In which we go back to our sailing roots and start the voyage back to the west
We started August at anchor off Othoni, an island to the
North West of Corfu. Elsie’s goal for
the summer was the island of Kalamos, where she had once had an excellent
swordfish steak and she wanted another before we started heading west
again. We had agreed that mid-August
would be our turn time so we had a couple of weeks. The forecast for the foreseeable future was
hot, with little chance for good sailing so we decided to take it slow. We timed our departure for the 9 mile hop to
the next island, Erikousa, to catch the afternoon breeze and left at 1500, with
a following F3 but, an hour later, it died and we had to motor anyway.
Corfu
There was a forecast for strong overnight winds on the 2nd
and 3rd and I was a little concerned at the lack of healing on my
finger, damaged last month, so we booked into Gouvia marina for 2 nights. We woke to a NNW4 on the 2nd and
were underway by 0830, with reefed sails.
After an hour, the reefs came out and, by 1000 we were motoring for 30
minutes until the westerly wind picked up enough for us to get the chute
out. This took us to the north east tip
of Corfu, where the wind died again and we motored down the coast to Ypsos bay,
intending to have a swim. As we entered
the bay, the wind sprang to life. We
dropped anchor anyway but the wind increased and, after an hour or so, we
picked up and proceeded to Gouvia where we found ourselves at the back of a
long queue waiting to berth. By now the
wind had increased such that maneuvering in a tight marina would be a
challenge, but we managed to negotiate a stern to wind berth on the outside
wall, tying up at 1630.
Ormos Ay Yeoryios, Corfu.
On the 3rd,
we hired a car for a look at Corfu. On
advice, we stuck to the north end of the island, heading off to Paleokastritsa
and then taking minor roads round to Sidari, stopping to look at possible
anchorages along the way. Round the north coast and stopped for a nice moussaka
lunch at Barbati. The air-con on the car
wasn’t great and, by now, we had had enough heat so headed for Lidl for a big
shop and back to Ruby. In the evening,
we went out again for a quick tour round Corfu town, not finding anywhere to
stop but we did confirm that the anchorage to the east of the town looked good.
Corfu town
On the 4th, I managed to get a replacement
element for our immersion heater, which was tripping out the mains, then we
topped up the fresh water and headed round to Garista anchorage and dinghied
ashore for a late afternoon wander round the town. There seem to usually be 2 – 3 huge cruise
liners in for day trips, adding maybe 10-12,000 tourists. There were none this day but the centre of
the town with endless tat shops and cafes was still packed. Just a few streets away, off the tourist
trail, was much more pleasant – still traditional Greek. On the 5th we motored across to
the mainland, anchoring in a very sheltered bay at Pagania half a mile from the
Albanian border. We almost had this to
ourselves but for a lone fisherman who circled endlessly with a trolling line
without ever catching anything. We heard
a goat bell but, on looking for the goat, found a horse. One other yacht joined us for the night. Saturday, 6th, we picked up anchor
at mid-day and motored back to Corfu and down the coast in light airs. We had been led to believe that it was
tourist central but, from the sea at least, it looked inviting and we regretted
not keeping the car for a second day and doing a bit of exploring down
here. As we passed O. Psara, the
afternoon SW’ly wind picked up and we had a pleasant sail down to Lakka at the
northern end of Paxos. This was a
similar sized bay to where we had spent the previous night but had 25 yachts at
anchor and another 20 moored to anchor and lines ashore round the edge. Now being fairly practiced, we found a spot
without too much trouble, although a following French yacht tried to cut across
our bows just as we were about to let go and looked daggers at us then wandered
round for 20 minutes before laying his own anchor. As 5 other latecomers also found spots, I
wasn’t too sympathetic. Most people
behave in a civilised way in anchorages but I was incensed at the RIB from a
large motor yacht that repeatedly shuttled through this one at full speed
creating huge wash and endangering swimmers having an evening dip off the backs
of their boats. Me hurling abuse at the
driver, in front of his clients, at least made him vary his route away from us.
