Back to Scooby in Kalami

Erikousa was an awesome anchorage and with a quick spy-hop in the middle of the night we had done a 180 and in the morning we were back with our transom pointing at the new marina that is being built. We decided to have breakfast in town and put the engine on the dinghy. I had spent an hour putting the RIB repair kit to use the previous evening and, shocker of shockers, Bonnie was pumped up to see us. We lit up the trusty Suzuki and headed in towards town (both restaurants and the mini-market). We sat down at an outdoor table and waved at a very disinterested waitress. Actually, that isn’t entirely true, I’m pretty sure that she was very interested in her iPhone. Anyway, the girls ordered omelettes and I ordered yoghurt and honey. I reckoned correctly that I would be able to eat both an omelette and yoghurt … and I was right. I also got to eat all of Jess’ tomatoes … very strategic ordering.

Heading out after breakfast

We then walked along the beach and I did a little bit of jogging. I had a brief conversation with an Italian woman who was asking if I was counting steps. I pointed to my Garmin & she laughed … una mille steps … we gave each other the thumbs up and carried on. The girls were in a deep conversation, not sure about what, but I wasn’t included .

We made it back to Tara and picked up anchor and decided to go back on the inside of Corfu. The outside has not much to see other than rocks so we decided we’d head back to the inside – with food, tavernas and good anchorages. Besides, the girls were missing the dog Scooby and wanted to go see him again. 

The handsome Scoobmeister!

There wasn’t a breath of wind when we left at noon and headed off back towards Corfu. After a couple of hours of powering we hoisted the spinnaker. It’s pretty big so we are a bit careful with it. Over the next couple of hours the wind continued to both build and move further aft. Once the wind was above 12-14 knots we decided to take it down but I made a few mistakes. First when you’re heading downwind it’s nearly impossible to pull the sock down the spinnaker. At one point I was nearly lifted off my feet as I’m trying to pull the sock down. I yelled for help, but wasn't thinking. We should have headed up, taken the power out of it and then pulled like the dickens. Instead I was pulling the sock down and fighting against it wanting to go up as it fills. Marina helped and we ended up getting it down, with me breathing heavily – about 50% from panic and 50% from exertion. Jess said it was the first time she’s heard my voice go up in panic – I would suggest not panic but urgent concern as my fingers were being crushed by the rope and I was being lifted off the deck by a very large sail. Head up, take the wind out of it, no problem. I need to think a little more about these maneuvers. I guess my head is so into airplanes these days that I am not thinking through my sailing moves.

With the spinnaker down we pulled out the jib and were still pushing high-5 knots and then turned the corner. The ladies wanted to head back to Kalami where we know there is both good food and a mini market to buy supplies. We passed a beautiful classic Dutch yacht on the way into the bay, and Marina ran the bow while Jess managed the helm. They both did a great job and we were very snug with a half-mile of chain on the ground. Just as we were anchoring a guy zoomed in with a rental boat and one of our British bay-mates gave him the “what-for” letting loose a few f-bombs … we laughed … this bay has a water-ski company in the corner – was he expecting a quiet anchorage? There are some yachties who just grumble grumble grumble …

We took to the water to cool down and scrubbed some of the scum off of Tara’s waterline. Amazing that after only two weeks the amount of gook that can cling to a clean and waxed hull.  This cooled us down and then Jess started reading her book A Man Called Ove aloud. She’s a terrific reader and it was quite entertaining.

Dinner at Thomas' Place included two
complimentary shots at the end, one Lemon Cello
and one a Kumquat Liqueur...both yum. 

Erikousa...something new!

The weather over the next few days is supposed to be very calm – with winds perhaps hitting the 15 knot range in the late afternoons. We decided to head up coast and to Erikousa to check out the beach there. It’s about 20 miles directly upwind today (of course) and a bit off the beaten path. 

