Summertime Voyage

Misty headlands and settled sea. We motored from Fiskardo to Meganisi. There were a few periods of just about sailable wind but mostly a gentle motor in warm sunny weather. The boat has a very user friendly motor (Volvo Penta D 55 S). It trucks along at 2000 rpm giving 6.5 knots. Many engines will work optimally at higher revs resulting in more vibe and less comfort over longer periods of motoring. It is also quite a quiet motor however the sound insulation in the engine compartment is a bit archaic and is also deteriorating so I intend to re-do this at some point which I expect will make long distance motoring a better experience. George's pontoons We moored at Spartachori on Meganisi. This is the site of a fairly serious family feud with tavernas at each end of the bay competing for trade, and apparently at daggers drawn. We did not see daggers but the Maitre D'/ Marinero/ Boss of Porto Spinero, George,  is certainly assertive, with a booming voice heard miles acr...

We bumped into Huw and Geoffrey again in Kuoni and enjoyed a late sundowner with them. It turns out that Huw knows M's sister quite well. What a small world it is. We left Kuoni after emptying the dinghy of dead fish! The kids on the boat next door thought dead fish on deck wonderful. An essay on human nature. We headed out into the main channel with the intention of heading S to Sami. The wind was against us again but we were pointing well and outperforming several other yachts on the same tack, so what was not to like. We tacked down to the S end of Ithica and then motored the last few miles into Sami. We met a lovely couple, Eileen and Nick, who were in their first season with an identical Beneteau423 to ours. Same year with the same "perfomance" specifications and the same livery. We were compelled to visit them to discuss experiences. Their boat is in lovely condition with the internal varnish intact and has been kept in pristine condition by the previous owner. A...

M. We managed to leave Astokos with rather more dignity than on our arrival. Another glorious day beckoned and we set sail back towards Kioni on Ithica. This is a pretty village with an unspoilt but rather upmarket sort of feel and we enjoyed being here in the spring. It it usually pretty busy with flotillas packed in tightly, but we thought it would surely be quiet now at this tail-end of the season. So we dawdled, enjoying gentle afternoon breezes and yet another talking book entertained us on the way across. By the time we arrived however spaces were limited. We had forgotten that this is half-term holiday season and the flotillas are having their last fling over the next 2 weeks.We should have remembered because this was always the time that we used to come with our own family. From previous trips we remembered that there was a sneaky place to berth on the outer mole, reserved for the ferry between 10am and 5pm but available to all in evening. Just room for 2 yachts before larg...

Our next night was spent in Fiskardo town. We moored up on the town quay alongside a blue ensigned yacht. Despite the credentials they were not inclined to help new arrivals but managed just to wave a regal fender in our general direction. There was a 51ft Jeanneau on his starboard. Shortly after, a Gentlemen's motor cruiser in blue livery, flying another blue ensign arrived. They made a dramatically long run at dropping anchor and berthing along side us at quite a pace. Rather embarrassingly they ran out of chain some 10 metres short of the harbour wall. They managed to get lines ashore but despite huge regaling and encouragement to the waiters and Marineros ashore, no amount of pulling and huffing and puffing was going to get them within disembarkation range. So the four chaps on board went out and did it all again. During this second run over the target the other blue ensigned vessel on our starboard suddenly and inexplicably decided to exit. So out he went at high speed pull...

Paxos`- Palairis- Kastos - Vasiliki - Fiskardo So we have turned into feckless, purposeless Mediterranean wanderers. Going from port to port wherever the wind direction seems most propitious. Fram Palairos we had a gentle meander S to Kastos. A pretty little village on a small island with not a lot going on. It was evacuated in 1977 due to typhoid but has been re-populated since.All the islands seem to have slightly different insect populations. There are several, antipaxos, Scorpio for instance, which are heavily populated by wasps. Mogonsisi on Paxos had a huge population of large bright red dragon flies. Kastos had large numbers of bees that seem to forage on the mainland. On sailing down the coast of Kastos there were dozens crossing our path at right angles. many of them would stop and alight on something yellow, clothes peg, hand bearing compass, realise it was not a flower and then fly off towards the mainland some 7-8 miles away. From there we headed W to Vasiliki....

M. Emerald bay,  red pants We awoke to a lovely sunny but rather windless day and decided to tootle a bit further south. We motored down to beautiful Emerald Bay on Antipaxos and arrived just as the day trippers were leaving, giving us the bay pretty much to ourselves for a couple of hours. A different ebay The water there is so clear that you can see individual flat fish on the white sea bed in depths of 6 -7 metres and the iridescent blue of pipefish flashing past .The white of the boat hull reflects a green glow from the emerald colour of the sea.. and the sun shone. Absolutely glorious...and then the wasps arrived again. Why? seems no reason to the choice of habitat other than maximum disruption to the possibility of complete perfection . We desisted from lunch in an effort to minimise their scourge, and managed a swim to shore. It's not a place that you are encouraged to stay overnight so we headed back to Mogonisi on Paxos for the night . It's a small bay with ...

The cataclysm was just a bit late. Significant wetness We got up the next day (Saturday) with the plan to head off South again but a quick inspection of the sky showed a huge storm cell approaching from the NW. The boat next to us had been waiting a few days for crew members and were up at sparrow's cheep to be off on their adventures. "Are you sure that is a good idea" says M pointing to the approaching Apocalypse. "Oh I have checked and it is heading away from us " was the reply. Boom Flash Bang Flood occurred within 10 minutes. It settled down in the afternoon but we had a further 24 hours of intermittent thunder and lightning which kept us in port. However it did allow us to do a few jobs aboard and enjoy the Corfu life a little further. We found some really nice back street cafes and bars, as well as the most expensive coffee shop in the world at 5 Euros a cup. Style is not free. I have to consider laying up the boat for winter in the next few weeks ...