Kalinychta, Greece…

First of all, here is a bonus shot of Thelma checking on the mainsail. Does she look happy with it?

I’m happy to report that the ladies made it back to Canada without incident, save a crying baby on the ten hour flight from Athens to Montreal. Then my poor Mom endured a six hour layover in Montreal before her connection to Fredericton. She had a day that was truly 24 hours long. Hope your trip to Greece was worth it, Mama!  Thelma and Sharon both referred to it many times as the “trip of a lifetime”, but I’m not 100% clear if that was because they had such a great time or just because it was so far to travel!

After the moms went on their way, Mike and I slept some more and then used the rental car to do a grocery run. Oh, and we spent 250 Euros on a new solenoid because the damn windlass failed again yesterday! I really hope that is the last anyone needs to hear about the windlass.

The next day we left Gouvia Marina and settled into our old spot in the bay south of the Old Fort in Corfu Town. We decided to stay put for a days so I could get at least four coats of varnish on the port side toerail. Duty calls.

We enjoyed our time camped out with a few forays into town for food and sightseeing. First we hit Pane e Souvlaki. The souvlaki was truly delicious, grilled over an open flame, but it was dark meat. Normally that would mean I gave my whole meal to Mike, but it was so tasty I ate it anyway. Mike had a great falafel sandwich and we both got some crispy fresh-cut fries.

A couple days later we decided to try lunch at a Mexican restaurant that Mike found online. Turned out they weren’t open for lunch, so we decided to try Pane e Souvlaki’s sister restaurant, Pane e Psaraki. This place was a smidge fancier and more expensive (fish-centric), but their WiFi was screaming fast so it was worth the extra money. My grilled squid was so pretty I had to take a picture.

What you don’t see is that right after this photo was taken I sawed into it and the plate was covered in ink! I should have taken a picture of that too, but I was too busy trying to eat my squid before it was covered in blackness.

A couple days later we tried the Mexican spot again, this time for dinner. Success! La Tabernita provided some tasty food, if not completely authentic. The highlight was the La Tabernita special spicy margarita. The waiter warned me it is a very very spicy drink. He was correct! It hurt my mouth so so much, but was so tasty I had a second one for dessert! Mike stuck to the wine, with a couple sips of my marg for good measure. Again, the food wasn’t very authentic, but our chili nachos and my giant carnitas taco were all very tasty. We will see you again, La Tabernita.

After talking with David, it sounded like we were going to have to get back to Athens for mid-October to meet a guy who was going to assess Coral to start getting her ready to sell in the EU.  We wanted to take the long-cut around the Peloponnese instead of the Corinth Canal, so it was time to hit the road and head south.  Our first stop was our old spot off of Mourtos on the mainland (site of the dramatic 2am thunderstorm with the moms). We found a great spot to anchor with a nice sandy bottom.

The next day we headed over to Paxos again, but this time we went to Lakka on the northeast tip. It’s a cute little town with a gorgeous bay–crystal clear water and sandy bottom. I’m sad we didn’t bring the moms here–it is spectacular. David and CM said they haven’t checked it out yet because it is always so busy in the summer, and I can see why. Even in mid-September there were forty or so pleasure boats hanging around. In the same conversation David also said he was considering shipping Coral to Florida as she would be easier to sell there.  Being built in Maine would have more cachet in the US than in Europe. Hmmm, stay tuned…

We went ashore for a tasty meal that was not affected in the least by the 45 minute power outage. I ordered chicken curry risotto. Risotto? Not so much, but it was a good chicken curry with rice. Mike had some of the amazing pork you could see roasting on a spit in the window (a very effective way to get people in the door).

The next night was calling for winds that were not great for our spot in Lakka, so we continued south and went back to the dock in Gaios. I got some _serious_ downloading done, a thousand thank yous to Alex’s Place!  I also demanded a little alone time while we were there (does a person ever need to spend 24/7 with another person, no matter how much you like them?) and spent it at the Blue Grotto having a pizza diavolo. Oh. My. God. It was one of the tastiest pizzas I have ever had. No WiFi at the restaurant. I’d like to say I read my book (same book for six months now, though in my defense it is a very long book), but I didn’t bring it with me, so I crushed candy instead.  Then I did groceries where I spied these two guarding the store.

We stayed in Gaios for two nights and then headed back over to the mainland. A little excitement as we were exploring Ormos Valtou just north of Parga: Mike wanted to explore the bay with the mainsail up (me not so much). We jibed and when the main snapped over, the clew of the sail popped off the boom. Oops, sorry Leisurefurl. We dropped the anchor and then dropped the mainsail onto the deck. Mike bundled it up with a rope and then we proceeded south in search of more shelter to deal with the situation. An hour later we were anchored in Ormos Ayiou Ioannou. It’s a beautiful double bay with a gaggle of pipefish and a freshwater spring welling up from the sea floor. You can tell where the spring is by the eddy on the surface. The next morning we reinstalled the mail sail and Mike did some dinghy patching.