Floating bridge, Levkas
Levkas canal
We wanted to be in Nidri, Levkas, on Monday morning, for
some maintenance work, so on Sunday we set off for the Levkas canal. There has been engineering work taking place
at the northern end and charts, pilot book and reports all gave different
advice. The floating bridge had been
away but was now back and, in theory at least, was operating its normal
schedule of opening every top of the hour.
We set off at 10:15 and alternately sailed and motored with the aim of
making the 1700 bridge. With 3 miles to
go, it looked as though we might miss it as we were arriving at the entrance
just after the hour and didn’t want to rush through uncharted waters. We needn’t have worried as we joined a
waiting throng milling round and, after a 30 minute wait, dropped our anchor. 10 minutes later the bridge opened and the
flotilla headed through, mostly in good order apart from one Italian,
proclaiming to be a school boat who elbowed his way through the pack. There was then a 3 mile motor down the canal
and a further 6 miles, alternately sailing and motoring down to Tranquil Bay at
Nidri. Here, with light airs, we had
some difficulty finding a good spot as everyone was lying in different
directions. A few knots of evening
breeze sorted that and showed us a space for the night. We had been told of a hotel pontoon, used by
a charter fleet for weekend changeovers but with cheap space mid-week. We gave them a call at 0900 on Monday and,
sure enough, they had space so we wandered over and tied up. We soon had a sailmaker on board to take away
our main which was wearing through at the batten pockets and the bimini caver
with a broken zip. We thought he was
joking when he asked if we expected them back the same day but by 1700 back
they were, jobs done. We were not so
fortunate with a bracket for our new satellite aerial but we managed to get
water heater repaired, windlass stripper straightened and top ups of diesel and
very good water. All this with a
complimentary swimming pool with (not complimentary) iced coffees. While here, we celebrated a year since setting
off from Monkstown, Ireland. Nearly
8,000 miles sailed; no major damage; lots of lessons learned and still talking
to each other.
We spent 3 nights at Nidri before setting off for where we
had done our first cruising, nearly 5 years before, on a 27 ft boat. No particular place to go so, once through
the Meganisi channel, we let the wind decide and ended up in O. Filatrou on
Ithika. Mooring required laying the
anchor then taking lines ashore. Elsie
is confident driving neither Ruby nor Rubette, so it needed a bit of planning
which came to nought when a lady, swimming from a tripper boat decided to stop
exactly where I needed to go with the dinghy and berate me for using it in
swimming waters. The fact that her boat
had been moored the same way didn’t seem to figure. We eventually got moored, with a little help
from someone from a motor boat and spent a reasonably comfortable night. This
was aided by following the example of the larger vessel to our East who, when
the nightly westerly sprang up, shifted his moorings from stern to bow and lay
head to wind. We did likewise.
We did have a target on Friday and set off for Port Leone at
the nearer end of Kalamos. This is a bay that we have visited each time we have
cruised the area and is one of our favourite places. There was a brisk NW’ly blowing and we had a
cracking close hauled sail with 2, then 3 reefs in main and genoa. The wind backed a little as we progressed and
we ended up on a broad reach with reefed main and full genoa. We expected to find the bay full, but there
were only 2 other yachts there on our arrival.
We have always anchored at the south end before but, with the prevailing
wind, the western side looked better. As
ever in these parts the chart was inaccurate and there was only a narrow rim to
anchor on so we laid our main to hold against the wind and kedge further out to
keep us offshore in case the wind changed.
A couple of hours later, an Italian came inside us and started to lay
his anchor over ours. I pointed this out
to him but he continued, then swam out and assured me that he could see both
anchors and they were clear. To cut a
long story short, they were not and, at a time when we should have been
enjoying sun-downers, it was up to us to sort out the mess, re-lay 2 anchors
away from him and then watch him take the prime spot we had chosen 6 hours
before.
We were troubled by wasps that evening but managed to clear
the inside of the boat before bed. The
next morning, they were back in battalion strength and, rather than the planned
lazy morning with maybe a donder ashore by dinghy, we made a rapid exit. Winds
were light and directly ahead, so we didn’t even bother to prepare the sails
but made for our destination of Kalamos port.
