April 8, 2025 – Lefkas town, Lefkas, Greece
We had a few errands to run before leaving the marina, the
most important being the generator. Our paranoia set in when we received
additional emails from Cummins directing us to ENEQ as the dealer to make the
repairs. Our first stop was the generator repair shop where they assured us
that they were working with ENEQ and they were authorized to work on Cummins generators.
They understood that we wanted them to pull the generator when we returned from
our cruise in June and perform the repair while we were away from the boat in
the summer. We felt confident that we could make this happen.
Next, we had to return to the Port Authority to get our
departure stamp in our Transit Log. This time there was a line. Fortunately,
the people in line were there for other business and we were ushered in to the
Transit Log office. Ironically they made more copies of all the same documents,
asked our destination and stamped our Log. The officer explained that we could
have checked in and out on the prior visit. We shared with him that the officer
yesterday insisted that we return on the day of check out. The officer said he
was wrong. I just do what the guy in the uniform tells me. This guy said that
we had 24 hours after arrival to check in and we could check out as much as 24
hours in advance. 20 minutes later we were stamped out and on our way. At that
rate they would process 3 or 4 people an hour, the summer months must be a zoo.
Evidently, they keep all of this paper for 5 years! Nothing is digital so I do
not know of what use this really is to the Greek authorities.
Next stop was the bakery for some fresh bread and back to the boat to get cruising! We readied the boat and motored over to the fuel dock. 370 liters and 675 euros later and we were ready to go. The VAT or tax, if you will, is 24%! As we motored out I realized I had left my hose connector on the dock faucet. We turned around and called the marina, they met us at the end of our dock and tossed the connector to us as I backed up to the pontoon. I do not know how many of these I have left behind!
We motored south through the Lefkas Canal and on to Fiskardoh on the Island of Caphalonia. The wind came up as we crossed the area between islands that was open to the sea. Out with the sails for a brisk sail in 15 knots of breeze, perfect! We rounded up into the Ormas of Fiskardos and furled the sails. The sun was out, and we were happy to sail and be moving on…F!@&K the generator! We anchored in beautiful emerald green water in 7 m over sand near the north shore. The town was on the south shore, it was a beautiful view. This town is significant in that it was the only town on the island that survived the 1953 earthquake that leveled the rest of the island. Sun downers, dinner and relax in this quiet harbor.
April 9, 2025 – Fiskardoh, Caphalonia, Greece
Up and enjoying the morning sunshine as it warmed the cabin.
A dinghy ride to town so we could check in and out with the Port Authority. A
very helpful young man had us in and out in no time. We asked about why they
had this process. He said it was for our safety. In case we went missing or had
an accident. I am not buying that because I do not sense that he is letting the
next port know that we are arriving and there is no online database.
We walked the little town in a matter of 30 minutes. Back to
the boat to drop off the important papers.
It was a 50 m row to get to shore where we pulled up the dinghy and went for a walk. They had a series of well marked hiking trails. We took the trail to the ruins of a 6th century Norman church. You could easily see the towers and central sections of the old church. Next site along the trail was the more recently built, 19th century, light house and on to the Venetian lighthouse built in 1100 to 1200. The trail brought us full circle through the pine forest back to the dinghy.
Near one of the beach front hotels there was a posting of a newspaper article that talked about the movie Captain Correlli’s Mandolin. The movie is set on this island at the time of Italian occupation during WWII. It turned out that Hitler was not happy about the occupation and sent in troops to wipe out the Italians. The movie is more of a love story set in this horrific time. Captain Corelli was one of 30 survivors that lived to tell the story. He became a ferry captain here in these islands. He would toot a salute to the people of Ithaca, who saved him, as he passed through the channel on his ferry route.
After lunch we pulled the anchor and motored a couple miles
across the channel to Ithaca, famous from Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey. We
anchored in Polis Bay where there was a small quay filled with small fishing
boats. We anchored about 50 m off the beach, the water never ceases to amaze
me, so clear. To the north of us the Cave of the Nymphs, I did not see any
Nymphs, but Odysseus did. There were a couple goats grazing on the shore to
greet us. The sun was warm and inviting, we went to shore and walked up to the
town of Stavros, amazing that they live in this tiny, isolated place. As we
were walking up the road, we saw another sailboat coming in and anchor next to
us. Further up the hill we found the remains of what is believed to be Odysseus’
Palace. It did not look like much more than a pile of stones, se we had to
exercise our imagination. In the little park in town there were relief maps
showing Odysseus’ journey.
