We had taken a two week holiday in the southern Ionian islands last year and loved it. This year was supposed to be dedicated to getting the west country cruising guide together but a snap decision at last September's Southampton boat show led to a booking for a week this May. Thus, Sunday 13th of May found us getting up at 0400 again after a restless night in the Ibis Gatwick hotel and making our way to the south terminal with a lot of other holiday makers. A few hours later we touched down at Preveza to be met by the Sail Ionian rep and a swift taxi ride to Vlikho. It is much nicer to sail with a smaller family owned company such as Sail Ionian than the larger ones as you get a highly personal welcome complete with hugs and kisses. They had even contrived to let us charter the same boat. The elderly but comfortable Mirage 27 Intrepid. This is another advantage of not going with the larger companies as they still have the smaller size of boat on their books.
We quickly found ourselves falling into our Ionian sailing routine with short leisurley hops and no early starts to catch the tide round Berry Head. Instead, we pottered round to Spartakhori on the island of Meganissi. The pleasure of this spot is that you can tie up with lazy lines rather than run your own anchor out and Spiro who runs the taverna will help you with this on the understanding that you at least have a drink in his taverna. Lazy lines effectively remove the need to lay your own anchor and are the Mediterannean equivalent of visitors moorings.
The next morning and we did head round to Sivota but not before we walked up form the harbour to the original village of Spartakhori which sits up on the hill around 90 metres above the moorings which is more properly known as Porto Spilia. This is a picture postcard greek village complete with whitewashed walls and widows all in black. The bakery is excellent though the walk up is rather strenuous under a strong sun with no wind to ease things, particularly when you were sheltering from some rather nasty rain in London 36 hours previously.
The weather forecast was a typically Ionian one with little or no wind in the morning and then a breeze getting up in the afternoon. In this relatively early spring period, we were expecting it to reach around force three to four rather than the five to six which might be expected in high summer. For the most part the classic pattern of morning calm followed by afternoon blow holds true though the weather is, as ever, a wayward beast and you can easily be caught out. The beauty of this region though is the profusion of easy harbours which make it easy to change your plans and stop bashing on if the wind doesn't behave itself. Also, unlike UK waters, there are still plenty of spots where you can anchor well away from the sometimes busy harbours.
After the walk up the hill to Spartakhori we made a leisurly departure for Sivota. There was very little wind in the Meganissi channel but we managed a bit of drifting until past nisis Thilia where it really did die away to nothing. We motored on a bit till the afternoon wind filled in just past Ormos Rouda giving us a nice reach right to the entrance of Sivota.
Sivota is one of those picture postcard harbours tucked right up in a deep inlet which is invisible from the open sea. For once the wind was blowing up into it and we sailed right the way in. I would have been tempted to sail onto our mooring but elected not to given that it was not really our boat. People are generally very friendly in the Greek Islands and there were plenty of willing hands to take our lines, something I am always happy to reciprocate with. This is a good chance to meet other people as was proven to us that evening when the men on an Austrian boat invited us aboard for some brandy in the evening as they had been so impressed with how many people I had helped tie up. They even nicknamed me the harbour master. I managed to make their eyes water when telling them how much a marina berth would cost them in the UK.
As far as a passage in the Ionian can be challenging, our next one was set to be more demanding. First, we had to cross the only bit of open water in the whole area – all five miles between Lefkas and Keffallonia and then we had to get our way down the Ithaca channel. The Ithaca channel is a long straight passage of water between Ithaca and Keffallonia. Both islands are very steep and so you sail between two sets of mountains which funnel the wind down the channel with generally greater force than the gradient wind. In addition, strong gusts can blow down off the mountains to catch the unwary out. We did get a good force four but no untoward gusts and it proved an enjoyable romp down to Ay Eufemia, one of our favourite harbours it the islands. True to form, the wind also proved a bit fickle and we were kept busy shortening and then letting sails out but when you are in bright sunshine and wearing only shorts and t-shirt it is no real hardship.
Ay Eufemia used to be the main ferry port for the island of Keffallonia until the earthquake of 1953 which wiped out the vast majority of buildings on the island. Now, it is a very pleasant harbour almost entirely given over to yachts though there is also a lot of diving done from it. Mooring can be a bit tricky as the wind blows down the harbour and thus across the moorings, crossed chains are quite common though most people deal with it with good grace, reflecting that it will be almost inevitable in this area. There are a profusion of tavernas along the harbour front and only one is attempting to cash in on the dreadful Captain Corelli film. The food is typical island cuisine. Not perhaps that special but the meats, in particular, are usually excellent. Across the harbour you often hear the clanging of goats bells and it is all too easy to imagine Odysseus coming round from the neighbouring Ithaca to gather his fleet for the seige of Troy. How would it be if while sailing out to head north for Fiskhardo that Poseidon popped his head up next to you and suggested that you should accept the adventure to sail across the water to the Aeolian islands or seek out the lotus eaters!
