Spilia Bay -> Vlikho -> Igoumenitsa

Morning in Spilia Bay. Ooooh Logariasmos. Can't get that tune out of my head.

Breakfast "chez nous" with the crew of Kerguelen. Orange juice, bread, jam, yoghurt with honey, and fruit salad! We all walk up the (steep!) hill to Spartakhori, the town on the hillside above the harbour. There is a lookout point with beautiful views over the bay, and the islands beyond. We walk through the town, and follow a road out of town for a bit, but it's getting late so we head back. It would be so nice to be able to spend another day here. I have visions of Dan being sent out to bring us back to Vlikho by force!

Eileen gets a quick dip at a beach on the way back to the boat. The water looks beautiful, but a bit chilly. The rest of us are too chicken!

Pack and clean up boat. Laurent dons his wet suit and snorkelling gear, and dives in for a look at his hull. Takes a look at ours while he is at it and sees a plastic bag around the prop. Would we like him to remove it? Yes please! Hélène throws him a big ugly-looking knife and he reappears a few moments later with a handful of shredded blue plastic bag. Thanks Laurent! 

Time to go. Tears all round. Laura takes the helm and steers us out of the bay while we store fenders and tidy up. We motor the few miles to Vlikho. There is not much wind, and we have to get the boat back. Our taxi is booked for 16:00. 

We call Sail Ionian on the VHF to let them know we are coming, and more importantly to make a space on the quay for us. "Rodney, Rodney, Rodney. This is yacht Mojito, yacht Mojito, yacht Mojito ..." No reply. As we get nearer, we see somebody waving to us, pointing to a space on the quay. Whew! For our final manoeuvre, we manage a near perfect stern-to. Just needed to let out a bit of chain to get closer to the quay. We go to the office, and Di and Linda are there to help us take care of the final paperwork. We thank them for everything, mention that there was no teapot on the boat, and leave a six-pack of Mythos for Dan.

Taxi from Vlikho to Igoumenitsa. It's the same ex-Formula 1 driver. Sitting in the back of the car I feel stiff, bruised, and battered. And tired. Very tired. But happy, and very proud of my crew. A well-deserved hearty slap on the back for both of you!

In the taxi we realize that we left the sailing gloves, hats, and most importantly Laura's camera in the cockpit table locker. Oops, forgot to look in there.

Ferry port in Igoumenitsa. The ticket office is actually in the ferry terminal! But where do we go to board the ship? "Out that door and 100 metres to the right", says the lady behind the desk. We go out the door to find a huge dock covered with cars and motorbikes and semi-trailer trucks. Dodging cars and trucks we eventually find the quay where our ferry will arrive. Foot passengers are definitely an afterthought in the ferry business!

Log entry for Friday, 30/04/2010

Fuel: Full

Batteries: 1 (engine) = 12.6; 2 (domestic) = 12

Water: 1/2

Engine check: OK (visual)

Bilge: 1/2 cup

Baro: 998 @ 12:45

From: Port Spilia, Meganisi; Log 9054.0 @ 13:30

Towards: Vlikho, Lefkada; Log 9059.8 @ 15:15

Sivota -> Fiscardo

Sunday morning in Sivota. We go for a wonderful bacon and egg breakfast in a place recommended by Dan. After breakfast I order a Greek coffee, and mention to Eileen that a "Greek" coffee is a bit like an "Irish" breakfast. She proceeds to enlighten me on the subject, explaining how an Irish breakfast has absolutely nothing in common with an English breakfast. I think I can safely assume that a Greek would do the same with regards to Turkish and Greek coffee. Totally different!

We go for a stroll along the road leading out of town. Eileen hears a pheasant. That's funny, Laura and I heard a chicken ... The steep hillside above the town is covered with beautiful old olive trees. How do they harvest the olives? We try to image what kind of machinery could possibly be used in such rugged topography. And how difficult it would be without any machinery!

The shops and mini-markets and bakery are all closed, and we have no bread for lunch. Eileen enquires at the taverna where we ate last night, hoping they might sell us a loaf of bread. The lady gives her a loaf, and won't accept any payment!

In anticipation of sailing without Dan, we prepare lists of things to do when entering and leaving harbours. Put out 3 fenders on each side, prepare two stern mooring lines outside everything, move the dinghy to amidships, lower the stern fender, prepare the anchor, ...

We prepare a passage plan and leave for Fiscardo in the early afternoon. Dan didn't come back! We are on our own (gulp!). The wind rises quickly as we leave the shelter of the bay, and soon we are sailing in 15 knots of wind, doing 5 - 6 knots. We leave the sails reefed, just to keep things nice and easy for our first solo sail. Our passage crosses the Kefalonia Strait, which is open to a bit of swell. Laura is a bit uneasy with the heeling and the motion of the boat in the waves. We remind her what Dan said about the boat being happiest when she has wind in her sails, and that reassures her. 