We made our way back to the boat and settled in for the night. On the news the local story was about a winter cold snap in Greece. The next couple days would be colder than normal. So much for shorts and tee shirts.
April 10, 2025 – Polis Bay, Ithaca, Greece
The night was calm and, as promised, the morning was cold.
It was 54 in the boat, the coldest we have seen since we arrived. I fired up
the soup pot and the coffee pot in hopes of warming things up a little. It did
not take long once the sun crested the hill.
We watched the fisherman on the beach pulling one of the
heavy fishing dories out of the water and on to the beach. They had a sort of
raft made of round timbers that they towed into the water off of the beach. They
positioned it just off the beach. The fishing boat was then pulled up onto the
raft with a come along tied to a tree. Timbers were laid on the beach as they
continued to pull the boat over the raft and onto the beach, leaning to one
side. Once on the beach the raft was pulled back to its storage spot on the beach,
and they went to work on the boat.
We got underway at about 1100 and headed north to round the north end of the island. The wind was 10 to 15 from NW. We unfurled the jib and main for a broad reach across the top of the island then turn SE for a wing-on-wing downhill run to the south end of the Island Atokos, a small island standing all alone. This was the first time I have used the Autopilot in Windvane Mode. It did a pretty good job considering wing on wing can be tricky.
We rounded the south side of the island as another boat was approaching from the south. It we clear that we were heading to the same anchorage. Another sign that the boating season was starting. We let them settle in on a single hook and we slipped in between them and the beach. The cove is named One House Bay, It looked like one house and a small chapel. We have seen this in other places where a house and a small chapel were grouped together. We were greeted by a big wooly feral pig on the beach. He was foraging in the rocks and at the edge of the water. I am told the pigs are friendly and will swim with you, but no one knows how they got here. Clearly, they would have to swim! The Island is privately owned but visitors are welcome. We toured the cove in the dinghy, aside from the gleaming white rocks that make up the walls of the cove there was nothing notable. The water is crystal clear, if there was something to see, we would be able to see it.
Being open to the sea the cove was a little rolling, perhaps it was enough to send the other boat packing or perhaps they were not happy that we slipped into the anchorage. I was not sad to see them go, 5 young men with the music going was a predictor for a not so quiet night.
April 11, 2025 – One House Bay, Atokos, Greece
A calm night and sunshine in the morning, 59 degrees in the
cabin. We waited for it to warm up a bit before pulling the anchor and heading
out. The wind was favorable, and we enjoyed a broad reach and a bit of dead
down wind sailing. We motored the last hour more for the sunshine and warmth than
for lack of wind.
The southwest corner of the mainland is a huge estuary with
several rivers feeding it. We had picked an anchorage in Ormos Oxia and settled
in a spot at the east end of the bay. The bay was shallow with very little
protection from the wind. My judgement for where to anchor was poor as it
turned out. With the west wind I left a lot of fetch in the bay and endured a
bit of chop into the night. It did settle by midnight or so.
April 12, 2025 – Ormos Oxia, Greece
Up with wind from the NE, 120 degrees from last night. There
was a beautiful orange full moon setting behind us and the sun rose up to start
warming the boat. We got underway heading south to work our way around the
shallows. Turning east we were now entering the Gulf of Petras, lots of ship
traffic but no wind or waves as we motored east. To the north is mainland
Greece and to the south is the Peloponnese. 28 miles in we found our anchorage
and dropped the hook in 5 m of clear water in a quiet bay, Vasiliki.
As we were nearing the shore we could see a person on the shore with their back to us. Oddly enough they seemed to be taking a leak on the beach. As we approached it appeared that he was pulling up his pants but remained with his back to us. Eventually a woman stepped from in front of him and they walked back to a parked car. Now I feel bad, he was not draining the lizard he was exercising the one eyed sperm spitting trouser trout! Fortunately, it seems that they were able to finish their business in the car and left after a while. This is all speculation of course.
Once the boat was settled, I attempted to wax the starboard
side of the hull, but there was too much wind wave and splash…time for a
cocktail. It did quiet down by about 2100, and we enjoyed a calm night.
