Unchartered waters

We depart Vathi at about 8am as the village bells toll at the crack of 7am here. We want an early start as we have a way to go. We are heading East; leaving the Ionians and heading into the Gulf of Patras. We have chosen Mesolongion which can be found on the south side of the Greek mainland; it's our next port of call mainly because they have a laundry service, I know how boring....

We motor all the way as the winds seem to like our route and keeps blowing directly into us. Its a very narrow channel on our approach to Mesolongion and we see a few turtles along the way. We have to be very alert as the local fisherman have dropped lines and nets across the channel entrance and are very difficult to see as they use dark blue floaties.

We arrive by 2pm and the locals help us dock. It's a bit of a kuffufle due to the wind but we finally are secure. First stop is the Marina and check out the laundry service.

We have a bite to eat at the local Sunset Cafe, owned by Spiros who comes all the way from Melbourne. The white wine is really nice and serviced in a little carafe bottle that looks like a Orchy bottle. Very cute.

Its's really hot and after numerous trips to the laundry to check on the washing and then the drying which does not seem to work very well I give up and hang some of our our wet clothes all over the yacht, looks like a Chinese laundry, but hopefully it will dry quicker that the using the dryer.

After showers we walk into town, about a 20 min walk and find the town centre and stop and have a drink. It's a very busy square and the locals are very friendly. Unfortunately the bugs are out tonight and hungry. We try a few shops looking for bug spray and finally find some citronella spray which works. We a looking for a taverna but seems there are mainly cafes in the main area of town. We settle on a BBQ grill place and Greg enjoys locally caught grilled prawns.

We head back the yacht for a reasonably early night and enjoy a good nights sleep.

Ouzo Bay here we come!

The village bells toll at 8am as a signal for activity to begin. We have a coffee at a close by cafe and finalise our provisioning. Greg finds the white wine from last night so we stock up on a few bottle as well.

By 10 am we depart Fiscardo for Ouzo Bay. For our followers of last year you may know where I mean. Greg is keen to go back to his favourite anchorage from last year and enjoy some more Ouzo time. On the way we stop into Vathi on Ithaca for lunch and I purchase a basil plant.

By 2pm we are anchored over a rocky shallow ledge at Ouzo Bay just around from Vathi. It's a picture perfect afternoon; the sun is out and it's finally hot, feels like summer is here. Greg takes the tender ashore to tie off as it's too cold to swim ashore just yet. After our first sunbathing session it's Ouzo Time! We get out supplies ready and head shore in the tender. It's hot enough to just have our feet in the water and enjoy the afternoon with our Ouzo. I hope you like the shots!

After a home cooked meal and a hot shower the wind picks up and we have to pick up the anchor at about 9pm and we head back to Vathi for the night. Greg cuts away the lines as we begin to touch the bottom.

We drop anchor in the harbour of Vathi for a good nights sleep.

Leaving Levkas

After a leisurely morning of shopping and cleaning we depart Levkas around noon.

We are now heading to one of our favourite villages on Kefalonica called Fiscardo. It's a very pleasant motor for about three hours. Greg is getting all the video mounts ready including our dolphin cam. Lets hope we see some!

We arrive at about 3pm and tie up stern to in front of one of the restaurants, we are lucky to get one of the better places left on the jetty. It's also good to see some bars and shops open already.

The locals are getting ready for the season. They are cleaning and painting their shop fronts. It's such a pretty village.

We get a visit from the Port Police so Greg goes and visits him to have our paperwork checked and pay our dues.

We are planning on staying two nights and catch up on some sleep and hopefully get our body clocks on Greek time.

We have a few pre dinner drinks at one of the balcony bars and notice the fisherman next to our yacht pull out a huge swordfish. It's about 30 kilos without it's head. They are sawing and slicing it for the locals. We end up at Roula's for dinner, a grill house.

The sun is shining

Finally we wake up to a sunny warm day and oh yes I finally sleep in yeah!!!!

The church bells ring and the village is awake. After some home cooked breakfast and coffee we go for a walk to check out one of the local beaches called Emiele. It's about a thirty min walk and it's worth the climb. It's breath taking. It's so nice to be able to wear summer clothes for the first time since being here.

