Familiar Cruising Ground

Having spent a lot of time visiting the Ionion islands over the past 15 years, it all looks very familiar to us. With the exception of one bay, we have previously explored all of the places we visit this week.

After a short rest in Mitika we tested the engine again and everything still appeared to be running ok, we wondered if it could have been something wrapped around the propeller that had since come off. Either way there seemed little point asking an engineer to investigate unless we could recreate the problem.

We decided to ‘suck it and see’ and travel 10nm to Spartahori, on Meganisi island, to meet up with friends on s/v Azura. This was a perfect bay for us (one of our favourites) as you can moor up to the quay, top up with electricity and water and do the laundry. The bay has nice clear calm water so a good opportunity to dive down and check that the propeller isn’t fouled or damaged (thanks Chris).

We enjoyed an evening in the taverna, over indulging on food and drink and catching up with friends who we haven’t seen for a year. They tell us about an Asian restaurant which has opened in Vlikho bay on Lefkas island. The next morning we were still unable to find any faults with the engine or propeller, so followed Azura over to Vlikho and anchored in the large bay protected by the surrounding hills. We met up again in the evening and visited Kim’s Deli where we enjoyed a very good Asian meal, (which is a nice change from the traditional Greek food) followed by plenty of local brandy.

It was so nice to have a flat calm anchorage with no rock and roll so we stayed here for a couple of nights. Our next stop was just 6nm north through the Lefkas canal to Lefkas town. With the exception of the last two bays, we hadn’t been off the boat for over a week so provisions and fuel were getting low. We visited the fuel pontoon first before mooring on the charter pontoons by the town which are available to visitors during weekdays. There are convenient shops and a good chandlery in the town so we were able to stock up with food and pick up some boat parts ready for Paul’s winter boat maintenance jobs.

Once all of our chores were done we went through the 8am opening of the Santa Maura floating bridge to head 40nm to Paxos Island. It was a cloudy morning in Lefkas, but the sun rose and we were heading towards blue sky and sunshine as we sailed north in a light easterly wind.

As we entered the bay at Lakka on the north of Paxos, we spotted our friends on s/v Wahoo whom we first met during our winters in Sicily. Within 10 minutes of dropping our anchor, we were invited over for Friday happy hour.

Lakka is a very popular bay with clear water, surrounded by tree covered hills and a small beach area.

There is a smart little town with restaurants, cafes, boutique shops and jewellers.

We spent a few days here swimming and paddle boarding, although I had spotted some stinging jellyfish so was a little dubious about swimming. Our evenings were busy socialising with friends on Wahoo and Azura. The bay looked pretty in the evening with the boats all lit up and it was nice to have fireworks celebrating our last night!

Continuing north, we set our course to travel 25nm to Corfu town. There was no wind so we had to motor all of the way, again it felt like the calm before the storm as there was some bad weather on its way. We managed to find a nice sandy spot to drop our anchor near the old castle in Garitsa bay.

During the evening there was some swell rolling in to the bay but we were fairly sheltered from it, there was a lot of thunder and lightening all around us.

By 6am the swell was building making Ziggy rock and roll, and the storms were approaching as the sky covered over with black clouds. Ed and Fred were tied onto our stern and bobbing around in the swell so we decided to lift them onboard and then let out another 10m of chain for further security against our anchor dragging. Just as we had almost finished, the heavens opened, I was still at the bow adjusting the anchor chain and got drenched, the rain only lasted a few minutes and by the time I had finished, it had stopped. I suppose it makes a change for me to be the one getting soaked while Paul was sheltering under the bimini.

The stormy weather continued and after a few days we went 14nm to Iggy Creek on the mainland close to Igoumenitsas where we would hopefully avoid the worst of the weather. This is a bay that we had not previously visited, we entered in past many fish farms (and fishy smell) and came to a well protected small inner bay with a seabed of mud, so very good holding. The water was flat calm as we anchored in 6m with 45m of chain and waited for the storms to come. By the evening we were surrounded by thunder and lightening again but thankfully it all missed us.

Our plan was to head north after the stormy weather passed, but first we returned back to Corfu town so that we could check out of Greece and also to meet up with our friends on Azura for our last goodbyes. There was a force 3 northerly wind directly in front so we had the engine on to travel 14nm back to Garitsa bay. We walked through the town to the main port to check out of Greece.

We found a great ‘Sweet n Spicy’ shop which was stacked to the rafters with every type of herb and spice, among other things. You had to fight your way in through customers and stock and could hardly move once inside. With a bit of patience, I managed to buy a range of products which will probably last me several years.

With all the necessary check out paperwork completed, we arranged to meet our friends at the Liston, overlooking the old cricket pitch, for a farewell ’coffee’. As always, one ‘coffee’ leads to another! It’s great to meet up with friends but then sad when you go off in different directions and have to say goodbye, but that’s boat life.

The following day we left the anchorage, the sun had just risen and was shining on the castle and town. Two large dolphins joined us briefly as we left the bay, and then we continued a further 30nm to Erikoussa, the most northerly Greek island. There was a northerly wind so we motored for a couple of hours until we turned west along the top of Corfu and the sails went up.

We moored in the recently refurbished harbour at Erikoussa. Being at the back end of the season now, it was very quiet with only three other boats there when we arrived.

The small town was also very quiet. I was quite hopeful when I saw the sign directing you to the various different establishments, but as we walked around everything was closed, the shutters were down on all of the buildings.

We had a restful night before motoring out of the harbour the following morning leaving Greece behind again.