Onward to Cefalonia

The detox is going well although there have been a couple of minor slip ups along the way.

We mention this on every blog but the end of our journey is drawing close very quickly.  It is only about 7 weeks until we get off the boat and about 10 weeks till we will be back in Australia.  It certainly does not feel like two and a half years since we started our trip.  

Autumn has arrived in the Ionian.  The weather is mostly fine but it is starting to get a little bit chilly in the mornings before the sun gets up and at night it cools off.  We are just hoping that it will stay warm until November as now we are all confirmed warm weather sailors.  The weather seems to follow a pretty regular pattern of SE in the morning and then NW in the afternoon but every now and then, or just when you need to rely on it, the wind shifts or dies off.  Then every so often a big blow will sweep down on the outside of the island chain.  

Typical small town quayside

Even though the pattern is kind of regular, the wind around the islands can tricky.  There are places where you should be in calm water in the lee of the land but then gusts are funnelled down due to the hills and you find yourself very exposed.  We headed across to a bay on the south of Lefkas to shelter from some significant winds only to find it covered in white water whipped up by the wind gusting off the land and covered with maniac windsurfers.

Couple that with anchoring which is quite deep, and you need to make sure you pay attention.  Dulcinea is quite a big boat around here so we need to make sure that we have a couple of alternative spots to go to if our primary location proves to be not suitable.  When people talk about sailing in Greece they talk about just pulling into small village quaysides and tying up for the night.  However for us the depth of water along the quayside may be too shallow so we would need to anchor.  Many of the harbours are too small for us to anchor in so we need to find alternative spots.  Saying that, it's fine as long as you plan ahead.  A lot of the boats anchor close and then take a line ashore however we have been reluctant to do this as we have heard stories of rats coming onboard along the warps.

Sunrise over the Ionian

On the plus side, the sea here is very calm as there is no exposed distance over which a significant wave can build up so we have had some really nice sailing.  With around 15kts of wind a flat sea and clear blue skies it's really enjoyable sailing - even Nic likes it as long as we do not heel too much.

We spent a few days on Meganissi and then moved on to Ithaca, the fabled home of Odysseus.  There were some high winds (force 8) forecast so we headed to a town called Vathi which is an almost completely landlocked bay.  It has a shallow anchorage with some space which suited us.  We got settled and that night even in the protection of the bay we got 30plus knots of winds.  After a blow there is normally a period of good weather and that was the case here.

Vathi - Ithaca

We moved on to Ay Eufimia on the east side of Cefalonia where we sit now berthed stern to the town quay.  Cefalonia has been devastated by a few earthuakes in recent years.  We talked to the dockmaster, Magias, this morning and he told us that in this town only two houses were left standing after the 1973 quake.  Cefalonia was the setting for the film “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” which we watched while Elaine and Andrew were on board.  The islands here are all  similar in appearance with small villages or towns on the coast surrounded by very steep hills covered by either scrub or short trees.  The water is beautiful and clear and the coastline very sharp rock interspersed with beaches.

Obviously for a waterborne congregation

We have so far found Greece very accomodating, the people very friendly and the food fantastic.  We have grilled Octopus and a fresh Greek salad just about every time they go out to eat.  The crowds are also beginning to disperse which makes Scott very happy.

We will sit here for a few days while we do a road trip around the island.  We also have an issue with the anchor windlass which we are getting fixed here with help from the dock guys.