This year we have further perfected the slow cruise –1200 to 1500 revs gives us between 4.5 and 6 knots towards our objective Erikousa. I have pitched an anchor there before with Ross, Matt and Mike Fedak, on our way up the coast to Croatia. We had left Gouvia and encountered adverse wind and 2 meter waves so I decided, much to Ross’ chagrin, to hide behind Erikousa and wait for the lower winds in the morning. We dropped a hook off the beach and then had a very early start – like 05:00 so we could get to Croatia some 200 miles north. Ross wanted to go back to the beach in the morning, I wanted to leave early so that we would get to Croatia in the daylight … the proverbial early bird got the worm, and by the time Ross woke up at 10am we were already 40 miles down range.

As we made our way to Erikousa I was reminded that once off the beaten path a little bit you are often a population of one. Where there might be 50 boats going to and from Paxos and Corfu, there appeared to be only one boat heading in our direction. Sometimes we wonder what the others know that we don’t – or perhaps it is something simple like we have the ability to take a little bit more time. When you are on a 1 or 2 week schedule a 50 mile sailing day can be a bit of a vacation-buster. But when you’re here for a month … it’s no so bad. 

We got into Erikousa and there were about 10 boats also anchored so we felt relieved we weren't totally against the grain. Marina and I SUP’d onto the beach … what an awesome beach. About a mile long and the sand is perfect. It shallows quite a ways out – like 15 meters from shore it is only shin deep. We pulled the SUPs up on shore and walked the entire length of the beach, encountering a number of people including a topless 60-something and walking by a kid who was pitching sand into the sea and having him pitch sand all over me. His mom gave him the what for, but Marina and I found it funny. We hoofed it all over the town, if you can call it that, and then back to the SUPs as the local ferry made its way to the ferry dock with what looked like a hundred people waiting for the Sunday departure back to Corfu. 

Spelling in Greece often brings a smile...

Through the day the harbour filled up, a boat here, a boat there. You know that comment about being off the beaten path -- well … that was a bit premature. Just before dusk more than a dozen Italian boats with what looked like all teens on board came into the bay and dropped anchor. They were all with OceanMedSailing and seemed to be on a floatilla adventure. While I originally expected a lot of teen partying, their boats were very quiet … maybe they have really good manners.

We had dinner on board, I read while the ladies watched Big Fish, one of our favourite movies...and then to bed. There was a slight swell from ferries or something causing us to rock pleasantly back and forth – but it might be one of those nights where you need to sleep sideways otherwise you roll around like a log in a lumberjack show.

The Next Couple of Days

We woke up around 8:30 and discovered the powerboat beside us had already bugged out ... and nobody woke up. How excellent is that? I woke up and headed up the dock .. after a quick visit to the awesome flushing toilet, I bought some ice and fizzy water and brought it back to the boat. I had noticed that they had camping gas at the store so I gathered up our old bottle and walked back up the dock. Marina hasn't figured it out yet but I am trying to stockpile steps. She gets a 15% premium (for her short yet shapely legs) if we walk the same distance so I need all the help and subterfuge I can. We managed to exit Gouvia without sucking anything into a propeller and headed back to Mandraki. It's supposed to blow pretty hard today so we want shelter from the NW wind. Spending time in the Ionian is a bit like sailing in English Bay ... you start to shit bricks when the wind gets above 15 knots. We have a well found vessel with an experienced crew ... so ... we've got to stretch ourselves a little bit over the next couple of weeks otherwise we might just as well be power boaters. After anchoring in Mandraki we headed into town to do some souvenir spending and to get some more steps on our FitBits. Jessie picked out a nice new linen shirt for me, now I can look like an authentic Greek. 

The walking streets of Corfu Town

We had lunch in town and we were thrilled to find the best burger place in Greece (so far)! They were amazing...very hard to find a decent hamburger here - souvlaki and gyros no problem, but burgers are usually frozen 1/4 inch patties with 4 inch buns. 

The burger joint...

The burger. 

After shopping we went back to the boat, made a dinner of BBQ sausages and salad, then to bed.

We bugged out of Corfu Mandraki in the morning as we decided to spend some time in less travelled areas. The Lakka, Antipaxos tour is special but very much oversubscribed. Also, the less that we’re willing to do some “out there” things with the boat the more that we become the Chicken Littles that often populate marinas … you know the type, the cruising sailors that don’t want to go very far, sail in much wind or take a challenge. We came across a few of these in Gouvia. Live-aboards with 6 inches of growth on the bottom, no sails in the rigging and more than a little eccentric.  

