Summertime Voyage

The cataclysm has come, but turned out to be more of a whimper than a bang. Leaden skies, a bit of a flash, rain and an apologetic rumble or two. Oh and an earthquake. The main event seems to have been further south where there was a good going scary earthquake plus a significant storm at sea, but we got off lightly and we managed to sleep through it. In preparation for our grand lift out, we were moved into the marina proper. It's a bit tricky with cross winds and strong currents but the staff stood by with a tender to give us a nudge if needed. Colin took great pride in doing it perfectly without assistance.. All that practise clearly showing dividends. Funny day followed. No chance to sail, and trapped into this busy marina with an atmosphere of beginnings and endings. Boats coming out and others going in. Hectic activity scrubbing and a feeling of anticipation all round. People asking 'are you coming in or going out?' All with this in a pervasive atmosphere of impen...

We are coming towards the end of this trip. I had wondered if we would have had enough of this peripatetic existence by this stage. But totally not so. I think it will be good to have a break but I will be very sad to leave the boat, and very keen to return in 2 months time to continue our trip. We have discovered that we actually much prefer making passages in the open sea than the hopping from bay to town quay type of sailing. There is room for both but yesterday we had a fantastic sail in open water with a good breeze and there is little to beat that. Yesterday morning we left Paleros, the small town near to the old Sunsail club that we had frequented. Again we had met a nice bunch of people around us doing similar things. The husband and wife team next to us were several years into their adventuring, having sailed two boats to the Med from the UK. Respect. On picking up our anchor to leave the harbour, the windlass started groaning and complaining then stopped.  We were enta...

We have spent the last two days anchored in a beautiful bay on Meganisi. Abelike bay. We are nice and secure having mastered the lines ashore techniques. There has been no wind, and a bit overcast but a lovely temperature. Reading a bit, occasional swim, evening film. All is good. The dynamics of the surrounding yachties makes an interesting tableaux. Many of them are just doing much as we are, and make occasional pleasantries. They are mostly engaged in similar pursuits as ourselves, watching us as we watch them. A catamaran of Scots arrived today and parked about 100 yards from us. They have livened the place up no end. We have been treated to a continuous diet of hilarity which would be very annoying were it not for the fact they are having such a good time. We have been treated to continuous whoops of laughter and various events like the synchronised buttock diving championships off the top of the cat. The rules seem to involve various bodily gyrations but both buttocks have to ...

We decided we must leave Fiskardo before we became another of the ex pats who gently decomposed in its magic ambience. There seems to be a community of boaties, who spend the day sitting on their bow under a sheet pegged to the genoa / mainsail, watching everyone coming in and out and laughing frequently at the errors made. Definitely time to move on. We had good interraction with our neighbours who had sailed here from Britain, round Bay of Biscay, Spain, Balearics, Italy ... respect. They were happy to share some of their stories and books and we departed hoping to meet them again sometime on our travels. We felt like a good sail to freshen us up and decided to circumnavigate Ithica... just because that sounds so good. Unfortunately the wind was not cooperating and we had a gentle putt -putt round it instead. That is, of course until we reached our berth for the night in Ag Euphemia on the Eastern coast of Cephalonia.  The Harbour Master was standing on the harbour wall direc...

Not for Navigation From Port Leone on Kalamos we sailed to Fiskardo at the N end of Cephalonia (see previous chart). We motored for a couple of hours and then sailed the last couple. It was actually good to motor a bit as our low battery warning alarms were going off this morning. In fact our voltage is now so low that the chartplotter will not start up without the engine on.We have been sailing a lot more than motoring and have not had shore power to charge the batteries for a bit. I have bought a solar panel but did not have the foresight to get the correct cabling sorted out, so that is a project for later in the year. I am hoping that this will allow us to run the fridge in perpetuity without the engine running. It doesn't stay cold long and the contents turn into a gooey mess pretty quickly in this heat. We got to Fiskardo early afternoon and were lucky to get a nice berth on the town quay. When I say lucky, it was actually pleasingly well planned. Fiskardo is normally ...

Another day of not sailing today. There are thunderstorms and rain about, though when they came it was mostly a lot of huffing, sparking and puffing. We are anchored in a bay on Kalamos island that used to be a small village, Port Leone. There was an earthquake in 1953 that destroyed the water supply and the small population dispersed. It is now quite an isolated anchorage, that is deep and needs a bit of nounce to be secure. The last time we were here the village was deserted but it is good to see that one house has been done up, is occupied and the church has been restored completely. I suppose the salvation of one soul is priceless. We rowed ashore (0.5k) and walked to Kalamos town 6.6k, 200m ascent over rough track,. Had lunch, and walked back. Souls saved but feet are raw and back hurts. Earlier in the day M had dinghyed ashore and had done her bit for the planet by collecting a couple of bags of plastic from the beach. We had a discussion about how if everyone wa...

Edited screenshot We left Kalamos with little expectation of much of a sail from the forecast. The Poseidon System site http://poseidon.hcmr.gr/sailing_forecast.php?area_id=ion , which is the Ionian equivalent of the the Bora site we had used in the Adriatic, showed small amounts of local wind in the Inland Sea area of the Ionian. Having said that there has been a steady force 6 in the off coast Ionian for the last 48 hours and predicted for another 48 hours. But not where we are. On leaving Kalamos and heading SW down the channel between Kalamos and Kastos, there is a derelict lighthouse on the next point. There is a shoal that extends a hundred metres off shore at this point. It is not marked on the Navionics charts I am using although there is a text note indicating a shoal in the area but the information is misleading and indicates the shoal is in different position entirely.  Wits required. Further mis-information - we soon ran into a brisk NW wind. Basically although t...

We have now done the journey bit of what we were intending to do, and with 2 weeks before we return to the UK we are in "having a holiday" mode. That is short journeys around the inland sea area of the Ionian and spotting anchorages and harbours we might use when family join us later in the summer. Yesterday we dribbled slowly down from Paleros to the island of Kalamos and moored up in the small harbour there. Lots of charter and flotilla boats but a very picturesque spot and a very helpful "harbour master", George who is the main Taverna entrepreneur in the town.We ate at his place later at Island Prices. Taking on a second hand boat has implications and responsibilities. In a strange way you have a relationship with the previous owners whose legacy you are dealing with and in charge of. Its a bit like buying a second hand motorbike, the wiring modifications, for instance, will reflect the personality of the previous owners and the love, or otherwise, they have s...

We came with the family to Spartochori many years ago as part of a flotilla and loved it . So returning was like welcoming an old friend , with an anxiety that our memories were flawed, or that it had changed with increasing tourism and commercialism. We needn't have worried. It was almost exactly the same, other than a few new apartments around the coast. The village towered over our anchorage at the top of steep cliffs and the hike up to it was not any easier than I remember. The panoramic view of the whole sailing area was worth it and the village was as beautiful and unspoiled as before. 2 small  tavernas and a supermarket were tucked into the twisty twiny street laden with bougainvillea and pots of geraniums. Lovely. We decided that spending the day languishing in the beautiful bay was unadulterated laziness. There are so many beautiful spots to see and only 2 weeks left on this trip!  We therefore made the pilgrimage to Vounaki  and Palaeros. We first came he...