The next "wow" for the family was to return to nature in Fraxia Bay. Another wasp chose to sting my leg which was then swollen for a few days. Another praying mantis spent a few hours with us.
After that we wanted to show them Meganisi island. We chose one of the inlets on the North side, Abeleiki Bay and squeezed into a small gap between two boats, anchor to the front in 4 metres of water and two stern lines tied to convenient trees. We put fenders to the sides just in case we came close to the boats either side.
Meganisi is known as the island of rats because uncollected rubbish piles used to attract them. We had a rat on board here before for a few hours, in a different bay, and prepared our defences with plastic bottles on the two lines to the trees.
From here we could access the shore easily by dinghy and walk over the brow of the hill to the main town of Port Vathi, enjoying the ambiance and atmosphere in the darkness.
Many expensive houses are being built on Meganisi spoiling the nature.
Next morning we met neighbours Uta and Roland from Austria and found that our boats winter in the same boatyard.
In the afternoon we went ashore to the taverna for a snack of fried zucchini balls and tsatsiki, and a drink.
By the time we returned we had the strongest wind of the day needing care to leave our "berth" without touching the neighbours. Gratitude to Roland for swimming ashore to release our stern lines from the trees.
Outside the bay the strong wind and short seas gave us half an hour of hard rough sailing to windward under genoa until we reached the lee of Scorpios island (once home of shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and Jackie O, widow of assinsinated US President J F Kennedy) , not helped by large motor boats racing close past us leaving us rolling in their wake. I can say many times that they don't look back to see the havoc they cause, nor have consideration for other water users.
Next morning we took family ashore at Nydri and walked to the bus stop to bid them farewell. Their flight left next day from Corfu and they had bought tickets to take a fast boat, Azimut, from Levkas Town to Corfu via Paxos. I mentioned before how difficult it can be to get to Corfu. Fortunately the boat was scheduled that day.
We are still bailing water daily from the starboard hull. I have a suspicion about where it may be coming from and am regularly monitoring the situation and avoiding too much stress on that hull just in case.
Images from Fraxia Bay
No comments:
Post a Comment