We put our big-boy pants on, weighed anchor and decided to find a place along the coast that looks good. We went past a few bays and settled on Kalami – turns out we were there almost exactly four years ago on August 1, 2013 on our way back from Croatia. We ended up powering all night racing against thunderstorms and it took about 10 hours longer than we had figured. After about 30 hours of powering we pulled into Kalami and went to The White House restaurant for breakfast. Four years later, life repeats itself… except for the 30 hours or so that we spent powering was more like 3 hours. 

Jess is dealing with both being parented by a ratio of two:one and also that her friend Hugh went home. She has a heat rash on her legs so she is hiding from the sun reading books and watching the occasional movie until it subsides.  

Marina and I left her below and went out for a SUP paddle and a swim, and then we beached the SUPs to walk through town – if you can call 100 meters with a half-dozen storefronts a town. We encountered many friendly people and went into a tourist store where the proprietor invited us to go for a drink at her bar above the Super Mario store for happy hour that evening. That sounded good to us … then we thought we might have dinner out at the White House restaurant … beats cooking on board. 

Taverna White House

That afternoon we each had a workout in the cockpit and got good and hot before diving in the water. There must be a spring or some kind of cold-water influx into Kalami since the water temperature was around 24 degrees … better than perfect conditions for Vancouver, a little bit chilly for here. We were anchored near Calypso of Cowes, a 70 foot traditional ketch with a British Family on it. 

Calypso

Marina made friends with the captain as our boats drifted to within 5-10 meters of each other when the wind dropped off. Our solution was to put the boat into reverse to stretch out our chain while letting out another 5 meters or so. Problem solved.

After another swim and cocktail hour appies and drinks, we pumped up Bonnie and headed into the White House dock. We told them we were going to take a walk and we went to the Kalami Bar above the Super Mario supermarket for Happy Hour. Turns out we were the only ones there … funny, bars that are so much fun when they’re full can seem quite pathetic when empty.  Then the owner that invited us to come arrived with her 8 month old puppy “Scooby”, a mixed breed dog of about 25 kilos with short brown hair and a handsome face. 

Scooby

Marina and Jess are missing Kida so went to see him immediately. He was very orally fixated biting and gnawing everything he could. If you ask me, his bite inhibition could be a bit better (ouch!) but it was pretty good for a dog that was on the street just a little while ago. 

After our happy hour drink we went to the White House and got a waterfront seat for dinner. 

Our view from dinner...Tara is the white sailboat at centre. 

The entertainment was watching a Pershing 54 powerboat (very sleek) with twin 1200HP Mann diesels move off the dock to anchor out. The moment he put the boat in gear it shot off like a rocket – I’d guess he idles at about 10 knots, so to maneuver he had to go in and out of neutral with these incredible bursts of power. Boy I’d like to see that baby run full-out. Apparently, they cruise at 35 with a top of 45 knots. Hmmm … get to Lakka in 45 minutes. Leave Lakka for Lefkas and be there in an hour … sounds good to me. I’d guess his fuel curve might be worse than that of Tara’s slow cruise though – 2 liters per hour vs. something like 500 liters an hour …slight operating expense differential!

We managed our way back to the boat safely and got everything sorted for an overnight stay. 

Time for Gardiennage and Water Up in Gouvia Marna

My alarm went off at 05:05 and it took me a minute to figure out what was going on, since I hadn’t heard an alarm clock for a few weeks. I padded out of my room and there were Jess and Hugh getting ready to leave the boat. Hugh finished packing, then Jess unpacked his shoes and socks (“Hugh, do you want to wear shoes on the airplane?”) and put them in his pack so he had them ready to go. Hugh pumped up the dinghy, we gave them last minute instructions on what to avoid and off they went. I tracked them into the marina and then headed off to bed. Jess decided to accompany Hugh to the airport and then grab a cab back to the NAOK marina. 

