Eastenders in Greece

We tied up in Sivota anticipating the famous annual regatta and found ourselves moored next to the cast of Eastenders - without the television programme's sophistication and elegance. The racing boats arrived during the afternoon and evening and gradually the harbour filled up. The band struck up and two skinheads struck eachother, resulting in blood on the quayside. Cowes was not like this. However despite the unpleasant behaviour of the youths and the casulty of a girl sprawlwd across the jetty thanks to an excess of alcohol it was a pleasant and entertaing evening. We met up with Tony and Gill of Note Bene who we met in June.Nice meal, excellent company and an entertaining time. We are off to Meganissi now - a quiet anchorage.

Anchor Delights

We have had a couple of days of anchoring adventures. Here we are tucked into a quiet bay at Poros on Lefkada. We had it to ourselves until a super yacht complete with flunkies anchored mid-bay overnight. The following morning the guests (owners?) were escorted by two ribs. Either they were very poor swimmers or filthy rich and needed protecting from kidnap. Yesterday we tried the same routine and identified a small bay, One House Bay, on a rock (Nisos Arkoudhi) midway between Ithaca and Meganissi. We were not the only ones to have that thought and when we turned up the bay was home to twenty or more yachts...mainly a Sunsail flotilla. Thankfully as we arived they left. Delighted at the new found quiet we anchored...not once but four times. No matter what we tried we could not get the anchor to stick. It slid, it skated, it danced, it bounced but at no time did the damn thing dig in. We did harvest several tons of weed in the process and the sandy bottom had clearly been mixed with cement because it was not going to yield to our anchor. We gave up and set sail for Poros, around 12miles away. Good sail, 5+ knots under reefed jib. Slightly more heel than Mrs. T. would have liked but I kept reminding her she always wanted a well heeled skipper. We are now about to leave this little haven and head around the corner to Sivota where the famous annual regatta is held. There are live bands, festivities, much visiting of bars and other boats. We are meeting up with friends. Tomorrow may be hazy....and we are not talking weather forecasts.

Kefalonia

Currently at anchor in Eufimia on east coast of Kefalonia. It's very windy and too dodgy to try mooring on the quay so we are riding to anchor until the wind drops. However, as I type a gain Sunsail charter boat is going to have a go. Those of us at anchor are watching with interest. May have to dig out the video camera if it gets 'interesting'. Had a good saildown from Fiskadho today, 6 knots under jib...bliss.

Ionian Revisited

Well, we are back in the Ionian but for some quirky reason this blog won't let me copy and paste text from Word and so the several paragraphs I have crafted will forever remain locked in Word. Suffice it to say all's well. The main domestic batteries failed on Day 1 but were replaced on Day 2. We now have volts to spare. Currently at anchor off Poros in Rouda Bay, Lefkas. It's raining and the thunder echos around the hills. Good wifi connection thanks to new Javelin X20 and kindly cafe which has not protected it's wifi hot spot.

Will update as we proceed.

St. Malo to Bordeaux

The deck seating arrangements lend a new meaning to 'armchair sailor'.

Here we are not long out of St. Malo as we head along the north Brittany coast aiming for Bordeaux... a mere 450 miles away to deliver Steve's Contest 29.

We always knew the run along this coast would be a slog - largish seas, head winds and tides which even Noah would have struggled with.

We were encouraged by the thought that once 'round the corner' the sun would shine, the winds would turn in our favour and it would be downhill from then on.

We fought our way along the coast, tackled the awesome Chenal du Four and headed for Cameret...with arguably the best seafood on the planet. The sun did appear once 'round the corner' but not for long.

The fog stayed with us for two days which meant straining eyes and ears as we sailed from Cameret to Ile d’Yeu via Belle Ile.

Belle Ile it may well have been if we could have seen it.

The area is not much used by shipping and the ferries ply between the islands and the mainland so we were not in an area of high traffic but there was always the risk of encountering a fishing boat or another yacht. In two days we saw one other sailing yacht and thought we heard the engines of another two boats.

We were so pleased when the fog decided to go.

In search of the giant prawns

Thirsty work this flying.

Thursday 10th. June

We wake to see the Oyster getting ready to leave. The ‘crew‘ is on the foredeck and is hosing down the anchor chain as it comes on board. Now that really is showing off.

We get under way soon after and head north towards a small fishing harbour called Petriti. There’s no wind. Not even the slightest zephyr and so we embark on a motorboat trip. The sea is like glass. We make 5.5 knots at less than 2000 revs.

We reach Petritis after 20miles and there, at anchor, is our friend the 57 foot Oyster. The harbour is full and so we anchor again. It’s a bit choppy but we hope that as evening arrives the seas will calm.

The plan is to go ashore this evening and select a taverna to grace with our presence. They’ve got a pretty fine corned beef hash to beat.

