Sailing north to Corfu Part 1

 We want to allow time to reach Corfu in comfort to pick up family.  The prevailing winds and therefore waves are against us.

The purpose of a sailing boat is to sail as much as possible and not motor all the time, but observing other boats, especially rented ones, I feel their objective is to motor to each destination as quickly as possible. Ok they have a short time while we have a few weeks. The Ionion Sea has many hours of almost no wind, then afternoons with strong winds as a general pattern.

At 4.30 am we left our beautiful Boulder Bay taking advantage of the night wind from the east. Soon after rounding the point after Marathia Bay the wind went light and I settled intothe routine of feeling the wind on my skin and setting course accordingly.

It was beautiful to be out in the silence of early morning and the colours of early light before the heat of the day. Although we could sail  close to the course it was necessary to tack a few times and point as close to the wind as possible. Apataki loves these conditions in flat water. She has light weight construction so when contrary seas build up she can lose momentum.  My goal was to keep moving silently to the north west corner of Meganisi island. Speed was as low as 1 knot and rarely more than 3 knots. As in light wind racing I tweaked the course and sails to get the best speed. Autopilot George held a steady course.

After about 20 miles we rounded the tip of the island and lost the wind.  We continued with motor and sails arriving again in the inland Vliho lake. The purpose was to fill up with water at the tap by the fishing boats,  bottle by bottle. I also bought 10 litres of petrol at a super high price,I think almost 1.80 euros a litre.

In the afternoon next day we set off towards Lefkas Canal. We had a strong headwind once out of the sheltered water and had to beat to the north under genoa.

A Neel 47 trimaran Talata caught us and we made photos.

We took a swim stop before the canal then motored through to catch the 19.00 Bridge opening. It was the only time for us to be the only boat going north, while lots came in to go south. 

After a typical afternoon of wind there was swell from the west and a good breeze for a beam reach under genoa making around 6 knots. 

We entered Preveza as the sun was dropping behind the trees to the west

 and anchored before darkness fell, not far from Talata. 

In Preveza we stocked up with fruit and other necessities. Talata invited us to visit but Tania had just had cov id jabs and she suffered a bad reaction. She did not feel up to receiving us. Some of her friends had warned her that they had the same.

We made shopping and prepared for the next leg of the journey north.

Marathia Bay and Astakos

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 We were happy to take  rest day in Marathia Bay. After the Outremer 42 left we were the only yacht. 

A few small motor boats were with the campers.

Some locals were putting out fishing nets in the shallow water, walking with the net on a floating platform, perhaps polystyrene. One old lady in a red dress also participated. We named her the "lady in red".

We sailed into the gulf to Astakos with the idea of tying to the wall to take water. The car ferry was in so we waited as we could see it would soon leave. The wind was blowing in strongly onto the shore and the easiest berth was occupied so we came away to one of our favourite bays, sheltered  from the wind and waves by a small promontory . In the pilot books it is known as Boulder Bay.

In the evening we rowed the dinghy to the first small fishing boat dock to take a walk in the town. We found a tap and filled three bottles.

After one more night we needed to start our journey north to meet family in Corfu.

Service stop

 We need to buy food so leave the pretty bay of Fraxis, Levkas, and motor around the corner to anchor in the charming Tranquil Bay, something of a graveyard for a few old boats. 

Temperatures are high and a few times a day it is necessary and enjoyable to swim from the boat. Modern yachts have a shower by the swim steps. We have our simple and effective system of a bucket of fresh water and a sponge. Anita also uses an old 2 litre detergent bottle making body rise easy.

For regular showers and hair washing our black shower bag can provide hot water. We rig it up in the cockpit from the boom and place a cockpit towel on the cockpit sole ( floor) which has absorbed salt water splash when sailing. Such a shower refreshes us, towels and the cockpit area. Ashore sometimes we find showers at beaches.