I was back in slumber-land when Marina woke me up saying that she can’t text Jess, so could I remind her of the name of the Hotel she needed to get a ride back from the Airport to.  Jess’ text back to me was “Yeah I know … I just don’t know how to catch a taxi … there’s a long line of cars but nobody in them”. I suggested she knock on a window as it was likely that they were just sleeping in their cars at 05:30. I heard her get back on board around … I have no idea what time, who am I kidding, and fell back asleep. 

Sunrise as Jessie got back on board. 

The rough plan today is to head over to Gouvia Marina for a night tied up tight as the weather is going to get windy, do some boat maintenance and gardiennage (fancy euro-word for boat cleaning) and maybe try to get off the boat for a day or two of something else, to help Jess adjust to being alone with her parents for the next couple of weeks. 😳  We pulled up anchor about 0900 and did the slow tour to Gouvia. Wind was already up to about 10 knots as we entered the marina. Nothing to the seasoned crew of Tara. Ha ... complacency set in.  The nose was getting blown right and Jess did a great job with the roving fender and I was watching Marina haul on with the laid mooring while the boat is nearly touching at the back. The fender is on the wrong side of the transom ... then I sucked the mooring line into the bow thruster. Go figure, something new. I reckon the Ormeggiatore felt a little sheepish as he was handling the line so he buggered off quick as a bunny as I jumped into the slightly ugly water and cut the mess away. Turns out it was a small piece that jammed into the blades of the thruster. No wraps. I showered off and we got into some serious boat cleaning, managing to use a lot of water to spray off the decks and clean most stuff off. We (Marina) vacuumed and wiped up inside, then I sat on deck for an hour while filling up the water tanks with 600 litres of very slow running drinking water -- thanks to the older British couple on the Bav 36 Serendipity for the extra 20 meters of hose we needed. Meanwhile a Kida look-alike ... not really a doppelgänger but black lab with a blaze on his chest, a little smaller than Kida but a very nice lad named Harry, happened by. 

He was recently adopted by Mary-Lee ... an American, likely service person that had been in Afghanistan, Japan as well as Greece. She's living in the marina on an older 40' Beneteau that looked like it hadn't left the dock in a while. Harry was a rescue ... apparently someone abandoned him near the marina and she adopted him. He was very handsome and equally good natured. He'd be a total keeper. I cannot imagine what the owner must have ben thinking to let him go. I also think living full time on board with a 30 kilo dog would be nuts unless your boat was 30 metres long and you had a full-time cleaning staff.  

Harry settled in the shade on his boat. 

Back to Tara ...the boat is good for another couple of weeks ... which is one of the things that we are trying to figure out ... what the heck do we do for the next couple of weeks?  We have a little boat maintenance to do, and we need to do some off boat fitness so that we don't all become tubs-o-lard. We did manage to walk to the grocery store and around the marina for the first 10,000 step day in quite a while (Marina did 12,000)... 😢). After a quick swim at the pool and Greek hamburgers -- all bun and no meat -- we went back to the boat for cocktail hour .... then out for dinner at Harry's Taverna 1912 where we had a terrific waiter that was really chatty (it might have been Harry himself). 

We had a nice time with him and learned a little more about Greek culture and politics. Funny, he's concerned about the Greek-Albanians, nearly a million of them that are taking the jobs of Greeks... if I could change one thing world-wide is to get humanity off the zero-sum-game thinking. The problem with jobs is not someone else taking them, is a general need for more. Making me poorer will not make you richer ... as we innovate, whether in service, product, or other value creation, that's how we all become better off.  Looking for someone to blame? Waste of time and you'll miss the point. Work hard, hustle, add value. After dinner we walked back to the marina ... by the flush toilets ... one of life's 'little pleasures', and back on board Tara. The wind was still pretty strong but nowhere near the 25 or so knots we had during the afternoon. We're such a cliche... the moment we get onto the boat it's a race to get ready for bed and crash. What party animals we are.