Back at the village we stop for a coffee and yummy orange syrup cake, it's delicious. A cruise liner is in the first of the season and a few Aussies stop by to say hello.

I'm really looking forward to just chillin out today it's great to be able to lie in the cockpit and have a snooze. Looks like the weather is improving now.

After a relaxing afternoon and siesta we head out for dinner at the only other taverna open. It's a good choice as the waiter is very friendly and chatty plus they have freshly caught fish and seafood. Greg picks the lobster for us and we are recommended the local Cephalonie San Gerassimo white wine, it's a little bit naughty but very delicious.

After eating both our complimentary desserts Greg is feeling very sick by 2am. He is praying to the porcelain god but feels a lot better afterwards.

Happy 22

I wake at the crack for five as usual and have some quite time to myself, updating the blog etc. By 7am we go ashore to find a bakery and cafe for breakfast. We depart Gaois by 8am and are prepared for another cold trip beating into a southerly while headed from Levkas.

It's about a five hour trip and we want to catch the bridge opening at 1pm. I spend most of the time below as it's too cold on deck and finish off some housework.

We get a berth at the Marina and head into town for some shopping. As Greg is keen to have an engineer look at the engine we head back to find someone at the Marina. Seems like all is ok but we need to check a few things when we are underway tomorrow.

We head to one of our favourite Bars to cheers our happy 22. They serve great wine and delicious appetisers. We then have a traditional Greek meat platter and there are lots of leftovers for tomorrow.

We attempt to watch a movie but fall asleep as we are yet to get our body clocks adjusted.

Departing Corfu

After we fill up with diesel we finally leave Corfu at 10am, we are heading for Gaios a pretty village on the east side of Paxos. We hope to arrive before 3pm to watch the F1.

The trip is uneventful and almost dejavu except the temp is 11 degrees and wind chill factor of freezing. I'm soooo cold I'm wrapped up in multiple layers and a blanket. I'm doing a cupcake but trying to suck it up. Being sick doesn't help matters.

The sailing season starts in May so I'm not sure what to find open in Gaios. On the way we stick our head into Lakka Bay but everything there is closed up. The water is an amazing turquoise colour so worth the visit.

We arrive in Gaios just after 3pm and find a great place to come along side the jetty right on the main square. Barry from the yacht behind us gives us a hand and we meet his wife Linda as well. They are regulars to the Ionians from the UK.

We quickly find a local bar that has a TV and the bar lady is very obliging to find us the F1. I'm having a few scotchies to warm me up and that works a treat. Although Gaios is a fairly big town, there is still not a lot open. We decide too eat at one of the tavernas on the square and the food is pretty average but fills us up.

A few red wines later we retire for a good nights sleep.

Final Prep

Saturday is our final day to complete all we have to do ready for our departure from Corfu.
We check the sails, launch the Australian flag, fill water tanks, do the laundry, purchase final bits and pieces for yacht and pantry, install brackets for our Muvi camera (similar to Go Pro) eventually we will have four mounts for taking video, we put up the shade cloth I made to see if it works/ fits and it does. We are pretty tired by 6pm.

We decide to walk into one of the close by villages for dinner. We stumble across the Beer Bucket Bar advertising a pool party tonight at 9.30pm but think we'll be asleep by then. We then realise we missed the Bahrain F1 qualifying today but will ensure we are somewhere tomorrow afternoon to watch the race. Most likely we will be heading to Gaios on Paxos about five hours from here. We will be heading south into a light southerly.

From the Bucket Bar we keep walking and find a pizza restaurant. That sounds perfect. We order the special and wow it's the biggest pizza we have ever seen, and the most delicious. A great base, wood fired, yum!!! We bring home the Greek salad as there was no room.

Considering there are about 1000 yachts on the marina and all in the process of getting ready for the season, it's pretty quite of a night time. The place is full of Brits both young and old. Many living on the yachts at Gouvia.

We attempt to watch a video but only stay awake for half of it, we can finish it another night.

It's still really cold of a night and early morning and I wish I'd been more prepared, anyway it will slowly get warmer each day. We spend a while talking about our sail plan and options but have not made up our mind. We will still visit some of the Greek Islands and Turkey as we have to leave the EU and may head over to Malta but we need to work out the distances etc.