Despite it's reputation for being busy, there are hardly any other boats. As we approach the island of Kefalonia, we spot a small ferry coming across from Sivota. We don't want to be trying to manoeuvre in the harbour with him coming in behind us, so we go past the entrance to Fiscardo and wait for him to go in. This also has the advantage of giving us a good look at the entrance, which is reportedly hard to spot. The brown-coloured lighthouse on the point certainly doesn't help! It is the most inconspicuous light house I have ever seen.

After a few minutes the ferry comes out and we go in. There is space available on quay, we pick our spot and make a perfect approach. Drop the anchor, a nice man from the boat on our starboard side (Moody 40) takes our lines, the anchor holds, we did it! 

We stroll along the quay and find a nice looking place to eat. As we are waiting to order, a black bee the size of a small bird takes a close look at Laura. She panics and runs off, banging into a chair in the process. Ouch.

Back on the boat, where despite the fact that there is no tea pot, a good night's sleep is had by all.

Log entry for Sunday 25/04/2010
Fuel: Full
Batteries: 1 (engine) = 12.7; 2 (domestic) = 12.1
Water: 3/4
Engine check: OK (visual)
Bilge: 1/8 cup
Baro: 996 @ 12:50
Baro: 996 @ 15:45
From: Sivota, Levkada; Log 8988.5 @ 13:30
Towards: Fiscardho, Kefalonia; Log 9004.5 @ 17:20

Little Vathi -> Sivota

A lazy Saturday morning in Little Vathi. Breakfast in the cockpit. Dan arrives around 10:00 AM. We prepare the boat, and head out towards a nearby cupcake-shaped island to do some anchoring practice. We take turns helming and raising and lowering the anchor. Dan explains that the beautiful turquoise-blue colour is a sign of danger, because it means shallow water.

Then we head around to Abelike Bay to try long-lining. Dan and I stay on the boat to set the anchor while Eileen and Laura take a line ashore in the dinghy. We set the anchor and start backing towards them, but they are fiddling with the line around the tree. Five minutes later and they still don't have a bowline around the tree! Eventually they manage to tie some kind of a knot and bring the line out in the dinghy.

Eileen and I sample a drop of ouzo while Dan and Laura take the dinghy to a nearby beach.

Dan and Laura return to the boat, and we have a bite of lunch. Dan starts telling us about how much he loves the fresh-cooked squid in Greece. Laura is grossed out and the word "squid" is banned. Dan continues talking about how much he loves fresh-cooked "thing".


Dan keeps teasing Laura, and Laura says to him "I know why you tease me all the time. It's because your name is Dan. I have an uncle named Dan and he teases me all the time too!"

We sail and motor to Sivota, back on the island of Lefkada. This is to be a familiar pattern, as the winds are very flukey here. One minute you are flying along in 15 knots of wind, the next minute nothing. Furl the sails, motor on. Then wind! Quick, cut the engine, hoist the sails! Then motor.

Along the way Dan and Laura are scheming to surprise us with a "man overboard" when we least expect it. Dan plays his part by pointing out "the bat cave over there" to get us distracted, but Laura gives the game away by smiling and giggling instead of heaving the fender overboard.

We do a practice stern-to in Sivota. Dan jumps off to watch us do the real thing from the shore, by ourselves. We make a perfect approach and he takes our stern lines, but when we take up some chain we find the anchor isn't holding. We try again, it doesn't hold. Try again with more chain. Chain runs out. Lashing breaks. Anchor and 50 metres of chain are now lying on the bottom in 3m of water. Dan to the rescue! Apparently the water was a bit cold. Thanks Dan.


We take a stroll around the town. People are busy painting and cleaning and repairing, getting ready for the imminent tourist invasion. We ask at the taverna directly behind our boat if they are open, and if they have food. They are, and they do. I have meatballs laced in garlic. Eileen want's to know if Dan is right and orders "thing". One of them sneaks it's way onto Laura's plate of chips. Luckily the offending piece of squi-, I mean "thing", is discovered and removed in time! We have a lovely dinner, and cheap too! 


Back to the boat for the night. Which smells worse, mosquito spray or garlic breath?

Vlikho -> Little Vathi

Dan is eager to get on the water, and he starts us off easy with some motoring practice in Vlikho bay. Forward, reverse, tight turns, etc. Then we set sail for Little Vathi on the neighbouring island of Meganisi, where we will spend our first night aboard. 