Muertos to Corfu - Hugh's Last Night

What a lazy morning. I slept until 09:30 and finally got out of bed as the kids and Marina were swimming. We needed food and water so we pumped up the dinghy, added some gas to the motor and Marina and I headed into town.  We went for a walk on the quay and spied a golden lab puppy on a 30 foot powerboat. We then selected a restaurant for breakfast and the all important morning constitutional. Breakfast was a tad pricy at 25€ but we got coffee, steamed milk OJ, toast, eggs and bacon -- which in Greece is kind of a blend of back bacon, regular bacon and prosciutto ... that would run you $18 at the Tomahawk in North Van, so maybe it's not too bad.  We then hoofed it to the grocery store where we loaded up on drinks and fruit & veg, dropped by the bakery on the way home and then back to the dinghy. 

Titanic...Tara...it's all the same. 

We pulled up anchor and headed north to Mandreki harbour on Corfu. We started off sailing but the wind pooped out so we pulled the kids behind the boat on the SUP and then we let out a long line and jumped off the side -- even Matt did it (he always feels like bait hanging off the line like that). 

SUP surfing!

Man down!

We offered Hugh the chance to ride on the SUP behind the boat by himself but he’s a wily bugger and saw that we might just keep on going if he fell off :-). 

Jumping!

"Fishing"

We pulled into Mandraki right at 17:00 — and since it was 5 o'clock here, I had a beer. The kids went swimming and then lounge-lizarding on the forward cushions while I caught up on email obligations. We showered and dressed for dinner, being our last night out. We pumped up poor Bonnie again (we really should get to fixing the leaks) and then piled in and tied up at NAOK which is a yacht club for dinghy racing in Corfu — full of activity as the Optis and Lasers were being put away when we arrived. There’s a nice cocktail bar / disco above the Yacht Club so we went there for a drink … I still have an issue with $15 drinks but … hey, we’re in Greece. 

Cocktails with a view of Tara in the background.

Then we wandered around the beautiful old-town of Corfu, looking at this and that. Marina “forgot” her wedding rings so she’s talking about getting a Greece wedding ring. I guess after 25 years she probably deserves it.

We meandered through the streets into a square where we sat down at the Olive Tree restaurant for dinner. We shared a number of dishes and appetizers and managed to knock back a fair amount of local wine. 

We then did some more shopping and people watching, then to the Corfu Palace Hotel & Casino to ask for a taxi to the airport for Hugh at 05:30. We made the longish trek back to Tara all in one piece and offloaded onto the boat. In spite of being Hugh’s last night on board Tara we were all in a good mood and bade each other Kalinita, knowing that in 5 hours or so we’d (Jess and Hugh) need to get up to go to the airport.

Beach Fun at Lakka to Date Night in Muertos (Syvota)

We picked up anchor at Lakka before 09:00 and headed south to Antipaxos to try and get a good spot to anchor. We were in a bit of a race with about 50 other boats so Marina put the pedal down and charged south at 8 knots easily besting the speed of our rivals. One got so discouraged he changed course to Pargas -- I guess unwilling to show his face after such a drubbing. We then slowed down, turned on the fridge and motored into Antipaxos. The previous day we watched a 34 foot Tiara go drifting through the fleet with its anchor bobbing along the bottom, barely missing two boats as its owner nearly had a coronary swimming to catch up. This made me wary plus the wind and wave action at Antipaxos is such that an unattended boat is a bit of a worry. We parked behind a power-cat and beside another Beneteau 50 with a pretty new blue paint job called Blue Phoenix. I wonder whether they rescued a beat up old boat ... therefore the name Phoenix. At times we got within 10 feet of either boat so I stayed on board and wrote some emails while Marina, Jessie and Hugh went ashore and played on the beach and walked the steps to the restaurant to catch the spectacular view. 

Beach fun!

Marina and Hugh playing paddle "tennis"

Jessie and Hugh on the beach at Antipaxos

We packed up around 13:00 and headed north to Muertos thinking that it would be an easier jumping off point to Corfu than Lakka. It shaves about 8 miles off of a trip that is usually an upwind journey. We pulled into the channel and anchored a little left of the bay in about 7 meters of water. 