Next stop–Preveza. It’s on the mainland just over the causeway from Lefkas Town and the home of three popular marinas where folks leave their boats for the winter.  We anchored in the bay near town and then dinghied over to Cleopatra Marina to replenish our varnish, thinner, and sandpaper, along with a new circuit breaker for the windlass and a rail clamp–dare to dream!

The next morning Mike did some groceries and we headed deeper into the giant bay, the Gulf of Amvrakia. It’s the home of the National Park of Amvrakikos Wetlands, and it has the wildlife to prove it. As we departed Preveza we saw a seal swimming by and a whole flock of herons hanging out on top of the fish farm.

We stopped in Koronisia for a super lunch at a sleepy harbourfront restaurant (calamari and fries, bien sur), with lots of cats politely hoping for scraps. I couldn’t resist feeding them, and as I was tossing some squid to a cat, it reached up and pricked my finger with a claw. How bad is cat scratch fever?

After lunch he headed around a bunch of small islands to the back side of Koronisia to anchor for the night. Mike did a little kiting investigation but it didn’t look too promising. We did see a lone dolphin hanging around at dusk. Where are your friends, buddy?

In the morning we proceeded on to Vonitsa. We left Coral at anchor and went to visit the castle on the hill above town.

During our stroll we saw two little tortoises.  I never would have seen them, but Mike heard the rustling both times and busted them. (They were complemented later by the big turtle that swam by Coral in the bay).

As we descended back into town we met these two guys–they were very excited to see us, but not a single bark came out of their mouths. Very impressive.

Later that afternoon Mike was getting fidgety, so we went back to land and walked across the causeway to a park with a nice forest and running trail. No, of course I didn’t run, but we were lapped by a couple of runners several times during our stroll, so I gather that’s mostly what it’s used for.

By this time we had heard back from David and it’s a sure thing that Coral is Florida bound!  We have to deliver her to northern Italy for the end of November, so the next day when we left the gulf we turned north again.

We explored this adorable little bay, but it was tight quarters, so we continued a smidge north to Two Rock Bay.

Two Rock Bay did not disappoint.  Gorgeous clear water with an interesting sea bottom, schools of pipefish and hundreds of other adorable little fish that followed us around like puppies as we snorkeled.  The two types we see a lot are Saddled Sea Bream and Mediterranean Damselfish.  Speaking of fish, I saw one of these guys back in Lakka.  By far the most colourful fish of the entire trip. We enjoyed the bay so much that we stayed for two nights.  Mike used the down day to go up the mast and change the anchor light.

Then it was back over to Paxos.  We took a peek at Mongonisi on the southeast coast, but decided to go back to the dock in Gaios so we could top up our water and feast on some more WiFi from Alex’s Place and some more pizza from Blue Grotto.  Soooo good!  I also went out for groceries and cannot believe I missed this sign on my two previous trips to the store: uh, yes, I would definitely like to use your shopping troll!

The next day it was back to Mourtos for our fourth visit.  I guess we are creatures of habit.  A little drama on the crossing back to the mainland:  a lone dolphin sighting, a giant military ship sighting, and after Mike soaked one of the dock lines and squeezed out the water he tossed it in a pile on the deck, turned his back and when he turned again it had snaked off the deck and was long gone.  Oops.  It was kind of funny until we replaced it and realized how much a dock line costs (over 100 Euros).

The next morning it was back to Corfu.  Pretty sure this is our final Corfu visit (never say never–when we left the last time I thought it was our last visit), so we anchored south of the Old Fort again and gawked at our neighbour–The Maltese Falcon!  You should totally click on the link and check this sucker out.  She left early the next morning before we could take a photo, but there is no shortage of photos online of this giant sailboat.

For dinner we headed back to La Tabernita for another delightful meal.  When I ordered my spicy margarita the waiter said no, it was too spicy.  I assured him that I had been to the restaurant before and had consumed not one, but two of them, to which the bartender laughed and said “Oh, YOU’RE the one!”  I asked what makes it so spicy, and he has Scotch bonnet peppers stewing in his simple syrup.  That would explain it. One benefit is that I sip my marg a lot slower than usual, but enjoy it twice as much.  Must mention this to Les when I get back to Ottawa. (Mike just pointed out the obvious–Les will not be interested in selling fewer margaritas!)

We’re on a schedule now, so it was back to Gouvia for one night to replenish supplies, get an oil change, fill up with diesel, drop off laundry, buy foul weather gear, and redo the bolts that connect the boomvang to the mast. We spent our final night in Greece in Kammeno Bay, just outside Gouvia, and treated ourselves to a couple drinks at the fancy resort in the north end of the bay.

Finally, on the morning of October 9th, we hauled up our anchor and headed to the commercial port in Corfu.  We left very early, which meant I enjoyed my first and last Greek sunrise (Mike has seen hundreds).

We tied up to the dock and Mike headed in to check out of Greece, just over six months after our arrival.  A lone seal playing in the harbour was our final sight of note. I’m going to miss this place.  I’ll be lobbying to come back and buy our own boat, but will have to tread lightly or Thelma may have me silenced permanently.

Albania, here we come!