Last night on Moet22

We have another crappy sleep as the swell runs in and the lines are squeaking and rattling all around us.  We are both suffering from colds and my ears are back to being blocked again.  We end up getting up early and start on the main sail.  

We must look like ameaturs  as we have to remove the sail bag a few times before we work out how everything fits together.  Considering it's pretty early we try not to make too much noise and wake up the neighbours but that is hard to achieve.  We haul up the sail and connect the reefing lines; over all a good job done and we saved a fair bit of money doing it ourselves.

I have to go with Vie from IBA to the Port Police and get our log booked stamped.  Well what a kerfuffle. Seems the Port Police at Messalonghi have not processed our bonding correctly and they are telling me I owe 1500 Euros in back taxes.  

Anyway for now we don't have to pay.  As the law changes all the time everyone has a different interpretation of the process for non EU boats.  We should have received a new transit log book every time we checked out of Messalonghi. 

We finalse the cleaning inside and out and are ready to depart for Levkas around 3pm.  We say a sad goodbye to Moet22 as we will miss her.

But I  have already found my new yacht! 

We taxi it to Levkas and are booked into the Levkas Hotel right near the harbour and close to all of our favouite cafes and bars.  This is the view from our room.

We head over to the Karma Bar to watch the Practice 2 of the Austrian F1 and then head back for a siesta.  We both have a deep sleep.

We head out for pre dinner drinks around 7pm.  First up we go back to Boschetto Bar for an ouzo then over the Daltons for a mixed grill.  We alway come here but this time the meal is very disappointing,  the meats are very over cooked and not enjoyable at all.  It is really the only bad meal we have had.

We walk around the back streets and then settle in for some people watching in the square.  All the locals are out and about.  Not one child has any technology; they are just having fun running around.

We bump into Chris the DJ from the G Spot from last year, he is now working at the bar next door so we promise to check him out later.

We go back to Karma for an espresso martini which are very good and then go for a sweet treat.  The crepes smell amazing and we share a crepe with banana and Nutella, it's yum! 

We drop by to see Chris and have a little boogy but don't last long as we are very tired.  We've both had a great night and head home for a good nights sleep hopefully.

Now it's time to get to work

After a good nights sleep we head over to Cafe Tranquilo for a big breakfast and some wifi.

At 10am Jonathon and Keith arrive to assist us with retrieving the lazy lines.  John is going up in the bosan chair while Greg and Keith are on the lines.  They make it look easy.

That's one job done.  While I arrange the laundry Greg puts the main sail bag up.  We are then ready to head over to Meganissi for the night.  It's only a two hour motor as there is no wind.  

We anchor in Abelike Bay and enjoy the day sunbaking and relaxing.  It's quite busy with plenty of charter yachts around.  The water is the perfect temperature around 27 degrees.  For dinner I make a platter of cold cuts and salad, it's really delicious and healthy.

Later in the evening the wind picks up and we have a fairly restless night as the yacht is moving quite a lot.  In the morning we have a coffee then head back to Nidri as some bad weather is approaching.  

The weather actually misses us altogether as the black clouds seem to go around the mountain at Nidri.  We are back on the Scorpios pontoon for one more night.  The main job now for us is to haul up the main sail but we will have to wait until the morning for that job when the air is still.

We are talking to IBA about our options for the summer.  We decide to leave the yacht on anchor in Nidri rather then take her to Preveza now.  It should make viewing her that much easier.  We organise fuel to be delivered to the pontoon and we fill up and I start cleaning the galley, saloon and cabins.  It's looking pretty good.  

We head over to Roots for dinner and take some photos of the sunset.

We have a night cap at Ikaras cafe and enjoy a slice of orange pie, it's delicious and the last time I will get to enjoy it for a while.

We head home and have a early night as we didn't get much sleep last night.

G & T anyone?

Next stop is Nidri to catch up with Gill and Tony.

Trevor recommended the English Breakfast at Sivota Bakery so we both find room for a delicious breakfast with the works. It's a great start to the day.  After a little provisioning we head off from 

Sivota around 10.30am.  It's hot and hazy around the mountains and some are covered in very low cloud.