Jessie gave Matt a cut and Hugh a trim.

Once we felt the boat was well settled we piled into the dinghy for a ride to beach area & the engine conked out, followed by a spat between Jess and me that ended in her jumping off the dinghy and swimming back toward the boat. We reconciled and I got the engine running and we headed to the Neilson Beach Club where they have yachts, lasers, SUPS and other toys.  It might be a good place to go one day. After an hour or two on the beach we headed back and had cocktail hour. The kids went into town for a date night and Marina and I had a quiet night on board the boat.  

Instead of "I'll pick you up in my brand new Porsche"... 

Jessie and Hugh came back around 00:30 am having spent the same amount on four cocktails as they did for two appetizers, two mains, a pizza for lunch tomorrow and a half litre of wine. A good lesson for these soon-to-be-legal-drinking-age kids as to the hazards of drinking in cocktail bars. Luckily they don't have credit cards to max out. 

The view from their cocktail bar as the sun went down. 

Anyway, we said our hellos and good-nights in about the same breath so we hit the hay, everyone happy.

An Indecisive Day...Lakka...Antipaxos...Gaios....Lakka

We got up late, around 09:00, and a few boats had bugged out but the bay was still pretty full. We decided to go into town for breakfast and do some marketing. We went to the butcher shop where Jess fell in love with a little pit bull that belonged to the store owners. The butcher must be like Ross because on their sign it says that they sell Beaf. (Ross has a coffee cup that says:  "I'm and enganeer / enginear / ingennere .... I'm good at math"). We got rid of some recycling then back to Giappys restaurant for some excellent crepes (both sweet and savoury), juice and coffee. 

Boats like sardines in Lakka

Then we went back to the butcher for chicken and then the bakery for bread and ice, and once you have ice you're racing back to the boat as fast as you can. Once the ice was in the freezer we relaxed and had a nice long swim and bid goodbye to Rover (the swimming yellow lab) from the Croatian boat, lifted up the hook and headed for Antipaxos at a slow speed which lets us charge the batteries and the fridge. We got to Antipaxos and man was it crowded. On top of that the offshore breeze was blowing 15 knots, so we sat for a while and decided relatively quickly to come back tomorrow and try to get into Gaios.  

Hugh and Jessie getting the fenders over in prep for Gaios

We entered the Gaios harbour and tried to find a spot in the inside harbour. First there was a boat that blocked the channel for about 5 minutes ... I think he needed to put his anchor on the far shore (it was so tight). When he gave up he motioned to us to go behind him and got really testy ...  we're waiting on station for 5 minutes as he wankered and then as soon as he waved us through he was impatient ... dork, I hit the throttle as soon as he motioned through .. 20 tons doesn't accelerate like a Ferrari. 

We're in the harbour with one of the cats and the guy
straight ahead is still trying to anchor blocking the 
entrance/exit. 

A tripper boat behind us 

A cat coming in as we're about to head out.

A guy poached in from the  back side risking grounding his keel and sharked the last easy open spot. Nobody but me wanted to do the Marcel Lensveldt manoeuvre ("make" the space between two boats), so we went out just as three big cats came in, and headed to Lakka again. This time we went a little further in than before and had a terrific combination of shelter while still in the blue water. We went into shore, dropped off garbage and recycling, and found a seaside bar for a drink that turned into dinner at a restaurant in the main square. 

Cats keeping the rodent population down. 

Us having drinks at right...dinghies double deep at the left. 

We had a nice dinner .. except Hugh who was left without a pizza until after we had all eaten. The waiter apologized with a complimentary half litre of vino that we enjoyed and we ended up pretty much shutting down the restaurant. The only guys left were a couple that were chugging beers with our waiter ... so settling up was a bit interesting. Back into the dinghy, out to Tara, a quick Ouzo and into bed.

Water fun in Pargas and on to Lakka

The kids got up in the morning and after a swim jumped into the dinghy and went into town to do some shopping. 

Jessie and Hugh having SUP balance wars.