This is run by an enterprising local, George, who acts as unofficial
harbourmaster, personally tying up visiting yachts and pointing to his
restaurant. This has doubled in size
since our first visit, so he must be doing well. Back then, we had had magnificent swordfish
steaks and last time, 3 years ago, we had come especially for Elsie to have
another, only to be told that they had sold out and it had been a half joke
that the only reason we were in the Med this summer was for Elsie to get her
swordfish steak from Georges’. That
evening we popped a bottle of fiz to celebrate our goal and my forthcoming
birthday and went ashore. There were a
worrying few moments while the waiter checked the fridge but all was well. Elsie had her swordfish.
Out in the morning and a beat into a heading F4 back down to
Ithaka, mooring a little further in O
Filatrou than before. I
reconnoitred mooring points with the dinghy in advance and had ropes ashore so
that, after we had dropped anchor and backed in, I could bring them back aboard
while Elsie held Ruby steady. There were
light winds and we had a big space but she still found it stressful and we,
once again, resolved to get her to do more of the manoeuvring under power. She did go out in Rubette that afternoon, and
again the following day, to practice using the outboard which again I always
use. The gaps on either side of us were
filled with catamarans and, inevitably, it was an Italian on our port side who
decided that he needed to keep his engine running to provide his guests with
hot water and power. This is a no-no
with sailing sailors and irritation levels rose. After 3 hours, with a bit of shouting and us
running our generator with the exhaust pointed at him, he eventually consented
to turn it off. He pushed off the next
morning and we decided, as there was no obvious weather window to start our
journey back west, to have a day off, just reading, swimming and having little
potters in the dinghy.
Moored stern-to, Ithaka
By the 16th, it was looking like the best time to
depart back to Sicily would be the weekend, so we had a few days to spare and,
the wind seeming co-operative, we decided to cross to Astakos on the
mainland. This is described in the pilot
book as a rural town with little concession to tourism. With the normal morning light airs, there was
no need for an early start so lifted anchor at 1225. We had to motor away from the island and were
then close hauled in a N’ly F3 past the island of Atokos. Once past this obstruction in the middle, we
had a fine broad reach in a W’ly F4.
This increased to F5 as we approached our destination and we were a
little concerned that the crosswind would prevent us from berthing. This fear was allayed as we got a little lee
in the harbour and a helpful local aided us in and then pointed to his
restaurant. The writer of the pilot book
has evidently not visited for a while as the harbour front was very touristy
with tavernas and tat shops. The harbour
water was pretty putrid too. We had a
stroll ashore and found places to provision the following day then decided to
do the decent thing and eat at our mooring assistant’s establishment. We were pleased to find that prices were
about half of those at Georges but that was the best that could be said. Main dishes were plain meat and chips and the
service was appalling. As there was no
berthing fee, we consoled ourselves, by regarding the meal as a freebie in a
E30 marina. Oh, and free beer too. After provisioning and watering in the
morning, we headed out to find a good sailing wind. Unfortunately it was coming
from where we wanted to go so we had a spirited beat with 1 then 2 reefs in F3
increasing F5 across below Atokos then north to the Meganissi channel where it
died leaving us to motor the last few miles back to Tranquil bay where we found
a good spot to anchor.
Tranquil bay, Nidri
On the morning of the
18th, we motored up to and through the Levkas canal then alternately
motored and sailed up to Paxos, anchoring outside the main harbour at
Gaios. As so often, we were neck and
neck with another boat on arrival. As he
was on our starboard bow, I did the seamanlike thing and gave way and he
validated my choice of spot by laying his anchor there. As we backed off a
(inevitably Italian) motor yacht roared past feet away at 15 knots to screams
of abuse from yachts who had swimmers in the water. This put me off my stroke a bit and first
shot at anchoring put us too close for comfort to someone but second attempt
was better. We dinghied into the packed
harbour with Elsie driving though she did let me park as we had to squeeze
between two yachts. Having a beer let us
have internet for our essential last check on the weather for the following
day’s departure, confirming that late afternoon should get us the best winds
for the passage. A lazy day on the 19th,
with just a little more dinghy practice for Elsie, including a first solo under
power. It seems ridiculous that we have
been living on board without this happening before but we have just got into a
routine of who does what. We are making
determined efforts to change this so we can be more flexible should events
require it.
