Levkas canal 2018

We arrived in the bay of Parga on mainland Greece and toured the potential anchoring spaces. We had motored much of the way across and we were early, so the afternoon breeze was still building. One of the problems of sailing and anchoring here is that you need to get to your destination in time to get a space, but then miss the best of the sailing breeze.
The small harbour was already taken up with two flotillas, Neilson and Sailing Holidays. We had run into the latter group on Paxos. I am not sure whether this was a specific tour for older sailors but the average age was at least 75 with many of the teams well into their 80's. Good for them. Made us feel like mere youngsters.
We had a go at anchoring with a line ashore but there were rocks about near our stern so we picked up and moved into the bay. It was then we realised we were parked behind three of the Scottish party boats. They were a bit more subdued than they had been, the wild nights and lack of sleep were obviously taking its toll, especially on the boys, but the girls seemed to be getting more into the spirit of Aphrodite and doing group topless selfies on the bow.

We had  been there for a while  (not watching of course) when the lead crew came and shepherded the stragglers over to the harbour to join in with the merry-making going on there in other party boats. I wonder how the meeting of the generations with the Sailing Holidays team worked out....perhaps they joined in!

This morning we had a reasonably early start after a quick swim. The water is warmer here this year than I ever remember it before. It makes the morning dip a real treat.
We headed S towards Levkas, the plan being to traverse the Levkas canal and visit Levkas town. This is a trip of some 40nm.
We motored for about an hour and then a light W wind arose and built slowly. It was a perfect sunny day and we sailed the rest of the way on a beam reach.
Since the Levkas canal is notorious for causing nautical anxiety I'm going to describe the next bit in some detail for any others who plan to do it for the first time.

There are extensive shallows and salt flats in the area between the Levkas town and the mainland. A canal was originally built by the Corinthians in 650 BC to provide a route from the Adriatic to Corinth. Some of the original building is still evident and has been incorporated into the current canal. The presence of the canal maintains Levkas status as an island which attracts various benefits from the Greek Government.

The entrance to the Levkas canal from the N is given a scary reputation in the pilot books and online sites. It is a narrow entrance that is difficult to spot until nearly there, as a break in a long beach.
This is often a lee shore with a following sea from the prevailing NW wind  which builds up and breaks as it shallows onto this shoreline. This is complicated by the shallowness of the approach with extensive possibilities for running aground. In addition there are ongoing redesign projects for the topography about which it is nigh on impossible to get accurate information.
The most recent version of Heikell's Greek Waters Pilot 2014 (which I got for Christmas) is now out of date and shows things relatively unchanged compared to my old version from 1999. This shows a long sandy spit on the W side of the entrance that in reality has now been greatly reduced in size.
However there are now 3 very permanent looking yellow special marker structures where the old spit was. On one of my chart plotters (Navionics) these are shown as being fingers attached to the point, and on the other (Raymarine) as an area under construction.
Whatever, all you have to do is go round these and through a nice pair of lateral channel markers into the holding area, which has a well fendered concrete berthing area and plenty of room.
Levkas, being an island, cannot remain so and have a permanent bridge to the mainland. The local authorities have ingeniously got round this by having a floating bridge that is officially a sailing vessel (s/v Santa Maura) with flaps at either end that can be raised to let boats through. It can also be rotated 90 degrees to allow larger vessels to pass. The bridge is supposed to open on the hour with a klaxon as the warning.
It was mooted in the Pilot books that the hourly opening schedule was often interpreted in the Greek idiom in relation to time.... so be prepared to be patient. However for us it opened bang on the hour.
 We were first in line and had been valiantly holding a static position against the windage and various currents for some 10 minutes while we waited quietly for events to unfold.
This gave a couple of French boats the opportunity of demonstrating their skipper's (and Nation's) disregard for the civilised practice of queueing. Or maybe we were just being punished for belonging to the nation that has spoiled European Integration. In which case I suppose their intimidatory manoeuvring ahead of us at the last minute might be morally justified.
The rush to the opening gate was like Le Mans. Except that it was mis-timed and the brakes had to be applied in order to avoid an unseemly pile up, especially since traffic coming the other way had priority.
The short passage down the canal to Levkas town was well buoyed. We intended to moor up stern-to the town quay. We motored up and down a few times. There were several empty berths but they had painted logos indicating they belonged to a yacht club. Several of the spaces had ropes across from the boats on either side at head chopping off level - I presume to indicate that itinerants are not welcome.
Eventually we spotted what seemed to be an empty berth with yachts our size on either side, and without property right logos or garroting wires. So in we went in reverse, anchor dropped 4 boat lengths out and all seemed to be going fine. Until about 5 metres from the quay we stopped. The usual cause for this is that the anchor has bitten and the chain has pulled you up short.
I issued seaman like instructions to the bow to lay more scope. However instead of "aye, right away Cap'n" there was a shrug and a bemused face, and a somewhat unenthusiastic press of the down button.`She also muttered 'there's plenty down'.
This did not seem to have helped much. The chap on the boat next door was taking an active interest, as they do in the cause of ensuring they don't get dinged, and took my lines. Thank you Sir.
However we still could not get closer than about 4 metres from the quay. I tried pulling and winching in the shore lines until the penny dropped. We were aground. It was quite subtle. I could still rotate the wheel but at mid point it was stiff and clearly the rudder was contacting the sea bed. Probably why this berth was empty. We abandoned Levkas town and headed back out into the canal.
Heikell's guide states that the canal South of Lefkas is marked by sticks and gives advice about staying in the blue water and avoiding the brown water. Now the canal is perfectly buoyed all the way down with brand new brightly painted channel markers which I think are also lit. A significant upgrade and well done to the Greek authorities who have found the resource to do so.
Of interest, the General Direction of Buoyage changes at Levkas town itself. This area is a bit confusing but once in the canal it is dead easy.
At the Southerly end of the canal there is an area of anchorage to the West of the canal. It is important to note that to access this you must leave the canal one or two buoys before the last one as there is an ancient stone mole extending form the shore to the last lateral channel marker.

We however chose to sail on down to the little town of Nikiana.
A very pleasant town, but still has a pre-season feel. We anchored off and dinghyed ashore for a beer. It is nice to be in this area that we know well from innumerable holidays here in the past.