We do several "man overboard" practices along the way. It consists of throwing a boat fender weighted down with ropes over the side and then going back to recover it. It's good fun and everybody gets involved. When we arrive in Vathi we do some stern-to mooring practice, and Laura and Eileen do a bit of knot-tying. Clove hitchs, round turn and two half-hitches, bowlines.

We are pretty exhausted from our long journey with sleepless nights, so we are glad when Dan helps get us moored up safely for the night and heads back to Vlikho. We have the entire evening to relax and explore the village, then go for dinner.

We take a walk around the tiny village and discover hundred year old olive trees, with huge gnarled and twisted trunks, wild flowers, and clear turquoise-blue water. On the way back we chat with the couple in the boat next to ours, who are live-aboards and have been in Greece for 2 years now. They tell us how it still surprises them to see a local pull up to the mini-market on a scooter, leave the scooter with keys in and bags of shopping attached while they run in for a few more things, and come back to find everything just as they left it. It's true that in many parts of the world you would come back to an empty parking spot.

It's early in the season, so there isn't much choice of restaurants. There are several tavernas on the quay, but only two are open. The nearest one has a bunch of locals around a table, which is usually a good sign. We choose a table near the water's edge, and a waiter comes over to take our order. When he hears our English, he just grunts and disappears. We are not quite sure what to do next. Did we insult him? Is this a Greek thing? 


A minute or two later an elderly woman (his mother?) comes to take our order. She has a few words of English. She says "We have Greek salad and omelette". OK, we'll have Greek salad and omelette! The food is simple but the portions are generous and the ingredients are absolutely fresh and the taste is wonderful. The salad has a huge slab of feta cheese on top, drenched in olive oil. Underneath are tomatoes, green pepper, olives. The onions are especially powerful. 

These islands are filled with cats. We have seen stray cats of all shapes, sizes and colours and Laura loves cats. They tend to swarm around the tavernas at night, hoping for a handout or some leftover scraps. Laura soon discovers that some of them can be unfriendly, as she is scratched by a cat who was probably expecting food and didn't get any. There are a few tears, but she is probably more shocked and disappointed than hurt. She will be more circumspect regarding cats in the future.

Back on the boat to prepare beds, brush teeth and change into pyjamas. The headroom varies all over the boat, and there are bits sticking out everywhere. Bump, ouch! I'm sure we'll get used to it eventually.

We settle into our bunks, and listen to the strange noises. Snap, crackle, pop. According to the Sail Ionian documentation, that is the sound of small fish eating crustaceans off the hull of the boat. Whatever it is, it is much more relaxing than vibrating light fixtures, and everyone sleeps like a baby, until ...

The mosquito.

Igoumenitsa -> Vlikho

The wake up call which was supposed to be at 05:00, comes at 06:00. Greece is one hour ahead of the rest of Europe. Is somebody still on Italian time or what? I'm confused. Our ticket says arrival at 06:00. We told Linda to book the taxi for 06:00. Let's hope the driver is patient... It's still dark out as we prepare to disembark. No clues as to what lies ahead.

The ferry arrives in Igoumenitsa at 07:00. Our taxi is waiting to take us down the coast to Vliho. It's an hour and a half drive. The sun is just coming up as we leave.


The scenery is beautiful, and much more mountainous than I imagined, but it's a bit of a roller-coaster ride. Is this guy an ex- Formula 1 driver by any chance? At the same time I can't help but admire his smooth style. Fast, but safe and comfortable. 

Along the way we spot lemon and orange trees, covered in fruit! We pass by the Preveza airport, where many charter flights arrive direct from the UK. The charters don't start up until May, so we know it will not be over-crowded with tourists and yachties. The down-side is that not everything will be open yet. Laura sleeps through most of it, but wakes up in time to get sick just before we arrive in Vlikho.

The taxi driver drops us off on the quay in front of a row of Sail Ionian yachts. Katie arrives to welcome us. She tells us to take our time and get settled in, and head over to the office when we are ready. We load our bags onto the boat and unpack a few things. Laura checks out the little crabs crawling along the edge of the quay. Then we head across the street to the office where we meet Linda and Dan. 

Linda helps us with the necessary paperwork and yacht Mojito, a Bavaria 30, is ours! Well, for a week anyway. We are doing what they call "assisted sailing", so we will have an instructor (Dan) with us during the day for an undetermined number of days. When he feels we are ready to head off on our own, he doesn't come back. Much as we like Dan, we are hoping there will come a time when he won't come back.

With the paperwork done, we take the opportunity to stock up on groceries in the local supermarket. Eileen is amazed by the selection of products. They have everything an Irish person could ever need, but that you'd have trouble finding in Paris. Even Johnson's baby shampoo. 

And it's true what they said in the guidebook, that the Greeks love kids. The lady in the shop says Laura is beautiful and gives her a free bar of chocolate!