Blinking anchors

Following all the excitement of responding (ineffectually) to a Mayday, we settled into a lazy couple of days in Sami on Cephalonia.
Sami was partially destroyed by the 1953 earthquake but was re-built as the main ferry port for the island. They have done a good job. It is very nice. A good harbour with a recent concrete wall, friendly staff and reasonable berthing costs. There are a range of bars and tavernas and access to the local tourist attraction of a fresh water lake that discharges into the sea.


We wandered about a bit, fed and watered. The next morning we saw Chris and Ebba off on the ferry to Patras. It was great having them despite the bad start to the trip.

Sami from ferry (M Still waving, zoom in)

Sad to leave (M waving goodbye)

Our neighbours in harbour have been interesting. On port we have had a nice Swedish couple in a beautiful wooden hulled boat of about 40ft. They're a bit older than us but very fit, they are clearly very accomplished sailors.Their boat was a Swedish marque I had not heard of (nor can remember) built in 1942, and clearly greatly cared for but also well utilised. We passed them on opposite directions a couple of days later and I have to say it looked magnificent under sail.
On starboard we had an English bloke, Tim, on Rampager, a 1972 Nicholson 35 with a painted

$%*&^**

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 blue hull. One of the problems of berthing next to a painted hull is the blue gets transferred. Blue fenders, blue topsides and blue air.
Tim was on his own, his wife having returned to the UK. A hugely experienced mariner having sailed all his life in both commercial and enjoyment roles. He was very complimentary about Summertime saying it was the best Beneteau had made. 😁 Nice chap.
There were few sailing subjects on which he was not an expert. This could have been annoying, however it was clear he really was an expert and knew boats and sailing from stem to stern. He had written up his knowledge of sailing into a manuscript to be submitted for a Masters degree. There should be more recognition of this type of practical and experience based knowledge, which otherwise will be lost.
We left Sami on a light E wind and sailed slowly up the E side of Ithica. The wind filled in as expected from the NW after lunch and we had a fantastic reach across the open channel towards the south end of Lefkas. Very pleased with the way the boat is performing. It definitely seems to have the edge on most similar sized cruisers in terms of pace and close windedness.
We moored at Sivota. I had remembered this as being a nice spot from many years ago. It has changed. It is not much of a town other than the bars and tavernas built for the yacht market. It is now the main base for the Sailing Holidays flotilla company. In addition every bit of shore space has been utilised for floating pontoons that they pack boats onto for 35-50 Euros per night.
We tried anchoring but pulled up a huge wad of weed. This is warned about in the pilot books so eventually we went onto a commercial pontoon. The marineros were very bossy and a smile could not be raised from them.
We just felt a bit processed and parasitised so I don't think we will be back.

The next day we sailed S again towards Fiskardo (orange line). As much as anything else to use the predictable NW afternoon wind across this channel which is a joy to sail. Again we seemed to have the edge on most of the other boats around us which was nice, including one of our big sisters the Beneteau 373, which we overtook despite it's cruising chute.

Foki bay South of Fiskardo

We anchored up in very pretty bay, Foki, a couple of miles S of Fiskardo. Steep pine and cypress tree line the shores with a beach and a taverna at the head of the bay.  We moored with anchor and two shore lines and had a peaceful night.
Today we walked to Fiskardo for some essentials. Amazingly some of the boats that were here when we last visited in June are still parked on the town quay. I remember the harbour master made some negative comments about the long stay yachts and the good will yachts get at present is at risk.



We had a bit of re-positioning and re-anchoring practice this afternoon.
We had returned from Fiskardo and I had just gone in for a swim when suddenly the boat was drifting onto our next door neighbour, an English couple in a very smart Najad who had arrived while we were in town.
They were very nice about it and we came to rest along side them. They had nice big fenders to protect the Najad from such eventualities.
They reckoned one of the other boats swinging at anchor in the bay had dragged their anchor across us. We had snorkelled over our anchor several times and it was thoroughly buried in good sand and mud and I can't see how it could have spontaneously lifted, so I suspect they were right. In fact the Najad owner had also checked our anchor in our absence to ensure we were safe to park next to.
We retrieved all the lines and motored out and reanchored further up the bay. It took three attempts before we were happy. Guess we were a bit shaken, but enjoyed some banter from an Australian crewed charter skipper who also seemed to know everything about everything and scrutinised our every move....  The ubiquitous antipodean.

Rod heikel reassures us that it's not just us having anchoring wobbles.. He reiterates that sometimes you just need a lot of patience and perseverence!