Opposite to Tranquil Bay is the bustling little town of Nidri, also a base for many large and small tourist boats making daily excursions in summer to islands and beaches, also small car ferry connections.

We can row over to the town which is also a major yachting and charter centre. Ashore we browse a few arty shops, buy an unplanned meal and necessary supplies like fresh fruit, Greek yogurt and bread. I find polyester filler in a chandlery shop to fill some screw holes from the cable to the old solar panel.

Next morning we continue into the large inland lake of Vliho where we can anchor in flat water, unless the water skiier is operating. We take our many water containers ashore to a tap next to small fishing boats and top up our water systems. I estimate we took 150 - 200 litres to serve our needs for the next few days. 

A short hose is on the tap so we took a shower there too in the heat of early afternoon when no-one was around. 

We made one load of laundry for 5 euros at the Vliho Yacht Club and bought a meal. Many boats live in this sheltered anchorage, and and there is a community of owners living on board. The shallow enclosed waters make this the warmest water we swim in. Air temperatures are higher too. A few days after we left we read it reached 40 degrees.

Jobs and servicing done we returned to Fraxia for another night passing the Wharram Pahi 63, Spirit of Gaia. 

Island of Odysseus

 Leaving Fraxia Bay we motor towards the impressive Levkas Meganisi channel where the mountais of Levkas rise high from the sea.

Winds can be fluky here and often contrary for sailing for both directions in sections of the channel. We put up reefed mainsail and genoa in case of expected stronger winds towards Ithaka and start the beat against the wind . Many yachts are out doing the same. 

As I focus on setting up the new autopilot a lady on a yacht with Belgian flag is waving vigorously at use. We see friends Anne-Marie and Bart who have left their boat to sail with friends for a week.

We are expecting west wind after the channel to be able to sail on direct course for Ithaka butte wind is more from SW so again we make tacks in light wind towards the island. 

The island of Arkoudhi is on our path so once past it we afternoon wind picks up as normal in this stretch of water affected by the funnel of wind from the open sea between Kefalonia and Levkas.

We approach our chosen bay north of Frikes and approach with speed taking care to stay close inshore to avoid a dangerous rock shown on the chart and come to anchor in about 5 m of water.

Less than an hour later we see a yacht has gone aground on that dander area, the turquoise shallow waters clearly visible from our perspective in comparison to the deeper blue water around it. Photo below shows the incident.

One yacht stands by to help and a dinghy from a yacht anchored in the bay rushed to offer assistance also. After a while the yacht was free. Later the waves from a distant passing large ferry caused breaking water at that spot.

We like to anchor in shallow water but the island of Odysseus offers few opportunities for that. Winds are stronger than in the more sheltered area east of Levkas, but the island attracts us despite the harsh energies.

See the goats.

On the second evening we walked ashore at Ormos Khondri Pounda and a long way up the rough road to a viewpoint.

Returning to the beach we went to the kantina to see what was cooking. Two years ago it was just a trailer on the beach. Since then the made terraces, added tables and chairs and relocated the trailer.  We ate stuffed tomato and stuffed pepper with a slice of tomato pie, washed down with chilled white wine in the cooler evening air.

Next morning we motored in the calm to Vahti Town,  made washing in the air-conditioned laundry and stocked up with provisions at AB supermarket and a fruit shop.

We planned to use the afternoon wind to return to the mainland and anchored for a swim stop. Waves from passing boats made this difficult as I stand at the bow to anchor by hand. The water was an amazing turquoise though.

It was almost 4 pm and no wind so we set off  to find the wind further away from the island. At first we had SE wind, instead of NW. After time I could see white horses indicating force 4 or 5 come closer from the left. I adjusted the sails and when the new wind arrived we were on track and soon sailing fast. I remembered this strange phenomenon from a previous year.

 In the last sunlight we rounded the point, dropped sails and anchored in Ormos Marathia. The only other yacht was the Outremer 42 we have met before. All was quiet despite the informal campsite of caravans and motor caravans ashore behind the beach.