We picked up anchor at 1800, motored the mile or so to the
bottom of Paxos and set sail for Sicily.
The wind forecast suggested that we should be able to put it just ahead of
the starboard beam and make a nice curve across but it wasn’t quite that kind
and we were just short of close hauled reefing as required as the strength
varied from F3 – F5. We made good time
though, averaging 6.5 knots. The wind
died on the afternoon of the 20th and, apart from a few hours
sailing the following morning it was motoring all the way. We had intended to anchor where we had on the
way out, under the toe of Italy, but the timing looked good to go through the
Messina strait so we continued. The
forecast light headwinds here turned out to be 18-20 knots, but this came as no
great surprise and we passed through without problem and a neutral current
until we reached the fabled Charybdis where we were headed by 4 knots for a
while. We continued motoring, with a
little wind assist from a light northerly across to Vulcano. We were going to arrive after dark but before
moonrise and our hope was that, it being late August, the French would have
headed home and there would be plenty of space in the anchorage. They may have gone but there were more than
enough Italians to compensate. We
circled for a while and made one attempt to anchor but couldn’t find space
without being in ridiculous depths. We
could see many mooring lights in the bay across the isthmus and anywhere else
locally was likely to be exposed to the westerly swell so we bit the bullet and
went to the marina. Shocked to discover
that the band 4 charge advised by the pilot book translated to E100 per night
but sleep was important so we grimaced and paid.
Approaching Vulcano at sunset.
More internet gave us a forecast for onward
departure to Sardinia on Tuesday 23rd so a top-up of water and
provisions then a motor up to Lipani for fuel and an anchorage halfway up the
island. At the fuel dock a 50 ft motor
launch, ahead of us in the queue, got within rope throwing distance then
thrashed his engines back and forth while the shore staff pulled him in; we were waved in ahead of him and glided
serenely to our berth, Elsie lassoing a convenient bollard to a calls of ‘Bravo,
Signora!’ He later demonstrated his true
superiority but passing us at 25 knots and leaving us rocking in his wake.
Calculating the time to depart for the next leg was
problematical. Weather forecasts
suggested a slow second half of the passage and I wanted to avoid another dark
arrival in an unknown anchorage. The moon was in the last quarter, so pre-dawn
was better than post-dusk. We decided on
10:00 but the weather, as so often decided otherwise. The overnight wind was from the south west
but this veered to the north and our anchorage, at the south of a bay, was
uncomfortable so we picked up at 0930.
Elsie has written about the passage.
Having made better than expected progress from Greece to
Sardinia, we felt that we could relax a bit which was fortunate as there seemed
no good weather window in the near future to take us onwards. We spent two nights at anchor off Villasimius
before moving on in a series of short hops. The first, on the 27th
was under Genoa only to Marina Picola del Poetto. The wind was forecast SE’ly but was almost
due east and the anchorage was a little lumpy until it died down at
sunset. The following day we wished to
go south. Again the forecast was SE’ly
but this time it quickly veered to head us all the way, F4, so it was a beat
down the coast with one reef. We passed
Kokomo, possibly the largest sloop in the world at 195 ft, but he was motoring
so we didn’t get the full sight. It took us nearly 8 hours for an achieved
distance of less than 30 miles but was enjoyable in slight seas and brilliant
sun. Anchored for the night in the bay
at Malfatano and decided, with still no weather window in sight, to stay for a
second. On the 30th we
alternately sailed and motored round to Porto Ponto Romano, a largely derelict
commercial port on the causeway between Sardinia and Isola di Sant’
Antioco. Here we were able to go
alongside a quay, free of charge for up to 2 nights, though there was no power
water or rubbish bins. We did manage to
do a good shop and laundry. In the morning
we went round to the fuel berth where the helpful attendant not only gave us
good water but also took our rubbish – thanks. We concluded the month with
another beat down I di S. A. to anchor off a beach for a quiet night.
Monthly stats:
Logged 984
Over Ground 928
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