After finishing exploring the lovely island of Kefalonia we sailed further North and on 22 July dropped anchor in front of the small fishing harbour of Ligia in the NE of Lefkas island, to position ourselves to sail the Lefkas canal, cut through the salt marsh between the island proper and the main land.
We are anchored at the purple star. On the North side of the dredged canal through the marches is a floating bridge that opens on the hour.
Slow but steady our convoy moved forward, concentrated to not be pushed off course by the oncoming current. Suddenly we saw a lot of black smoke billowing from a yacht, a few boats in front of us. We initially thought it was an engine fire. However a bit later we realised that the yacht veered too much to starboard and had run aground. The yachts diesel engine was pushed to the max in trying to free the boat whilst laying a thick smoke screen over the canal. One of the canal’s rescue boats was quickly at the scene to tow the yacht free. Strangely we didn’t make any photo’s. Too busy to prevent running aground our selves, keeping the boat centred in the oncoming current and watching the movement of neighbouring yachts.
It is amazing how quickly situations can change on the water when you loose concentration. Ask how we know.
To prevent marine growth on the underwater parts of the boat and to keep the hulls smooth and slippery a special underwater paint is applied, called “anti-fouling”. The original anti-fouling lasted 2.5 years. Back in March 2022 in Marmaris, Türkiye we renewed the antifouling with a different brand and the performance of the paint was already deteriorating. Initially we planned to renew the bottom paint after we would have left the Med. However, even with regular bottom cleaning the boat was noticeable slower and with the number of miles still ahead of us we needed a fast boat.
It was August, peak tourist season and the anchorages were packed, not really our type of beer. We decided to haul out now in Cleopatra Marina opposite the town of Preveza, just North of Lefkas island, thus avoiding the crowds on the water and to make use of the fact that the boatyards are not busy this time of year when everybody is enjoying sailing.
Coincidently, Cleopatra Marine is the exact same location where Frits bought his first boat in Dec 1998.
Besides new bottom paint, there were a few more jobs waiting: – oil change in sail drives – new anodes for propellors and sail drives – re-sealing the hull-deck joint around the boat to stop some annoying salt water leaks – applied white UV resistent Sikaflex around the four windows in the hulls to stop the “black weeping” – replaced the low pressure pump of the watermaker – removed three anchor chain links that were attached to the swivel and were showing excessive wear and corrosion.
As you can see in one of the foregoing photos, we were parked in front of the office building. A cleaning lady, looking down from one of the windows, made us aware that doves (smaller cousin of the pigeon) had built a nest in the sail-cover at the end of the boom. Note that it was only our eighth day on the hard and there was already an eg. We quickly removed the nest to minimise trauma to the birds and closed the sailcover with clothespins. The next morning we found a broken eg on the solar panels below the booms end. Luckily the damage was limited to two broken unhatched eggs and two disappointed doves.
Preveza is a commercial harbor and tourist hub, with a marina, museums, cinemas, and many clubs, taverns, and cafes, benefiting from its proximity to nearby Aktion Airport. Many charter companies operate from Preveza with the Ionian islands to the West being a popular sailing area. It was an easy dinghy ride from the marina across the canal to the town for shopping and entertainment.
Down town, at a T-junction, looking for a dinner table, gives you an impression about the tourist crowds.
From 1477 until the end of WWII, Preveza was heavily contested by the Greeks, the Ottomans, the Venetians and the Italians. Most of the structures built in the Middle Ages have largely disappeared except for the prominent Venetian Clock Tower in the old city center
Once the boat was back in the water we decided to go back South to seek shelter for an Easterly storm that was brewing since the anchorage of Preveza is exposed to Easterly wind. Palairos was a promising location, behind a mountain and with a sandy bottom with excellent hold for our anchor.
Anchored at the beach of Palairos and behind the mountain. We went for dinner in restaurant SIRTAKI (pink circle), run by a Greek family that used to work in the Netherlands. Convenient to have your Greek menu explained to you in your mother tongue. Since the tourists are mostly across the “pond” in Lefkada, it was expected that the food in less touristic Palairos would be better, and it was FAR better.
As the winds calmed down we headed further South and dropped anchor in one of the fjords of sleepy Meganisi island.
Our plan was to head West, to Messina in Sicily. In Aug 2020 we sailed the 310 Nm from Syracuse, Sicily to Kalamata, Greece, via a direct route East, BUT that was on a comfortable broad reach with the NW wind aft of the beam. We had been observing the wind for a while and if we would follow route 1, we would have the wind forward of the beam for about 40 hours, making especially the night sail uncomfortable. By following route 2, we could break up the journey in daysails and we could visit Corfu, the most famous island of the Ionian. From Corfu going West and then down along the coast of Italy would bring more favourable winds. Although Route 2 would be much longer, it would be easier and therefore more fun so we pointed our bow North, back to Preveza where we would first visit the Ambrasian Gulf.
In the coming days we will leave for the island of Corfu, further North, but that is subject to another post.
Thank you for reading our story. Liza and Frits.