1000 Nautical Mile Club

We both have a restless sleep and leave our apartment about 7am.  Greg rows back to the yacht where we get ready.  Luckily for us a yacht leaves the wharf so we reverse in ready for the fuel truck.  It arrives at 9am and we fill up and are ready to head out by 9.30am.  The forecast is favourable even though it’s still raining a little.

It’s certainly much calmer today so thank our lucky stars.  There is a large front approaching Lakka but misses us, it’s not looking good for the people we leave behind and no doubt the yachts leaving Corfu today.  Two fronts just sit over Lakka for most of the journey while Greg and I celebrate 1000 nautical miles for the trip, a big achievement,  that’s like sailing from Sydney to Townsville.  Surprisingly we are still talking to one another.  

storm over Lakka

1000 Nautical Miles

We made it!

We arrive at Marina Gouvia at about 2pm without incident and also pass by Jo and Trevor heading south.  We wish them happy days as they have another four weeks to go. 

After lunch we start planning our getting the yacht ready for wintering.  The Marina Office and Port Police are closed on a Sunday so all the paperwork will be done tomorrow.

We decide to head into to Old Town of Corfu for a well-deserved celebratory dinner.  We walk around for a while soaking up the atmosphere and admiring the beautiful old architecture from the Venetian days.  We finally decide on an Italian restaurant in the main square and enjoy a delicious but simple dinner of salad and pasta.  We wash this down with a lovely Syrah from Macedonian.  The service and food is really delightful and just what we were looking for, a great way to end the journey.

Restaurant

Corfu Old Town

We do have a good night’s sleep and start the day with some great coffee from one of the cafes in the marina.  We drop off five bags of washing and get our paperwork stamped by the Port Police at the Marina.  Then we pay for the Marina berth and head to the Port to visit customs and get out yacht paperwork signed off ready for our departure tomorrow.  This turns into a three hour assignment but now we understand the process for next year.  We visit Corfu Yachting who will be looking after our yacht to finalise the contract and get a briefing on what we need to do.  We pick up with washing and new BBQ which we will install for next year’s journey.

Final washing

It’s definitely time for a swim and a cold beer which gives us a chance to catch our breath. Back at the yacht I am sorting out all the clothes as to what stays and is packed away and what comes with us on the rest of the trip.  Greg is deflating and cleaning the tender ready for storage.  The sails will be removed, washed and stored by the Corfu Marina.  We are making process but it takes time.  By 7pm we have everything packed up, cleaned and stowed away in readiness for our 8am departure in the morning.  It’s a quite dinner at one of the marina restaurants and then an early night.