There is talk of some bad weather coming so we will keep a look out for that but we think the big winds will be down south west of Zakinthos. However we might find some rain in the next couple of days which we are happy about as we still have to finish cleaning the decks.

We arrive at Nidri around lunchtime and see if Scorpious Charters have space for us on their pontoon.  Keith greets us and is happy to accommodate us for the night.  Just as we are docking the winds pick up to make life difficult for Greg on the helm.  Luckily there are a few strong men on the dock and they help us in.  One of them even jumps on board to tie up the lazy line which I I'm happy about.

Once we are settled we head down to the Sailing Holiday poontoon where G & T have their yacht.  We find them at the pool bar having some lunch and a few drinks which we join them in.  After a quick catch up and a swim we make plans for tonight's get together.  Bubbles on board then we are going to a BBQ with G & T with the sailing holiday charter people.

We still have a lot to do to get the yacht ready for sale.  We visit Lorna at Ioninan Boat Assistance (IBA) as they will be our new broker for the summer months in Nidri.  We still need to find someone to go up the mask to pull down our lazy lines as we lost them last time we pulled down the main sail.  There are not too many volunteers for this job, however Keith is able to arrange someone for us the following morning which we are grateful for.

We chill out for the afternoon and make plans for the next few days.  As the weather forecast seems reasonable we do want to spend a night in Abelike on Meganissi, as it's one of our favouite locations.  As we haven't blown up the tender we will have to stay on board for the night but that's fine. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy a swim as my ears have cleared and I feel much better.  I just have the head cold now.

We head on down to G & T's around 7.30 just as the heat is leaving the day and we are also joined by one for their friends Andy who is on a yacht close by.  We catch up on all of the years events and all the new ones coming up.  Gill and Tony have two weddings in the next few months to look forward to and plan as both their  children are getting married.

We enjoy a bottle of bubbles together then head up to the pool area for the BBQ.  The food is great as is the company.  By the time we say our farewells it's after 11pm.  We go for a stroll along the boardwalk and stop at a favouite cafe for a nightcap.  The owner is very happy to see us but thinks we are nuts only coming for such a short period and we have to agree.

Heading North

After an awesome dinner and a great nights sleep we awake to another lovely morning in Fiscardo.  Coffee and cakes call me to the galley and we enjoy then in the cockpit.

Greg is still hell bent on getting rid of all the webs and spiders.  We even have a stowaway hiding under our life raft.

As he is cleaning the webs on the outside as well he needs a device to help him reach the webs so he tries to mount our largest fender but he can't stay on for long.

As my ear is still problematic I decide to visit the chemist who sends me straight to the medical centre.  I walk straight in and see a Dr.  After a thorough examination I leave with a list of medicines.  I have water behind one ear drum and a blockage between my ear and nose.  No wonder I can't hear.  Anyway as I long as it clears before I board the plane I'll be very happy.

We depart Fiscardo around 11am and are heading north to Sivota a small village on the south ofLefkada  Island.  We are meeting Jo and Trevor so looking forward to seeing them.

We have a lite breeze from the nth west so we can pull up the headsail and meander across from Cefalonica.  It only takes two hours to get there and there is plenty of room on the wharf to choose from.  Once we tie up and get settled we have a light lunch on the boat.  Then we head over to see our friends.  We spend a few hours catching up and make our dinner plans.

We grab some wifi from a local bar and catch up on things for a a hour or two then be ready for dinner.  We are have bubbles on Yacht Breeze, Trevor and Jos' yacht then head to dinner at Spiodoula 's Taverna. The boys find out they have a connecton with the past in  Woolwich Plumstead ; some further research is required to see if both families knew each other.

We enjoy a Greeek feast including dips, calamari, saganaki prawns, swordfish and complimentary walnut slice.  It's all very delicious with great company.  Jo and Trevor are heading off early in the morning so we say our farewells until next time; as we are all very sure there wil be one.

No place I'd rather be

Unfortunately it's another beautiful day in Greece.  What can I do so we can stay here longer I ask?

