prevent us getting away in the early part of the week and it transpired we were very fortunate to have extra days on our booking in the Marina to enable us to stay on there.

We had arranged to hire a car until Wednesday and explored the island by land as gales and torrential rain swept over Corfu. The scenery on the west coast close to Paleokastritsa was mountainous and impressive, the beaches sandy, unfortunately deserted in the inclement weather!

We had a nail biting journey through the middle of the island as the roads through villages got narrow, cars were parked everywhere and sightseeing tourist coaches were trying to drive through against a steady stream of traffic going the other way. We reached many an impasse with some heroic manoeuvres being executed to free up some space. We were grateful to have a small car and as we escaped the worst of it in driving rain, it was clear there were major problems behind us.

Our foray north took us to Kassiopi, a pleasant resort, but we were not impressed with the northernmost towns of Acharavi and Sidari, which had an air of abandoned US outback to them.

So what about the sailing? Beyond Wednesday the outlook remained grim, so on Thursday John and Ada admitted defeat and rescheduled their flights from Corfu instead of Kefalonia, a trip we were never going to manage in the time with the persistent strong southerly winds and storms. It was immensely disappointing for them especially and expensive, as it turned out, but we could find no alternative solution to get them home.

We did manage a couple of sails locally including a visit to Platarius where we enjoyed a lovely fish supper.

On Sunday 11^th September we dropped John and Ada off by dingy on the shores of Garitsa Bay where they would be well placed to get a taxi to the airport. As they left, another thundery squall came in to the bay and we endured a very uncomfortable night .

Monday 12^th September still had the risk of storms in the forecast, but there was a new optimism now for an improving spell of weather. We set off south, firstly 30 miles to Paxos and then 40miles the following day to Preveza, sadly mostly done by motor as the wind had decided to abandon us temporarily..

Here we are in Preveza today Wednesday 14^th September, on the town wall. We have a whole new area to explore to the south and plan to set off tomorrow when we have filled up with water and food!