July 2009
1st July Motored back to the Athenia Hotel's pontoon at noon. Got IBA to have a look at the engine - apparently the gear selector had slipped. Went to the Internet cafe. Later went for a swim at the hotel's swimming pool. Ate at a restaurant at night.
2nd July Left for Sivota. Gentle breeze. Arrived early afternoon. Had a couple of drinks. Ate at our favourite restaurant - had free starter and desert. Watched video at night (I am legend).
3rd July Couldn't get engine to start. Phoned IBA and found I wasn't starting it correctly! Whoops! Good force 3 breeze, but very hot (32c). Started to get strong land breeze off our destination - Ag Efimia , on the Island of Kefalonia. Anchored in the bay and went for a couple of drinks at a local English run bar. Later went to a nearby restaurant. Afterwards watched a DVD on the boat.
4th July Caught the bus to the Mellisani cave at Sami. We were taken into the cave by a boat. Very atmospheric. Afterwards walked to the Drogarati cave, approximately 5 kilometres, in very hot temperatures. Are we mad! Took about an hour. Memorable for the many shops on the way that sold marble - not drinks or ice cream! Immediately had some cold drinks. Afterwards walked around the cave. Caught a taxi back to Ag Efimia. Later ate at a local restaurant and watched a DVD at night.
5th July Left for Vathi, Ithaca, but the foresail got stuck in a strong gust. The boom violently swung over and slightly caught derek. Another inch or two and Derek would have been catapulted into the sea - he was very lucky. Made our way to Sami and tied up. Went for a drink and to an Internet cafe. Later had a meal where there were some local singers. One was clearly an Opera singer and sang beautifully.
6th July Got up and ate an English breakfast. Afterwards left Sami and sailed around to Vathi, Ithaca. Not a great bay as strong gusts kept sweeping into the bay. Had a few drinks in the afternoon and watched snatches of the Men's Wimbledon Final. Later ate at a restaurant. At night a small part of the foresail flapped constantly in the strong gusts and I had to tie it down.
7th Wind died in the early morning and we sailed out of Vathi around 9.00am. We gently sailed and motored around Kefalonia and eventually stopped at Abelike Bay, on the Island of Meganisi. Anchored and took a rope to the tree. Took dinghy to shore at 5.00 pm. Walked to Vathi and had a cake and drink at a local bar. Afterwards ate at a local restaurant. Kept taking wrong turns on our return journey and probably walked twice the distance. On the final slope to the bay, Derek decided to show off by doing a back flip - fairly pathetic attempt as he landed on his bum with his legs splayed in the air. Tried to tell me afterwards that he slipped!
8th Left in the afternoon for the Athenia Hotel pontoon, in Nidri. Did the usual - drinks, Internet cafe and meal.
9th Derek went for a walk to the Waterfalls. Among other things I went for a swim at the Hotel's swimming pool.
12th Picked up the hire car at 9.00 am. Took Derek to Preveza airport and about an hour later picked up Melly.
13th Lazy day around the boat and Nidri.
14th Spoke to Steve and Rachel, who are liveaboards on a nearby boat, for several hours, then left for Abelika Bay. Took dinghy ashore and made our way to Vathi. Had a cool drink and the best creme caramel I have ever tasted. Afterwards went to a local restaurant and was served by an friendly Australian women who had lived on the Island for 18 years.
15th Went swimming and read books in the morning. In the afternoon went to Vathi for drinks, cakes and a meal.
16th Left for Sivota. Very hot and no wind, so we had to motor all the way. Arrived noon. Went on the Internet, had drinks and a snack. Read books and went swimming in the afternoon. Had meal in the first floor of a restaurant, overlooking the bay.
17th Almost a repeat of the previous day.
18th Left for Fiskardo, Kefalonia at 9.00am. Approximately halfway a heavy sea mist came down. Half-an-hour later it cleared. Arrived at Fiskardo at noon. Anchored and about half-an-hour later went ashore for something to eat. At the restaurant watched a boat anchor next to us. Rowed back at 3.00 pm and found our boat had been tied to a boat on our left, as it had been dragging anchor in the wind and heading towards the rocks. We have never dragged anchor before and we were highly suspious of the boat to our right - who had probably disturbed our anchor when they had arrived as we ate. Ate at a restaurant at night. We found it cheaper to eat out than buy food at the supermarket!
19th A force 6 was forecasted so ate, drank, read all day.
20th
Left in a gentle swell. 10 minutes later the swell
increased to 10 foot waves with a force 4 wind. Melly and her
breakfast quickly went their separate ways - via a bucket.
They
don't make Irish women like they use to! The swell was coming
via
a gap between the islands of Kefalonia and Lefkada and after an hour we
had passed the gap and the waves settled down to around 3-4
feet.
Sailed to Port Kastos on the Island of Kastos. Where
we
encountered the "Mad German". I dropped anchor and
started
to row towards the shore to attach a rope when an angry German started
jumping up and
down screaming that we were fouling his anchor. We had
noticed him
doing this to the previous boat. I rowed back to the anchor
which
I could see clearly and this was about twenty feet in front of the boat
and there was no other anchor or chain nearby. By
this time
the wind had caught the boat and was pushing us back. So I
started rowing the boat again to the shore when the German started
screaming and jumping up and down again and despite telling him that we
were nowhere near his anchor he didn't stop until Melly's Irish temper
repeatedly told him where to go. We eventually tied up and
the
German wasn't seen again! I don't blame him. Melly
is
normally very patient, but I could have told him that it isn't a good
idea to get on the wrong side of a red haired, Irish woman.
We
went ashore and made our way to Chef John's restaurant up in
the
hills. The food was OK, but the scenary was breathtaking.
21st Left around 9.00 am on the motor. No wind. Traveled north alongside Kastos and then alongside the Island of Kalamos. Very hot day (35c). Beautiful scenery. Eventually picked up some wind near Episkopi and sailed to Abelika Bay, on Meganisi. Arrived early afternoon. Went to Vathi to eat and drink Every island seems to have a port named Vathi.
22nd Left Abelike at 10.00 and motored to Nidri - no wind. Spent the next few days on the Internet, eating, drinking, swimming and closing the boat down.
25th Moved the boat to the "pontoon" (rusty wreck) at Maria's yard. Ate at the Fish Restaurant nearby at night. Tempreatures the last few days were around 40c.
26th Walked to the Athenia Hotel with our bags and then got a taxi to Preveza airport. Arrived at Gatwick and then caught a connecting flight to Dublin. Arrived at our cottage about 10.00pm to find that the water wasn't working, the quad bike was broken, Johnny who was looking after our goats had fallen and injured his arm.
27th Woke up and found that the water pump plug had been put into a non working socket - it immediately started working when corrected. So the buying of fresh water containers and collection of rain water for the toilets, over the last 10 days could have been solved within 10 seconds!
31st It was the wettest July in Ireland for the last 50 years! No-one can believe that we are experiencing our third bad Summer in a row - even the elderly Irish hadn't experienced this before.