I'm awake early and spend the morning updating  the Blog.  The mornings are my favouite time of day; Nespresso in hand and off I go.

My head cold is a real pain as my ears are blocked and on the plane the pain was excruciating as I could not equalise.  I can't hear properly nor taste all my favourite delights of Greece.

Once Greg is up we go for a walk and take some breakfast at a local cafe.  The fresh orange juice is always yum.  We do another little shop and we are on our way by 10am.   We changed our mind as we thought we would give Fiscardo a miss and try Kioni but on second thoughts we go back to plan A.  So it's only a two hour motor to Fiscardo.  Again I'm on watch as Greg scubs the front third of the deck.   He is very good at this and seems to enjoy it! I'm very happy keeping watch and catching some rays.

Fiscardo is pretty full and we have to take the last space right where we were for Belinda s birthday last year.  The Capitain of the cruiser helps us with our lines.  But there is a problem?  As we have no tender (decided not to pump it it up for this quick trip) how do you get ashore as the water depth is very shallow?  You actually need the tender to sit between the stern and the shore line to carry to shore.  The Capitain next door graciously allows us to use his cruiser to access the shore. Problem solved! 

After our anchor beers Greg goes ashore for a quick shop for lunch items.  He actually manages to buy all five items on the list including my fav orange syrup cake.  Can't wait for breakfast coffees tomorrow morning now.

After a yummy lunch on board we take a dip in the harbour.  The water is just perfect and so clean.  Greg checks out the lay of the anchors and all is in order.  We relax on deck soaking up the atmosphere and enjoy some people watching.  We get ready for dinner and head into the village.

First stop is a little bar for an aperitif and great view.

Then it's back to the Captains Cabin for a special treat.  Yep you guessed it lobster spaghetti.

Bon appetite!

Our rough itinerary

Well this is what we were thinking on Sunday.

Saturday - Big Vathi

Sunday - Fiscardso

Monday - Sivota

Tuesday - Meganissi

Wednesday to Friday in the Nidri and Levkas area as we have to met up with brokers and have some repairs done.

 

Off we go!

We wake up to a beautiful morning.  It's 7am and I'm busy making our coffees and toasties.  After breakfast we haul up the head sail.  It's a pretty easy task this time round.  We release the lines and we are away by 8am.  It's sad to be leaving again but I'm sure we get back here again in the future.

We are headed for Big Vathi on the island of Ithica it's about six hours from Messalonghi.  The sea is like a mill pond, there is no wind at all.  We get an all over dose of vitamin D as the haze finally clears. I stand watch as Greg scrubs the back third of the yacht.

First of all we must visit Ouzo Bay and have a swim.  The gauge is showing the sea temp and water temp to be 31 degrees.  That's hot for this time of year.  A yacht is in our place to we anchor in the first bay which is just as nice.  The water is about 26 degrees so a little chilly but refreshing.

We pull up anchor and head into town and arrive around 3pm.  It's not very busy so we can choose where we reverse into the wharf.  We head to one of our favouite tavernas for a lite snack of white bait, saganaki mushrooms and local sausage.  It's a treat and very delicious.

It's now time for a siesta, we are pretty knackered so happy to fall sleep for a few hours and stay out of the sun.

After a well earned cat nap we get all pretty and head into town.  We have a drink in the square as we decide what to do.  We go for a walk and find an amazing taverna that has a baby pig on a spit so we know where we are having dinner tonight.  We decide to go visit George early so walk  over to the other side of the village and meet him at his bar.  We met George last year when we were here with Belinda and Robert and we had a fun night at his bar.  We have been friends on Facebook since.  

George is looking good although he tells us he was partying at a bucks party till 8am this morning but you can't tell by looking at him.  We catch up when he is not busy and have a chilly shot then say our good byes.  It's already 10pm!

We walk back into town to the piggy place to find they only have one serve left, which means we don't get too much pig but what we get is pretty amazing it just melts in your mouth.  The salad is a different and delicious one with dried figs, cooked chicken, walnuts and halomui.  It's a very enjoyable meal and then we hit the sack as we are very tired.