As regular readers are aware, we have been “stuck” in Greece for two years longer than originally expected. It is, of course, a wonderful place to be stuck but, if we want to cross to the Caribbean again – which we do- then we have to make the move.
Although our minds hadn’t been finally made up, when we left Kalamata mid-April we were fairly sure that this was going to be the year to go and by the time we left Preveza, at the end of May, we were sure it was – or at least we were going to try our best to make it happen.
Of course, nothing is easy. Somehow we have to get from Greece to, and out of, the Canaries within the post Brexit 90 days in 180 days ruling. Obviously, leaving the Schengen zone would mean we could take more than 90 days for the journey and, with that in mind, we contacted our insurers – Pantaenius – to find out if we would be insured for Morocco. Their reply was positive and so, although we hope not to have to go there, we do have a fall-back position.
Wanting to leave the Canaries for the Cape Verde islands at the end of October means that we really couldn’t leave Greece until the end of July [unless we took the Morocco option – but that is really there for if the weather or something unforeseen holds us up]. We therefore had to spend two further months in the Ionian.
We could have looked at it as “wasting time” but wanted to be more positive about it so we opted for revisiting places we like and finding a couple of new ones.
At the southern end of the Lefkada Canal on the mainland shore are two bays which don’t appear to be named on the charts where previously we had seen boats anchored. We chose to drop the hook in the more northerly one which, for some reason, we called “Cow Bay”!
Just around the corner, the second bay houses a beach cantina and we took the dinghy round for a visit.
In the opposite direction it is possible to walk up to the small town of Plagia and visit the castle/fort. Yes, you know the routine by now…. Closed/overgrown!
However, there were good views to be had.
Another anchorage new to us was “Pogonia”, off the long sandy beach to the north and west of Palairos. There were a number of bars spaced out along the beach….
….and a very traditional restaurant, serving excellent Kontosouvli, in Pogonia village to the west.
Palairos is one of our favourite places, not just because it has a taverna with great Indian food but because of the local atmosphere.
Mytikas is also a haunt we really like visiting and we spent a number of nights there on more than one occasion during the two months.
It too is very “local”….
…. with some great artwork on its lamp-posts.
Back across in Lygia Mike decided we should take a walk up the side of the Lefkas canal. He was sure we could get all the way to Lefkas…. But!!
It was a very worthwhile and pleasant walk even though we had to retrace our steps as we saw quite a few birds.
More importantly we found a winery….
…… and stocked up in good style – the Rosé being a particular favourite.
We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary whilst anchored there …..
…. and, on another evening when Steve and Gill came across for sundowners we got a rather surprising visitor.
She was staying at one of the small hotels and decided she would swim out to our boat. It was a bit further than she had anticipated and she was already at least “two sheets to the wind” when she arrived so we invited her on board for a rest. She didn’t take a rest from the beer though! Not sure which Eastern European country she was from as the conversation consisted mainly of name exchange, “thank you” and “husband” followed by her slashing her hand across her neck implying that he wasn’t going to be pleased with her. She was laughing all the while and provided us with some entertainment for fifteen or so minutes.
We revisited Port Athene and Kalmnos and, as in Lygia, were treated to some wonderful evening skies.
We also went for one night to wonderful Spartachori. It is really popular but, luckily, we were able to book in
In previous posts I have mentioned Vliho and Nidri as we have spent lots of time anchored in the former and taken the dinghy from there to the latter.
One particularly memorable occasion this year was a trip to Nidri to pick up some goodies….
“Dave’s Proper Pies” is a business which started in Corfu from where its reputation spread among ex-Pats in Parga and on Lefkas and we were lucky enough to be in the vicinity for one of only two summer deliveries.
There were lots more things we could have chosen but we only have a very small freezer and we do have to keep some of that space for ice!
Whilst on the subject of food, as any of you who have visited Greece will probably know, water melon is available everywhere and is often served at the end of a meal. Normally they are huge so we don’t tend to buy them for eating on board but we discovered some small ones… and even better, the melons this size didn’t have any pips and were really tasty.
Vliho Yacht Club is another place deserving a mention.
We have spent several early evenings there and also enjoyed their Sunday roast and fish and chips. Run by Vicky it offers an address for yachties to use to get parts etc delivered. Even though the packages often end up in Lefkas Town at a transport company pick up point, at least the Yacht Club provides a usable address as “Owl and Pussycat anchored in Vliho Bay” wouldn’t really do!
We had a new liferaft delivered directly to the Yacht Club and a couple of parcels to Lefkas Town. One of the parcels contained “pingers”. There will be more about these in a future blog but as you can see, we were very happy to receive them.
As you know, its not always plain sailing. This time it was a watermaker issue. Some time ago the pressure gauge leaked and we had a replacement sent out. However, the watermaker worked without it and, as it’s a tricky thing to remove, we didn’t bother replacing it. However, now we were getting a small water leak so something had to be done.
It took a lot of thinking, ingenuity and manoeuvring in a small space but finally, all was good.
We were now into the middle of July and ready to start moving. Steve and Gill left on 16th for Tunisia so the evening of the 15th was a bon voyage meal in Nidri….
…. and a farewell drink or two on “Coriander”.
We still had a couple of weeks before leaving so made our way south in quite a leisurely manner.
First of all it was back to Vathy on Ithaki – much busier than in late April/early May.
Given the crowds it was great to get away to the anchorage in the bay to the south.
If you read my “Easter in the Ionian” post you might remember that Mike and I walked from Vathy to this bay only to find the kantina closed. Well, this time it was open…
….but the best thing about this bay is that hardly anyone else anchors here – an almost unheard of thing in these busy waters. However, we did have to share it with a couple of “big boys and their toys”.
Heading next for the south side of Kefalonia we anchored off Spartia village.
A very beautiful bay….
…popular during the day – but quiet at night.
We walked up – and it was really up- to the village at the top. To be honest there wasn’t much there – just holiday homes, villas and a couple of small grocery stores. However, some of the home owners had gone to town with the decorations.
Our final anchorage was Argostoli, a place I visited on a land-based holiday to Kefalonia about 36 years ago. I remembered seeing a splendid loggerhead turtle in the harbour – he had obviously waited for my return!
We spent two nights there and on our first night chanced on a dance troupe. There was nothing to indicate which country they were from but they were very entertaining.
So, we were now at the end of July and ready to leave Kefalonia, and therefore Greece. Having learnt on my last evening that there was something called “Kefalonia Meat Pie” it had to be found and, before upping anchor we went ashore and found the said fare to take away.
Just one more good thing to remember from our extended – but fantastic – time in Greece.