Meanwhile, in the more mundane modern world, ever more boats sought to squeeze their way onto the quay. The trick here is to find a place where you can just see daylight between two boats sets of fenders and literally barge your way in. Once again, everyone generally deals with this with good humour though you do need to be prepared for the crossed anchors in the morning.
We did push off relatively early the next morning as we knew that we would be facing a beat up to Fiskhardo if we waited for the afternoon wind. As it happened, we had a fine wind on the nose right from the off and would up tacking up the channel anyway. Still, I got lots of exercise. When we first got sail up, it looked as if the wind would blow up properly and I put both reefs in the main. Then, of course, it started easing and I progressively shook out the reefs and unrolled the genoa. Then of courset the process had to start all over as the wind freshened again. At other times it would have been frustrating but I actually enjoyed it Bizarrely, the wind almost died when we got close to Fiskhardo where we were on the Ithaca side of the channel. At least it freshened when we got towards the other side.
We had never visited Fiskhardo the last time we were there and were intrigued to see what this legendary harbour would be like. The oracle of all things watery in Greece, Rod Heikell describes it as being a bit like Kensington on Sea and the Rough Guide dismisses it as being full of English yotties. In both respects they are more or less right though I would describe it as being more like Salcombe than Kensington, a judgement I base on being both a Londoner and a west country sailor.
The setting is undoubtedly fantastic but it is very crowded, even in this low season time. This time it was our turn to find the least space and slot in. One of the great advantages of sailing an older design of boat is that you are considerably less beamy, particularly aft and it is possible to squeeze in where others would hesitate to try. Thus, we found ourselves literally outside the legendary Captains Cabin bar. I took lots of photos and Audrey enjoyed wandering around though we both agreed that it was all a bit too pristine and expensive looking for us. We elected to eat aboard that night which we were scheduled to do anyway. And so the middle of our holiday passed quietly by. The next day we decided to head to a more familiar haunt on the tiny island of Kalamos.
This passage brought our only vaguely frustrating passage. There must have been quite a big blow somewhere out in the Ionian sea as there was an annoying long wave train rolling in and then bouncing of the near vertical shores of Ithaca and in turn competing with the short local waves coming from the easterly we wer trying to push into. Poor Audrey started feeling queasy for the first time in the holiday and I was getting fed up with having to motor in such conditions. At last, the wind backed to the NE just enough to allow us to get sail up and we were off. It stayed in this direction but got lighter though there was at least always enough to damp the rolling down. We managed to sail most of the way till we reached the Kastos channel between Kalamos and Kastos when the engine had to go on. We motored past the tantalising view of the abandoned Port Leone and resolved to go there another time.
Port Leone was abandoned after the 1953 earthquake destroyed its water supply and a new village was built further up. Thus, the harbour is entirely formed of a breakwater though it has a lovely postion with views of the high mountains on the mainland and of Kastos just over the water. The main taverna is run by George who looms large over the entire harbour. You will never be able to sneak in without his noticing and taking your lines, welcoming you back and encouraging you to eat and drink at his taverna. This is not difficult for him to achieve as the food is definitely of a higher order than the average taverna though it might not satisfy the taste buds of a true gourmet. As the evening progressed into night there were a series of intriguing flashes over the hill of the island. Some of them were quite large and we speculated on who could be letting off such large fireworks. It was only much later when there was a definite rumble allied with a patter of rain that it dawned on us that we were in for a thunderstorm!
At least the rain had finished by the morning and as we only planned to sail a short distance to an anchorage on Meganissi, we made a leisurely departure around eleven. The wind was once again light but this time from the south west though it followed us right round the top of Kalamos giving us a dead run till we emerged from the narrows between the mainland and the island when it filled in a bit but once again from the SW giving us an initial beat but one that eased to, first, a close reach and then a broad one.
We had chosen to revisit Ormos Abelike, one of three more or less deserted bays on the NE corner of Meganissi. These are beautiful deep bays that used to be a favourite haunt of pirates but now make a lovely get away from the business of the harbours. We anchored in 7m of water and almost perfect peace decended. There were about four other boats there, all long distance cruisers and as one of the decisions we had made was that we were going to sail our own boat down there by 2010 we felt we were in the right company. As the day progressed a couple of other boats did appear but it was still anything but crowded and the peace was only disturbed in the evening by someone singing drunken kareoke at one of the two tav ernas on the shore but they stopped in reasonable time. It is however, very strange to hear an out of tune rendition of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody in such a setting. The other aspect of being in such a place for those of use who usually sail in UK waters is the clarity of the water. Being able to see the bottom 25 feet or so below you is an odd experience though being able to verify that the anchor is indeed set properly is nice nonetheless.
The next morning brought our last day aboard as we were due to fly out on the Sunday. We only had about five miles to cover to Vlikho so we made a leisurly departure around eleven and determinedly sailed the whole way probably averaging about one knot. It was however a very pleasant sail and brought the whole thing to a very enjoyable close. The next day found us on the plane back to London and the normal mundane life. A week was definitely too short though.
The big decision? Well, we are resolved to get a boat for the job and than sail our own way down there. Not just for the Ionian, but also for other fascinating and beautiful parts of the Mediterranean.
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