Friday 11th. June

Time to move on and this time we cross back to the Greek mainland in search of a taverna at Sayiadha which serves, we are told, the finest prawns to come out of the sea. These are monster prawns - more langoustine than prawn. Jo plots the course. We arrive at a tiny harbour. When I say tiny I mean tiny. Half a dozen boats fills it up and the depth...well, put it like this the echo sounded read 'ZERO' when we moored up and another boat which arrived swears he dug a groove in the mud with his keel on entering. Taking up pole position on the jetty is a Welshman who clearly 'lives' there and said he'd see us when we return in September. He's not going anywhere then.

Sayiadha is interesting. It's on a sliver of land no more than half a mile wide and ten miles long. It separates Albania from the sea - which must annoy the near-coastal Albanians a lot. There's a heavy police and army presence as the hills overlooking the area are Albania and in the past there have been reports of pirate activity and looting. All seems quiet now and such illegal activities seem a thing of the past however we did spot one tree adorned with bottles and a noose. We interpret this as meaning "steal my wine and you'll end up in the noose." Maybe we have a vivid imagination?

We spot a small bird, the twitchers among you will be able to identify it, 'drinking' from a dripping stand pipe while two Greek love-birds get all romantic on the jetty.

There's a small fishing fleet based here, hence the monster prawn speciality, and the local kids use the fishing boats as diving platforms.

We book ourselves in to the taverna and can report that the prawns are every bit as good as their reputation.

This is the end of our Ionian adventure. We've had a great time, seen some amazing places ranging from deserted villages ruined by an earthquake to other villages ruined by being grockle-infested. We've had some great sails, motored more than we'd have liked, had some character-building experiences with an anchor windlass and seen some of the clearest waters and skies ever.

We're back in September but now it's time to return this boat to Gouvia and we fly home tomorrrow.

Thanks for sharing our adventure with us.

Anchor fixed and we're off.

Wednesday 9^th. June

Well, last night’s slap-up meal was more slapped-together than slap-up. We opted for the grilled special; pork, chicken and lamb on the spit. The meat was dry and looked as if it had been around for some time. The restaurant was recommended in the pilot book we use but that was written five years ago and things change. We’ll update the author for the next edition.

Today it’s hot – there’s not much wind and Dimitris, the electrician, and mate have turned up to fix the windlass. It’s a sod of a job. The windlass is in an awkward spot in the forward chain locker. It’s held on by four bolts, unscrewing the bolts and the motor drops. It’s heavy. There’s not much room to work and it’s at times like this I am thankful I am not a marine electrician. Dimitris is stoic. Once the cable and windlass are free he’ll have to take them away to remake the corroded connection and then the fun really starts as he tries to put it all back together again. Oh joy.

I did an early morning run to the bakery and bought two croissants for which I was awarded two stars. Sadly I forgot the bread for which I was awarded minus three stars. I am currently into negative equity.

The fishmonger next to the baker had five cats patiently waiting for a few scraps. Very Greek.

The Sailing Holidays flotilla is off to Two Rock Bay today and we are grateful we didn’t time our visit when the flotilla was in. Nice enough people but it’s a bit like turning up at a restaurant and discovering a Saga coach party has just arrived.

The flotilla boats are gradually moving on and a German boat has managed to foul one of the Sailing Holiday boat’s anchor. He lifted his and got one free. Much shouting and swearing in German. Apparently crossed and fouled anchors are a fact of life here.

A tripper boat with Merlin as the figurehead eases out of the anchorage and follows the sister ship. (see pic)

A super yacht, a ketch, moored off the island last night, too big to get in. Not that that stopped them coming ashore. The tansom opened up to reveal a tender garage. She looks very smart but needs a fair size crew to operate. Bet their anchor windlass works!

Dimitris has revealed that he hopes to fix it all here without the need to return to the workshop. That’s a blessing because we did wonder when he’d return once he’d vanished. So far we’ve heard no Greek swearing from the front end…which is more than can be said for us when the damn thing failed!

Good news. Dimistris has fixed it and all in situ. We now have a working windlass and can set off.

We decide to leave Gaios by the northern channel and see if we can spot the abandoned liveaboard yachts Colin mentioned as a possible place for us to moor if we had problems finding a mooring on the town quay. We pass various inter-island ferries, various tripper boats but there’s no sign of the liveaboards.

We head north to Lakka, (first pic) a small town and bay on the north of Paxos. It holds special memories for us because five years ago this is where Mrs. T agreed to become Mrs. T. They say villains always return to the scene of the crime.

We anchor next to a Lagoon 440 occupied by a large German and his equally vast wife who poses on the bow (see pics) . She also has some attributes which are obvious from the accompanying photograph. As you’ll see she has ample pot plants, probably herbs, which she has arranged on the after deck.

We are soon joined by a 57 foot Oyster and for the non-nautical types reading this I should point out this is not some mutant mollusc but a rather smart boat. The guy who we think must be crew hoses down the deck as if water is not an issue and so we assume this travelling palace probably has a water maker.

We dinghy ashore and take cocktails in the terrace bar overlooking the bay. Singapore slings have never tasted so good. We return to the boat for corned beef hash…and before you smirk, let me tell you that tastes pretty good too.