Some loud wind gusts overnight, but over our head, it did
not seem to effect the boat. The sun was out, and the water was calm, so I
resumed my wax job and managed to finish. We departed around noon with the wind
on our nose as we exited the cove and headed east into the Gulf. We radioed to
Rion Traffic at the suspension bridge and requested permission to pass. They
wanted to know our air draft, where we were coming from and where we were
going. They gave very explicit instruction on where to pass under the bridge. This
made me much more comfortable, though the bridge is reported to have an air
draft clearance of 44 m and we are 22 m.
Passing under the bridge we are now entering the Gulf of Corinth. This is like a huge alpine lake with snowcapped mountains lining both sides, north and south. There was no wind, so we motored east to the Island of Triozonia on the north side of the Gulf. We anchored in a beautiful little bay surrounded by the island. The little town was quaint, but did not appear to have any sort of restaurant or services. There was a marina, but we went for the anchorage instead. Despite the poor reviews that told of difficulties getting the anchor to hold we hooked on the first try and had a perfect spot. Several boats came in after us and tied to the outside of a very rough concrete quay. I was happy to be at anchor. We motored in with the dinghy and tied up by the little fishing boats. Walking the little town, we discovered that the restaurants and services faced the shallow fishing harbor to the north. There were several restaurants open and people having meals. I say meals because it was after 1700 and to me that is dinner, but when we inquired about a table, they said lunch. We had some delicious Abergine Purre Salad and a Cheese dish that we think was a purre of feta, yogurt and peppercinis to make it hot. It was all delicious on the crusty bread they served.
They evening was approaching, along with the cold so we headed back to the boat and enjoyed the warmth of the sun and a sundowner. The wind blew all night making it noisy, but it was calm in our little bay.
April 14, 2025 - Triozonia, Greece
Up and out by 0730, no Port Authority so no check in or out.
Gusty wind all night long making for a noisy night. It was a bit unsettling as
the reviews for this anchorage said that the holding was not great. Hazy
sunshine, wind WNW 10-15, 1 knot current pushing east and a little swell were
all helping as we motored east to Corinth. We could see the snowcapped
mountains and rolling farmland along the way. We had a fabulous visit from a
small pod of Bottle Nose Dolphins who played at our bow for a long time.
Arriving in Corinth the harbor was eerily empty. We went for the big ship harbor; the boat harbor was too shallow for us. We side tied in front of the customs office on a quay that was obviously set up for ships. The bollards were far apart and there were big black rubber bumpers randomly placed. Upon closer inspection the were steel brackets sticking out where there once was a bumper. We selected a spot where we could center up on two bumpers between two bollards and tie up.
We quickly settled the boat, there was no water or
electricity on the quay so it was a matter of bumpers and lines. We walked up
to the Coast Guard Office, and we quickly checked in and the Transit Log was
stamped. We asked if we could stay on their dock for a couple of nights. They
said yes, just pay the harbor master down the street before you check out.
Great service!
Back on the boat I finished tying up the boat knowing now we
were staying. This is a big city, so it is nice to be in a place that is
secure. Suzette was busy getting the laundry ready to go ashore. We loaded the
wagon with 3 bags of laundry, soaps and something to read. It was a 15-minute
walk straight out of the harbor to the only self-service laundromat in Corinth.
When we arrived, we found a very clean laundromat with 1
dryer and 1 washer! There was a German women waiting on her wash to finish, but
she only had 3 minutes left, good timing. We chatted for a bit; she and her
husband had been touring Europe for 2 years in a good-sized camper van. Good
sized until she added that her daughter and two dogs were in the traveling
party. She went on her way, and we loaded the first load of laundry. Suzette
provided me with explicit instructions on what to do when the first load was
done, laundry is not one of my skill sets (on purpose). Suzette left to find a
hair salon, desperate for a haircut. I settled in to read and catch up on email.
They did have Wi-Fi.
Suzette returned looking great and offered me an Easter present; it was a huge dark chocolate easter egg and a special bread in the shape of a cross similar to what we first saw in Spain for Easter, fabulous! We managed the laundry for the last load, and I went off to the liquor store to restock the bar. There was a very nice store just down the street, but they had no Rye or Amaro, my Black Manhattan will have to wait. When I returned, we were ready to button up this effort. About that time a young man came in with a long look that turned to a smile when we told him we were done. He threw his load in and turned on the machine, I don’t think he put in any soap! He went on his way to let his load wash.
We trundled our load home and hung up the things that needed
more dry time and put away what we could. It was 2000 when we wrapped up our
effort, but we were elated to have the laundry caught up. Suzette made a
tradition Greek cucumber salad for dinner.
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