Marina and I hopped on the SUPs and tooled around the bay, first heading up the point and then into the beach where we hopped off and took a beach walk amongst sardine like chairs and umbrellas packed with beachgoers. The kids came back around 13:00 after having a couple of gyros in town. 

Hugh had one chicken and one pork ... and these are the ones that put the fries on the inside - reminds us of having Ross on board. We picked up anchor and headed toward Lakka at a slow pace, even though we were going slow we encountered two ferries where we checked the AIS and had CPAs of 0.4 miles.  At this point I handed the conn over to Marina and went below for a nap. Considering how little we did today it's hard to understand why I am so tired but, if you are tired and can take a nap, why not? Chances are the folks that live to a hundred, one of their secrets is they sleep when they are tired. Marina woke me up a few minutes outside of Lakka suggesting I take the helm. Anchoring in Lakka is like a being on very short and very busy start line with a number of very aggressive type-A skippers that all believe they can win the regatta. When I got on deck indeed Marina had punched up the revs to max in order to race a Bavaria 50 in for a spot. It was very crowded but we found a place and dropped anchor. In retrospect it was not that tight a spot because three more boats came in later and filled in the holes that we had left thinking they were just too small. We went for swims and naps and hung out onboard. The highlights of the day were Marina talking to a Canadian couple with their 4 kids and some family friends on a Jeanneau 64, and watching this boat from Croatia with a mess of people on board and a yellow labrador. The young male dog was having a terrific time swimming with the kids and when he got close he just went still, not clawing the swimmers. Then when he went back to the boat he hung onto the ladder with his front paws and waited until someone went behind him to counterbalance him as he climbed up the ladder. Jess and Hugh made a really good dinner with a mushroom pasta ragout and some sausages that were grilled on the BBQ. We contemplated going to town for ice cream but decided to think about it for a while and by the time Hugh and I had an ouzo it was too late so we packed it in and went to bed instead.

A Relaxing Mostly Sail from Nydri to Pargas

We were anchored beside a 37 footer that probably hasn't moved in a year or so … a couple of people living aboard pooping every day into the bay spending about 100 Euros a month in the local town … no wonder so many people don’t like long-term cruisers. Marina and I headed into town for some supplies and boat parts. The dinghy has been bleeding air this year so we picked up a patch kit, the oil and antifreeze I need to service the engine and, strangely enough toilet cleaner to see if it will clean the stubborn stains off the deck (and it surprisingly did!). It seemed to take us a very long time and we didn’t make it back to the boat until 11:30 — oh yeah, there was breakfast and a bathroom stop included in there somewhere. We picked up anchor at 11:30 and started a slow power towards Lefkada canal arriving outside the entrance around 13:00. We anchored and had a quick swim and got on our way at 13:10. For future reference 35 minutes would be plenty … we went really slow and still ended up idling into the wind in the queue.

Hugh taking us up Levkas Canal

A couple of very urgently-in-a-hurry folks decided to pass us and we leaned on our thousands of sailboat races to deal with the fast-then-slow guy with the … how do you like my anchor in your cockpit? … trick and the guy passing on the outside with … seamanlike rounding means I am not going to put my boat at any risk to let you round outside of me … hehehe … 

The line up of boats waiting for the bridge to swing.

When we came out of Lefkada we tightened up and son-of-a-gun we were 10 degrees left of the course we needed to hit Pargas. Boo-yeah and we are charging along between 6 and 7 knots. Everybody got some helm time today — although “Otto” kept losing the wind instruments… again. 

Jessie at the helm...Matt taking a break. 

We only needed to power about 20 minutes when the wind died and then it came up again. So we ended up sailing into Pargas, picked a nice anchorage spot and settled in, had a swim and shower and took the dinghy into town … climbed the hill and went to Romantica with a nice view of the harbour where Hugh treated us to dinner.  

We then went into the very busy Saturday night city and even walked up to the Venetian Castle at the top of the hill. 

Climbing the steps up the castle. 

A view of the town waterfront from the top of the castle. 

We chose not to grab a night cap at a bar and then headed back to Tara and the mosquitos in our rooms ….

Dragging Bonnie off the beach to
take us back to Tara.