Lefkas to Cephallonia

Lefkas to Cephallonia

15 October 2008

We see Barnacle Bill and her crew again the morning we leave Lefkas, but never do catch up on Inga and see Coralie and Brian again. Perhaps next year we will hook up – that would be nice…..

Making our way south down the Lefkas Canal, we come across a rescue in action as a large motor launch is towed off the shallows on the side of the canal. We have to wait for this to succeed, so do our best to hover in the confined space. The tow driver warns us to stay well inside from the edge of the canal as he goes by. A little further south the canal opens out into the Ormos Dhrepanou, a large gulf of such astounding beauty and idyllic picture post card islands, it is breathtaking. The blue Ionian sky is reflected off the almost windless sea as we motor towards Nidri past sloping mountains covered in green forests of tall candle shaped trees and an assortment of other vegetation. Straight ahead is a cluster of islands around Nidri and the entrance to Ormos Vikho. These include Sparti, Kheloni and Madhouri, and further south the twin islands of the Onassis family, Skorpidhi and Skorpios.

The temptation is strong to take a closer look at the Onassis family islands which leads us to the SW side of Skorpios and a turquoise bay where we anchor and swim with the blue fish. This bay with its attractive beach house was apparently a favourite of the late Jacki Onassis. It has an atmosphere of peace and serenity, highlighted by the birdsong which we enjoy from our anchorage. We are not permitted to land above high water, where the lush green forest comes right down to the sea but it is such a treat just to be here.

It is tempting to stay the night, but is a little exposed and not an ideal anchorage, so we drag ourselves away and plan to go to the island of Meganisi. Before we are half way across the gap between the two islands, the wind comes up and by the time we make the entrance to our proposed anchorage on the north eastern side, it is blowing reasonably fresh from the north west. We manage to find a lovely natural harbour to tuck into, but a little confusion arises as our chart plotter shows us as being on the land, when in fact we are sure we are not! We eventually find out that there are some discrepancies with the charts in this part of Greece and all systems are working fine aboard Matelot. Good thing we were not trying to do this with zero vis. Despite the lateness of the season, there are still quite a large number of charter boats out and we are one of around 8 yachts anchored in this bay. The wind makes itself known as it creeps around the corner and it takes a while to drop off to sleep on this night.

The morning finds us taking a stroll across the ridge past olive trees loaded with fruit to the picturesque port of Vathi (as we travel onwards, we find that almost every island has a port called Vathi and it is to be one of many!) where we tuck into fresh baked cheese pies and stock up on bread for the day.

16 October 2008

Our destination for today is to do the passage between Lefkada (Lefkas Island) and Meganisi which is renowned for its scenery and beauty. The wind freshens as we pass Thilia Island and hooray we are sailing and having a wonderful tack southwards! Richard finds several boats to race against and passes them all, sailing higher and faster than these unsuspecting others.

Passing around the bottom end of Lefkada Island we come across the lovely protected harbour of Sivota where we tie up stern to outside a taverna on the southern wall. We have ducked in here to shelter from a southerly wind for the night, but realise to our surprise that it is only 2.00 pm! We are getting very lazy. Not to worry there is now time to do some housekeeping and relaxing and the boat is soon covered in washing hanging up to dry. Later on we sit in the Taverna (2 steps from the stern), listen to cool music, have a drink and watch the locals catching octopus off the wall in the darkness. Sleep comes easily this night.

17 October 2008

Today we really are going to Ithaka and Cephallonia. The calm sunny weather is till holding but we do sail the gap between the two islands on a lovely breeze taking us exactly south west where we want to go. It is truly magical today and soon we are attracted to the large bay on the northern end of Ithaka with its massive white coloured cliffs which tower over the golden sandy beaches below. Closer in, the sparkling turquoise water which changes to delicious milky blue as it joins with the shore, allows us to clearly see the anchor going to the bottom in 12 metres.

Richard swims ashore and I being a little hesitant, watch from the boat, but soon I join him on the beach, which is actually further than it looks, covered in perfect egg shaped white marble like stones and further up, golden sand. As we swim back to the boat we look up to the cliff towering over us and feel giddy with the impression that it could easily fall on us.

We can’t help lingering in this place so it is quite late when we make for the nearest harbour which is Fiskardho on Cephallonia. We are astonished - because it is very late in the season and there have not appeared to be many yachts around – to find that there is no room for us on the town wall…..

18 October 2008

We leave Fiskardho at 9 am after a good night’s sleep. The previous evening does not start out well. We initially sail further south to check out another harbour, but return to Fiskardho and anchor on the northern side. We are the only boat over here and it is not ideal if the wind comes in from the east, however it is NW at the moment, so we tie back to the shore and go to bed. That will serve us right for lingering in beautiful Ithaka. However, the wind comes up on to our port side from the SE fairly soon after this. We have experienced this scenario before and are out of bed instantly, untying ourselves and doing the only thing left ie anchoring in the middle of the small harbour. We leave before the car ferry arrives and anyone else wants to leave.

This morning we have a two hour magical sail on slightly cracked sheets, south through the Ithaka Channel between Cephallonia and Ithaka, in cloudy and cool conditions. Matelot sails so well it really is a joy. However, at 11.00 am on the dot the wind fades and we turn on the motor. Our destination today is Vathi, the protected natural harbour on the eastern side of Ithaka.