We are off to Nidri

As we still have anchor problems we depart Levkas for Nidri to get the anchor engine re conditioned as the mechanic is booked in for 8.45am.  

It's a beautiful morning and only a 90 minute motor south.  We arrive on time and once the mechanic has removed the anchor we head over to the Ikaris Cafe for breakfast. We enjoy the fresh OJ and omelettes.

It's then time for some serious sunbaking on the beach.  We find some banana chairs outside the Palm Tree hotel and relax for a while.

It's then back to the yacht for lunch of saganaki meats my version of it with some yummy fresh bread and some ice cold moet.

We head out for our Ouzo to the beach bar and end up at Roots restaurant for dinner.  We get a table on the beach it's just perfect.

Here we come Shags

We depart Mongonissi without incident and are now heading for Levkas to pick up our second guest.  Robert is arriving by bus from Athens tonight.

There is bearly any winds as we cross the Ionian Sea and arrive on time for the 12 o'clock bridge opening at Levkas Town.  We fuel up and then head into the marina.  Greg can't wait for his anchor beer as we find a little cafe in the marina for one.  We then head down to Daltons Grill for a gyros , it's delicious and only 2 Euros.  Greg heads back to the yacht to do his skipper stuff as we have made him a big' list of things to do.  Belinda and I go shopping in search for bubbles. We walk all over town and finally find some Moet so stock up.

By the time we get back to the yacht Greg has finished his jobs and we get ready for Robs arrival.

We are waiting for the bus to arrive and there he is, it's kind of surreal that he is here.  We all pinch ourselves and head back to the yacht for welcome bubbles.

We then have to quickly get down to the town square to watch the sunset from the little rickety bridge.

After a few Ouzos we go back to Daltons for there special mixed grill plate, it's amazing the quality and the quantity as we end up with enough meat for leftovers tomorrow.

Dancing Man Yannos is back!

We find out that the Greek dancers will be performing tonight on Monganissi, so we are very excited.  It's another beautiful day as we begin with a Piña Colada at the local Taverna.

We spend the day swimming and sunbaking and having the odd little drink in preparation for tonight.  

We booked a table close to where the action will be and enjoy swordfish, calamari and stuffed tomotes, a yummy meal.

The dancing starts around 9pm, and Yannos doesn't disappoint.

Belinda, Greg and I dance the night away.   Then the fireworks begin from the wedding across the bay, it's spectacular.

Back to Mongonissi

After a good nights sleep we wake to a beautiful day around 8.30.  I walk to the local supermarket for fresh bread and make one last visit to the laundromat as I left something behind on Saturday.  I meet Greg and Beinda at the Skippers Cafe for breakfast.

We depart Gouvia Marina around 9am as we are now heading south to the Island of Paxios and the little harbour of Mongonissi, it's about a five hour journey.  We make a pit stop at Lakka Bay to show Belinda how amazing the colour of the water is and it's not very busy for a change.

Within an hour we have experienced our first fire on board, the baking paper caught fire in the over as we were warming up the spanakopita for our snack. Then we are hit by a wake and the plate of spanakopita goes flying and we break our first Greek plate, ohla! 

We get to Mongonisi around 2pm and get a good location on the Quay, a lovely couple help us tie off and Belinda does a great job on the stern lines.  We plan to spent two nights here so we can relax, swim and chill out.  The water  temperature is 28 degrees.  I swim out to check the anchor and it's fine. Fingers crossed we can pull it up on Wednesday.  We plan to have it repaired at Levkas as that will be our next stop as we are picking up Robert there.

We eat lunch on the yacht and then paddle out to our first Ouzo Bay, the sun has finally gone down which we are grateful of as we are all really sunburnt from our day in the sun as we take turns to sit in the tender and sun bake.

We prepare for dinner at the local Taverna and order a great selection of food including white bait, sagonaki prawns, rooster, octopus and lamb.  It's a feast!  We enjoy a local bottle of Pinot Noir with the meal and head back to the yacht, we a really buggered from too much sun and Ouzo so crash out quite early.

It's a bumpy old night as the swell rolls in and the wind whistles through all the rigging on the yachts.  I have a crappy sleep so get up to catch up on my blog.

Greg is sick at around five am, not sure what from but he is OK.

Let the day begin!

Welcome Aboard Belinda

We start the day down at the Skippers Cafe and have a few cappuccinos and a delicious croissiant, it's so fresh and catch up on some blogging and emails.

I purchase some fresh baguettes for lunch and Greg grabs some ice.  

We catch a taxi to the airport around 11 to pick up Belinda, we are so excited to see her and Belinda is very happy to be here.  The weather was pretty cold in London.

First order of the day is some Moet, then some more and then some more with a delicious lunch of cold meats, cheese and smoked salmon, very Greek.  It's then off to the pool to cool down for the afternoon.

We have an Ouzo on the yacht as we get ready to go out into the old town for dinner.  It's a beautiful old city built by the Venitians, the architecture is wonderful.

We have a great meal and are pretty tired after a big day. It's good to have Belinda with us for our last voyage.  

Barp Barp here we come!

After a great nights sleep we depart Mongonisi around 8am. It's a clear beautiful day.  We still have trouble with our anchor so we have to use some elbow Greece and manually assist  to pull it up.

It's a very light southerly and we motor sail most of the way to Corfu.  We make the most of the sun and enjoy the weather.

We arrive around 2pm and get a possie at Gouvia Marina, it's where we have been a few times before and is very central to what we want to do while we are here for two nights.

We connect to the shore power and wash the decks.  I do three loads of laundry and while that's drying we go for provisions and then have an ice cold beer in the local Navigtors Bar.

It's then back to the yacht to prepare Belinda's room as she is arriving tomorrow from the UK.  

We head out for dinner to a local pizzeria but unfortunately it's closed down.  A local recommends another Taverna which we go to but it's not as good.  We walk back to the marina and have an early night.

Dancing Man

We are able to leave Nidri early for our trip North to Monganissi one of our favouite places.  It's a very calm morning as we head for Levkas.

We make it in time to the 9am bridge opening and are on our way.  It's a rough old trip as there is a 10 knot breeze and a confused cross swell between 1-2 mts.  We rock and roll all the way on a bearing  of 310 degrees.  The auto pilot does not like it but Greg has fun steering for the 5 hour trip. We arrive at Monganisi around 2pm and get a great location on the quay.  They have updated the place since we were here two years ago.  There is a second bar open and banana chairs along the quay directly across for the yachts, we couldn't be happier.

We have our first real swim and it's wonderful, the temperature is around 27 degrees so nice and refreshing.

A ferry arrives with a wedding party around four so they are partying all night in the Taverna and we are fortunate enough to see the dancing men, Theo and Pan, OMG what a show, I'm very excited as the young one is hot hot hot and a really good dancer.  Unfortunately I couldn't get a good photo but will try next time !